Chris Herrington, Contributing Writer
I’ve been asking about this for years, but I am still not really satisfied with the answer I get to my central question: “If those who educationally fail to observe business practices are doomed to poverty because of their own lack of understanding, can’t this same logic be used by the bigger fish against the middle-sized fish?” How many semi-big fish got caught up in Enron or Bernie Madoff’s schemes? Sure, what they did was illegal, but it is like being in a car wreck and getting an insurance check: Which would you rather have, 2 million dollars or your eye sight? I know plenty of investors who lost their shirts in those deals, and yet they seemed like upstanding adventures to be involved with. The protection was very little and the criminal charges and outcome seem small compared to the damage they caused. Most of the real villains suffered little compared to the suffering of the many they ran over in their sprees.
But, I want to dig a little deeper still on this project of trying to understand how the economy could possibly heal and what really went wrong. Where I lose track is when we blame the people who borrowed instead of those who loaned the money. Certainly, if those who borrowed knowingly lied on their paperwork concerning their assets and ability to pay, they were dead wrong. But, it is the job of the lender to ferret that stuff out and not make a bad loan. I have not heard of anyone going to jail over either giving false information or, from the other side, from making bad loans. There were charge offs for sure, 10’s of billions for several companies. Many just went into protection and resurfaced after a brief Chapter 11 stint, and the stock investors took a beating. Why didn’t anyone go to jail? No laws were broken! It’s that plain and simple. If we had had laws in place that met that need, we would have nailed those suckers, but there were no laws, no regulations to prohibit the entire process from going haywire.
Now, why don’t those who run these industries want regulations? They don’t want to break any laws when they do it again. It would prohibit them, and thus it might inhibit them from doing it again. But no such regulations are on the horizon. No promises are going to be broken. No laws will be broken. No regulators will be looking over anyone’s shoulders. It is a buy beware market, right? If you have a herd of lawyers, you are better protected all the way around, but without that, you are a sitting duck. Even if you are right, they can simply tie you up in court for eternity.
No matter how middle class, upper middle class, lower upper class, or middle upper class you are, even the billionaires are subject to hostile take overs and trickery. They call this civilization, but Darwin would see this more as a carnival ride in Carnivore Land. We believe as a nation that God made us as human beings and that we have souls and are sacred to God’s plan, but that is only until you are born, and after that it is every man, woman, and child for him or herself, really.
So, the only thing that “protects” the middle wealthy is the illusion that they have enough money to protect them. Really? But, they don’t want to control the wealthy, who might get cocky and bloodthirsty, because the same tactics they forbid for those above them would then be prohibiting for them to use those same tactics on those below them. Okay, so the reason that we don’t go after those who hire illegal aliens is because……? I mean, who hires them? http://www.wehirealiens.com/ It turns out that lots of people do. But that means that we have to be willing to do something about it, not just pay lip service to it by complaining. And the reason that the little stores do it is because the big stores do it and create an advantage. In the world of business the edge or advantage is the % that you can subtract from your costs in order to be able to compete with your competitors. If you have a brand name edge, it is the premium you can charge because of your fame and respect. If you can obtain the supplies cheaper, then you have a price advantage of being able to value add to the resources that is a greater margin of profit right out of the gate. The bigger you are, the more advantages you have. And the upper 1% has the best overall set of advantages of all in every category.
That is some smart horse trading, Friends. Unless it is some double-dealing, bottom of the deck card-sharking. So, why don’t the middle rich fear the upper rich? The upper rich owe them nothing. I’ll tell you: They are risk takers.
In the world of business, the nouveau riche are the bungee jumping champions. They can fly, jump, catapult, and swim under water better than anyone, but when they fail, they fail miserably! They take the big chances, and they know it. They are the ones who are most likely to say, “The guy who takes the chances makes the big bucks.” They are the idea guys, and they front the initial money and sweat equity. You bet your sweet behind they take the risks.
So, my call for taking heed against the fall of the 99% does not come completely out of some kumbaya sense of compassion. I mean, after being given a free public education, free public libraries, and years of support with medical, housing, and food assistance, many people are more socially retarded than ever. This is harsh, but it’s the only way I know how to express the feelings I have about many families’ being on welfare generation after generation while outsiders from India, Viet Nam, or Iran seem to make their way, value education, and are able in a single generation to pass along a family business. I know!
What gets me is that for the sake of thumbing our noses that those who have been caught up in this haymaker, we seem to have forgotten that we all signed up for the American adventure. The marines say, “Leave no man behind.” http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/no-man-left-behind-t1416.html The question is not who or which or why, but how. How are we going to rescue these people from this debacle? Did they allow themselves to get too close to the fire, oh, yeah. But, it could happen to anyone. The closer you are to the bottom, the more likely that it will happen, and over and over and over again. Can we save them all? Forget that. Should we do what we can to recoup those who will listen? Should we do anything at all?
There is this guy standing at the bus station. You are a Christian, and you could share the gospel with him, but you are on a schedule and need to get going. You can’t share the gospel with everyone; there are just too many people in the world.
You’ve got to have a life, right? Your co-workers? Too unprofessional. Your neighbors? You hate to be pushy. Your family? Those reprobates? Time to get the oil changed and hit the racquetball courts. Maybe another time. This goes on year after year. Bus, train, plane, automobile, work, play, yard work, boating, NASCAR, concert, vacation home, and facial. Very good. “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” You can see how I’m conflicted here. IF we worked as hard for the little old blue haired widows and orphans as we do to vocalize our outrage about needing less regulations and smaller government, we might actually keep some more of these kids in church instead of their learning the value of cyber life as an extension of their on-line persona in the search for fame in a world that is based on making sure that we are networked for humiliation and hubris, waiting for the day when the stock options pass through probate on their way to pay for plastic surgery and a couture handbag.
Praise the Lord!
runnigturtle87
