US Shale And The Slippery Slopes Of The Law
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DPC School Street and Parker House, Boston MA 1906 It’s been only two months since I last -again – addressed the shale industry, but apparently it’s s
[See the full post at: US Shale And The Slippery Slopes Of The Law]Equity prices are one thing, there’s a sucker born every minute after all, but I am not sure how of if the public is participating in the credit side. I always figured bank lending was the font of most credit for the frackers and if they can’t do their own due diligence so be it. I suppose maybe there are some sorts of driller CDO’s the banks and investment banks have been peddling in which case the lack of due diligence could in theory come back to bite them. No likely of course.
This has all been thrust front and center with the oil price plunge. That is blamed on the Saudi’s and maybe that’s right since they have been stupid about over producing for 40.years, easily pumping out 100 years worth. For most of that time however that has been great for Americas myth of no limits. but now it’s a stab in the back. Or maybe both figured it would hurt Russia so along with our own feckless leaders forgot about boomtown on the high plains of North Dakota.
It’s easy to understand the dysfunction of a monarchy. It’s sad to see how advanced it has come to a democratic republic. Still no matter how evident the stupidity of our elites is nobody ever seems to notice except within the narrow confines of partisan politics.
Thanks, in large part to the U.S., the world has become a fools game. Those who realize this also know there is no second coming, no Klatu (The Day the Earth Stood Still) come to save us.
There is a freeing aspect to that, which somewhat offsets the tremendous responsibility which it entails.I like this Frederick Douglass quote:
“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”“If I were an ambulance-chasing lawyer, I’d get into this.” Isn’t this fraud? I mean, the figures they give to the SEC should not be different than the ones given to investors. This is where a lawyer might have a field day.
Watched a small bit of “The Smartest Guys in the Room” about Enron, another Ponzi. The CEO and top executives smothered in stock options and bonuses. Again, they knew the company was not making as much money as they said it was, and yet they kept telling investors that everything was fine.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/03/the-enron-ponzi-scheme/303156/
Same thing with the sub-prime originators who could have cared less that the people they were giving mortgages to would ever be able to pay for them, and the banks that bought these mortgages and securitized them, the ratings agencies…..
The key is to keep your mouth shut in order to achieve the giant suck – suck as many people in as possible: shareholders, junk bonds. You pay yourself a fortune, cash in your stock options, and then when it all falls apart you throw your hands up in the air and pretend that you don’t know what happened. “Ho, we didn’t see this coming. Wow, our projections were really off the mark! Who knew?”
The fact of the matter is that many know, but they’re keeping their mouths shut: bankers, politicians, accountants, media, lawyers. There was a time when this type of stuff was illegal. We have fallen off a cliff.
US Shale And The Slippery Slopes Of The Law
The U.S. is long past being a nation of laws, which used to be one of the positive things that separated us from most of the rest of the world.
Reagan began it, Clinton built on it, and Bush 43 cemented it on 09-11-2001.
The law is now anything the government says it is. And the SCOTUS is in lockstep with all of it; any questions? Not hardly…
None so blind/compliant as those who are afraid…“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” Frederick Douglass
Good article on the selection process at the Ivy League universities: “The Myth of American Meritocracy – How Corrupt are Ivy League Admissions?”
“And the best single means of becoming such an economic winner is to gain admission to a top university, which provides an easy ticket to the wealth of Wall Street or similar venues, whose leading firms increasingly restrict their hiring to graduates of the Ivy League or a tiny handful of other top colleges. On the other side, finance remains the favored employment choice for Harvard, Yale or Princeton students after the diplomas are handed out. […]
And if such power is used to select our future elites in a corrupt manner, perhaps the inevitable result is the selection of corrupt elites, with terrible consequences for America.”
I think we’re seeing those consequences. I don’t agree with the whole essay (as articles have stated that China does indeed have cheating as well), but it’s well written.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/the-myth-of-american-meritocracy/
Selecting for the corrupt gene? Do the elites want to make sure they get a certain type of person, easily corruptible? Someone who will play along? Of course they do. They want a wall of protection, or at least like thinkers. And if they don’t go into finance, they might choose to be a member of what Joel Kotkin calls the “Clerisy” class:
“Oligarchs are assisted in their control by what Kotkin calls the “clerisy” class — an amalgam of academics, media and government employees who play the role that medieval clergy once played in legitimizing the powerful, and in implementing their policies while quelling resistance from the masses. The clerisy isn’t as rich as the oligarchs, but it does pretty well for itself and is compensated in part by status, its positions allowing even its lower-paid members to feel superior to the hoi polloi.”
V. Arnold – the above Enron article I linked uses the word “Enroned” (the verb) to denote that you got paid off to keep quiet. I highly doubt whether the poor (food stamps, cell phones, free housing, welfare, medical, etc.) would keep quiet if they weren’t being Enroned. The middle class is being squeezed, but hanging on (Enroned here and there), and the upper classes and elite are being Enroned all over the place. Of course, they make damn sure they dole out just enough dividends and keep stock prices rising.
Almost everybody is getting something, just enough to keep quiet or not get too upset, and the elite are laughing all the way to the bank.
That quote ought to read: “Find out just what any people will take to keep quiet and you have the exact measure of what they will receive.”
When it all goes away, let’s see if the people continue to quietly submit.
@ Raleigh
That quote ought to read: “Find out just what any people will take to keep quiet and you have the exact measure of what they will receive.”When it all goes away, let’s see if the people continue to quietly submit.
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Your “re-quote” still says the same thing that Douglass said so much better; don’t fuck with true greatness.As to what it will take to wake up the U.S.? I dunno, I gave up after 57 years of bullshit and compliance I just could not bear (Vietnam excepted). That coupled with advancing old age helped me make the break.
You remain hopeful and optimistic if it helps you get by; I have higher expectations for my life and refuse to be tied to any government. Given all governments are crap/corrupt, why oh why would anybody give them purchase over their lives?
Nationalism is folly of the highest order.
Think deep, long, serious, and with a very broad brush; the world is not what you believe.John Michael Greer, the Archdruid, has a look at the breakdown phase of empire, as the complex class structure, too expensive to support, breaks down, and sophisticated elites are replaced by unsophisticated warlord/gangster types.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2014-10-10/dark-age-america-the-collapse-of-political-complexity
“Clerisy class” takes a hit here.V. Arnold – I guess what I was thinking of with the Douglass quote was of a totalitarian government, one ruled by force. I was just trying to make a differentiation between force and taking handouts (in my mind). But, you’re right, whatever it is, they all get people to quietly submit.
I hear Vietnam is lovely. Did you renounce your U.S. citizenship? Did you take your family, if you have one, or did you go yourself? What would you do if things started to fall apart in Vietnam? Would you quickly come back to the United States, or would you go elsewhere?
John Day – thanks for the link to the great article. You know, you can read this stuff over and over again (which I have), but sometimes it just doesn’t want to penetrate into the mind. Maybe that’s why I continue cutting and pasting the same types of articles on a daily basis, just so it gets in (you know, teach what you need to know). I guess we all remember a better time and keep thinking (hoping?) it will return, but maybe there’s no turning the clock back. I guess I’m grieving. So sad for our children.
@ Raleigh
Yes, Vietnam is beautiful, but I’m not in Vietnam. In April of 2003 I was offered a job with an American toy company in a rural area of Thailand, close to the Myanmar border.
I came alone. I wasn’t married at the time. No, I did not renounce my citizenship, a U.S. passport is still more of a benefit than a liability (M.E. excepted). I cannot imagine a reason to ever return to the U.S.
The political situation here is unstable, but that’s been the norm for the last 82 years.
Anything is preferable to living in a country that kills and tortures with impunity anywhere it deems necessary. Its thuggery has replaced any semblance of diplomacy. Moral bankruptcy is an ugly thing to behold.
Internal politics aside, Thailand, outside the large cities and tourist areas, is quite lovely and rich in culture and the cost of living is remarkably low. The language is difficult but learn-able with some effort.
Cheers
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