merry christmas 2 of 3-article 1 of 2 today

MERRY CHRISTMAS YA FILTHY ANIMAL 2
( article 1 of 2 today )

Greed is good.  Thank you, Michael Douglas.  Ah, the magical ‘80’s.  And greed is good, because it makes the world function.  It has its price of course, but let us consider what just happened.  First, a close to home example.  Jeff over at Amazon was getting bored.  You make your company great with books.  Done.  You add everything sold, except icky guns and gun accessories.  Done.  What do you do now to keep the job interesting?  Well, why not. Let’s see how many billions you could cash in.  Hey, no judgement.  Ya gotta keep work challenging.

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Thank goodness that Jeff is a greedy little bastard, because he just let every one of you spend at or below cost for the last decade.  Did the Walton clan try to pay forward their good fortune by lowering prices?  Of course not.  But Jeff realized that greed is good.  He made us willing partners in his pirate raid.  And he was able to harness customer greed by playing off on stock owner’s greed.  Wally just screws customers.  Jeff rewards customers.  And you know what?  Since I’m greedy I don’t care it is a zero sum game, as long as I don’t lose.

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Who is going to get screwed when Amazon stock drops 99%?  Rich bastards parking their ill-gotten gains, or institutional players.  Like Illinois pension funds.  I don’t give a crap that some retired school teacher SJW cat lady won’t have heat to survive the winter. Jeff is paying me to write for a living ( loyal minions buying through Jeff pay me for writing, but without that commission program… ) and so you go, bro.  Cash in another few billion in stocks. Well, it might be too late for that, but you take my meaning.

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How many companies have been kept afloat through greed?  The company makes no profit, as the economy has been smoke and mirrors unlimited credit through the central banks one percent interest.  Anyone who has ever paid a 25% interest credit card surely would call 1% the equivalent of free money insofar as paying a fee to borrow it.  The people running the company can do whatever they like to their customers ( nothing ever good ) because customers don’t deliver any profit.  The buyers on the stock exchange and the central bankers do.  The company was run not to sell but to get a paycheck.

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Yes, I know this is semantics.  Company X sells a widget and those running the company are paid through profit off that sale. Company Z*** sells a widget at a loss, but the increased sales inflate their stock price which they then may cash in at a profit.  To both the managers and the customers, nothing seems amiss.  One is still paid to deliver to the other.  But the customer is no longer your boss if his repeat sale doesn’t matter.  That is why stock buy-backs are so damaging.  The customer is no longer the focus.

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But that is the micro view.  Big picture, the stores are still open and products are still delivered, even if they are pale shadows of their former selves ( I didn’t follow it very well, but there was something about how the Sears CEO was making money from the company going bankrupt.  Something about a holding company profiting, and there being no need for even a healthy stock price ).  And the products wouldn’t be there if this was not profitable in some way.  Despite the fact that MOST companies are in these straights, it was better than the alternative.

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Which is just relying on customers.  Because customers have so much debt, with diminishing wages ( or at least buying power ), that most companies cannot stay in business if they had to rely on consumption.  The financial shenanigans of the last decade were all about staying in business without relying on the imploding customer finances.  Remember, if you will, that MORE people are no longer in the work force.  Those still working are putting in less hours so the company can evade providing health insurance.  AND rents/mortgages and health insurance and transportation costs has at least doubled in that decade.

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The next time you read about some douche that thinks the poor should be shot ( looking at you Rush, ya twat ), think about how much more dire the finances of companies would be without all those people in 100% unemployment areas ( because your free market philosophy demands the factory was sent overseas.  Sorry, but as an honest look would prove, national socialism is better for people than capitalism ) getting a medical disability check they spend on consumption.  Another form of corporate welfare through individual welfare, and thank goodness for it.

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Most money goes to the bankers.  Your mortgage and car payment, medical insurance and college loan.  Most of your paycheck, and the bankers salute you. What is left over for the company selling products?  Less and less every year.  But isn’t consumption 70% of the economy?  If a company makes 40% of its profits at Christmas, and those sales are down, what does that tell you about that 70% of the economy?  Capitalism requires GROWTH to pay the interest on the debt.  Yet our economy is contracting ( in real terms, minus the bogus published figures ). 

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Now, think about taking away the stock markets props.  It isn’t just the rich like Bezos who need the stock market for profit.  Think about your gas and electric bill.  While your utility is supposed to be a public oversight monopoly, with profits regulated, we all know how sneaky companies are and how they can screw you in multiple ways.  Even if they are on the up and up, they are currently helped by the artificial fuel fracking industry.  Natural gas/gasoline wouldn’t be so cheap if the banks didn’t keep throwing away money on the fracking industry.  YOU profit off that.

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Granted, the banks don’t steal ALL the money.  They have to put some back as operating expenses.  And a big one of those is subsidizing the fracking industry.  The US doubled its domestic fuel production, hence dropping their imports from 75% to 50%.  This was not out of any one consideration but many ( and, you ARE welcome, I won’t digress on that now.  No promises about later though ), but one consequence was that the direct expense of energy decreased and acted as a stimulus.  Heating huge warehouses and driving around shopping became cheaper ( and freed up money from home operating expenses ).

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I continue and conclude tomorrow.

***Z for Zombie.  Get it?

( .Y. )

( today's related links here )

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note: Super Sawyer Sale ( the water filter ).  Check it out CLICK HERE.  I was alerted by a minion and got a couple at $13.01 each, with FREE shipping.  This was nearly sexually exciting!  See if this sale is still on.  You can't have enough of these bad boys.
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note: free books.  Zombies here.  
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note: clearance sale at Sportsman's on their winter rubber boot.  I've worn Micky Mouse boots in the Army, and although fabled as being so warm and cozy, I think these Kamik brand boots are far superior.  And half the price so you have a back-up pair.  click here
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