Hoarded Fiat Currency Units Are Arbitrary Liens On Other People's Initiative. It's Financial Sharecropping, Pure & Simple.

   (Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)

Eric Tymoigne writes that "Half of surveyed U.S. individuals saved 5% or less of their income."

Saving large amounts of denomination units? Does that make any sense at all?

Why should a dynamic electorate try to "save" EXCESSIVE amounts of their fiat? Citizens can't save Aggregate Public Initiative any more than they can individually save personal initiative. Initiative can only be invested when it appears ... or it's lost forever.

The only alternative is sacrificing teamwork by trying to hoard units denominating the personal initiative of other people, including emerging citizens (grandchildren). In other words, slavery, indentured servitude or sharecropping.

Yet hoarded fiat currency units are unproductive liens on other people's initiative (and your grandchildren's options). Savings beyond basic liquidity needs inevitably undermines current & future teamwork. That's why it's CALLED a "demand leakage." It's financial sharecropping, pure & simple. Otherwise, we would have called off D-Day back in 1944 and "saved" all that munitions output ... and those human lives as well.

If NeoLiberals (those promoting every man for himself) were remotely honest (or intelligent), they'd urge us to save lives and teamwork and other things, not just fixate on saving excessive amounts of fiat denomination units (which is what they secretly crave). NeoLiberalism is merely a psychological disorder. One of endless flavors of obsessive-compulsive behavior.

Why do voters preferentially elect OCD patients who obsess over saving excessive amounts of fiat? Why not elect people obsessed with saving other things? Lives? Democracy? Real output? National capabilities? Cultural Adaptive Rate? Our grandchildren's options? What's so uniquely special about nominal accounting numerals?

Maybe only an association of sports coaches can save us. After all, there's no "i" in teamwork. Only in unregulated capitalism.

To pursue the absurdity, is there no "i" in teamwork ONLY because most "me, me, me" is hoarded in politics? If we reform politics, will all sports teams fall apart? What are we afraid of? Cross contamination, or cross training?

Do we have to amend Jefferson's maxim, and insert a clause into our Constitution requiring that we formally regulate the ratio of personal greed to teamwork, to keep that ratio within survival tolerance limits for our social species? Shouldn't that be obvious, after the last 100K years? Or is homo sapiens regressing into homo saps?

Preamble to a Constitutional Amendment banning financial Benedict Arnolds:

"[NeoLiberal capitalists] have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their [stolen, fiat liens]." Thomas Jefferson

Hell, I'd vote for that amendment.

Rubin-Horton Who’s A Conscience

(Commentary posted by Roger Erickson)

How ignoring climate change could sink the US economy

That's all true. But coming from Robert Rubin, of all people? Yes. He recently posted a claim that he really does have a conscience. Oddly, rather than apologizing for having Brooksley Borne muzzled, repealing the Glass-Steagall act and robbing the US Middle Class on a massive scale, Rubin chose to distract his growing critics with a morality claim about global warming.

Huh?

Maybe this fulfills a childhood duty, to someday, somewhere disorient all the victims with a nominal act of ritual penance. Has Rubin-Horton picked a ritual WHO to pretend to hear? Something to indicate that he does have at least of some sort conscience? Or is this just a standard "look over there!" ploy to divert our attention?

One can almost picture Robby as a child, discussing dynasty plans with a relative.

Rubin-relative: “Listen, Robby. Your #1 responsibility is to grow up and sequester more demand-leakages for the family.”
Robert Rubin: “From where?” 

Rubin-relative: “From your neighbors, others, the country … who cares? The important thing is to hoard huge amounts of demand-leakages.”
Robert Rubin: “What’s a demand-leakage?” 

Rubin-relative: “Anything they got, son. Anything they got. If you take what’s theirs, then you have power over them. That’s what we want.”
Robert Rubin: “What for?” 

Rubin-relative: “What for? Don’t be some Mack stuck at the bottom, Robbie. You wanna be a Yertle, someone who’s better than others, and gets lots of nice toys. We either stick together as a family and screw this country first, or they might remain strong enough to survive us. Capiche? There’s no room for a conscience.”
Robert Rubin: “I guess. But at school we’re told that having a conscience is good, and necessary if we want this country to maintain a social conscience! Why can’t both the neighbors and us all become better off?” 

Rubin-relative: “Conscience, smoncience! You listen to me. We came here to get ahead of others, not to build no damn democracy. You start talking conscience & you’ll end up like those fools who wrote the US Constitution. Most of them died poor!!!”
Robert Rubin: “But I LIKE having a conscience!” 

Rubin-relative: “Fine. Once you get rich, you can BUY some token conscience. Just don’t overspend. You wouldn’t wanna let YOUR family down, now would you?”
Robert Rubin: “I get it! Okay, I promise. When I grow up, I’ll get so rich that I’ll buy the whole Congress! Then I can show people I have a conscience, and can buy as much of it as I want, no matter how much stuff we sequester from others.” 

Rubin-relative: “That’s my boy! Now you’re talking big stuff.”

Robert Rubin? Conscience? SOCIAL CONSCIENCE? Is any combo of Rubin & conscience an oxymoron?

Perhaps it’s just Robert Rubin’s way of saying that he’s gonna go into the global warming insurance business.

After that pond’s all fished out, what’s next?

Will Rubin, et al try to sell derivatives on Solar System insurance? Who’ll be left to buy that policy ... and get screwed on an even bigger scale? God? And does little Robbie really think he’ll be able to collect? Maybe he should go back to that childish inner voice, and see if it’s still asking “why” - before it’s too late.

No fun in being Yertle once there's no Mack left.