the day the finance world died

it would only be most disrespectful of me to not say a few words over the death of america's most prized creation, the object that threw USA on the map in terms of a serious influence on the world, etc: the finance industry.

the finance industry--where the market is merciless, where making serious money was as tangible as keeping up on breaking news, where only the smartest motherfuckers survive--has finally bitten off more than it could chew.  the general disregard for the risks taken in the bets made in the past 20 or so years have caught up, and now we are forced to pay the price. the dow jones industrial average dropped 500 points (4%) and all around the world, stock markets have followed suit.

stock prices are the best indicators of the sentiment of the company, the market, the general economy. because only the smartest motherfuckers in the world play the stock market, there is no manual labor required and the money made is easy money. they have the knowledge and the foresight to predict where the stock price will move and will buy and sell accordingly. the price of a stock will always be the first and foremost leading indicator of the health of the company, even if it will sometimes take one or two years before we, several levels away from the smart traders, the equity researchers, the junior analysts at investment banks, realize the reason or cause of any price movements.

the failed lehman brothers speaks volumes of the current state of today's economy. it is the ceremonious changing of the guards, out with the old and in with the new. like walmart taking over small propriety mom and pops shops, like best buy and circuit city taking over smaller appliance/electronic stores, like macy's buying out hechts.  there is always an economic reason for these actions to occur.  we let the market carry out its own bidding. and like any transition period, we see that the market is ruthless; it shows no remorse, no sympathy for the unlucky ones.

the future is shrouded in uncertainty, and we can only depend on ourselves, our ability to build rapport with others, our work ethic, our talent, our ability to improve and to learn, in order to survive.

but of course, we are all placed on this earth to enjoy ourselves, to succumb to our hedonism, to find joy and happiness, and of course love.

why should we let something as manmade as finance dictate the direction of the world?

andy

the truth about finance

before finance, people created real wealth though selling goods, like produce, or chairs, or toaster ovens.

of course, finance was created 'as a practical application of economics, to help best allocate money where money is most needed'. the stock market, for instance (or any market, bond market, etc). and the nature of money (if you have money, you are only willing to give it up to someone else if you are told you will get more money in return) allows the 'finance' industry to happen.

but that is a sugar coated lie that those stuffy old white guys in suits tell the commoners.

finance is their excuse to make money without knowing how to create real wealth (make and sell toaster ovens). finance is no real skill but only knowledge gleaned from knowing how to dupe other people into handing over their check books. all they need to know is to be one step ahead of everyone else (the public, other 'investors', etc).

finance, money is greed. the corporation known as the united states, wall street, investment banks--greed. and because reward always comes with risk, and risk always comes with reward, the driving force of greed is leading to the impending collapse of the united states financial system, maybe even the world economy.

sad how so many human lives are dedicated to something manmade, synthetic, the most material of all goods--the american dollar--and so many lives at risk of losing their wealth. why can't we all just smoke some pot, sit out on the porch, and have some good wholesome fun?

haha

andy

good morning

another slow, slow day at work.

i've been recently re feeding into my obsession with john mayer and came across his blog. he is such a great person, i have to share this excerpt from his blog here.

'This is about a level of self consciousness so high in my generation, that it's actually toxic.

This is about the girl in her bedroom who poses in front of the camera she's awkwardly holding in her outstretched hand. She'll take a hundred photos until coming up with one she's happy with, which inevitably looks nothing like her, and after she's done poring over images of herself, will post one on her myspace page and then write something like " I don't give a f*ck what you think about me."

...

This is about us all. Every one of us. Who all seem to know deep down that it's incredibly hard to be alive and interact with the world around us but will try and cover it up at any cost. For as badass and unaffected as we try to come off, we're all just one sentence away from being brought to the edge of tears, if only it was worded right. And I don't want to act immune to that anymore. I took the biggest detour from myself over the past year, since I decided that I wasn't going to care about what people thought about me. I got to the point where I had so much padding on that, sure, I couldn't feel the negativity, but that's because I couldn't feel much of anything.

And I think I'm done with that. I'm not the first person to admit we're all self conscious, Kanye was. But what I want to do is to shed a little light on why we're all in the same boat, no matter the shape of the life we lead: because every one of us were told since birth that we were special. We were spoken to by name through a television. We were promised we could be anything that we wanted to be, if only we believed it and then, faster than we saw coming, we were set loose into the world to shake hands with the millions of other people who were told the exact same thing.

And really? Really? It turns out we're just not all that special, when you break it down. Beautifully unspectacular, actually. And that truth is going to catch up with us whether we want to run from it or not. The paparazzo following me to the gym ain't gonna be Herb Ritts and the guy he's following ain't gonna be Bob Dylan. It's just a matter of how old you are once you embrace that fact. And for me, 30 sounds about right.

What now, then? I can only really say for myself: Enjoy who I am, the talents and the liabilities. Stop acting careless. In fact, care more. Be vulnerable but stay away from where it hurts. Read. See more shows. Of any kind. Rock shows, art shows, boat shows. Create more art. Wear hoodies to dinner. Carry a notebook and hand it to people when they passionately recommend something and ask them to write it down for me.

Root for others.

Give more and expect the same in return, but over time.

Act nervous when I'm nervous, puzzled when I don't know what the hell to do, and smile when it all goes my way. And never in any other order than that.

And when it's all over, whether at the end of this fabulous career or of this life, which I hope takes place at the same time, I should look back and say that I had it good and I made the most of it while I was able. And so should you. '

cool shit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_z-shZL1KU

haha

andy