The Depths of My Genius

I am a genius. I can prove this undeniably, unequivocally, and with all absolute positivity - at least in my own mind.

Some while back, I posted a brain-bomb when one of my regular reads dangled an exceptionally tempting-looking carrot in front of my face:

At September 23, 2008 4:39 PM, allee

Doooooood. You chose some of my favoritest subjects today: The economy and the Depression.

Since I feel the Federal Reserve Act was a crime perpetrated against the American people, I cannot help but feel this "bailout" is little more than saying the first crime was no big deal and allowing a second to justify the first. Like we decided it was okay to knock an old lady down to steal her purse then letting the thief came back to kick her and rob her again because he forgot her wedding band. And laughing about it.

The central bank creates an environment leading us where we seem all too willing to follow - false manipulation of the markets to tweak a penny until it screams for the benefit of the banking elite followed by, unfortunately, the inevitable fast and hard blow in the form of recession that (of course) strikes the little guy below the belt just because he bought food and shelter instead of a nut cup.

The more manipulation, the harder the retaliation by the economy; much like in physics, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Factor in the natural ebb and flow of the economy and you've got a disaster waiting to happen. LIKE THE ENVIRONMENT, the economy has mechanisms of self-correction. We don't like how those make us feel, though; they don't leave us feeling all warm and gooey inside, so we try to avoid them by manipulating the system. But like water behind a dam, stuffing bubble gum in one hole doesn't keep the water from flowing, it only forces the water to find another outlet. Eventually, (and I love this analogy, so I use and over-abuse it) we experience the financial equivalent of Teton... The Great Depression.

Unfortunately, we didn't learn the lessons taught to us by history, so we are doomed to repeat it. We've allowed much more sophisticated manipulation and on much grander scale since the time of the Great Depression. Those self-corrections will be much harsher than those of the past and, in turn, the results far worse. I know I've ranted my doom and gloom before, last time you dangled this subject in front of me, but I say it again. The next Depression will be far more devastating than the last - economically and socially.

This is interesting reading, if you're interested:

http://www.kwaves.com/kond_overview.htm

Okay, I know you probably think I am a lunatic, that I drank a little too much Kool-Aid or maybe was dropped on my head too many times as an infant. You may be right, except for the Kool-Aid Part, since the only sugar in liquid form I drink is Mountain Dew. But aren't all geniuses a little weird around the edges?

Once again, I was right. Once again, I was ignored by pretty much everyone. But instead of saying "I told you so," I'll just let you in on a little secret: It's time to prepare for the final meltdown - NOW.

Have you ever watched footage of the Teton collapse? Fascinated by this event, never having learned about it in school but on (I believe) the History Channel some months back, I began reading about it, interested and wanting to know more. That was when I had my "epiphany." Our economic system and the markets of its operation are man-made constructs, subject to the same faults of engineers but also subject to falling victim to human greed. The economic version of the Teton breached and ruptured once already. Instead of taking instruction from the mistakes of our past, moving forward yet leaving the ghastly remains of our failure in plain sight so as not to repeat it, we just started shovelling even more dirt in the hole, rebuilding that same damn dam on the site of the first, burying that failure and hoping it will be soon forgotten.

Time passes, memories fade, and eventually those of the generation that survived the first rampaging flood pass away, future generations not learning from the experiences of their fathers and their father's fathers. Except someday, the water will once again leak through those same cracks as it did the first time.

(This may seem like diverging off topic, but now you will see my true genius)

The environment, nature, Planet Earth, has series of natural cycles, rhythms, waves. Whatever terminology you prefer, the premise behind all is that there are upswings and downswings. There is a rich geological and archaeological record documenting the planet's - as in GLOBAL - warming and cooling periods dating back millennia. What causes this? Is it Man, plundering natural resources and polluting the ecosystem and creating global warming? Absolutely not. In fact, Man has little to do with it. Global warming (and cooling) results from the combination of planetary tilt and rotation, orbital deviations, gravitational pulls by other celestial bodies, and even the movement of our solar system within the Milky Way and the galaxy's course across the universe. Nothing will EVER occupy the same "place" twice in an infinite universe in which all components are in continuous motion right down to the atomic level. (Is that profound, or what?) Astrophysics on steroids.

Lesson #1: Man is but an insignificant speck when considered in context of an infinite universe. All things being equal, the entire population of planet Earth, all 6.6 billion of us - including me - is but an insignificant speck when considered in context of an infinite universe.
Lesson #2: Man is only a marginally more significant speck when considered in context of the finite proportions of Planet Earth. However, all things being equal, the entire population of planet Earth, all 6.6 billion of us, is just a really annoying parasite.

We (humans) glorify ourselves, thinking we are so important that we have the ability to effect some truly horrific, radical destruction of the Earth. In reality, the worst we could ever do would be to effect some truly horrific, radical destruction of ourselves as a species. Asteroids and comets have pummeled the face of the Earth, but the Earth has endured, nature has responded and adapted, improved upon itself, strengthened and grown, incorporating and enveloping that foreign space rock into itself. Even if we nuked the crap out of each other, Earth would endure, nature would respond and adapt, improve upon itself, strengthening and growing, incorporating and enveloping each of us back into itself. So are we really as powerful as we lead ourselves to believe?

Upswings and downswings. Any attempt we make to try to change the natural course of the environment will be met by an inherent self-correction. The more manipulation we exert, the harsher the correction: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Eventually, diddling around with it too much gives you the kind of situation you can watch in high-definition in movies like The Day After Tomorrow. (Yes, I know this is a movie, a work of fiction, but all creative works have some basis in reality.) We - as in humans, specifically ALL humans - got carried away and exacerbated and/or accelerated the natural cycles of the environment with our meddling; and nature responded, mitigating the effects of our abuses with what was best for the planet, even if it was not what was best for its inhabitants.

The economy is a dynamic, almost "living" entity, created by man but in many ways similar to the environment. Its very nature has endowed it with the ability to grow and adapt, giving it the same self-correction capabilities found in nature. The more we manipulate it, the harsher the correction. The meddling within the system is causing it to self-correct. Instead of allowing it to do so, further manipulation is attempted.

Eventually, just like the cracks the formed in the face of the Teton, the cracks begin to form within the economic structure; and eventually the breach will rupture and carry us all downstream. This is the ultimate in self-correction, the Body's capacity to maintain equilibrium, what is best for the economy, even if it is not what is best for the manipulators.

I saw a video clip a while back, Nancy Pelosi asking what was so great about the Great Depression? I'll tell her what was so great about it. It was a Great Opportunity for us to learn and grow and fill in the holes and gaps and cracks in that dam we insisted on rebuilding; but instead of learning, we shrugged it off - our Great Folly - and now we will pay the Great Price.