tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140506531679956515.post2053371275011902067..comments2023-11-03T07:39:32.473-06:00Comments on The Well-Armed Lamb:<br><center><i>The Bleat Goes On!</i></center>: That Recession Ever'body Keeps Sayin' Is Over? Donchew B'leev It!Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!)http://www.blogger.com/profile/09205896988142798901noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140506531679956515.post-65934897578326336502010-02-11T14:23:30.696-07:002010-02-11T14:23:30.696-07:00thanks for taking the time to post such a long rep...thanks for taking the time to post such a long reply, jim...I don't disagree with any of it...Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!)https://www.blogger.com/profile/09205896988142798901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5140506531679956515.post-90744718567033419412010-02-11T11:08:53.659-07:002010-02-11T11:08:53.659-07:00Can't say I feel much sympathy for the folks w...Can't say I feel much sympathy for the folks who gambled on half-million (or more likely $1.5 or $2.5 mil) crackerboard McMansions,as they weren't buying a home that they needed, but an extension of their inflated egos and a public statement of their self-perceived worth in the Great Scheme of Things... Getting bitch-slapped by reality sucks, but the real pity is that the folks who orchestrated this fiasco got a pass on their malfeasance, due to some rented high-level accomplices in the Federal government. The high-level terrorists of Wall Street and their Ivy-League madrassas of morally depraved economic dogma,along with the sycophantic punditry of discredited 'Libertarian' so-called 'think tanks' should be taken to task on this issue,as well. <br /><br />Just for starters, 'economics' does not exist as a morally-neutral abstraction in number theory. <br /><br />Until the Great Depression, it was called "Political Economics", which reflected it's social or 'political' component. Through the efforts of folks like Alan Greenspan, the role of economist went from a practicing manager of tangible assets to keeper of the 'classical liberal' faith in laissez-faire or "anything goes" Capitalism. They perpetrated the great myth of economics being a 'science' and disavowed any moral culpability for their policies, which they claimed only were only dealing with abstractions, and hence were 'morally neutral'. <br /><br />On the face of this, it is a lie and a sham, for politics is entirely about the distribution of wealth in a society (the disbursement of the Commons), and economics is the practice and mechanism derived from those 'political' beliefs. <br /><br />These actions don't exist in a moral vacuum, and real world consequences should apply to people whose self-serving choices wreak havoc on the welfare of the society at large. Unbridled Greed, and the wanton destruction of peoples' lives were classically considered 'evil', because they were destructive of society, as-a-whole. Manipulation of peoples' lives for personal gain, was also regarded as 'evil', because it violated the primary tenet of ethical behavior -reciprocity; or more commonly, The Golden Rule, and undermined the power of Law over the rule of Ego,or Force...much too destructive to the social fabric,or social contract, to be allowed. <br /><br />Where I'm going with this is that should be more immediate penalties then depending on Karma to re-mediate the iniquities from some folks gaming the system. The idiots who will lose their McMansions(or pay multiple times their actual value) will be paying now. The corrupt members of the FIRE establishment (Finance,Insurance,& Real Estate) should also be paying at a level commensurate with their involvement,as only through a knowing collusion to defraud the buyers, would property values be allowed to be kited into the Stratosphere. Governmental bureaucrats and elected officials are not without blame in this as well, because they either were co-conspirators in the fraud, or negligent in the performance of their regulatory duties.wyamarushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03629517206685062989noreply@blogger.com