10 Years Later...

It's been a decade since the Credit Crisis of 2008 which gave birth to misery for millions of Americans. The terms Under water (Negative home equity), The 1% (Richest 1% of society), and The 99% (Not The 1%) took on new meanings. As a result of the financial hardships suffered by the 99% (allegedly at the hand of the 1%) the Occupy Movement was born. Occupy was supposed to remedy the conditions which caused the hardships and hold those responsible for the Crisis accountable. Let's take a look at how successful Occupy has been ten years later...

(Click the image to enlarge)

Personally, I don't believe that most of these demands would have been beneficial, desirable, or even attainable, but what I am certain of is Occupy was an epic failure. Not only did the movement fail to have one of its demands met, it also served as a pressure relief valve which channeled the much justified frustration of the American people away from productive action. The bottom line results were a massive loss of momentum for real change. Keep in mind this was the largest grass roots movement America has had in living memory and it accomplished nothing. No change for the better whatsoever. The biggest criminals in the nation laughed at the bankrupt cliche, "Crime doesn't pay." 

One of the greatest errors of the Occupy Movement was aiming for the wrong target. Wall Street is not accountable to the People. Wall Street is only accountable to equity shareholders. Angry non-shareholders hold exactly zero weight on Wall Street. The Occupation target should have been Washington, D.C., which is (or should be) accountable to the People. The laws which allowed the Credit Crisis to implode were written in Washington D.C. Were the laws written at the behest of Wall Street? I'm sure they were, but don't lose focus on who can be held accountable to the People. Occupy never had that clarity of focus and look at the results. I can't decide which Occupy was more shame or sham. 

Today, ten years later, we sit and wait while wringing our hands for the next ticking time bomb to explode knowing it's not a question of "if" but "when"? 



Author's Note: As for the demands the only one I would agree with would be number ten. I would have also demanded that those responsible be charged with fraud, which is exactly what happened. They did it in Iceland successfully. As a "Rule of Law" nation we should have done it here in the United States, but our actions will always speak louder than our words. Our actions say the only Law we have is the "New Golden Rule". 

He who has the Gold makes the Rules, even Ten Years Later.  

Hunting Objectivity

I believe that truly objective news is a mythical creature. There is always bias in reporting because the stories are composed by people. People come with their own biases, views, and perspectives. These are the hermeneutics through which we view the world and all that happens in it . Absolute neutrality can only occur serendipitously if a journalist has no opinion on the topic, which probably means they don't know enough about the subject matter to inform others. Ignorance is blissful objectivity, and makes for poor journalism.

Rather than seeking the rare Jackalope Unicorn species of objective news, I try to get a broad spectrum of reporting on the same subject from many different sources, (CNN, Fox, Reuters, Associated Press, Russia Today, India Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, Beijing Times Japan Times, etc.) from as many different mediums as possible (print, radio, internet, alternative media). The more viewpoints from which you can gather information, the closer you are to truth.

A few lessons I have learned over the years:

#1. The more heart rending or emotional a story is, the further it is from truth. Many times this is sensationalism sold as journalism. Who, what, when, where, and why are the queries that must be answered.  When they offer facts, as a prima facie case for how to interpret or how you should feel about the facts is when journalism dies and propaganda begins.

#2. Never dismiss a news source as being pure propaganda. This would eliminate all news sources. Even propaganda is informative as long as you have the counter-propaganda at your disposal. You can "triangulate" the truth with enough data points (sources).

#3. Whenever the media has you myopically focused on one thing, look everywhere else. Something big is happening elsewhere and everyone else is missing it.

Good luck. You're on your own,

Michael

Tag. You’re it.

Today, fielding a massive standing army fully equipped with the latest tools of belligerent war is only a short march to bankruptcy and decline. Ultimately, the weapons that win wars are not nuclear warheads or nerve agents, they are barbecue grills, movies in DVD or MP4 format, leather handbags, insurance policies, basketball hoops, shoe laces, salad forks, breakfast cereals and every other useful thing we need in life manufactured by the millions. Trade is conquest. Goods and services are the weapons of modern war in the 21st Century. The ability to bring the highest quality weapons of war to market at the lowest cost is victory. The soldiers of the future are consumers by the millions and billions. Feed these soldiers, make them beautiful, cloth them, house them, relieve their lower back pain, maintain communication between them, train them, guarantee their pizza on time, earn their loyalty and you will conquer the world from your point of sale checkout. In the words of Sun Tzu, “Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.” The Art of War III-2. What Sun Tzu is describing is winning the hearts and minds by cultural superiority, and such superiority can only be accomplished by aggressively engaging in international trade. Exporting an idea packaged in a lifestyle filled with useful things and, most of all, purpose. Provide soldiers with these things and they will follow you anywhere.

As much as the Polish were caught unprepared for the future when they committed wave after wave of their finest mounted cavalry as sacrificial offerings before Panzers and Stukas in hope of forestalling defeat, America is unprepared. The rules have changed, the game board transformed, and national alliances once like familial bonds broken. The post war years are over and the Pax Americana with it. Military dominance has given way to market dominance. The oceans at our flanks which protected us throughout the Second World War have become the walls of our isolation. Most of the world shares a common landmass and we are not part of it. This geographical fact puts our island-like national trade at a serious numerical disadvantage.

If you think distance doesn't matter in a shrinking world, ask yourself how often have you paid $4.99 for a gallon of milk at a convenience store rather than $1.99 at a grocery store ten blocks down the road? Many more times than you can remember.

Now, ask yourself why don't we get our bottled water from Tajikistan when the labor and packaging costs are so much lower than American bottled water? Shipping costs would outstrip any savings. The end result is high priced foreign water few would buy. I can't account for Perrier. So, I'm labeling it an anomaly and moving on.

In America, we are still playing Post-War/ Cold War games with a Second World War mindset. The near surreal administration of President Trump is living proof of our disconnect from reality. Take an objective look at the President's actions. Imagine, if you can, these actions being performed by someone who has taken the Oval Office while you were in a decade long coma. Imagine. How would you perceive this President...

• who tries to unilaterally dictate terms of trade to nations with options.
• as he resurrects the specter of Russia at home and abroad.
• as he plays to national pride in a country where an increasing number identify as hyphenated Americans.
• as he strong arms Justin Trudeau, then buddy back slaps Kim Jong Un.
• as he insists we build a wall any old East German would recognize as a closed border.
• as he takes up yet another foreign war of adventure while we're still embroiled in... how many are we in now? Does anyone know? Seriously, anyone?
• as he and your fellow citizens engage in a verbal civil war over a single football players silent protest while the budget slips into a $22 trillion dollar national debt spiral?

What would you think of this anonymous President?


Now, compare that to what you currently think of President Trump. Our priorities and "ignorance is bliss" repose betray an Aldous Huxleyan disconnect from reality. Since, we have adopted this Brave New World, we better build a wall because we're afraid of criminals, drugs, foreigners, terrorists, welfare cheats, unfettered capitalism, uninsured motorists, the next bird flu, testicular cancer, creeping socialism, saturated fats, male pattern baldness, glyphosate, microaggressions, anthropomorphic climate change, and let's not forget a hundred-hundred thousand other things we don't care to recall. One of the few areas where we remain intrepid is repeating the lessons of history.

When a nation is young, it is lead by impetuous patriots filled with revolutionary zeal. Like a child they may hurt others and themselves without regard because they have short attention spans and heal as quickly as they grow. Entering maturity the nation slows down and becomes either fantastically productive and wealthy or incestuously corrupt and poor. In advanced age all nations share a single sentiment: Fear. Their place in the world is no longer growing, but diminishing. Strong enemies, real or imagined, surround them on all sides, if not from within. Like the elderly person, an elderly nation fears they may fall never to rise again. Seeking safety and security from this constant dread, the ancient nation begins to build walls. Walls to protect what little they have left. Walls to secure their uncertain future. Walls where they can sleep in peace. Walls of a nation's crypt. Some decomposing nations may linger for decades, clinging to the thinning thread of life by artificial means. They engage in fiscal cannibalism and subsist on the flesh of their children by deficit spending. They linger in agony until the reality of debt extracts their final breath.

The Chinese spent well over a thousand years building walls to keep safe a succession of temporary dynasties which lived the lives of rising and falling nations. Lives, gold, and effort squandered in an attempt to protect their world from change, from decay, and irrelevance. All failed. The many walls built, bought, and believed in over all those generations betrayed their builders. Still, so culturally revered were these walls, these final refuges of imperial denial that they found a place of honor in Communist China's national anthem...

“Arise! All those who don't want to be slaves! Let our flesh and blood forge our new Great Wall!”

The mythical regard for walls held by Mao's children prevented them from recognizing the walls of Communism which imprisoned them. In tearful Socialist pride they sang their anthem with their Father's Red Book held in hand on high. Living proof of their disconnect from reality. They were already slaves and would remain so until recently discovering how to tip walls over and turn them into roads. These recovering wall builders are sending armies of commerce down those newly laid roads to the battlefields of the marketplace.

Meanwhile. Back in America, we’re reversing this uplifting tipping trend by erecting walls and restricting trade again. It’s the World War Two mindset that we can’t seem to shake. So, let’s build some more tanks, huh? World War Two ended with one very abrasive man spending his final days shouting orders to barricade the roads from a bunker in one grand disconnect from reality. Then, after nearly taking his adopted nation with him, he committed suicide. Yes, reality always catches up with the disconnected. Let’s not follow in his hoof marks. When translated into English, “Deutschland Uber Alles” sounds a lot like “America First”. The global game we’re playing is called Capitalism, not nationalism. Remember the rules? It’s about meeting and exceeding Consumer demand, not building walls and making battle plans. History demonstrates with cyclical regularity that reality always catches up with the disconnected.

America… Tag. You’re it.