I hate to get into a debate with you, Chris, because debates with you never seem to end. And I partly agree with you that currency speculators as well as speculators of various other kinds to play a significant role in making life miserable for others. One thing I read recently isVicky Ward's "The Devils Casino" which dealt with what went on in Lehman Brothers and how that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. Interesting book!
Nevertheless, I'd stand by my original point that we have somehow come to expect far more out of government than it is able to provide out of its limited tax base. So government, wanting to stay elected, borrows to give us at least a measure of what we want and thereby can accumulate huge debts. Government must also keep the economy in a state of minimum disorder, which can, if necessary, mean bank bailouts like the US TARP program and it may feel it has to do whatever is possible to keep automobile producers and their labour force going. Again huge borrowings may be needed. And of course it must fight wars, which may again require huge expenditures funded by borrowing. It is not only government, however. Because everyone in the advanced world feels entitled to the good life, consumers on average are way over their head in dept. I'm not saying that Soros and your other predators have nothing to do with it. All I'm saying is that we are all guilty. We live in an age of high expectations but limited possibilities. Ed ----- Original Message ----- From: "Christoph Reuss" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 10:23 AM Subject: Re: [Futurework] FW: The European Union's Dangerous Game > Ed Weick wrote: >> It would be great to be able to blame the kinds of crisis that is now >> hitting the Eurozone on single individuals. All you would then have to >> do >> is yank George Soros out of his private jet or penthouse and put him in >> solitary confinement under heavy guard. The crisis would then be over >> and >> the world could begin to mend. > > Let's try that for a year (not Soros alone, of course) and see what > happens. > > Do you think the stock casino is populated by gods ("the invisible hand") > or by individuals who do the gambling in order to gain billions? > > >> Unfortunately its not like that. George >> Soros may be a little more to blame than the rest of us, but not much. >> We >> are all to blame. Like the Greeks, we expect an awful lot of our >> governments. Being run by politicians who want to get re-elected, >> governments tend to give us what we expect. And of course there are >> things >> they've committed to do, on our behalf they say, like fight in >> Afghanistan. >> To do all of the things we want them to do or they can pretend we want >> them >> to do governments must either tax us heavily or borrow heavily. Since >> taxing us heavily is enormously unpopular their only option is to borrow >> heavily, so that is what they do. So let's not blame George Soros. >> Let's >> blame ourselves and stop expecting governments to do everything for us. > > What does currency SPECULATION trading have to do with lending credits > that > were requested by governments?? It is this speculation that steals > billions > without providing any benefit for the countries, even if they're > borrowing. > > When Soros "broke the bank of England", he wasn't lending -- he was > speculating > with a certain goal: rip-off. > > And as far as lending is concerned: Who forces those billionaires to reap > such high interest rates, anyway? Aren't they rich enough already, and > don't they claim to be philanthropists? Then why not charge much lower > interest rates, or even renounce on interest at all? > > When you blame "the masses", do you really believe they would vote FOR > high > interest rates (in borrowing) and FOR billionaires' speculation gambling, > if given a vote? If you ask me, "the masses" would vote for the opposite. > But they don't get a chance to vote on that. Still, you blame them. > > >> P.S.: One factor contributing to rising government costs is aging >> populations. As we age we stop working and need more care. > > Another lame excuse to blame "the masses" and defend the Predators. > Guess what, people have paid for their pension funds all their life > (at least in Europe) -- the problems began when Predators began to > speculate/gamble with pension funds, ripping them off by billions! > > Chris > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the > keyword > "igve". > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
