Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Everything's Fixed--Except What's Broken

Everything's fixed except what's no longer profitable to plunder. Underfunded, ignored, mismanaged by incompetents, it breaks.

Everything's fixed--except what's broken. Hmm. Maybe we need to read that again.

Everything's fixed means it's been "fixed" like a game or match has been fixed--rigged to benefit insiders while the unwary onlookers and punters have been led to believe that it's "fair and open." That con job is the critical cover to cloak the fix/rigging.

If a market or regulatory system can't be rigged to benefit insiders, then it's broken because if it isn't profitable for insiders, it's neglected until it breaks.

It's rather ironic, isn't it? If you want a system to semi-function as advertised, it has be rigged to benefit insiders, as only then do insiders and major players devote enough attention and resources to keep it stumbling along, much as an organism is kept alive so parasites can continue feasting on it.

These zombie-systems rigged to benefit insiders only serve the public in a cursory, minimal-effort fashion. These systems excel at recruiting naive idealists who actually believe in the purported purpose of the organization: public service, education, quality products and services, etc.

These idealists soon lose their naivete as the learn that all that "serve the public" rah-rah is a PR facade to cover the expert pillage by insiders.

You, fine idealist, can be an adjunct for life here at this great university, earning $35,000 a year without tenure, job security, pension or benefits, while we insiders earn $350,000 as associate deans of diversity and other cushy insider gigs that have nothing to do with what students actually take away after they've been bled dry via student loans.

The more impressive the facade, the greater the plunder by insiders: the list of sacred cows being plundered by insiders is long indeed: central banking, regulatory agencies, national defense, higher education, Sickcare--oops, did I say Sickcare? I meant "healthcare"...

The private-sector pillage by insider parasites is hidden behind laughably ludicrous claims of "free markets," "competitive open markets" and "regulated markets," all of which have been rigged to enrich insiders at the expense of the public, customers, powerless employees and credulous punters.

Cartels and quasi-monopolies are a favored method to extract wealth while providing shoddy products and services at exploitive prices. Gee, what a great "free market" we have in health insurance: there are two insurers, and their prices are within pennies of each other, except for some three-card-monte tricks with what's actually covered.

So sorry, but that's not a competitive open market--it's a cartel explicitly designed to pillage and plunder the bloated budget of U.S. healthcare.

What passes as "just business as usual" is actually fraud, and was recognized as fraud until recently. Consider stock buybacks, where the top insiders borrow billions and use the cash to buy back shares, reducing the float and boosting the earnings per share without actually increasing revenues, margins or profits. This charade pushes stock prices up, enabling the top insiders to cash in their stock options for immense private gains without creating any new goods, services or jobs.

When you get caught committing fraud and insider trading, just call it "capitalism," as if "capitalism" is nothing more that a synonym for greed.

Here's banking in a nutshell, both central banking and private-sector banking: hello, fellow insider. You need a couple billion dollars at near-zero interest to buy a company, load it with debt, sell off its crown jewels and then take it public in an IPO? No problem, here's the billions. Hello, Jose Q. Citizen, you want a loan? Well, if your credit rating is near-perfect and you can prove you don't actually need the money, that will cost you 7.5% interest. If your income is limited and your credit is less than stellar, somewhere around 18% is the best we can do.

If you're struggling to make sense of the tumultuous stock market swings, just do what the smart money does: invest in the Pelosi Portfolio which tracks Ms. Pelosi's remarkably profitable personal trading, or get the inside scoop on what stocks regulators are personally trading in the industries they regulate.

If a system can't be rigged to benefit insiders, it's abandoned to its fate. Sadly, a great many essential services fall into this category of benign neglect. Public education, public health, public transport, conservation, public safety, the quality of goods and services--if the funding dries up and insiders' opportunities to increase their personal gains dry up, then the rats scurry off the sinking ship.

Everything's fixed except what's no longer profitable to plunder. Underfunded, ignored, mismanaged by incompetents, it breaks. If it offers a rich bounty for insiders to exploit, there's a mad rush to keep the funding-body alive. If not--well, we tried to save the patient but we're not miracle-workers. Indeed.

That's where we are, America. Everything's fixed--except what's broken.



My new book is now available at a 10% discount ($8.95 ebook, $18 print): Self-Reliance in the 21st Century.

Read the first chapter for free (PDF)

Read excerpts of all three chapters


My recent books:

When You Can't Go On: Burnout, Reckoning and Renewal $18 print, $8.95 Kindle ebook; audiobook Read the first section for free (PDF)

Global Crisis, National Renewal: A (Revolutionary) Grand Strategy for the United States (Kindle $9.95, print $24, audiobook) Read Chapter One for free (PDF).

A Hacker's Teleology: Sharing the Wealth of Our Shrinking Planet (Kindle $8.95, print $20, audiobook $17.46) Read the first section for free (PDF).

Will You Be Richer or Poorer?: Profit, Power, and AI in a Traumatized World
(Kindle $5, print $10, audiobook) Read the first section for free (PDF).

The Adventures of the Consulting Philosopher: The Disappearance of Drake $1.29 Kindle, $8.95 print); read the first chapters for free (PDF)

Money and Work Unchained $6.95 Kindle, $15 print)
Read the first section for free


Become a $1/month patron of my work via patreon.com.




NOTE: Contributions/subscriptions are acknowledged in the order received. Your name and email remain confidential and will not be given to any other individual, company or agency.

Thank you, Larry M. ($50), for your marvelously generous contribution to this site -- I am greatly honored by your support and readership.

 

Thank you, Michel C ($10.80), for your most generous contribution to this site -- I am greatly honored by your support and readership.

Terms of Service

All content on this blog is provided by Trewe LLC for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information. These terms and conditions of use are subject to change at anytime and without notice.


Our Privacy Policy:


Correspondents' email is strictly confidential. This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative). If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly. Websites and blog links on the site's blog roll are posted at my discretion.


PRIVACY NOTICE FOR EEA INDIVIDUALS


This section covers disclosures on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for users residing within EEA only. GDPR replaces the existing Directive 95/46/ec, and aims at harmonizing data protection laws in the EU that are fit for purpose in the digital age. The primary objective of the GDPR is to give citizens back control of their personal data. Please follow the link below to access InvestingChannel’s General Data Protection Notice. https://stg.media.investingchannel.com/gdpr-notice/


Notice of Compliance with The California Consumer Protection Act
This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by a third-party advertising network (Investing Channel) may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising. If you do not want any personal information that may be collected by third-party advertising to be sold, please follow the instructions on this page: Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information.


Regarding Cookies:


This site does not collect digital data from visitors or distribute cookies. Advertisements served by third-party advertising networks such as Investing Channel may use cookies or collect information from visitors for the purpose of Interest-Based Advertising; if you wish to opt out of Interest-Based Advertising, please go to Opt out of interest-based advertising (The Network Advertising Initiative) If you have other privacy concerns relating to advertisements, please contact advertisers directly.


Our Commission Policy:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I also earn a commission on purchases of precious metals via BullionVault. I receive no fees or compensation for any other non-advertising links or content posted on my site.

  © Blogger templates Newspaper III by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP