READ ABOUT DETROIT AND SOLUTIONS TO ITS PROBLEMS. CLICK HERE.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Philosophy: Tongue In... Tongue Out

Remember that these are generalities.... Individuals experience a mixture of input from environment, groups and personal experiences. But to the extent that we allow ourselves to be labeled as part of a group... "Republicans", "Democrats", "beer lovers"... we allow ourselves to be influenced by "group think". We all do it.

I'm a "sports fan" which means that I enjoy watching a variety of activities defined as sports... football, golf, beach volleyball (okay, my wife draws the line there). Sports don't appeal to everyone... there are the mentally ill and those who spend most of their time looking at or drawing inexplicable shapes described as art... who simply don't understand the metaphorical aspects of sports and how sports allows peaceful interaction among groups.

It really doesn't matter what the particular sport is. There are only two types of sport: team (armies facing off) and individual (facing life's challenges).

Football and "futbol" are great examples of how groups rally the emotions of their members. The "soldiers" (team members) lock in battle (the game) while the support troops (coaches, trainers, bus drivers) ensure that the soldiers have what they need to face the enemy (the other team). The citizens (fans) provide critical resources (money, noise, scantily clad women) to ensure that the soldiers and support troops can complete their mission (win the game) without the enemy having an advantage (except the home field).

Golf is a metaphor of man versus life's challenges. You can never quite overcome all of the challenges (the courses), but you can become skilled enough (good off the tee... great putter) to top other golfers occasionally. But no matter how good you become, eventually your game will let you down and others will take your place as the "leader".

Sports also simplifies "good" and "evil". Other team is always evil.

Sports simplifies "fair" and "unfair". A call that goes our way is fair.

I still have a little trouble with "right" and "wrong" though. I was watching the Purdue-Wisconsin football game and saw a Wisconsin player hurt by a Purdue player who dove at the lower leg of the Wisconsin player... a "chop block"... perfectly "legal", but somehow it seemed "wrong". Why, well, it seems like the intent of that action goes beyond the goal of impeding the progress of the opponent to injuring the opponent. The argument that it isn't "wrong" because it is "legal" and, therefore, should be expected. But realistically, the chop block was delivered in a way that prevented the opposing player from expecting it or protecting himself from it. So, the injured Wisconsin player had to leave the game and stay out. Ultimately, I felt that "God punished Purdue" for the chop block because Wisconsin won the game....

Isn't that how we feel when we overcome our foes?

Okay, it's time to remove my tongue from my cheek and go look at some inexplicable shapes created by some guy with a bad beard and dirty fingernails.

Labels:

Can"t Find It?

Use the SEARCH BLOG feature at the upper left. For example, try "Global Warming".

You can also use the "LABELS" below or at the end of each post to find related posts.

Blog Archive

Cost of Gasoline - Enter Your Zipcode or Click on Map

Detroit Gas Prices provided by GasBuddy.com
Click here to add this map to your website.

CO2 Cap and Trade

There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.
Henry Louis Mencken (1880–1956)
“The Divine Afflatus,” A Mencken Chrestomathy, chapter 25, p. 443 (1949)
... and one could add "not all human problems really are."
It was beautiful and simple, as truly great swindles are.
- O. Henry
... The Government is on course for an embarrassing showdown with the European Union, business groups and environmental charities after refusing to guarantee that billions of pounds of revenue it stands to earn from carbon-permit trading will be spent on combating climate change.
The Independent (UK)

Tracking Interest Rates

Tracking Interest Rates

FEDERAL RESERVE & HOUSING

SEARCH BLOG: FEDERAL RESERVE for full versions... or use the Blog Archive pulldown menu.

February 3, 2006 Go back to 1999-2000 and see what the Fed did. They are following the same pattern for 2005-06. If it ain't broke, the Fed will fix it... and good!
August 29, 2006 The Federal Reserve always acts on old information... and is the only cause of U.S. recessions.
December 5, 2006 Last spring I wrote about what I saw to be a sharp downturn in the economy in the "rustbelt" states, particularly Michigan.
March 28, 2007
The Federal Reserve sees no need to cut interest rates in the light of adverse recent economic data, Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday.
The Fed chairman said ”to date, the incoming data have supported the view that the current stance of policy is likely to foster sustainable economic growth and a gradual ebbing in core inflation”.

July 21, 2007 My guess is that if there is an interest rate change, a cut is more likely than an increase. The key variables to be watching at this point are real estate prices and the inventory of unsold homes.
August 11, 2007 I suspect that within 6 months the Federal Reserve will be forced to lower interest rates before housing becomes a black hole.
September 11, 2007 It only means that the overall process has flaws guaranteeing it will be slow in responding to changes in the economy... and tend to over-react as a result.
September 18, 2007 I think a 4% rate is really what is needed to turn the economy back on the right course. The rate may not get there, but more cuts will be needed with employment rates down and foreclosure rates up.
October 25, 2007 How long will it be before I will be able to write: "The Federal Reserve lowered its lending rate to 4% in response to the collapse of the U.S. housing market and massive numbers of foreclosures that threaten the banking and mortgage sectors."
November 28, 2007 FED VICE CHAIRMAN DONALD KOHN
"Should the elevated turbulence persist, it would increase the possibility of further tightening in financial conditions for households and businesses," he said.

"Uncertainties about the economic outlook are unusually high right now," he said. "These uncertainties require flexible and pragmatic policymaking -- nimble is the adjective I used a few weeks ago."
http://www.reuters.com/

December 11, 2007 Somehow the Fed misses the obvious.
fed_rate_moves_425_small.gif
[Image from: CNNMoney.com]
December 13, 2007 [from The Christian Science Monitor]
"The odds of a recession are now above 50 percent," says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "We are right on the edge of a recession in part because of the Fed's reluctance to reduce interest rates more aggressively." [see my comments of September 11]
January 7, 2008 The real problem now is that consumers can't rescue the economy and manufacturing, which is already weakening, will continue to weaken. We've gutted the forces that could avoid a downturn. The question is not whether there will be a recession, but can it be dampened sufficiently so that it is very short.
January 11, 2008 This is death by a thousand cuts.
January 13, 2008 [N.Y. Times]
“The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be,” said David Rosenberg, the chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch. “Even if the Fed’s moves are going to work, it will not show up until the later part of 2008 or 2009.”
January 17, 2008 A few days ago, Anna Schwartz, nonagenarian economist, implicated the Federal Reserve as the cause of the present lending crisis [from the Telegraph - UK]:
The high priestess of US monetarism - a revered figure at the Fed - says the central bank is itself the chief cause of the credit bubble, and now seems stunned as the consequences of its own actions engulf the financial system. "The new group at the Fed is not equal to the problem that faces it," she says, daring to utter a thought that fellow critics mostly utter sotto voce.
January 22, 2008 The cut has become infected and a limb is in danger. Ben Bernanke is panicking and the Fed has its emergency triage team cutting rates... this time by 3/4%. ...

What should the Federal Reserve do now? Step back... and don't be so anxious to raise rates at the first sign of economic improvement.
Individuals and businesses need stability in their financial cost structures so that they can plan effectively and keep their ships afloat. Wildly fluctuating rates... regardless of what the absolute levels are... create problems. Either too much spending or too much fear. It's just not that difficult to comprehend. Why has it been so difficult for the Fed?

About Me

My photo
Michigan, United States
Air Force (SAC) captain 1968-72. Retired after 35 years of business and logistical planning, including running a small business. Two sons with advanced degrees; one with a business and pre-law degree. Beautiful wife who has put up with me for 4 decades. Education: B.A. (Sociology major; minors in philosopy, English literature, and German) M.S. Operations Management (like a mixture of an MBA with logistical planning)