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Yanis Varoufakis: The Straw That Breaks the Ponzi’s Back?

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Yanis Varoufakis: The Straw That Breaks the Ponzi’s Back?

By

Cognitive Dissonance

 

 

What do you do when your opponent won’t play by the rules? Worse, what do you do when your loan ‘partner’ (aka ‘debtor’) declares Calvinball, where the only rule is there are no rules, and proceeds to go off the deep end? The result, to put it mildly, is utter chaos, at least for those who expect the (self serving) rules to be adhered to. After all, the central bankers’ henchmen admonish, we’re all civilized here. So come back to the table and play nice. “Do it for the kids,” they plead - the epitome of hypocrisy since their stacked deck and tilted playing field does precisely the opposite.

There is an old and familiar saying in the financial world, no doubt a product of game theory brinkmanship, which speaks to the role reversal of power and leverage once the monster debtor owes such an astronomical amount they can no longer pay to service the note, let alone chip away at the principal. The supposedly weak suddenly inherit the Earth, or at least they wield a very long lever along with a fulcrum with which to move the central banker’s world.

It is most likely a safe bet to say those reading this article clearly see the unsustainability of the present day economic system. The vicious cycle of debt requiring ever more debt just to tread water leads nowhere else but into the abyss of inexorable socioeconomic crumble, if not all out chaos and collapse. At the very least we are facing war; the only real question is will it be worldwide and involve a nuclear exchange. 

As individual pawns cavalierly exchanged back and forth, one for one, in the same manner high ground is taken, only to be conceded, then taken again in a bloody game of war only those at the top could possibly win, you and I must step back and ask ourselves the only two sane questions left. How did we get here and where do we go from here?

I can’t count the number of times I have heard, read or seen one commenter after another declare with the highest piety their belief that capitalism has been tragically subverted, perverted and co-opted into what it is today. Often the unspoken, but clearly implied, thought is that aside from a few bad apples stinking up the joint, capitalism would be humming along just fine thank you, providing full employment, the proper allocation of capital and apple pie justice for all.

While clearly the above description is an exaggeration, though not by much, when will “We the People” begin to question the basis for our most fundamental and indoctrinated premise, one that declares ‘Capitalism’ is the greatest thing since sliced bread and clearly superior to any other socioeconomic system out there?

When the ideological blinders are removed, or at least cleaned up enough to allow a modicum of peripheral vision, it becomes increasingly clear the present day socioeconomic disaster is not ‘just’ an aberrant case of food poisoning, but rather a fundamentally organic and intimately integrated deliberate flaw ranging all the way from garden to gut. When the body politic grows weaker by the day and various interventions only hasten the degradation, everything must be called into question and preferably not from the grave.

Similar to any team sport, the credibility and sustainability of capitalism depends upon a fair playing field governed by rules applicable to all, policed and enforced by independent referees that rewards the most innovative and talented without exploiting the weak and defenseless. While many will pine on and on about how things used to be so much better during the Golden Age of capitalism, an honest reading of the history of America, ‘Capitalism’ and the monetary system will disabuse most of this notion. Capitalism didn’t just go bad like some two week old fish mistakenly left out of the freezer. Capitalism has been, and always will be, corrupted and co-opted by the rich and powerful in order to form a more perfect union of slave plantations.  

When End of Empire comes calling, only the illusion of invincibility, one perpetuated both by those desperately dependent upon the Empire for sustenance and power along with those whose bones the Empire grinds to make its bread, stands between “We the Trampled” and the last of the Empire’s ideological guards. Reduced to the lowest common denominator and groveling at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid begging for handouts and scraps, both prison guards and prisoners find they are sharing the same living quarters while blindly following their assigned roles in the nearly exhausted controlling narrative.

Sadly, tragically, by the time End of Empire is at death’s door, those best positioned to seize the day and thrust their swords into the belly of the beast have lost all hope and any remaining desire to walk point and be the first to confront the decomposing remains of the self savaged beast. The final agonizing death throes and delirium tremens of Empire consume friend and foe alike long before the remains are scattered in the gutter to be picked over by the hovering vultures and newly arrived squatters.

 

End of Empire Clean Up Crew

The End of Empire clean up crew on standby.

 

To battle the beast from within, particularly when the Empire is at death’s door, is utterly futile for the beast is all consuming and totally corrupt. One must be an insider, thus corrupt to the bone, in order to reach the guarded halls of power. Once within the outer gates of hell, the disruptor is thoroughly co-opted and corrupted, thus they have become the problem and no longer the solution. To be anything else means entry is never gained and at best they remain impotent, at worst thoroughly spent.

Similarly, the emboldened and inspired revolutionary faces Hobson’s Choice if s/he is to overthrow the still-mighty-in-the-minds-of-the-native-population Empire. Damned if they adopt the most effective and expedient tactics of resistance, thus seen as indistinguishable from the Empire itself, and damned if they follow the rules of fair play and compassion in the face of a savage and cruel Empire desperate to cling to power, thereby ready and still able to shatter the native population in order to suckle the teat one last time.

But now there appears to be a third path, potentially enabling the man walking point to avoid the road to perdition, a trail and technique that strikes terror directly into the heart of Empire for it assaults the cancer at the core. An ascendant assassin from within, unconstrained by the cloth of corruption, inflamed by revolutionary ideology and armed with the Empire’s own debt weapons reversed for maximum effect, the perfect blunt instrument to bludgeon with.

Held together with baling wire and chewing gum along with heaping helpings of hubris and avarice, the Empire is vulnerable to internal destabilization wrought by those suddenly parachuted in by a population no longer believing or benefiting from the lies and deceit of Empire. A migraine headache repeatedly suppressed by opiates is eventually experienced as an agonizing wakeup call to those ready to do anything to relieve the pain of suffocating debt. The fiat party is eventually recognized as over either by consent or death. The Greeks have opted for consent over death.

For some, nothing settles the mind more thoroughly than the knowledge of certain death. Yanis is blessed (or cursed depending upon your point of view) with the certain knowledge of capitalism’s death. In fact, based upon the little I have learned about this man, he knows capitalism is already dead and the problem we now face is how to keep the decomposing corpse from violently exploding after the buildup of catastrophic internal forces is released.

Essentially Yanis Varoufakis sees himself as saving capitalism from itself with a Greek pinprick to a rapidly thinning cow hide. Wait too long and the cow hide becomes thin latex, then nothing will restrain the controlled demolition. She’s gonna blow, of this Yanis and many others are certain. If true, better now than later.

For decades he labored in relative obscurity doggedly speaking his conviction, credible because of his credentials, condemned as delusional because of his dissertation. Tempered by the impact of countless arrows and continuous stoning, hardened by years of self examination as he fought to understand his flaws and failure to communicate, Yanis is now the right man at the right time in the right place. His only true vulnerability, his Achilles Heel if you will, is the seaworthiness of the ship that ushered in his ascension. No man is an island, entire of itself when surrounded by those weaker of flesh, mind and spirit. Will his newly elected political party hold the red line or will it fold under intense international pressure?

Can the teetering fiat Jenga stack be carefully deconstructed? No, absolutely not, for The Powers That Be (TPTB) are fully prepared to go to the mats and practice a scorched Earth policy if only to deny the victor the means to rebuild in their own likeness. I suspect Yanis understands that holding firm will upset the Ponzi apple cart just enough to force TPTB to madly scramble in an effort to hold the decay at bay and the pieces from flying apart. This in turn will give Yanis and his posse additional time to pivot and attack the firmly entrenched Greek oligarchy, those who are obscenely profiting from the rape and misery of their fellow citizens.

Ultimately the Ponzi continues because those who hold the power all agree to play by the rules in order to collectively benefit from the confidence game. Yanis and company are the wild cards slipped into a stacked deck the powers that be were all but assured was clear of any jokers. With Varoufakis now firmly seated at the table and unwilling to play by the rules or constrained by the common goals of greed and self dealing, TPTB are now locked in a cage match to the death they thought they could contain and thereby never truly saw coming.

After gaining a seat at the table who in their right mind would not bluff, parry, and finally settle for the chance to thrust their beaks into the feast of fiat pie. Even worse for the powerful, the joker never picks up his cards to gauge his hand. Instead, incredibly, he lays them all out on the table as soon as they are dealt for everyone to see, especially by the ignorant and unwashed. The illusion of power and invincibility is slowly being exposed by the upstart Greeks led by Varoufakis.

While for now the fiat fire is contained to the nation of Greek islands, the embers that will ignite a raging inferno are rapidly drifting towards Italy, Spain and France. The arrogant European Union has seriously overplayed its hand and now is no longer certain exactly who is the fool still seated at the table. The only thing Greece has to fear is fear itself for the Emperor has no clothes and this is rapidly becoming apparent to those who wish to see.

The only way to defeat the insanity is to be perfectly and utterly sane, then sit back as the insane spontaneously burst into the flames of a cleansing self immolation.

 

02-17-2015

Cognitive Dissonance        

 

Yanis Varoufakis

Yanis Varoufakis

 

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Wed, 02/18/2015 - 08:25 | 5798008 Mrs. Cog
Mrs. Cog's picture

Kudos on having the balls to open this can of virulently provocative worms, CD.

That is exactly what I told him Bob. We proceeded to get into an in depth discussion on how all philosophies and "isms" seem to have a very valid idea at it's base regardless of how screwed up and bastardized the models and applications became. Considering this messes with the polarization people are programmed with, some just can't help but react. But if we are going to have an honest talk about why these ideas are always corrupted, all the angles must be examined.

My favorite of all the nasty knee-jerk reactions towards Cog has always remained the "pinko-commie".

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 08:53 | 5798055 Usurious
Usurious's picture

The only ism that really matters is banksterism........attaching interest (usury) to ones Medium of Exchange thus leading us to where we are RIGHT now........200 trillion in debt and unable to make the interest payment let alone service the debt.....

trav7777 claimed that the future will not be able to pay todays debts thus Humanity is in backwardation........

 

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 08:42 | 5798032 Bob
Bob's picture

Yup, maybe sad but surely true.  All the "isms" are systems that, regardless of the good they might bring, contain the seeds for their own corruption and ultimate inversion.  Belief systems in the beginning, putrified religions in the end that primarily benefit the people who head them. 

“...ideas are definitely unstable, they not only CAN be misused, they invite misuse--and the better the idea the more volatile it is. That's because only the better ideas turn into dogma, and it is this process whereby a fresh, stimulating, humanly helpful idea is changed into robot dogma that is deadly. In terms of hazardous vectors released, the transformation of ideas into dogma rivals the transformation of hydrogen into helium, uranium into lead, or innocence into corruption. And it is nearly as relentless.

The problem starts at the secondary level, not with the originator or developer of the idea but with the people who are attracted by it, who adopt it, who cling to it until their last nail breaks, and who invariably lack the overview, flexibility, imagination, and most importantly, sense of humor, to maintain it in the spirit in which it was hatched. Ideas are made by masters, dogma by disciples, and the Buddha is always killed on the road.

--Tom Robbins

http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/281691-ideas-are-definitely-unstable-the...

 

Power corrupts, plain and simple. 

Too bad the prevailing religion is so well armed to reject the legitimate recognition of its own nakedness with the always ready charges of "pathological envy," "class warfare," rewarding the "useless eaters," "socialist pig" and the like. The Emperor has a zealous army, regardless of his nakedness. 

Glad y'all have a sense of humor!

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:25 | 5798096 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

"Glad y'all have a sense of humor!"

My first laugh of the morning usually arrives when I look in the mirror. Since it is useless to try to suppress the ego, since that just strengthens the ego, I try to disarm it by recognizing its raw nakeness and vulnerability.

Arrogance is actually severe weakness carefully disguised as strength. We see a lot of that on the stages of power and here on Zero Hedge.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 12:05 | 5798923 zeropain
zeropain's picture

funny the ways in which the ego distorts to survive,  especialy in the name of the better good.  as if a flee could tell where the dog needs togo.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 12:37 | 5799121 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

The ego is a fascinating topic. However I try not to delve into discussions about ego, super ego etc etc etc and simply recognize 'it' is not 'me'.

From my point of view arguing about 'ego' is similar to discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. Useless masturbation and a total distraction.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 13:29 | 5799437 SuperVinci
SuperVinci's picture

Yet we read about ego in multiple posts of yours....someone's ego is very clever...I dare say it's similar to a cognitive dissonance.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 13:19 | 5799380 juangrande
juangrande's picture

The only way I know of to understand ego is to be quiet and listen to it.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 13:08 | 5799330 zeropain
zeropain's picture

actually the lesson that the ego never goes away while human was huge for me.  ego can make the search for enlightenment a veil.  this is huge trap to alot of non-dual seekers who are in pursuit of a intelectual solution, they think that they have reach an ultimate truth.  The only thing humans can do is to question truth, we will never fully know it.  goes along with the arrogance theme...

Thu, 02/19/2015 - 16:01 | 5804859 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

All of the above posts are wonderful. I call the seemingly dual nature of things paradoxes.

The one that is most prevalent is that of the Individual and the Group. Discussions of the past many years try to stuff you into one point of view or the other as though they are mutually exclusive. They are not. We are both individuals and members of a group at the same time.

In reality the paradoxes are not really paradoxes. They only seem that way when people apply a limiting context.

Thu, 02/19/2015 - 16:02 | 5804851 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

Dupe

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:29 | 5798172 Bob
Bob's picture

Thanks for the good laugh at that picture of the mirror, CD! 

As a side note, I went and tried it myself and was surprised by how much better I look with some mirth in my eyes. 

Laughter is good medicine and humility a liberating recognition of a simple yet powerful truth. 

http://www.buddhaweekly.com/laughter-the-blissful-state-of-non-thinking/

Thu, 02/19/2015 - 16:10 | 5804898 Liberty2012
Liberty2012's picture

I would say laughter is recognizing a truth very rapidly from a different perspective. That is thinking well.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:58 | 5798275 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Mrs. Cog is often surprised how easily I can fall into conversation with complete strangers, often eliciting small little confessions from them with no prompting what-so-ever on my part. I have assumed it was my open manner and the disarming ease with which I speak to people, as if I have known then for a long time. But when speaking to strangers I almost always have a smile on my face and genuine pleasure in my heart that I am connecting with someone else. I suspect that is quite evident in my eyes when someone looks at them.

I should also mention I am most grateful Mrs. Cog does not feel threatened by my public behavior because it would be very easy to be put off by my forwardness, particularly when it is done with a woman. I am careful to include Mrs. Cog in my interactions so the other person doesn't feel I am doing something behind her back right in front of her face. It has taken some time for Mrs. Cog to feel more comfortable. But now when promoted she almost always jumps in feet first. 

The experience is extremely liberating for all involved, at least those who let go and allow themselves to enjoy an interaction with a complete stranger. Most people would find it nearly impossible to do so on their own without someone else taking the lead.

All day we walk around in our own box feeling mostly miserable. I hate the feeling and so tend to bust out and peek in yours. I am often surprised how willing others are to let me in. As Mrs. Cog tells me people are desperate to be 'seen'. My acknowledgment of them is a form of seeing them and they tend to respond favorably.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 13:26 | 5799425 SuperVinci
SuperVinci's picture

Cog, who's your biggest fan? Yourself or your woman?

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:26 | 5798340 Bob
Bob's picture

Same here, though my "other half" has a ways to go on developing "comfort" with my pleasure in drawing people out of their shells in public!  Congrats on that!

I'm especially--and continually--amazed to see that the working class serving me at every turn in public is almost invariably eager to extend generosity to me in whatever way they can in response--whether it's a little extra cake, a break in returning a purchased item, or a tall stack of napkins with my Hot & Ready Pizza.  Evvvvverybody knows who's getting the shaft in this system and who is sticking it to them . . . if you can just engage them a little on that very topic, they'll let you in on their recognition of same: it's a big club and most of us ARE in it.  It's a good feeling to share.  It seems like a revolutionary act every time somebody drops the role-bound bullshit and just relates as people.  Seems they just need permission (in the case of the serving class) or an invitation (in the case of fellow consumers out on the hunt.) 

Desperate is the word I too use to describe peoples' eagerness to just share and be generous.  Good stuff, that!

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:50 | 5798488 new game
new game's picture

ironic and funny, but wife crafts stained glass mirrors. all shapes and size. guessing one might work for you. that is if you need to replace the mirror(not giving the results desired), ha...

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 08:44 | 5798041 new game
new game's picture

checks and balances?! by honest men and women?! and moar checks and balances by uncorruptCabel of "HONEST" men and women?! seems that is where we are and how we got here. the need for moar gov.org all sold to us as the "solution". tyme for a fire to clear the deadwood. a "FIAT FIRE" !!!!!!

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 12:08 | 5798936 lincolnsteffens
lincolnsteffens's picture

Perhaps there is a spark soon to turn into a burning ember. Much is happening in the "US of A without the corporation"  A new international Court may fully expose the wedding of international corporations with State corporations. Criminal US Office Holders may be first on their list to expose. To begin on the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta June 15, 2015

Check it out, join and work for it  https://www.itnj.org/ 

 

 

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 07:55 | 5797958 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

Pray for the safety of this man.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:26 | 5798367 HardlyZero
HardlyZero's picture

"Pray for the safety of this man."

"The most frightening thing to a den of thieves is an honest man among them." 

Greece is originally a Balkan country, on a border of previous major conflicts, but lucky with yearround coastline waters.  They have a long rich history and culture to match.  I hope Dr. V and Greece survives as 'best' as possible.

What it comes down to is how to move forward from 'here' based on 100 years (more or less) of fiat backed society.  US and FED were started to allow US to get involved in foreign matters without getting taxpayer approval, and WWI.

We (emotionally, economically) need an ultimate 'backer' to support risk taking and capital formation.  Without a "FED like" organization, the ups and downs make it difficult to make significant progress.  So now we are 'here', and we all made it this far, can be cut loose from the fiat moorings ?  That is the key.  I think it will take a major human gestalt...similar to a massive 'change', for what remans to 'exit' and move beyond to the next economic regime...whatever that will be.

What's next?  Star Trek or Dark Ages, it's up to us now 8 billion.

 

Dr. V's approach may have been previous mix of Vulcan (logic), Spartan (hero), but now possibly also "cave"-man for the EU.

Times are changin'

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:24 | 5798156 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

The most frightening thing to a den of thieves is an honest man among them.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 07:45 | 5797949 Manipuflation
Manipuflation's picture

Good article Cog.  I enjoyed it. 

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:22 | 5798149 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Thank you,

When writing about just about anything I try to maintain my calm and perspective. As Mrs. Cog will attest, I was fired up while writing this piece.

I had spent many hours watching a few of his lectures and reading some of his essays. Yanis Varoufakis succeeded in shaking me further awake regarding my narrow point of view of the world. As much as I try to avoid doing so, I see the world through American propagandized eyes. There are always three sides to any perspective; yours, mine and everyone else. It's healthy to occasionally examine everyone else's.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:50 | 5798237 Manipuflation
Manipuflation's picture

You are welcome Sir.  For fun you might like to watch this if you think you have progandized eyes.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:49 | 5798485 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

Loved the video and the Irish accents.

Have you ever noticed how the greater the political correctness the deeper the (self) deception. The woman in the video was speaking truth to power. How dare her be so uppity and insulting by telling the others they are hypocrites and enablers of war crimes.

The response by the man was the ultimate in how to avoid discussing an uncomfortable topic and instead focus on distractions and feigned insult while repeating drone-like the herding mantra. Classic bullshit by professional shit.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 07:33 | 5797933 theliberalliberal
theliberalliberal's picture

recheck your definition of capitalism mate

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:17 | 5798133 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

I actually did before writing this piece. It served to confirm what I already suspected. Regardless of the definition, the abomination practiced from the very beginning never even came close to the propaganda or definition.

When eating shit pie with no choice in the matter, the smart ones will clip their nose and convince themselves they are eating steak.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 13:55 | 5799605 Elliott Eldrich
Elliott Eldrich's picture

After the fall of the Berlin wall, there were still adherents to Communism who were saying "the only problem is that it wasn't done the right way." It's amusing to see how many are resorting to the same argument as the era of go-go Capitalism begins to wane.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 14:56 | 5799929 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

In so many ways it is an addiction just as powerful as crack or meth.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 13:22 | 5799402 SuperVinci
SuperVinci's picture

Ha, good one Cog Dis. I rephrase/customize it for ZH:

 

When reading shitpie commie articles on ZH, the smart ones stop.

 

I stopped.

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:48 | 5798444 forexskin
forexskin's picture

this age is something more - i initiated a brief conversation in a restaurant last saturday after i heard him speaking with folks at another table about the nature of our generations, and the differences among us. though a complete stranger, he was happy to share that he's a historian, a third generation anglo jew from montreal, happy to introduce his scot wife, who listened to our exchange quietly, thoughtfully, even happily. i asked him if he'd heard of the book called "the fourth turning" by strauss and howe - nope - but his conversation with both me and the others was proceeding along those lines.

i've been hearing more and more random conversations from people who have clued into the sea change we are experiencing - which does fit pretty well with the idea of generational cycles. we are at the end of an age, and the corruption we are seeing would be evident regardless of what ism we were arguing about.

some wise people lately have reminded me that we have no choice about the age we are born into - i realize my son - my beloved little boy, may be part of the next hero generation that helps reel civilization back from the edge of perdition. i don't know whether i should hope i am wrong, or feel hope that we do occasionally have greatest generations when they are needed. god i miss the one passing into history just now...

Tue, 02/17/2015 - 16:53 | 5795325 Cognitive Dissonance
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Wed, 02/18/2015 - 09:55 | 5798265 Memedada
Memedada's picture

Absolutely and with no contest, the best article I’ve read on ZH. Ever. Well done Cognitive Dissonance – it’s posts likes yours that keep my faith in humanity going!

Wed, 02/18/2015 - 10:51 | 5798493 Payne
Payne's picture

I do not include issuing debt to a Nation state by a National Union as a function of Capitalism.  It does have the appearance just none of the pre requisites. 

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