Capitalism, withering on the vine.

I once worked for a fairly wealthy man. A man who had come to this country from Uganda as a refugee when he was a child. His family had been in Uganda under the horrible reign of Idi Amin, and had fled. After his arrival in Canada, he worked hard and amassed a fairly impressive empire. That is the opportunity a capitalistic democratic society offers, and he took it. Unfortunately, this individual became so obsessed with wealth and power, it changed him. It changed him to the extent that he forgot the hardship of Uganda and dictatorial rule. He ran his company like a dictator, cold and heartless. Where anything was justifiable if it translated into profit. He looked down at people around him as inadequate. If they were not wealthy, they must be. He degraded and belittled them. The problem he experienced (and the problem all successful entrepreneurs must face) was greed and the lust for power. It is a powerful adversary, and tempts even the strongest person. That is why we are seeing the implosion of Capitalism. Greed has reared it's ugly head. From Enron to the sub-prime mortgage, it is all collapsing and it is getting dangerously close to causing far worse problems than we know. It is cascading from bank failures to governments on the verge of bankruptcy. In Europe, the "PIGS" situation is a classic example, with Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. All these countries are teetering on insolvency. Expect increase rioting, as has already happened in Greece. Even Great Britain is in serious trouble down the road, but that isn't talked about much. The United States' economy has stalled (some analysts believe it never has moved), obviously pointing to the fact that the economic bail out by the government has not worked. What to do. Well, history has shown that when the gap between the rich and the poor becomes too great, the poor will take what they want (and need). Essentially, it is called a revolution and I expect to see a few over the next few years as economies wither and fail.
Ethical business is a rarity today, with ruthlessness outnumbering decent, ethical business strategies. Capitalism has lost it's way and we better come up with an alternative.

The Earth and the Arrogance of Humankind

It perplexes me, at times, when people talk about saving the earth. An old friend of mine (a respected cutting edge neuro-scientist) once told me about a little debate he had with a biology professor about the restoration of lakes and such. He said the biologist mentioned bringing them back to their "original" state. My friend queried what "original" state meant, since a couple of million years ago it's "original" state might have been sulphuric in nature. We forget that for millions of years the earth would have been totally uninhabitable by humankind. So when you hear environmentalists talking about "saving the earth", what they really mean is that we need to save ourselves. The planet would be just fine without us, as history has already proven. Maybe it's time we stop talking about the earth and start talking about the problem - us. The earth couldn't give a shit about what we do, she's a tough old bird.

Col. Russell Williams

I've been following this case since they nabbed the fine Colonel for murder. It's quite amazing. I have always believed that the military is a perfect hiding place for a psychopath, not that he has yet to be labeled such (I suspect, though, if he had not been caught that the murders would have continued). Don't misunderstand me, I have no beef with the military, I grew up an Army brat and while there were pros and cons to a military life, it was a decent upbringing.

The obsessive compulsive behavior of this man is perfectly in tune to his military training. Precise, organized, every little detail taken into account. Some would say obviously not, he got caught. Well he got caught by a fluke, but strangely, he didn't seem to hesitate to give an exact accounting of every detail in an eight hour interview with police. Probably, because he had resigned himself to the fact that he would eventually be apprehended. Live by the sword, die by the sword. In the military it is a code of honor. He simply translated it to his personal life.

I once knew a pure killer, a pure psychopath. No remorse, no regret, a complete surrender to his condition (although I doubt he thought of himself as one). He murdered 3 men, 1 woman and a dog. At least that is what is known to police, but I'm sure he was suspected of more. His name was Noel Winters. A hulking man with cold gray eyes. A kind of Jim Morrison on steroids look. Unpredictable, violent and utterly intimidating. I had heard many stories of him before actually meeting him, so I wasn't completely objective about him. I was, of course, leery. My first knowledge of him was in high school, where a friend of mine (a small time pot dealer) was awoken by Mr. Winters holding a gun to his head. The visit was to inform him that if he was going to peddle the ganj, it was going to be for Mr. Winters.

These people, such as Col. Williams and Mr. Winters, are an intriguing lot. A mystery to most.

I will delve deeper into my contact with Noel Michael Winters in a future blog.

Capitalism, withering on the vine.

I once worked for a fairly wealthy man. A man who had come to this country from Uganda as a refugee when he was a child. His family had been in Uganda under the horrible reign of Idi Amin, and had fled. After his arrival in Canada, he worked hard and amassed a fairly impressive empire. That is the opportunity a capitalistic democratic society offers, and he took it. Unfortunately, this individual became so obsessed with wealth and power, it changed him. It changed him to the extent that he forgot the hardship of Uganda and dictatorial rule. He ran his company like a dictator, cold and heartless. Where anything was justifiable if it translated into profit. He looked down at people around him as inadequate. If they were not wealthy, they must be. He degraded and belittled them.

The problem he experienced (and the problem all successful entrepreneurs must face) was greed and the lust for power. It is a powerful adversary, and tempts even the strongest person.
That is why we are seeing the implosion of Capitalism. Greed has reared it's ugly head. From Enron to the sub-prime mortgage, it is all collapsing and it is getting dangerously close to causing far worse problems than we know. It is cascading from bank failures to governments on the verge of bankruptcy. In Europe, the "PIGS" situation is a classic example, with Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. All these countries are teetering on insolvency. Expect increase rioting, as has already happened in Greece. Even Great Britain is in serious trouble down the road, but that isn't talked about much. The United States' economy has stalled (some analysts believe it never has moved), obviously pointing to the fact that the economic bail out by the government has not worked.

What to do. Well, history has shown that when the gap between the rich and the poor becomes too great, the poor will take what they want (and need). Essentially, it is called a revolution and I expect to see a few over the next few years as economies wither and fail.
Ethical business is a rarity today, with ruthlessness outnumbering decent, ethical business strategies. Capitalism has lost it's way and we better come up with an alternative.

Any suggestions?

Interviews with Professional Athletes

I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio), and they had an interview with a male professional tennis player. I have no idea who the fuck he was, because it doesn't really matter. Anyhoo, they asked him what his strategy would be for his semi-final match, and this is what he said:

"I need to go after my opponent and play well".

WTF?

Does this guy have an IQ of 48? "I need to go after my opponent and play well"? As opposed to what? I need to get away from my opponent and play badly? Is this what large amounts of money does to the human brain, or are "jocks" about as bright as their straps?

Please. Please you asshole athletes. If you don't have anything interesting to say, refuse to do interviews. I would find that more interesting, not to mention commendable.