A theme has been running through my head for some time. I wasn't really aware of it at all until Rick Santelli had a melt down live on CNBC a couple or three weeks ago. After that it became a vague notion floating around in my brain, but it wasn't ready to be a full thought yet. Then I saw Barack Obama's de facto State of the Union Address that promised untold dollars spent on every possible solution for every ailment America knows. That really got things percolating. Finally, today, the connections and concepts came like a torrent of evidence in a trial or steps in a mathematical proof. I am a student of a few seemingly somewhat disconnected disciplines that have given me an odd insight into our current economic, political, and social situation. I have taught and studied sociology, religion, psychology, government, and economics. Separately, they're quite interesting. Combined, they form who we are as a nation.
The theme that I mention runs through all of the world's major religions. You can find it in the Jewish Torah. As the people of Israel wandered through the desert, they continually sought relief from their suffering and want. But it was Moses and the Law that told them to wait until they reached the promised land. In Christianity, the theme is obvious. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is complete and all-encompassing, but followers must fore go their earthly desires for the reward that awaits them in heaven. In Buddhism, this concept is clear. There is the assumption that the middle road, or moderation is a key to enlightenment. In Hinduism the concept of Karma carries our theme nicely. To do something that hurts another and brings us joy now, will not benefit us ultimately. Finally, in Islam the concept of doing right and suffering or even becoming a martyr makes our theme clear. And so, this theme, furthered by all the great religions has become a part of America's secular theology. It is part of who we are. To be sure, the United States of America were established under Christian principles, but this theme fits under the umbrella of all religions. We can argue later if all religions can fit neatly under the American umbrella. I believe they can, but that's another argument for another day.
The theme is delayed gratification. It has been a basic tenant of the American experience. Look at the writings of Ben Franklin. Read the speeches of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Consider the philosophy of Thomas Locke. They all speak to this common theme of delayed gratification. In fact, in psychology, there is an old study done and re-done to prove the importance of delayed gratification. One such study examines the link between the linguistic capacity of Inuit children and their ability to delay gratification. No surprise, the ability to delay gratification correlates directly to the child's success in learning. The original study suggested correlations between delayed gratification and overall personal success.
And so, here we are, in 2008. Having just witnessed consecutive years of negative savings rates. Having lived through a terrorist attack after which we were encouraged to spend money. To be sure, this exhortation on the part of our President was wise. Economic activity helped to bolster our confidence as well as countless businesses during this trying time. But somewhere between World War II and 2002, the concept of delayed gratification died and the American Work Ethic right along with it, or at least they became critically ill. As I grew up in the 70s and 80s my parents and I found the collection of canned goods in my grandparents' basement a curiosity. It was comical to watch them hoard food for a rainy day that never came. Sure, we had a pretty bad stretch when Jimmy Carter was President. We coined two wonderful terms that may be on their way back into the American lexicon: Stagflation and the Misery Index. But even then, the notion of saving food that had been grown in a garden was somehow laughable. It was curious to watch them shun the window unit air conditioner on hot summer days. Why not just close the windows and flip it on? "You don't need it." my grandfather would say. What a curious thought.
That tough time during the 70s gave rise to another concept. Consumer credit. MasterCharge and Diner's Club began making it possible for customers to buy now and pay later. And so it began. And here we are. Here we are 35 years later after having several years of negative savings as a nation. Here we are with untold amounts of consumer debt. Here we are with houses that are finally returning to their rightful values. Remember, we used those houses to finance our cars, pools, basements, clothes and other things we thought we needed. And now the solution, if you ask our President, is to keep it rolling. Swipe the card. Spend money now. Pay later. Saddle your kids with a mountain of debt. After all, we can't let the banks fail! WHY NOT!? Assume one bank fails. Assume they're forced to give up on future payments on the loans they made. Some other institution will be happy to buy those contracts for pennies on the dollar. Somewhere down the line we'll find a baseline. And the winners will be solvent banks and people who paid their mortgage each month. The winners will be those who decided that, despite the fact that their house was worth less than the value of their loan, they'd continue to honor their commitments and do what was right. And the losers will learn clear and painful lessons. Don't make loans you can't count on. Don't borrow at terms you can't afford. To be sure, these lessons will be hard, but the alternative being proffered is to ignore our problem and move forward while supporting failed business models and rewarding those who took a risk and lo
Let's get back to our roots as a nation. Let's return to who we are and do what we're supposed to do. Let's allow poorly run businesses to fail. Let's not reward cheaters with assistance they don't deserve. If a neighbor, or family member loses their home, reach out to them on a personal level. Be compassionate. Take them in. But let's not pay their defunct mortgage for them! I wouldn't do that for my closest friends. So why should I do it for total strangers knowing that the Federal Government will be the one administering the cash?
If we flood the markets with all this cash it will almost certainly lead to a level of inflation that will NOT benefit the economy in the long run. But that's another economics lesson for another day.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, October 6, 2008
Get out and romp!
So, this buddy of mine in the Pacific northwest is a big fan of being outside. He's got a blog here, getoutandromp.blogspot.com and I have to give him his due, I did go out and romp through the woods in my greenspace neighborhood. OUTSTANDING walk! I'll try and get some photos posted next week after my walk, but we have quite the nice set of shoals along with a beautiful trail. I'm loving this outside thing. Also, helps that it was sunny and about 80 today instead of, well, July.
Anyway, Thanks My Friend!
Anyway, Thanks My Friend!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
NFL Thoughts and some Political Ranting
I sat and thought and mulled and worried about what to do with my first real post. I mean, this is huge right? I mean, if this isn't good, no one will read my blog... Yeah, whatever, I don't care. I'm writing what I'd write any one day and we'll see if anyone cares. If not, oh well. Here goes.
I spend most weekends in the fall watching football or going to football games. When the DAWGS are in Athens, it's automatic. When they're on the road, I'm usually there. I even went to Tempe this year. Great trip, awesome win.
On the NFL Week 5
My first thoughts after the early games is that it's amazing to me how much the NFL is coming to resemble the NBA in the feel and flow of the games. One team can look entirely dominant early in the game and then fall flat before halftime.
Case in point, the Philadelphia Eagles today. I watched the first quarter of this game and assumed it was over. They made the Redskins look completely lost and ineffective. So, I turn my attention elsewhere. Later I notice that Philly hasn't scored and that the Skins have cut the lead to 5. OK, whatever, Skins kicked three field goals. The Eagles will add a TD and that'll be it. WRONG!!! The Skins outscore the Eagles 23 - 3 in the last three quarters and win it 23 - 17.
Meanwhile in Houston, the Texans have decided to officially commence Peyton Manning's transition into the new Dan Marino. (You know, the really great QB who never seems to have the support he needs to win. The guy who obviously has all the tools, but spends a lot of time bossing his receivers around.) Don't get me wrong, I love Dan Marino, despite his Sugar Bowl performance vs my DAWGS in the 80s. And I like Peyton too, he's a supernice guy who does and says all the right things, but lately, he's been kind of a whiner. Not cool. Anyway, the Texans are rolling in front of a home crowd that is still reeling from a killer hurricane that totally decimated their city. (Why don't we hear more about how bad Houston was hit?) Well, the Colts scored 21 in the last two-plus minutes to win it 31-27. OUCH! How does an implosion like that happen. I mean, I watched it, but the whole time I'm thinking, who did Peyton make a deal with to get this kind of luck/karma? Crazy stuff.
Two coaches and their questionable performances cuaght my attention Sunday as well. One is a guy whose reputation has ALWAYS been baffling to me. Herman Edwards enjoyed great adoration when he was with the Jets...for no reason as best I can tell. He was 49-51 in five seasons and managed two post-season wins. Yes, the playoffs are an automatic ticket-punch to a contract extension, usually. But Edwards' teams were just awful in his last two seasons and then...the Cheifs made complete idiots of themselves to steal him away from a franchise that was more than happy to let him go. Oh yeah, the Jets put up a fight and made a big stink about the Cheifs "tampering" etc, but really, when a team let's a coach go in exchange for a fourth round draft pick, how serious are they about keeping a guy? Anyway, the Cheifs got smoked by the Panthers today...34-0. 34-0? Really? I know the Panthers are pretty good, but GEEZE! They're not THAT good.
The other doofus of the day is Norv Turner with the Chargers. I love Norv. I do. What he did with Dallas in the 90s made me a really happy guy. I was a giant Cowboys fan when the triplets were running all over the field. (I still think Troy Aikman, for all the publicity and accolades, is one of the more overrated QBs in NFL history. I mean, he was clearly good, but not that good. Emmitt Smith, Michael Irivin, Jay Novacek, Darryl Johnston, and that massive O-line could make any QB feel safe and happy.) But since leaving Big D Norv has been positively mediocre. Dan Snyder assembled the NFL dream team for him in Washington and he flopped miserably. Yes, the tenure in Oakland can be excused, especially considering what we learned from Warren Sapp this week on Inside the NFL. But where does all this respect for Norv come from? Now, he's managing a Chargers team that looks positively lost despite having the league's most talented RB and one of the best young QBs in the game. Rivers can put the ball almost anywhere and LT could avoid a tackle in a phone booth. (BTW, they should start building those again. The big ones! Wouldn't it be great to sneak into one of those when your cell rings? I mean, charge me a quarter to duck in there and talk without all the noise of the street or a restaurant.) So, yeah, Norv and Herman, fooling the league. Someone give me a call when these guys do something that looks good.
Finally, I come to the Falcons. Being a life-long Georgian, the Falcons have always been a curiosity of some interest. I grew up a Cowboys fan and followed them faithfully until Jerry Jones started developing into the NFL's George Steinbrenner. Tank and Pac-Man were the last straw for me. So, while pulling for the Steelers with The Wife, I keep a curious eye on the Home Team. And I'll be dang if they didn't look good today. Nothing more impressive than watching them gather some first downs on the ground late in the game. Coach Smith has really started to change the look of the team in order to make them a more serious running threat. To go up to Lambeau and pull out that win today while Aaron Rodgers was channelling Brett Favre, great job. Serious credit to Rodgers for starting, playing pretty well, and almost pulling one out! Good game all around and big kudos to Coach Smith and the whole team. Fun to see.
On Politics...A Quick Hit
I am conservative both politically and fiscally. On a personal note, I'm pretty liberal. If what you are doing doesn't infringe on my rights or make my world a worse place to live, go for it. Now, when your drug habit kills someone because you got behind the wheel, well, let's just have a special jail cell for you.
Anyway, I'm watching the VP debate Thursday (Palin, yeah, OK, she was successful because she didn't totally freak out and wet herself or anything) and I hear Joe Biden blame the Bush administration for our current economic woes. Now, I'm not going to tell you that GW and the GOP doesn't bear some blame. Lord knows, there's enough blame to spread around all over the place on this one, but for him to assign it to GW and pretend that's the real truth makes me wonder. Do politicians really believe their own BS? I mean, does Biden really think that GW is to blame for all of this? Whether the answer is yes, or no, we've got a problem. If he DOES believe that GW is as responsible as he suggests, then he's uninformed and that bothres me. If he DOESN'T believe it, HE'S A LIAR!? So, what bothers us more? I can't decide. I mean, I personally believe that he's a liar. I think he knows that GW isn't nearly as culpable as he's suggesting, but he's doing it for political reasons. The problem with that is, millions of people are taking what he's saying at face value. They think he's telling the truth and they're going to base their voting behavior on his words.
Here's some concrete proof that Biden's blame game is weak on substance.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print
Here are a couple excerpts from the article from September of '99:
'Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.'''
So yeah, Joe, it's all GW's fault. Does he bear some blame, sure, but to call this thing the result of "Failed Bush Economic policies" is just a little disingeniune. Tell the whole truth, the country needs it.
I spend most weekends in the fall watching football or going to football games. When the DAWGS are in Athens, it's automatic. When they're on the road, I'm usually there. I even went to Tempe this year. Great trip, awesome win.
On the NFL Week 5
My first thoughts after the early games is that it's amazing to me how much the NFL is coming to resemble the NBA in the feel and flow of the games. One team can look entirely dominant early in the game and then fall flat before halftime.
Case in point, the Philadelphia Eagles today. I watched the first quarter of this game and assumed it was over. They made the Redskins look completely lost and ineffective. So, I turn my attention elsewhere. Later I notice that Philly hasn't scored and that the Skins have cut the lead to 5. OK, whatever, Skins kicked three field goals. The Eagles will add a TD and that'll be it. WRONG!!! The Skins outscore the Eagles 23 - 3 in the last three quarters and win it 23 - 17.
Meanwhile in Houston, the Texans have decided to officially commence Peyton Manning's transition into the new Dan Marino. (You know, the really great QB who never seems to have the support he needs to win. The guy who obviously has all the tools, but spends a lot of time bossing his receivers around.) Don't get me wrong, I love Dan Marino, despite his Sugar Bowl performance vs my DAWGS in the 80s. And I like Peyton too, he's a supernice guy who does and says all the right things, but lately, he's been kind of a whiner. Not cool. Anyway, the Texans are rolling in front of a home crowd that is still reeling from a killer hurricane that totally decimated their city. (Why don't we hear more about how bad Houston was hit?) Well, the Colts scored 21 in the last two-plus minutes to win it 31-27. OUCH! How does an implosion like that happen. I mean, I watched it, but the whole time I'm thinking, who did Peyton make a deal with to get this kind of luck/karma? Crazy stuff.
Two coaches and their questionable performances cuaght my attention Sunday as well. One is a guy whose reputation has ALWAYS been baffling to me. Herman Edwards enjoyed great adoration when he was with the Jets...for no reason as best I can tell. He was 49-51 in five seasons and managed two post-season wins. Yes, the playoffs are an automatic ticket-punch to a contract extension, usually. But Edwards' teams were just awful in his last two seasons and then...the Cheifs made complete idiots of themselves to steal him away from a franchise that was more than happy to let him go. Oh yeah, the Jets put up a fight and made a big stink about the Cheifs "tampering" etc, but really, when a team let's a coach go in exchange for a fourth round draft pick, how serious are they about keeping a guy? Anyway, the Cheifs got smoked by the Panthers today...34-0. 34-0? Really? I know the Panthers are pretty good, but GEEZE! They're not THAT good.
The other doofus of the day is Norv Turner with the Chargers. I love Norv. I do. What he did with Dallas in the 90s made me a really happy guy. I was a giant Cowboys fan when the triplets were running all over the field. (I still think Troy Aikman, for all the publicity and accolades, is one of the more overrated QBs in NFL history. I mean, he was clearly good, but not that good. Emmitt Smith, Michael Irivin, Jay Novacek, Darryl Johnston, and that massive O-line could make any QB feel safe and happy.) But since leaving Big D Norv has been positively mediocre. Dan Snyder assembled the NFL dream team for him in Washington and he flopped miserably. Yes, the tenure in Oakland can be excused, especially considering what we learned from Warren Sapp this week on Inside the NFL. But where does all this respect for Norv come from? Now, he's managing a Chargers team that looks positively lost despite having the league's most talented RB and one of the best young QBs in the game. Rivers can put the ball almost anywhere and LT could avoid a tackle in a phone booth. (BTW, they should start building those again. The big ones! Wouldn't it be great to sneak into one of those when your cell rings? I mean, charge me a quarter to duck in there and talk without all the noise of the street or a restaurant.) So, yeah, Norv and Herman, fooling the league. Someone give me a call when these guys do something that looks good.
Finally, I come to the Falcons. Being a life-long Georgian, the Falcons have always been a curiosity of some interest. I grew up a Cowboys fan and followed them faithfully until Jerry Jones started developing into the NFL's George Steinbrenner. Tank and Pac-Man were the last straw for me. So, while pulling for the Steelers with The Wife, I keep a curious eye on the Home Team. And I'll be dang if they didn't look good today. Nothing more impressive than watching them gather some first downs on the ground late in the game. Coach Smith has really started to change the look of the team in order to make them a more serious running threat. To go up to Lambeau and pull out that win today while Aaron Rodgers was channelling Brett Favre, great job. Serious credit to Rodgers for starting, playing pretty well, and almost pulling one out! Good game all around and big kudos to Coach Smith and the whole team. Fun to see.
On Politics...A Quick Hit
I am conservative both politically and fiscally. On a personal note, I'm pretty liberal. If what you are doing doesn't infringe on my rights or make my world a worse place to live, go for it. Now, when your drug habit kills someone because you got behind the wheel, well, let's just have a special jail cell for you.
Anyway, I'm watching the VP debate Thursday (Palin, yeah, OK, she was successful because she didn't totally freak out and wet herself or anything) and I hear Joe Biden blame the Bush administration for our current economic woes. Now, I'm not going to tell you that GW and the GOP doesn't bear some blame. Lord knows, there's enough blame to spread around all over the place on this one, but for him to assign it to GW and pretend that's the real truth makes me wonder. Do politicians really believe their own BS? I mean, does Biden really think that GW is to blame for all of this? Whether the answer is yes, or no, we've got a problem. If he DOES believe that GW is as responsible as he suggests, then he's uninformed and that bothres me. If he DOESN'T believe it, HE'S A LIAR!? So, what bothers us more? I can't decide. I mean, I personally believe that he's a liar. I think he knows that GW isn't nearly as culpable as he's suggesting, but he's doing it for political reasons. The problem with that is, millions of people are taking what he's saying at face value. They think he's telling the truth and they're going to base their voting behavior on his words.
Here's some concrete proof that Biden's blame game is weak on substance.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print
Here are a couple excerpts from the article from September of '99:
'Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
In moving, even tentatively, into this new area of lending, Fannie Mae is taking on significantly more risk, which may not pose any difficulties during flush economic times. But the government-subsidized corporation may run into trouble in an economic downturn, prompting a government rescue similar to that of the savings and loan industry in the 1980's.
''From the perspective of many people, including me, this is another thrift industry growing up around us,'' said Peter Wallison a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. ''If they fail, the government will have to step up and bail them out the way it stepped up and bailed out the thrift industry.'''
So yeah, Joe, it's all GW's fault. Does he bear some blame, sure, but to call this thing the result of "Failed Bush Economic policies" is just a little disingeniune. Tell the whole truth, the country needs it.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Welcome
So, I'm new to this and don't really know what I'll be musing on first, so I'll give it a day or so in order to make sure my first post is a good one. For now, GO DAWGS!
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