The Economy as Illusion

As I recall, there was a nifty moment within Kurt Vonnegut's neglected book, "Galapagos" where the narrator spoke about the long-past days of human civilization, and commerce. Money, he said, was not a concrete thing, not a set value, but existed because "we" as society gave it thought and ephemeral value. It wasn't real; it was an idea, a concept that required transparency and consent. But it was never more than an illusion.

In the book, the whole of human civilization came crashing down, creating a pandemic of panic and chaos, accompanied by a wicked plague that wiped out every person on Earth... except for a handful of survivors on the Galapagos Islands. Here is what the NY Times said about the book:

NYTimes

Ponzi schemes are constructed on illusion. Investors think they are getting something that is not. There is no transparency, only consent. All economic bubbles are based on the illusion that their growth will continue against all odds and timelines. "Bubble" investors think they are getting something, hoping onto the gravy train with everyone else. There often is transparency with Bubbles, but the eagerness of investors brush them past sober reality and into the realm of delusion and unsustainability.

Ponzi schemes. Bubbles. Scams (Enron and Worldcom take the cake for creating near-worlds of faux financial dynamics; but the future champions of the world may yet be revealed when the public gets its glimpse into Wall Street Banks). These are the viruses, the cancers that debilitate our economic structures. When they coincide, like they have over the last few years, the result is truly catastrophic.

So now we are poised at the precipice. The bulwarks of our economy indicate that there is no "there" there. Our major banks are zombies. Insurance companies are discovering they are wiped out. Pension funds/401Ks are dead. Firm after firm are examining their net worth and shuddering. What was once real is not real.

So where do we go from here? A further unveiling of fraud and stupendous, egregious awful judgments rendered by a smorgasbord of business execs who chose to pursue unsustainable profits via opaque financial techniques. As we all get pulled down into the maelstrom, it may come as a small comfort to know that... it's all an illusion.

And now, to lighten up a bit, here is a piece of anti-capitalism by those old agitators, The Clash:

YouTube - The clash - Police and Thieves

And the Quote of the Day:
"Nothing can have value without being an object of utility."
-- Karl Marx