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Third Saturday Seminar 2014-2015

Return of the Elders, Unleash your Wisdom

Session 04

Of Pitchforks and Black Swans

Economics and Society – Unbalanced

Curt Gibby

Saturday, 21 February 2015
9:30AM til 12:00 NOON

Room B-102, Lone Star College – Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive – Conroe, TX – 77384 – 936.273.7000

The Chaos Continues.

Do you remember when we talked about Nasim Taleb’s Black Swan Theory?

The black swan theoryor theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. ()

In the last couple of years we have heard concerns expressed about the effect of economic inequalities by some very prominent people, some of which know what they are talking about and others like politicians haven’t a clue. We again have the same magnitude of economic imbalance that paved the way for the Great Depression.

The large and central banks, led by our Federal Reserve Bank creating monetary policies which are artificially propping up what is becoming a virtual economy while the wealth and power of the middle class salary and wage earner is being drained away, by inflation draining his savings and suppression of wage growth commensurate with his increased value or productivity which means he is losing the purchasing power that would sustain a healthy economy.

Instead the illusion of a healthy economy is maintained by central banks printing money and loaning it at miniscule interest to financial institutions and corporations.

A few weeks ago my sister Bonnie in Vermont sent me the link to The Pitchforks Are Coming¦ For Us Plutocrats, an article published in Politico, July/August 2014 written by a self-admitted plutocrat and couched as a memo to his fellow plutocrats, To: My Fellow Zillionaires, generally those who comprise the 1%. Our author, Nick Hanauer claims to be a member of the super elites, the 01%ers

He says things like:

The thing about us businesspeople is that we love our customers rich and our employees poor.

And so I have a message for my fellow filthy rich, for all of us who live in our gated bubble worlds: Wake up, people. It wont last.

If we dont do something to fix the glaring inequities in this economy, the pitchforks are going to come for us. No society can sustain this kind of rising inequality. In fact, there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didnt eventually come out. You show me a highly unequal society, and I will show you a police state. Or an uprising. There are no counterexamples. None. Its not if, its when.

The very readable article we will be discussing is:The Pitchforks Are Coming For Us Plutocrats, By NICK HANAUER, July/August 2014.

Or, watch/listen to essentially the same material presented by Hanauer as a TED Talk

It starts:

Memo: From Nick Hanauer

To: My Fellow Zillionaires

You probably dont know me, but like you I am one of those .01%ers, a proud and unapologetic capitalist. I have founded, co-founded and funded more than 30 companies across a range of industriesfrom itsy-bitsy ones like the night club I started in my 20s to giant ones like Amazon.com, for which I was the first non-family investor. Then I founded aQuantive, an Internet advertising company that was sold to Microsoft in 2007 for $6.4 billion. In cash. My friends and I own a bank. I tell you all this to demonstrate that in many ways Im no different from you. Like you, I have a broad perspective on business and capitalism. And also like you, I have been rewarded obscenely for my success, with a life that the other 99.99 percent of Americans cant even imagine

“Economics 000 – First Principles“, The original version of this was written in 2003. I think it supports what Hanauer had to say.

Here is another Politico Article that speaks to Hanauers premises

The Myth of Americas Golden Age , By Joseph E. Stiglitz

For those of you that will try to understand the role of money in politics and how it is changing, mostly growing and the competition to raise it (prints out to 8 or 10 pages}

Karl Rove and the Modern Money Machine, By Kenneth P. Vogel

Jon Stewart takes potshots at Brian Williams and others who criticize him – Video

Jon Stewart tries to figure out if Fox News thinks Obama is tyrant or a wimp – Video

For you History Buffs I recommend – this miniseries sponsored by Samuel Adams Brewery – I think it will give you a new understanding of revolutionary times in Boston, Philadelphia and England and especially of revolutionaries. The web site has historical facts, in addition to the video, whereas the series is a dramatic interpretation.

“SONS OF LIBERTY, a dramatic interpretation of events that sparked a revolution. It is historical fiction, not a documentary. The goal of our miniseries is to capture the spirit of the time, convey the personalities of the main characters, and focus on real events that have shaped our past. For historical information about the Sons of Liberty and the dawning of the American Revolution, please check out the links below.

As usual we will start out with Current Events (Distractions)

For the Middle East see the Friendship Chart below,
Then think about Greece,
For The Ukraine and Russia; is this Putins Groundhog Day? (Is history repeating itself? Again?)
Hint: click the “Hitler’s invasions” link to get the interactive chart and details click the timeline button at the bottom to get a list in text form

The Middle East Friendship Chart

By Joshua Keating and Chris Kirk

With overlapping civil wars in Syria and Iraq, a new flare-up of violence between Israel and the Palestinians, and tense nuclear talks with Iran, Middle Eastern politics are more volatile than ever and longtime alliances are shifting. Here’s a guide to who’s on whose side in the escalating chaos. Click a cell (at this link) to learn more information.

(This is only an image – go to the link to get the interactive version.)

Maybe something about global warming — If the world doesn’t freeze over first

Third Saturday Seminars (Page 35 of the spring Catalog)
4 Sessions

To refer to an ancient Chinese saying, our world is in interesting times and individual citizens are assaulted with a blinding array of propaganda from every conceivable source. The Third Saturday Seminar is about demystification of what is going on around us. Time will also be spent on current events. Meets 2/21, 3/21, 4/25, and 5/16. Meets on Montgomery Campus in B102.

16041 S 2/21-5/16 9:30 a.m.-Noon B102 Gibby

LSC-Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive, Conroe, TX 77384
For more information, call 936.273.7446

ALL- Montgomery Links:

Academy for Lifelong Learning: LSC-Montgomery
http://www.lonestar.edu/all-montgomery.htm
Spring Schedule:
http://www.lonestar.edu/departments/ce/ALL_scheduleSpring2015.pdf

Registration

How do I register for a class?You can fill out a registration form and submit it to us:

In person: LSC-Montgomery (3200 College Park Dr., Conroe, TX 77384), Continuing Education/ALL Office Building E (Room 205)
Phone: 936.273.7446
Fax: 936.273.7262

Reminder for ALL members:

Please let us know if you change your address, phone number, or email. Call 936.273.7446 or email: MCALL@LoneStar.edu.

“Some part of our being knows this (the universe) is where we came from. We long to return. And we can. Because the cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star-stuff. We are a way for the cosmos to know itself.” Carl Sagan

See you Saturday, 15 November 2014 at 9:30am, Room B-102
Curt Gibby
Director