The Economic Crisis. Is It?
Posted: Saturday, November 27, 2010
by Terrence Aubrey
Terrence
As you probably are aware the economic crisis is not universal. No it is affecting diversely the "first world" countries far more adversely than elsewhere in the world and could well herald a shift globally of economic might.
I would be less than honest if I did not admit that world "power plays" do not interest me so much, but the possible collapse of the western worlds financial bedrock intrigues me.
Now from my limited understanding of what is happening "Hedge Funds" are speculating on the failure of certain countries to survive the turmoil of the worldwide economic crisis. Now as I have already admitted I have very limited understanding of how the world of "high finance" functions, but from my viewpoint it would seem to mean that if they bet that certain countries,Greece, Ireland, Portugal, etc go down, the members, investors, or owners of the hedge funds can win some money! Is that a clever way to run, or control the world?
Are these people aware that they are playing roulette with peoples lives, do they even care? Each of the countries that fails, that succumbs to the pressure that "market forces" can and does bring about faces years of austerity, unemployment and hardship and do you know the saddest and most ironic aspect of this entire and sorry state of affairs? A great many investors within these "Hedge funds" will be from the western world and that because "enough" is never enough" they could actually be helping to bring about the demise of the very system that they are investing in!
As I have already confessed I have no great economic grounding from which to air these views, but stupid, is stupid, no? Which would you rather a $1,000,000 and some place to enjoy it, or $10,000,000 and armageddon?
Actually my thoughts and concerns are not with the people that would bring about the collapse of the very system that they depend upon to remain super rich, my thoughts are with the foot soldiers that lose it. In Ireland and Greece they now have soup kitchens, yes some of these believers of the system of capitalism are now homeless and cannot even feed themselves! Yes we can accuse them of not being very smart in their economic dealings, but is the world of finance smart? Did the system of capitalism evolve into a complete and rounded view as to how, we the people of planet earth should divide the bounty and wealth that life and planet earth has bequeathed us, or did I blink and miss that?
It is sad and it is ironic, but the very collapse and implosion of Capitalism will be created by capitalists, or was that the Achilles heal built into the system?
The story unfolds even as I write this article, but the ride from here on in could become very interesting.
Terrence Aubrey
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Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)If capitalism were the only financial system that had greedy people taking advantage of others' greed, I'd say dump it. But people (usually the ones in control) profit in socialist and communist financial systems as well, and at the expense of the masses. Thanks for sharing your insight, Terrence.Yes you are right, in reality none of the systems we have in place right now function well, why? The human mind set. We need a completely different agenda, with a completely different set of values.......Will it happen, can we evolve and can we evolve soon enough? Tricky, no?
The fix is in Terrence. Everybody is big on saying that democracy without discipline is doomed to failure, but don't pay enough attention to the same with capitalism, which is doomed to the same fate. The governments responsibility is to maintain a level playing field between labor and business, but with the big bucks influencing the voting public they have managed to get corporate funding of elections, and influence over the judiciary to maintain it's edge, in this case 90% wealth to the top and the remaining 10% to be battled over by the remainder of society, the government and the judicial system is now owned by the wealthy. Unfortunately, they would rather cut their own throats, which in essence they are doing, rather than give up this kind of power and prestige. If an elected official makes to many waves, they will simply buy an uneducated puppet, throw a lot of money into their campaign to get them elected, and wa-la, power over the people. Elections are simply an illusion of participation, which helps to keep the masses pacified. Nice thought provoking article.I do not know in depth the workings of the American system David,so I must bow to your greater understanding. It does seem from the comments above that many are aware of the deep and fundamental flaws worldwide of the ruling elite, but are we still to few to make any meaningful change?
The one thing I do know is that there is still time to do something about it, but worrying little.....
We all as the human race are still in the process of evolution. We perhaps someday will wake up to a new world order.Good articleThanks for your comment David.
I'm still not convinced, Terrence, that this doomsday idea of the collapse of capitalism that so many people are buying into is an accurate prediction of what will happen!I just write about what I see happening. I live near a very beautiful little Spanish village and within an area of great natural beauty. That beauty has not changed, or decreased one tiny drop, but it seems the country is in a terrible financial mess? So, so far its God 1 Humans 0. I,m not a betting man, but I think that "The winner is".................
The European Union is classical example of an organization which is doomed to fail.How in the world can one think, you can just negotiate and sign agreements and then everything is well. How are all the different cultures, churches, traditions, army, defense systems, economical interests, resources, financial structures and situations, to name a few elements, brought together in a big organization like that?How much does it cost all the various members, countries to run a huge organization, with all the politicians on the payroll and logistics involved?The “Hedge Funds” are just an element of all this created misery. Europe would be better off to start dissolving the EU and go back to the real roots.I believe there is a long way to go until all the individual countries in Europe and on the entire planet have economically collapsed.Yes Walter, clearly the European has had many design flaws since its inception. Perhaps it was an attempt to emulate the USA, but it overlooked many crucial distinctions, language, cultural and economic. It is difficult to see how it will be resolved given that the floundering countries need to stimulate their economies and create employment. The cutbacks and austerity measures being enforced upon the debtor nations will clearly have the reverse effect!
No I am not suggesting global economic amageddon, but a global shift between the so called first world and the rest. China for example seems to be on track to becoming the top dog very soon!
Thanks for your comment Lisa.
It is difficult to see how the bailouts are going to help more than the banks in many of these countries. The European dream has for many countries become a straight jacket as the individual countries have lost the economic tools for fixing their problems. Just about all of the countries you mention need to become more competitive globally and find a way of stimulating their economies, rather than impose even greater austerity measures.
I am not a believer in the conspiricy theories circling the planet, but the conditions attached to the bailouts that these countries are being given are more likely to push them deeper into spirals of poverty, rather than help them climb out of the respective holes they have created for themselves.
What actually is the thinking behind this and who are the people with the power and might to impose these conditions? If it is the banks, are they not the very people that got us into this mess?
It is interesting, Terrance, though even as someone without a lot of money I find it somewhat scarey. Could this be the Biblical, "the first shall be last"? It sure seems like the countries which have relied on capitalism are the ones who are going to come in last in this round of austerity measures. Maybe I should have invested in frontier property instead of the education of my children? I don't know, time will tell.Yes it is very interesting and for me the greatest paradox is that the custodians of the system seem to be unable to see the "wood for the trees". In the rush to save and prop up the massive institutions that have effectively controlled and guided us to this point, the real economy has been neglected. Within Europe now the situation is dire with the countries experiencing problems setting economic policies that become ever more autere, when in reality a country in recession needs the opposite, stimulation?
In the most recent example it seems that the people of Ireland will be paying for the mistakes of a few banks for the next 10 years, a strange scenario.
Time to learn chinese?
The whole economic system kind of intrigues me. I am not able to fathom why are these firms again running after people offering more loans to payback their unpaid credits? A new mistake to cover an old one? This sounds all the more disastrous to me.I just hope there is a new currency system that is more common for the world and less harming for the global economy. Thank you.Hi Interesting name, Drunken Mystic? Like to know the story....
Well I guess they think that is the best way of preserving the capital they have thrown into the ism. Not wishing to seem pessimistic, but hoping that the clowns that sit someplace up there on the top of the pile to fix the problems that they created is a little like hoping that "sharing" becomes the new big "HIT".If you would like to the story behind my name, then you would know from my articles. ;) ..Thanks!
Terrence, I suppose, as a parent, I've been paying close attention to world events for the past few years and shiver for our children's future - Thanks for sharing this!Maybe I am to optimistic, but I believe we can fix it, but not from the top down, they have been shown to be unable. We have to make whatever is left of democracy work for us, our children and mother earth.
We simply cannot allow a tiny minority of vested interest-super rich-somewhat demented individuals lead us down a path of failure and self destruction.
Well that is my opinion!
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