..
 Can we talk? v
"Quo vadis?"
Joseph Fasciani
Jun 10, 2003
"In 1960, when I came
out of prison as an ex-convict, I had more freedom under parolee
supervision than there's available to an average citizen in America
right now. " -Merle Haggard
This quotation says as much
as needs be said regarding the pathetic state of affairs that
passes for a polity in the US today. Rep. Dennis Kucinich is
making the rounds as a Democratic aspirant for the Presidency,
but it remains to be seen if he meets the fate of Paul Wellstone,
John Kennedy Jr., both Kennedy brothers, Martin Luther King,
Malcolm X, and the Black Panther spokespeople. The nation's in
a bad way, addicted to massive inflows of oil and dollar capital
daily, else it collapse utterly.
 Dr
Michael Grant, eminent historian of Rome and the ancient world,
published a book about the collapse
of the Roman Empire in which he identified thirteen stages
of descent. He stated at that time (1988) that the US had fulfilled
twelve of those steps, and there remained only the elephant in
the living room to complete the last. That element was a rampant
militarism, spun out of imperial and senatorial control, ending
with the army's election of their candidates to the throne.
To date, although the US military
has come perilously close to seizure of state, it has remained
behind its candidates, allowing the Great Man of the Hour to
act as their leader. It prefers to concoct schemes of covert
terrorist-inspired actions that serve to drag the masses into
war, whether it be an Operations Northwoods or the Zionazis derived
outrage of September 11th, the Pearl Harbour of our increasingly
absurd and irrelevant era. And by the bye, we already know who
was responsible, and yes, The Powers That Be Know also, but they
ain't talking because of "National Security"! Want
to know who they are? Just get the names from the SEC of the
people who placed puts on the airlines involved. After all, they
are civil servants, aren't they?
I say "irrelevant"
because the so-called "solutions" to crisis that are
put forward are inevitably as bad or worse than the issues
they confront. Not only do they fail to resolve the current problem,
they exacerbate the situation and lead to further degradation
of humanity and planet. It's as if the instigators of these insanities
truly believe they are immune from repercussions, that they will
not fall before the plagues of disease and deprivation they promote
without end.
Richard Daughty,
one of the half-dozen financial commentators I subscribe to,
called the situation pretty well in his headline today:
"Malinvestment,
Thriftlessness, and Speculation."
And there it is! Pretty well
sums up what's going on by the Wall Street bunch that flogs paper
follies, day in, day out, getting paid both ways, nothing to
lose but your retirement savings, your house equity, and the
kids to medical research.
Thirty years ago, when I believed
in the markets as relatively free places where people could buy
and sell reasonably free of deceit, I started to study the history
of those arenas and the economic vagaries that have led us here.
Gradually matters started coming under a different light: For
I looked to the East, and lo, oil was there. I looked to the
West, and yea, mighty bagmen stood by, waiting, waiting. I looked
to the South, and beheld immense marketplaces where all were
bought and sold. And finally, I turned to the North and saw a
mighty damned bad Winter coming, yea, even unto Kondratieff.
After I wrote the Canadian
Commodities Broker Exam and sat on the same side of the table
as my former broker, the other fellows in the office asked me
if I knew how the markets work? I started to answer the usual
textbook lines about buying and selling on a regulated floor,
etc., etc., when I was interrupted and told, "No, man, it's
because of The Greater Fool!" And who, I asked, would that
be? "Why the guy who buys in hope he can sell it for more
to A Greater Fool than himself!" With the exception of my
broker, Daniel Ho, who'd come to Canada from Hong Kong, they
were vastly amused; Daniel and I were not. It struck us as a
cynical dereliction of our duty to hold such an ethical attitude
in regard of our clients.
Unfortunately, those feelings
were affirmed in mega-abundance these past three years, as we
witness an unending parade of corrupt officers of some of the
best known companies in the world, followed by their promoters,
the bagmen who got their percentage, coming and going, now coming
to the courts, and perhaps going to prison. But there are precedents
for all this, and in recent history, too. How many remember Prudential's
fines, a total of US$1.5 billion, that stretch back to incidents
originated in the sixties, which got much worse after the Pru
acquired Bache.
"Malinvestment, Thriftlessness,
and Speculation." Quite a recitation of "what's happening"
these days, as over-extended fools rush to buy over-priced shares
of non-performing entities. Well, if you're into options you
can profit by "putting" your money where your mind
is. Otherwise, stand aside. The chart
I made last week and sent to 321gold.com tells us the blowoff
approacheth: Beware! Beware! And we see today's markets slide
(09 June), and there's still the rest of the week to come!
But not to worry: The Financial
Times today informed us that the bank of N Rothschild (London)
will begin oil trading. Since the House of Rothschild was responsible
for setting a Very Large Part of our present situation into motion,
you can go to sleep now with their hand on the wheel!
By now you're wondering why
did he title this rant as "Quo vadis?" And well you
should be wondering, especially if you don't know that this phrase
translates to "Where are you going?" (or something
like that, my Latin and Greek are in a sad state of low maintenance.)
By some strange coincidence, this phrase was also part of the
title for a brief (Thank God!) speech made by Willem Duisenberg,
the head of the EU's Central Bank at a meeting in London, on
27 November 1997.
Yo, Alan, did ya' catch that,
like five freaking years ago?
MONETARY
POLICY IN EUROPE - QUO VADIS? Speech by
Willem F. Duisenberg President
of the European Monetary Institute And here is what "old
Europe" Willem had to say, in the first two sentences of
the opening paragraph of his speech, so even old guys like Sir
Alan would still be awake and "get it."
1. " Monetary policy cannot
influence the growth rate of the economy by having an effect
on aggregate demand in the long run. Economic growth depends
on the productivity and the supply of factors of production such
as labour and capital. No central bank in the world is able to
increase its country's growth rate permanently by printing money
or even by reducing the nominal interest rate to zero."
Thank you, Willem, I couldn't
have been more succinct if I tried. Yo, Alan, did you catch all
that? When I listened to you going on in front of the Senate
Finance and Treasury the other day on C-SPAN, it sure as Hell
sounded as though you must have fallen asleep early, eh? Must
be those rich French desserts. That's what Dubya said, you know,
that he was looking forward to the desserts at the White House,
he'd heard from Poppy they were pretty good!
So folks, there it is, and
remember, you read it here first. Is that why the dollar's tanking
and the euro's offset it by more than 20%, do you suppose? Tell
you what: get on the horn, call Sir Alan, see if you can get
him to read 321gold.com. It just might remind him of what he
was saying
and writing thirty years ago, before he started falling asleep
at the wheel.
 Joseph Fasciani
Jun 10, 2003
Also by
Joseph Fasciani
Can
we talk? iv
Jun 7, 2003
Can
we talk? iii
Jun 2, 2003
Can
we talk? ii
May 24, 2003
Can
we talk?
Apr 21, 2003
________________
321gold
Inc Miami USA
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