Re: [spiers] Politics and Trade
Speaking of Politics and Trade.....and money and
power, the President of China is visiting Seattle.
Here is a link to the article in the Seattle PI.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/259903_chinapresident17.html
Note that Bill Gates is having dinner with the
President of China. Does that bother anyone else?
Anthony
Friday, February 17, 2006
Politics and Trade
Politics and Trade
Re: [spiers] Politics and Trade
> I critique the universal problem of
> giving politicians any power. And here, outside of
> say Switzerland, San Marino, Singapore,
> Andorra, the Vatican, Iceland (they managed nearly
> 300 years without any government
> whatsoever!)
Well, maybe no formally structured government, but I
guarantee Icelanders organized and cooperated for the
common good of their community.
> Our president is merely the CEO of one
> branch of the federal government, a branch
> ultimately under the congress, which represents the
> people to the federal government, that
> strictly limited entity. Or so the theory goes.
I don't think the Bush Administration gets the
"ultimately under the congress" part.
>
> Pre-Revolutionary Spiers were sailing merchants,
> landowners, slave owners. Henry Spires
> (the spellings changed often before Webster and
> Johnson standardized spelling) was given a
> land patent in Virginia for 100 acres by the King in
> 1744, and John Speirs got 600 acres 80
> years earlier.
The same King that granted Henry Spires land also had
Pyphoria, a liver disorder only treated by an Orphan
drug that is not profitable for a drug company to
make. So, the government steps in and makes it
possible for the drug company to make the drug and the
people who are afflicted with Pyphoria are helped.
Isn't public health a benefit of government?
> Spiers were wealthy and active in the
> revolution, indeed, quite well-to-do financially
> until, at least in my line, the fortune was
> wiped out in the stock market crash of 1929, before
> government policy caused the
> depression.
Didn't unbridled unchecked capitalism cause the great
depression? FDR is said to have "saved capitalism
from itself" with his work progress programs that the
Hamiltonians considered communism.
> The reason we no longer
> have slaves is that word “inalienable”
> associated with rights, which made inevitable the
> end of slavery in USA. Whether Jefferson
> foresaw this effect downstream is debatable, but the
> fact is he wrote the words and the words
> led to the end of slavery, the ultimate expression
> of libido dominandi.
And the reason we had slaves was unchecked unbridled
libido dominandi, and it was government to the rescue
again.
> Privately this family history is no more important
> to me than the genealogy of Gwyneth
> Paltrow. But it is terribly important to some
> family members who keep careful track of it all.
> How else will my daughters assume their place in the
> Daughters of the American Revolution?
> The genealogy must be exact. There is a certain
> entitlement that comes with being of
> revolutionary stock, and we must not lose our
> patrimony through neglect. On the other
> hand, if one had an ancestor executed by Berkeley
> during Bacon’s rebellion, then perhaps
Geneticist Spencer Wells proved that all Europeans can
trace thier paternal lineage to ONE man in Central
Asia a mere 2000 generations ago. And EVERY person
living today shares paternal DNA from the oldest tribe
of people on Earth; the Kalahari Bush people in
Southern Africa. You and I are ~40,000 years removed
cousins.
>So now we have an America capable of what the
>revolutionaries fought, that Hamiltonian
>imperial power. The Bushes, as do the democrats, no
>matter who they run as candidate,
>represent the Hamiltonian strain of USA politics.
And what party represents the Jeffersonians?
Anthony
Politics and Trade
Re: [spiers] Politics and Trade
John,
Thanks as always for sharing your perspectives, and more insights into your
personal background. I must say, it is difficult to blend politics,
history, biography, economics, world trade and small business philiosophy
into a single cohesive essay, but you have managed to do it.
This is the clearest presentation yet of your thesis to "do well as you do
good." As far as I know, it is an original perspective that harnesses
capitalism in such a way that it benefits you (perhaps in a big way) and
potentially society (perhaps only in a small way). There is growing
awareness of the built-in dangers of corporate power (vis-a-vis it's hunger
for growth, anti-social behavior, and legal immunity from prosecution).
Your business model sidesteps the problem entirely. Can we expect a major
book expanding your subject?
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Politics and Trade
Re: [spiers] Politics and Trade
Fascinating reading, I couldn't stop till I finished it.
Politics and Trade
RE: [spiers] Politics and Trade
John, you are getting out of control.
Martin Mendiola
305-445-2525
Martin@Mendiola.US
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [spiers] Politics and Trade
> From: "John Spiers"
> Date: Thu, February 16, 2006 12:16 pm
> To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
>
> Folks,
>
> This essay is long, so I've also attached it as a .pdf if you want to download
it...
>
> Politics and Trade
>
> Once you start trading internationally, discussing politics with people around
the world
> becomes part of the deal. Aristotle said for something to be interesting it
had to be different,
> and certainly foreigner's views are different. And crafting worthy views can
be a fun
> challenge too. Back in the 70’s people trading both with the People’s
Republic of China and
> Taiwan were obliged to carry two passports, one to present in Taiwan to the
Taiwan
> government and a different one to present to the communists, with each leery
of anyone
> trading with both. In this instance having two USA passports was allowed by
the US State
> Department, a different passport for each border. I recall being pressed in
Canton by one
> particularly rude young woman, who asked me directly if I traded with both
Taiwan and
> China. I wasn’t going to lie, so I said yes, which gave her the opportunity
to raise righteous
> indignation and begin a tirade. I cut her short by asking are not China and
Taiwan one
> country? (Certainly both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China said so,
their argument
> was over who was the legitimate government of China.) When Chairman Mao said
Chinese
> should trade with the Americans, didn’t that mean Guizhou and Zhejiang and
Hebei and
> Taiwan and Sichuan and all of China? She considered this for a moment, and
then said my
> politics were very good.
>
> I wish that were true, for today President Bush says if we are not with him,
we are against
> him, possibly equating himself with He whom he quotes with that phrase, Jesus.
Now I don’t
> doubt at all President Bush believes he is called to do God’s will. Indeed,
we all are. I am
> confident that like every single other politician called to do God’s will, he
has flubbed the
> effort. Politicians are not prophets, and we err when we give honor and power
and credence
> due a prophet to a politician. In essence, this is the counter argument I
give my opposites
> overseas when they want to hear me critique the USA. I critique the universal
problem of
> giving politicians any power. And here, outside of say Switzerland, San
Marino, Singapore,
> Andorra, the Vatican, Iceland (they managed nearly 300 years without any
government
> whatsoever!) Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, etc., people all over the world give
their
> governments too much power, contrary to self-interest of the governed.
>
> The revolutionaries who formed the USA took the Greek and Roman experience,
with which
> they were quite familiar, and applied it to USA. The essential America is
conforming to what
> God recommended to Samuel in 1 Samuel 8-10, and as further informed by
Socrates, Jesus in
> his “render unto caesar...” formulation, the barons at Runnymede in 1215, and
the Spanish
> scholastics who argued for the right to revolution. Montesquieu’s separation
of powers meant
> to hobble government was the premier political thought in America, with Kant
taking it a step
> further, pointing out a natural conflict of interest with lawyers, as officers
of the court,
> serving in the legislative or executive branch. (How come that was left out
of the
> constitution!?) Drawing lessons from these centuries of history there were
three premises of
> the American revolution: that rights are God-given and inalienable, that
governments are
> formed to secure those rights, and lastly, we can overturn the government
which fails to
> secure those rights. The central fear was what Augustine identified in his
City of God, the
> libido dominandi or “lust for power” that captures most of us, but is
disastrous when
> leveraged with government power.
>
> With Rome as a model, the Jeffersonians saw the Constitution as a way for the
common man
> to be secure in his person and property as he pursued life, liberty and
happiness as in the
> earlier Roman republic. The Hamiltonians saw it as a way for the elite to
lead the nation to
> greatness as in the later Roman Empire. The tension between the two has
always been with
> us.
>
> George Washington in his farewell address warned of entangling alliances.
Cincinnati is
> named after George Washington, who, like the Roman Cincinnatus went back to
his farm after
> service, eschewing power for himself and his family. Admirable.
>
> But rules reflect weakness. George Washington had to make such an address,
because there
> was so much agitation for us to strive for “national greatness” by copying the
Europeans in
> the competition for empire. To do so the Hamiltonians needed the ability to
make war
> without the consent of congress and the ability to print currency without its
value constrained
> by money (gold historically), but each were contrary to the constitution, and
the American
> Revolution. In time they would get both.
>
> Indeed, USA is considered exceptional in its form of government and relative
freedom, with
> the people sovereign. George Bush does not represent USA, he is not our
“leader,” in the
> sense that so many countries see their top politician as “leader.” He
represents nobody. Bill
> Gates may represent Microsoft, but in no useful sense does the President
represent American
> citizens. Our president is merely the CEO of one branch of the federal
government, a branch
> ultimately under the congress, which represents the people to the federal
government, that
> strictly limited entity. Or so the theory goes.
>
> My view is probably just an opinion, but one with an orthodox pedigree in USA.
A pedigree
> that goes back at least as far as the Bush family, who have been here since
before
> revolutionary times as well as their progenitors, the Walkers and Prescotts.
Indeed they’ve
> been here quite a while, almost as long as the Spiers.
>
> Pre-Revolutionary Spiers were sailing merchants, landowners, slave owners.
Henry Spires
> (the spellings changed often before Webster and Johnson standardized spelling)
was given a
> land patent in Virginia for 100 acres by the King in 1744, and John Speirs got
600 acres 80
> years earlier. Our lines run back to Scotland, to Arundel and to Howard, duke
of Norfolk, thru
> Lawrence Washington, George’s elder half-brother. There is even a medieval
curse on the
> Spiers name, wherein no firstborn is ever male. Who cast the curse, why, or
how “no firstborn
> ever male” is much of a curse, all is forgotten. Spiers were wealthy and
active in the
> revolution, indeed, quite well-to-do financially until, at least in my line,
the fortune was
> wiped out in the stock market crash of 1929, before government policy caused
the
> depression. I have copies of family papers, reckonings after some slaves were
auctioned off,
> on Christmas eve, 1854. The reason we no longer have slaves is that word
“inalienable”
> associated with rights, which made inevitable the end of slavery in USA.
Whether Jefferson
> foresaw this effect downstream is debatable, but the fact is he wrote the
words and the words
> led to the end of slavery, the ultimate expression of libido dominandi.
>
> My grandfather is named Edward Howard Spiers (after the duke), and grandmother
a
> descendent of the Pope family, whose plantation is now the town of Pope’s
Creek, Virginia.
> And both my grandparents were Spiers, second cousins. As were, ahem, their
parents. All
> rather Pharaonic.
>
> When my father was de-mobbed from the navy in 1945 in Seattle, his father told
him to stay
> here, for fear my father would marry a cousin in Virginia. A dutiful son, my
father stayed in
> Seattle and married the Irish gal who handed him his walking papers at the
navy office. They
> were disconsolate back in Virginia that my father married a Catholic. “At
least she isn’t a
> Jew...” grandad wrote, philosophically.
>
> Privately this family history is no more important to me than the genealogy of
Gwyneth
> Paltrow. But it is terribly important to some family members who keep careful
track of it all.
> How else will my daughters assume their place in the Daughters of the American
Revolution?
> The genealogy must be exact. There is a certain entitlement that comes with
being of
> revolutionary stock, and we must not lose our patrimony through neglect. On
the other
> hand, if one had an ancestor executed by Berkeley during Bacon’s rebellion,
then perhaps
> anti-tyranny is in the blood.
>
> So both the Spiers and the Bushes go way back, and both know the history of
this country.
> And everyone makes a choice, Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian? As many have
observed, we honor
> Jeffersonian ideal, but we live in a Hamiltonian milieu, since the liberals
and conservatives in
> USA politics are both Hamiltonian. Both want “national greatness” which for
either is merely
> aesthetical differences in the exercise of libido dominandi.
>
> Conservatives want to intervene overseas, think Fallujah. Liberals want to
intervene
> domestically, think Waco. Moderates want to intervene everywhere. Think
Fallujah and Waco.
> They are all Hamiltonians, to a degree. Radicals want to intervene nowhere.
Think Monticello.
>
> The word radical stems from the word ‘root’ meaning the original and essential
part. I am
> radical.
>
> In pursuit of power, the political branch of the Bush family feels the need to
muddy their lines
> for public consumption. Hence the move to Texas, the ranches, cowboy boots,
and the oil
> industry. Our current president, Texan and methodist George Bush, was born in
New Haven,
> Connecticut. He is about as Texan as Hillary Clinton is a New Yorker. Another
Bush, the one
> who had Florida given to him, became a catholic, coincidentally very important
in a state with
> a huge Cuban voting bloc.
>
> The Kennedy's had to go the other way, putting on blue blood airs, attending
Harvard,
> seeking high government service when they are potato famine refugees, rum
runners at that.
> But since the Bushes are in power right now, I’ll pick on them.
>
> Our president’s grandfather saw no particular problem selling oil to the Nazis
in spite of the
> fact we were at war with Germany. Where he got caught Congress would seize the
assets. Five
> of the Bush family companies were seized by Congress in this manner. Congress
invoked the
> Trading with the Enemy Act and seized the Bush-Harriman-managed Thyssen entity
> Hamburg-American Line, under Vesting Order No. 126. Thereafter, under Order
No. 248, and
> then Vesting Order No. 259, and ultimately Vesting Order No. 261 various other
businesses
> were seized. None of this is secret, it is all in public records. There is
evidence there were
> more going on, which were not caught. A lot of pilots were shot down in WWII
in the Pacific.
> Extremely few had submarines dispatched to pick them up, as in the case of GHW
Bush. To
> this day the Bushes are co-investors with Osama bin Laden’s family. When
national greatness
> is at stake, there are no rules.
>
> The liberal side has nothing to crow about, Gore is no better than Bush when
it comes to
> trading with the enemy. The Al Gore family was backed by Armand Hammer whose
convict
> father was a founder of Communist Party USA, and who kept hard currency
flowing into
> Soviet Union so Stalin could keep the gulags going. Armand Hammer and was
given the
> Order of Lenin by Stalin. Check out the Gore’s zinc mine to see where his
money comes
> from, and what an enviro-disaster it is. (I can criticize Armand Hammer now
that his Museum
> no longer buys from me).
>
> Now clearly, I am no better than the Bushes, no worse. My grandfather was a
civil engineer, a
> surveyor, like his ancestor George Washington. My grandfather led the crew
that
> surreptitiously surveyed Panama so that when the USA stole it from Colombia,
we would be
> able to define precisely what we were stealing. If it were up to me each
school day,
> kindergarten through twelfth grade, would start with a good stiff drink for
each student. This
> policy would be no more bizarre than most other government policies. The
problem is the
> power, and having it to exercise. And the leverage being ‘government’ gives to
power. The
> American revolution was about limiting the power of the government to keep us
out of
> imperial adventures, foreign and domestic.
>
> Our soldiers are in Middle East because oil is there. The Bushes are in oil
because money and
> power is there. Savings and Loan scam? Count Jeb in. Big league sports? Buy
George jr. a
> team. The Bush oil company Zapata changed to fisheries when that seemed to be
important,
> then it became a dot.com during the dot.com boom. If the real money and power
was in ice
> cubes, then the Bushes would be there in a big way. And we’d be at war with
Greenland.
> We’d have a no-fly zone over Antarctica. Global warming would be a Republican
issue.
>
> Republicans have war on terror and painkillers, and democrats have war on
poverty and bad
> weather. Both cost the same, both are useless. And both are good for feeling
superior to the
> other. Bush promises freedom from terror. Gore promises better weather.
Both say big
> government will deliver. From them we get more terror and worse weather.
>
> Hamilton was very popular within that spectrum that was pro-centralization for
the purposes
> of pursuing national greatness. Like any movement, the American revolution
was 40% for
> and 40% against and 20% undecided. The political spectrum was as wide as any
time in
> history. The tension was very strong.
>
> The counterrevolutionaries, the Hamiltonians, know exactly what to do to
assume power, and
> it takes unconstrained “money” and the ability to make war without restraint.
Hamilton
> created the First Bank of the United States, so controversial that is was
given only a 20 year
> run. Jefferson resisted Hamilton. Eventually Aaron Burr shot and killed
Hamilton, this while
> Burr was President Jefferson’s Vice President of the United States. Perhaps
VP Dick Cheney is
> bringing back the good old days.
>
> Our legal history shows an evolution from the common law principle that if a
factory should
> open and make mom’s laundry dirty 30 miles a way, mom may complain to a judge
and the
> judge stops the factory and makes it pay for new clean sheets for mom. 800
years of
> common law and property law required the ruling. But in time the judges
started ruling for
> the factory, since the factory was more important than mom’s laundry, as a
part of the
> change in legal theory preceding and accommodating empire. Thus the polluting
of rivers,
> shoddy products, all sorts of mischief, attendant to and necessary for
imperialism, gained
> traction. The victory for imperialists came with Lincoln and the civil war,
ending the
> Jeffersonian ethic, or at least putting it into a deep sleep.
>
> The constitution limits the right to create gold and silver coins to the Mint,
but in 1913 in a
> legal fiction, congress created a private company (which reports to congress)
that controls
> currency, the paper stuff. The reason for this is everyone knows a government
cannot be
> trusted, ever, with control over money, so this legal fiction allowed the
imperialists a way
> around the objection. (In Hong Kong, private companies print and issue
competing
> currencies, not the government, the way it used to be in USA).
>
> By 1951 Truman could enter a war without a declaration by congress, by calling
it a police
> action. Congress still controls the purse strings, but the revolutionaries
assumed no standing
> army, ever. With a massive military in place, that military-industrial
complex which General
> Eisenhower named and warned us about in his farewell address, a president does
not need
> any stinkin’ congressman to go ahead and start a war. Commander-in-chief of a
million men
> and a year’s worth of supplies, we can be deep in the big money, obliged to
honor those
> who’ve already died, before congress can rally.
>
> So now we have an America capable of what the revolutionaries fought, that
Hamiltonian
> imperial power. The Bushes, as do the democrats, no matter who they run as
candidate,
> represent the Hamiltonian strain of USA politics. They are wrong, wielding
power gained
> from foreign entanglements and war. It is counter revolutionary to side with
with the
> Hamiltonians, and support the Bushes (or the Kerrys if he was in office).
>
> Imperial power ends. It always has. Whether Persian, Maurya, Greek, Roman,
Chinese,
> Moslem, Moghul, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Japanese or English, they all go
eventually.
> And when they do, those “homelands” revert to their natural state. Is Italy
despised now that
> it is no longer Imperial? Do tourists avoid Kyoto now? Is Patna miserable?
Will Los Angeles
> be uninteresting when we inevitably bring our troops home from the some 136
countries
> where we maintain a military presence (and not counting just marines as
embassy security)?
>
> So how to solve the problem, if you accept it is a problem? Live and work,
like the
> revolutionaries, as though our primary concerns were the good, the true and
the beautiful.
> Introduce products that will still be here in 200 years, like Keillor’s
Marmalade introduced in
> Dundee in 1797, during the height of British Imperial power. This is necessary
and sufficient.
> This is true of everyone self-employed, we who freely choose what field to
enter, then find
> ourselves obliged to closely follow in order to serve our customers. In this
way we may feel
> the urge of libido dominandi, but age quad agis, we can’t get around to acting
on the evil
> impulse. It is not enough for our constitution to be exceptional, we
Americans have to be
> exceptional too.
>
> Of course this is harder than simply picking up a gun and forcing others to do
you will, but in
> that measure it is harder is the measure it is the more persuasive. Instead
of Americans
> trying to become imperial masters, it is better that we model a better way for
the royalty try
> to become like us, by starting a small business. Princess Kinga von
Liechtenstein has started
> her own company, a fashion outfit. She could spend her life taking pleasure
in having others
> serve her, but she instead will serve others. She is doing her part to make
the world a better
> place.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> Compete on Design!
>
> www.johnspiers.com
Politics and Trade
Folks,
This essay is long, so I've also attached it as a .pdf if you want to download
it...
Politics and Trade
Once you start trading internationally, discussing politics with people around
the world
becomes part of the deal. Aristotle said for something to be interesting it had
to be different,
and certainly foreigner's views are different. And crafting worthy views can
be a fun
challenge too. Back in the 70’s people trading both with the People’s Republic
of China and
Taiwan were obliged to carry two passports, one to present in Taiwan to the
Taiwan
government and a different one to present to the communists, with each leery of
anyone
trading with both. In this instance having two USA passports was allowed by the
US State
Department, a different passport for each border. I recall being pressed in
Canton by one
particularly rude young woman, who asked me directly if I traded with both
Taiwan and
China. I wasn’t going to lie, so I said yes, which gave her the opportunity to
raise righteous
indignation and begin a tirade. I cut her short by asking are not China and
Taiwan one
country? (Certainly both Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China said so,
their argument
was over who was the legitimate government of China.) When Chairman Mao said
Chinese
should trade with the Americans, didn’t that mean Guizhou and Zhejiang and Hebei
and
Taiwan and Sichuan and all of China? She considered this for a moment, and
then said my
politics were very good.
I wish that were true, for today President Bush says if we are not with him, we
are against
him, possibly equating himself with He whom he quotes with that phrase, Jesus.
Now I don’t
doubt at all President Bush believes he is called to do God’s will. Indeed, we
all are. I am
confident that like every single other politician called to do God’s will, he
has flubbed the
effort. Politicians are not prophets, and we err when we give honor and power
and credence
due a prophet to a politician. In essence, this is the counter argument I give
my opposites
overseas when they want to hear me critique the USA. I critique the universal
problem of
giving politicians any power. And here, outside of say Switzerland, San Marino,
Singapore,
Andorra, the Vatican, Iceland (they managed nearly 300 years without any
government
whatsoever!) Liechtenstein, Hong Kong, etc., people all over the world give
their
governments too much power, contrary to self-interest of the governed.
The revolutionaries who formed the USA took the Greek and Roman experience, with
which
they were quite familiar, and applied it to USA. The essential America is
conforming to what
God recommended to Samuel in 1 Samuel 8-10, and as further informed by Socrates,
Jesus in
his “render unto caesar...” formulation, the barons at Runnymede in 1215, and
the Spanish
scholastics who argued for the right to revolution. Montesquieu’s separation of
powers meant
to hobble government was the premier political thought in America, with Kant
taking it a step
further, pointing out a natural conflict of interest with lawyers, as officers
of the court,
serving in the legislative or executive branch. (How come that was left out of
the
constitution!?) Drawing lessons from these centuries of history there were three
premises of
the American revolution: that rights are God-given and inalienable, that
governments are
formed to secure those rights, and lastly, we can overturn the government which
fails to
secure those rights. The central fear was what Augustine identified in his City
of God, the
libido dominandi or “lust for power” that captures most of us, but is disastrous
when
leveraged with government power.
With Rome as a model, the Jeffersonians saw the Constitution as a way for the
common man
to be secure in his person and property as he pursued life, liberty and
happiness as in the
earlier Roman republic. The Hamiltonians saw it as a way for the elite to lead
the nation to
greatness as in the later Roman Empire. The tension between the two has always
been with
us.
George Washington in his farewell address warned of entangling alliances.
Cincinnati is
named after George Washington, who, like the Roman Cincinnatus went back to his
farm after
service, eschewing power for himself and his family. Admirable.
But rules reflect weakness. George Washington had to make such an address,
because there
was so much agitation for us to strive for “national greatness” by copying the
Europeans in
the competition for empire. To do so the Hamiltonians needed the ability to make
war
without the consent of congress and the ability to print currency without its
value constrained
by money (gold historically), but each were contrary to the constitution, and
the American
Revolution. In time they would get both.
Indeed, USA is considered exceptional in its form of government and relative
freedom, with
the people sovereign. George Bush does not represent USA, he is not our
“leader,” in the
sense that so many countries see their top politician as “leader.” He represents
nobody. Bill
Gates may represent Microsoft, but in no useful sense does the President
represent American
citizens. Our president is merely the CEO of one branch of the federal
government, a branch
ultimately under the congress, which represents the people to the federal
government, that
strictly limited entity. Or so the theory goes.
My view is probably just an opinion, but one with an orthodox pedigree in USA.
A pedigree
that goes back at least as far as the Bush family, who have been here since
before
revolutionary times as well as their progenitors, the Walkers and Prescotts.
Indeed they’ve
been here quite a while, almost as long as the Spiers.
Pre-Revolutionary Spiers were sailing merchants, landowners, slave owners.
Henry Spires
(the spellings changed often before Webster and Johnson standardized spelling)
was given a
land patent in Virginia for 100 acres by the King in 1744, and John Speirs got
600 acres 80
years earlier. Our lines run back to Scotland, to Arundel and to Howard, duke
of Norfolk, thru
Lawrence Washington, George’s elder half-brother. There is even a medieval curse
on the
Spiers name, wherein no firstborn is ever male. Who cast the curse, why, or how
“no firstborn
ever male” is much of a curse, all is forgotten. Spiers were wealthy and active
in the
revolution, indeed, quite well-to-do financially until, at least in my line, the
fortune was
wiped out in the stock market crash of 1929, before government policy caused the
depression. I have copies of family papers, reckonings after some slaves were
auctioned off,
on Christmas eve, 1854. The reason we no longer have slaves is that word
“inalienable”
associated with rights, which made inevitable the end of slavery in USA.
Whether Jefferson
foresaw this effect downstream is debatable, but the fact is he wrote the words
and the words
led to the end of slavery, the ultimate expression of libido dominandi.
My grandfather is named Edward Howard Spiers (after the duke), and grandmother a
descendent of the Pope family, whose plantation is now the town of Pope’s Creek,
Virginia.
And both my grandparents were Spiers, second cousins. As were, ahem, their
parents. All
rather Pharaonic.
When my father was de-mobbed from the navy in 1945 in Seattle, his father told
him to stay
here, for fear my father would marry a cousin in Virginia. A dutiful son, my
father stayed in
Seattle and married the Irish gal who handed him his walking papers at the navy
office. They
were disconsolate back in Virginia that my father married a Catholic. “At least
she isn’t a
Jew...” grandad wrote, philosophically.
Privately this family history is no more important to me than the genealogy of
Gwyneth
Paltrow. But it is terribly important to some family members who keep careful
track of it all.
How else will my daughters assume their place in the Daughters of the American
Revolution?
The genealogy must be exact. There is a certain entitlement that comes with
being of
revolutionary stock, and we must not lose our patrimony through neglect. On the
other
hand, if one had an ancestor executed by Berkeley during Bacon’s rebellion, then
perhaps
anti-tyranny is in the blood.
So both the Spiers and the Bushes go way back, and both know the history of this
country.
And everyone makes a choice, Jeffersonian or Hamiltonian? As many have observed,
we honor
Jeffersonian ideal, but we live in a Hamiltonian milieu, since the liberals and
conservatives in
USA politics are both Hamiltonian. Both want “national greatness” which for
either is merely
aesthetical differences in the exercise of libido dominandi.
Conservatives want to intervene overseas, think Fallujah. Liberals want to
intervene
domestically, think Waco. Moderates want to intervene everywhere. Think
Fallujah and Waco.
They are all Hamiltonians, to a degree. Radicals want to intervene nowhere.
Think Monticello.
The word radical stems from the word ‘root’ meaning the original and essential
part. I am
radical.
In pursuit of power, the political branch of the Bush family feels the need to
muddy their lines
for public consumption. Hence the move to Texas, the ranches, cowboy boots, and
the oil
industry. Our current president, Texan and methodist George Bush, was born in
New Haven,
Connecticut. He is about as Texan as Hillary Clinton is a New Yorker. Another
Bush, the one
who had Florida given to him, became a catholic, coincidentally very important
in a state with
a huge Cuban voting bloc.
The Kennedy's had to go the other way, putting on blue blood airs, attending
Harvard,
seeking high government service when they are potato famine refugees, rum
runners at that.
But since the Bushes are in power right now, I’ll pick on them.
Our president’s grandfather saw no particular problem selling oil to the Nazis
in spite of the
fact we were at war with Germany. Where he got caught Congress would seize the
assets. Five
of the Bush family companies were seized by Congress in this manner. Congress
invoked the
Trading with the Enemy Act and seized the Bush-Harriman-managed Thyssen entity
Hamburg-American Line, under Vesting Order No. 126. Thereafter, under Order No.
248, and
then Vesting Order No. 259, and ultimately Vesting Order No. 261 various other
businesses
were seized. None of this is secret, it is all in public records. There is
evidence there were
more going on, which were not caught. A lot of pilots were shot down in WWII in
the Pacific.
Extremely few had submarines dispatched to pick them up, as in the case of GHW
Bush. To
this day the Bushes are co-investors with Osama bin Laden’s family. When
national greatness
is at stake, there are no rules.
The liberal side has nothing to crow about, Gore is no better than Bush when it
comes to
trading with the enemy. The Al Gore family was backed by Armand Hammer whose
convict
father was a founder of Communist Party USA, and who kept hard currency flowing
into
Soviet Union so Stalin could keep the gulags going. Armand Hammer and was given
the
Order of Lenin by Stalin. Check out the Gore’s zinc mine to see where his
money comes
from, and what an enviro-disaster it is. (I can criticize Armand Hammer now
that his Museum
no longer buys from me).
Now clearly, I am no better than the Bushes, no worse. My grandfather was a
civil engineer, a
surveyor, like his ancestor George Washington. My grandfather led the crew that
surreptitiously surveyed Panama so that when the USA stole it from Colombia, we
would be
able to define precisely what we were stealing. If it were up to me each school
day,
kindergarten through twelfth grade, would start with a good stiff drink for each
student. This
policy would be no more bizarre than most other government policies. The problem
is the
power, and having it to exercise. And the leverage being ‘government’ gives to
power. The
American revolution was about limiting the power of the government to keep us
out of
imperial adventures, foreign and domestic.
Our soldiers are in Middle East because oil is there. The Bushes are in oil
because money and
power is there. Savings and Loan scam? Count Jeb in. Big league sports? Buy
George jr. a
team. The Bush oil company Zapata changed to fisheries when that seemed to be
important,
then it became a dot.com during the dot.com boom. If the real money and power
was in ice
cubes, then the Bushes would be there in a big way. And we’d be at war with
Greenland.
We’d have a no-fly zone over Antarctica. Global warming would be a Republican
issue.
Republicans have war on terror and painkillers, and democrats have war on
poverty and bad
weather. Both cost the same, both are useless. And both are good for feeling
superior to the
other. Bush promises freedom from terror. Gore promises better weather. Both
say big
government will deliver. From them we get more terror and worse weather.
Hamilton was very popular within that spectrum that was pro-centralization for
the purposes
of pursuing national greatness. Like any movement, the American revolution was
40% for
and 40% against and 20% undecided. The political spectrum was as wide as any
time in
history. The tension was very strong.
The counterrevolutionaries, the Hamiltonians, know exactly what to do to assume
power, and
it takes unconstrained “money” and the ability to make war without restraint.
Hamilton
created the First Bank of the United States, so controversial that is was given
only a 20 year
run. Jefferson resisted Hamilton. Eventually Aaron Burr shot and killed
Hamilton, this while
Burr was President Jefferson’s Vice President of the United States. Perhaps VP
Dick Cheney is
bringing back the good old days.
Our legal history shows an evolution from the common law principle that if a
factory should
open and make mom’s laundry dirty 30 miles a way, mom may complain to a judge
and the
judge stops the factory and makes it pay for new clean sheets for mom. 800
years of
common law and property law required the ruling. But in time the judges started
ruling for
the factory, since the factory was more important than mom’s laundry, as a part
of the
change in legal theory preceding and accommodating empire. Thus the polluting
of rivers,
shoddy products, all sorts of mischief, attendant to and necessary for
imperialism, gained
traction. The victory for imperialists came with Lincoln and the civil war,
ending the
Jeffersonian ethic, or at least putting it into a deep sleep.
The constitution limits the right to create gold and silver coins to the Mint,
but in 1913 in a
legal fiction, congress created a private company (which reports to congress)
that controls
currency, the paper stuff. The reason for this is everyone knows a government
cannot be
trusted, ever, with control over money, so this legal fiction allowed the
imperialists a way
around the objection. (In Hong Kong, private companies print and issue
competing
currencies, not the government, the way it used to be in USA).
By 1951 Truman could enter a war without a declaration by congress, by calling
it a police
action. Congress still controls the purse strings, but the revolutionaries
assumed no standing
army, ever. With a massive military in place, that military-industrial complex
which General
Eisenhower named and warned us about in his farewell address, a president does
not need
any stinkin’ congressman to go ahead and start a war. Commander-in-chief of a
million men
and a year’s worth of supplies, we can be deep in the big money, obliged to
honor those
who’ve already died, before congress can rally.
So now we have an America capable of what the revolutionaries fought, that
Hamiltonian
imperial power. The Bushes, as do the democrats, no matter who they run as
candidate,
represent the Hamiltonian strain of USA politics. They are wrong, wielding
power gained
from foreign entanglements and war. It is counter revolutionary to side with
with the
Hamiltonians, and support the Bushes (or the Kerrys if he was in office).
Imperial power ends. It always has. Whether Persian, Maurya, Greek, Roman,
Chinese,
Moslem, Moghul, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Japanese or English, they all go
eventually.
And when they do, those “homelands” revert to their natural state. Is Italy
despised now that
it is no longer Imperial? Do tourists avoid Kyoto now? Is Patna miserable?
Will Los Angeles
be uninteresting when we inevitably bring our troops home from the some 136
countries
where we maintain a military presence (and not counting just marines as embassy
security)?
So how to solve the problem, if you accept it is a problem? Live and work, like
the
revolutionaries, as though our primary concerns were the good, the true and the
beautiful.
Introduce products that will still be here in 200 years, like Keillor’s
Marmalade introduced in
Dundee in 1797, during the height of British Imperial power. This is necessary
and sufficient.
This is true of everyone self-employed, we who freely choose what field to
enter, then find
ourselves obliged to closely follow in order to serve our customers. In this way
we may feel
the urge of libido dominandi, but age quad agis, we can’t get around to acting
on the evil
impulse. It is not enough for our constitution to be exceptional, we Americans
have to be
exceptional too.
Of course this is harder than simply picking up a gun and forcing others to do
you will, but in
that measure it is harder is the measure it is the more persuasive. Instead of
Americans
trying to become imperial masters, it is better that we model a better way for
the royalty try
to become like us, by starting a small business. Princess Kinga von
Liechtenstein has started
her own company, a fashion outfit. She could spend her life taking pleasure in
having others
serve her, but she instead will serve others. She is doing her part to make the
world a better
place.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
All Hail Walmart SLAVES
On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 16:51:05 -0500 (EST), "Chris"
i love low prices but do object to people having to live in subhuman conditions
on slave
wages - in order to get those low prices many workers who make the stuff,
including
children, suffer. multi-national corps seem to be held accountable to no one -
this is
civilization?
> chris
I think the good of these discussions is to exercise the crtitical faculties in
many areas so that
we can apply them well sharpened in the area we care about, so we can move
toward effective
change. (Change, difference, design is the basis we compete upon... we do good
while doing
well).
Certainly people who object to Walmart can find plenty of fuel for the fire,
here is but one, in
which they confidently predict Walmart is so evil it will soon be gone...
http://www.newsgateway.ca/Wal-mart.htm
On the other hand, I cannot credit the idea that goods from exploited labor ever
make it to
the shelves of USA stores. Certainly it happens, but it is products of 3rd
world countries
being traded among 3rd world countries. Exploitation happens where workers have
no
choice, and where they have choice, their wages go up as their conditions
modernize. Here
the Indian textile association makes my point... surprised as they are that
America buys items
from well managed factories...
http://www.icfdc.com/html/bizarticles/factsheets/indian_textile_sector_factsheet\
.html
And there is a tremendous check on multinationals, it is called the supplier and
the
consumer. Look at the most wicked USA auto industry. You've heard it said
"what's good for
General Motors is good for America." Their power was such they could destroy
the private
USA mass transit system and replace it with their cars, subsidized by taxes for
superhighways. Yet they dwindle apace.
Happily my opinion does not matter. I have an opinion, a hypotheses, that allows
me to
experiment and develop a theory, a theoretical basis from which to proceed. In
the measure I
am wrong, I will fail. In the measure I am right, I have a shot at doing well
while doing good.
Not a guarantee, just a shot. We can be right and still execute poorly.
Happily everytime I
get it wrong, my customers tell me how to get it right next time. So the only
risk I run is I
may quit at some point and lose all I have learned so far.
A bigger concern I believe is USA policy is to disallow emerging countries to
compete with
USA by making rules that hobble competing countries, to outlaw getting rich the
way we did.
When I study the WTO and the World Bank and USA trade policy this is the only
scenario that
makes sense to me.
For we example in USA dormitory/factories were set up mid-19th century in which
“spinsters’
would come to work and get an education and save money, put a brother through
school and
retire from the work after a few years, taken care of by a brother (or married
or whatever).
This was desired by the ‘spinsters,’ it allowed usa to take the textile biz away
from the british
and further excited innovation in the cultivation and processing of raw
materials in usa.
If Indonesians do the same thing today, it is called exploitation.
The world CAN be a wicked place, and that is good to know. This wickedness only
becomes a
problem when it is merged with government power, and is only amerliorated by
small
business innovation. (Big biz has the job of lowering the cost and thus
widening the access
to what material benefits innure from innovation.)
If one spots an inbalance, an unfairness, something less than desirable, one can
vote, write
letters of outrage to editors, harangue patrons at the corner bar, even take to
the streets. Or
one can call a competent designer. And develop a product or service that
bothers the wicked,
and one does well by doing good. Everyone else necessary to effect the
change... the
customsbrokers, the warehouses, the steamship lines, the retailers, the truck
drivers,
bankers... they are all standing by, ready for what is next. Being
self-employed it is always
your turn at bat.
John
China and Currency
Re: [spiers] China and Currency
On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 19:24:20 -0800 (PST), M A Granich
:
> Could driving the deficit up to astronomical levels be
> the big mistake? I'm far from an expert, and I don't
> like paying taxes anymore than the next guy, but my
> naive view says we should pay the bills.
Deficit levels don't really matter, what matters is the kind of deficit. I run
a deficit with my
grocer for food... if it is cheese and bread and fruits and wine and veggies and
fish, that is
good, assuming I live within my budget and am buying sensibly. If it is
twinkies and potato
chips and Red Bull, that is bad, and worse if i bust the budget with my
purchases. On the
other hand I sell things to people from whom I rarely buy anything, if at all.
Taxes are just
forced purchases, which take precedence over all other family needs.
If USA is buying from overseas machinery and equipment, raw materials and iems
we cannot
make, then the deficit does not matter, regardless of the size. In fact, USA ran
large deficits
out first 80 years or so, very large, but they were good deficits. If we are
buying things we
can make, something is wrong, and if we are paying for it through refinanced
houses, then
something is very wrong. You'd have to follow the money, but the problem would
get back to
how much currency is issued in USA and at what rate interest was set.
(The solution would be to forbid the govt to touch currency or interest rates).
Exports can be good or bad too... do we export things we made or raw
materials... of the
things we made, are the consumer goods or are they machinery and equipment?
Exporting
shoes is good, excporting a shoe-making machine is bad becuase its value, the
ability to
make shoes, is exported. Exporting subsidized goods is very bad indeed.
Subsidies,
currency and interest rate manipulation generate the bad kind of exports.
John
Monday, February 13, 2006
China and Currency
Re: [spiers] China and Currency
> I think what is happening is something of a judo
> match... big bad usa is undisputed
> champion, and sets all the rules... I think China is
> lettng usa push its weight around, waiting
> for USA to make a big mistake, one in which usa will
> take itself down, and lessen the threat to
> China.
Could driving the deficit up to astronomical levels be
the big mistake? I'm far from an expert, and I don't
like paying taxes anymore than the next guy, but my
naive view says we should pay the bills.
Wine Bottle Opener Design Needed
Re: [spiers] Wine Bottle Opener Design Needed
Have you tried coroflot.com? They have an impressive collection of
people registered. I found a talented designer for one product right
here in Seattle.
On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 18:13, paulcifka wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> We have a customer who is looking for a cool wine bottle opener -
> something that has a higher end feel as well as possibly a retro look.
>
> There are a number of sources we are looking for designers from but
> thought I would check here too in case anyone had a good
> recommendation.
>
> Thanks and best wishes,
> Paul
> paul@anzenmarkets.com
> 206-310-6237
>
> Compete on Design!
>
> www.johnspiers.com
China and Currency
Re: [spiers] China and Currency
On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 23:43:52 -0000, "mgranich"
> I read an article "White House urges China to loosen currency system"
> on yahoo news today. But the article didn't say what "loosening
> currency" means. What does China have to do to "loosen" it's currency?
> And How does China's currency policy effect the trade deficit?
>
USA rules the world in part by being banker of last resort. There is more US
currency in
circulation overseas than in usa, I believe 3 times as much.
USA wants china to manipulate its currency so Chinese items cost americans more,
and
american items cost chinese less. Why our government wants americans to pay
more for
things, and get less for what we sell is hard to understand, but we'll leave
that alone. One has
to assume american monetary theory is valid to believe the wish could come true,
but let's set
that aside, too.
for the last several decades the world was more or less happy to let USA be the
banker of last
resort. That is changing as world trade patterns change. I believe USA policy
is to complain
about China so as the usa economic situation worsens, due to usa govt policy, we
can blame
the Chinese (instead of correct ourselves).
Syria today switch to euros for its int'l banking, no more accepting USA
dollars. Malaysia and
several other moslem contries have intgroduced the gold dinarii back into
circulation, aka
"hard money". the Russiand have to, the chervonetz, although only for int'l
trade payments.
Saddam Husseien threatened to price oil in euros, which may have partially
invited the US
invasion, and Iran is currently making a similar threat. The last thing USA
want is for all
those dollars to come home.
Currency arbitrage is a esoteric area of int'l trade, something that made Geo
Soros a
billionaire. He bet the british govt was ignorant of the reality of currency
and money and it
paid off spectacularly for Soros. Later, as the malaysian prime minister said,
Soros set back
malaysian development 40 years when he took advantage of Malay government
financial
ignorance in 1997. I suspect in reintroducing gold currency the malays have
learned their
lesson.
Also, Argentina is buying gold heavily...suppose they learned something too?
I think what is happening is something of a judo match... big bad usa is
undisputed
champion, and sets all the rules... I think China is lettng usa push its weight
around, waiting
for USA to make a big mistake, one in which usa will take itself down, and
lessen the threat to
China.
John
All Hail Walmart
Re: [spiers] Re: All Hail Walmart
On Mon, 13 Feb 2006 13:18:54 -0800 (PST), M A Granich
:
> Two of W. Edwards Demming's 7 sins that can keep the
> US from competing were 1) the cost of healthcare, and
> 2) the cost of litigation. For healthcare, would a
> Canadian style nationalized single payer healthcare
> system lift the burden on businesses and allow the US
> to be better competitors?
As the world's #1 exporter and worlds #1 importer, i get a bit lost when people
like Demming
say we fail to compete... but, to the point... the health care burden on biz is
put there by govt
regulation, the govt requires the burden be of a certain kind of "healthcare"
what they say
healthcare is, not what may be best for you and me.
In canada they are way ahead of us in small businesses directly patients to
better places
overseas for healthcare... shortening waiting times for healthcare is a
political issue in
canadian elections...
I'd bet the solution would be to deregulate medicine in USA... that will not
happen, so
medicine will continue to be an area wide open for small business innovation.
John
Competing in Services
Re: [spiers] Competing in Services
See this is the wonderful thing.,...right or wrong about real estate agents,
this expedia.com
fellow is betting his own money (and his backer) on his idea... if people love
their agents, he
can kiss his money good bye... this isn't some congressman with his pockets
stuffed full of
money deciding Indian Casinos are a good idea (or not, depending on his most
recent
payment)... this is people putting themselves on the line and making an offer
the rest of us
can take or leave.
John
linda williams
> As a real estate investor, I have found that a good real estate agent is
> worth their weight in gold. I have purchased and sold properties both with
> and without the benefit of an agent.
>
> I now work exclusively with agents saving me both time and money,
> that is, when I do work.
>
> Thanks to my real estate investments I am retired. Currently I am
> enjoying myself in Western Samoa, tonite I board for New Zealand.
>
> Linda
Wine Bottle Opener Design Needed
Hello all,
We have a customer who is looking for a cool wine bottle opener -
something that has a higher end feel as well as possibly a retro look.
There are a number of sources we are looking for designers from but
thought I would check here too in case anyone had a good recommendation.
Thanks and best wishes,
Paul
paul@anzenmarkets.com
206-310-6237
All Hail Walmart
Re: [spiers] Re: All Hail Walmart
I know several people who work at Walmart, and I have to say they are offer
great
entry level positions with lots of training. Many complain about the low wages
and
meager benefit package, but there is ample opportunity for those who choose
the
path of advancement, or simply a handy place to work while they attend college
or wish to supplement their retirement income.
If wages and benefits were higher at Walmart, then their sale items would be
more
expensive opening the door for other inexpensive big box stores who would most
likely adopt similar policies to keep prices low.
I like "Wallyworld" as we call it here in Marysville, Wa. I enjoy shopping for
inexpensive items and I enjoy the brief hellos to my friends who work there.
Any large corporation is likely to generate complaints from either competitors
or
employees. I once worked in the HR dept of Washington States' 9th largest
employer. Our entry level wage starts at nearly $11hr, and our health & benefit
package
are the best in the state. Complaints? Of course, and lots of them!
Linda
spiersegroups
There is a difference between Walmart using eminent domain, something a small
company cannot do, and Walmart encouraging employees to go on welfare,
something small businesses can do as well. Only big biz can entice a local
government to rob the small to serve the large, but all businesses, large and
small,
similarly benefit from welfare. Indeed, Walmart is obliged to encourage
employees to
collect welfare, since their competitors do as well, and to remain competitive
at the
big biz level, all big biz must do it.
In this instance the problem is govt intervening in medicine. In the measure
this is a
market distortion, is the measure biz opportunities open up...
John
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, M A Granich
>
> > I do object to the relatively new policy of getting
> > local government to use eminent domain to
> > condemn and seize private property for the benefit
> > of another private property owner (see the
> > kelo rulings).
>
> The Seattle Times also recently ran a story about the
> State of WA. providing hundreds of Walmart employees
> with healthcare via Medicaid or the State's basic
> health plan to the tune of millions of dollars. And
> Walmart encourages this. I find that equally
> objectionable.
>
> Anthony
>
Compete on Design!
www.johnspiers.com
All Hail Walmart
Re: [spiers] Re: All Hail Walmart
Two of W. Edwards Demming's 7 sins that can keep the
US from competing were 1) the cost of healthcare, and
2) the cost of litigation. For healthcare, would a
Canadian style nationalized single payer healthcare
system lift the burden on businesses and allow the US
to be better competitors?
Speaking of government getting involved with medicine
and mucking things up...., in 1997 Clinton endorsed a
plan to reduce the number of doctors by paying New
York medical schools NOT to take medical students.
New York State happens to graduate 15% of US doctors.
The idea behind the reduction was that if you have
fewer doctors, you'll have fewer tests/procedures. I
think the idea was a little asinine (I thought Clinton
was an OK president too). Sick people drive tests
regardless of how many doctors there are. I think a
better idea would be to flood the market with doctors
and let the market take care of itself. Restricting
Doctors is like Enron closing down electrical
generating plants to drive up the cost of electricity.
Anthony
--- spiersegroups
> There is a difference between Walmart using eminent
> domain, something a small
> company cannot do, and Walmart encouraging employees
> to go on welfare,
> something small businesses can do as well. Only big
> biz can entice a local
> government to rob the small to serve the large, but
> all businesses, large and small,
> similarly benefit from welfare. Indeed, Walmart is
> obliged to encourage employees to
> collect welfare, since their competitors do as well,
> and to remain competitive at the
> big biz level, all big biz must do it.
>
> In this instance the problem is govt intervening in
> medicine. In the measure this is a
> market distortion, is the measure biz opportunities
> open up...
>
> John
>
> --- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, M A Granich
>
> >
> > > I do object to the relatively new policy of
> getting
> > > local government to use eminent domain to
> > > condemn and seize private property for the
> benefit
> > > of another private property owner (see the
> > > kelo rulings).
> >
> > The Seattle Times also recently ran a story about
> the
> > State of WA. providing hundreds of Walmart
> employees
> > with healthcare via Medicaid or the State's basic
> > health plan to the tune of millions of dollars.
> And
> > Walmart encourages this. I find that equally
> > objectionable.
> >
> > Anthony
Competing in Services
Re: Competing in Services
How is it that real estate agents control so much of
> the market? ... I never understood why it is the
> way it is.
>
***Like doctors lawyers, dentists, it is a complex web of laws, customs, access
to
education, etc that maintains the status quo... like monopoly on long distance,
or
eyeglasses, small biz will bring them down.***
> > Question: Is it better to government regulators sort
> > out market distortions,
> > or leave it to small business people to correct
> > inbalances?
>
> There is room for both. Ideally, small business would
> do the job. But if the "market distortion" is a
> monopoly, then consumers are hurt, ideas are stifled,
> prices rise.
***The only true monopolies are govt monopolies... think telephone, optometry,
Jim
Crow laws... all government rules.***
I think big oil is a monopoly. ..BP, Texaco and Shell have
> one and OPEC has the other. A small businessman just
> can't go out and start a refinery. It is way too
> expensive. That is when government should step in
***But self-employed sole-proprietor Marc Rich became a billionaire getting the
oil
flowing during the oil crisis in the 70's, which was caused by the very
monopolies you
mentioned. Of course solving the oil crisis was a federal offence, and he
escaped to
Switzerland with his money where being a small businessman is not a crime. Thus
no
extradition. Bill Clinton reasonably "pardoned" Marc Rich, which caused a
firestorm of
prosecutors objections, but too bad. ***
. I
> think Microsoft is a monopoly too. They have 95% of
> the market share. They are preditory about keeping it
> too.
I have a half dozen computers in my home and office, and not a single one has
any
microsoft products on any of them. Their products are mediocre and I think a
net
deficit in operation. Linux, Apple, Google... all are eating parts of the
M-soft pie.
Microsoft is BIG, but only because their #1 customer, by far, is government.
Microsoft grew both because and as govt grew the last 20 years. (This is true of
Oracle too, it was started as a company building databases for the CIA, a secret
project called..you guessed it...Oracle.) The pendulum is swinging back, the
republicans pushed big govt too far, and the dems will reduce it, looting
companies
like microsoft to fund their pet projects.
Now we can debate these very much, but the lesson I believe is to spot the
nonsense,
and the distortions based on the nonsense, and exploit the pretensions to do
well
while you do good.
John
Re: All Hail Walmart slaves
i love low prices but do object to people having to live in subhuman conditions
on slave wages - in order to get those low prices many workers who make the
stuff, including children, suffer. multi-national corps seem to be held
accountable to no one - this is civilization?
chris
--- On Sun 02/12, John Spiers < john@johnspiers.com > wrote:
From: John Spiers [mailto: john@johnspiers.com]
To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
Date: 12 Feb 2006 23:32:15 -0000
Subject: [spiers] All Hail Walmart
Folks,
You know I do not share the objections of the WalMart-bashers, since I thing
they are one of
the "conservators" in fact the best in the retailer class of lowering the cost
of items so more
people can have access to material benefits.
I do object to the relatively new policy of getting local government to use
eminent domain to
condemn and seize private property for the benefit of another private property
owner (see the
kelo rulings).
Previously Walmart had to face a small l;andowner who could charge walmart a
superpremium
to build near or in town. Therefor walmart kept their stores way out of town.
Good enough.
Now city councils are tripping over each other to entice walmart in by stealing
from citizens
their property to they can get walmart's superior tax receipts. To spend on
whatever... now
walmart is considering banking...
http://tinyurl.com/cdzln
and speaking of tax receipts... here is a pretty good "oops..." Notice the
bias... not clerical
error or greed or dull unawareness is the problem... but a house valuation is
the problem.
http://tinyurl.com/dcus4
John
Compete on Design!
www.johnspiers.com
Competing in Services
Re: [spiers] Competing in Services
As a real estate investor, I have found that a good real estate agent is
worth their weight in gold. I have purchased and sold properties both with
and without the benefit of an agent.
I now work exclusively with agents saving me both time and money,
that is, when I do work.
Thanks to my real estate investments I am retired. Currently I am
enjoying myself in Western Samoa, tonite I board for New Zealand.
Linda
M A Granich
> Same fellow is now going after real estate agents.
How is it that real estate agents control so much of
the market? I would love to see the real estate
agency go down the toilet. The 6% fee seems grossly
unfair vs the service they provide, it can be
downright obscene. I never understood why it is the
way it is.
> Question: Is it better to government regulators sort
> out market distortions,
> or leave it to small business people to correct
> inbalances?
There is room for both. Ideally, small business would
do the job. But if the "market distortion" is a
monopoly, then consumers are hurt, ideas are stifled,
prices rise. I think big oil is a monopoly. They
have us all by the balls....BP, Texaco and Shell have
one and OPEC has the other. A small businessman just
can't go out and start a refinery. It is way too
expensive. That is when government should step in. I
think Microsoft is a monopoly too. They have 95% of
the market share. They are preditory about keeping it
too.
Anthony
Compete on Design!
www.johnspiers.com
China and Currency
I read an article "White House urges China to loosen currency system"
on yahoo news today. But the article didn't say what "loosening
currency" means. What does China have to do to "loosen" it's currency?
And How does China's currency policy effect the trade deficit?
Anthony
All Hail Walmart
Re: All Hail Walmart
There is a difference between Walmart using eminent domain, something a small
company cannot do, and Walmart encouraging employees to go on welfare,
something small businesses can do as well. Only big biz can entice a local
government to rob the small to serve the large, but all businesses, large and
small,
similarly benefit from welfare. Indeed, Walmart is obliged to encourage
employees to
collect welfare, since their competitors do as well, and to remain competitive
at the
big biz level, all big biz must do it.
In this instance the problem is govt intervening in medicine. In the measure
this is a
market distortion, is the measure biz opportunities open up...
John
--- In spiers@yahoogroups.com, M A Granich
>
> > I do object to the relatively new policy of getting
> > local government to use eminent domain to
> > condemn and seize private property for the benefit
> > of another private property owner (see the
> > kelo rulings).
>
> The Seattle Times also recently ran a story about the
> State of WA. providing hundreds of Walmart employees
> with healthcare via Medicaid or the State's basic
> health plan to the tune of millions of dollars. And
> Walmart encourages this. I find that equally
> objectionable.
>
> Anthony
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Competing in Services
Re: [spiers] Competing in Services
> Same fellow is now going after real estate agents.
How is it that real estate agents control so much of
the market? I would love to see the real estate
agency go down the toilet. The 6% fee seems grossly
unfair vs the service they provide, it can be
downright obscene. I never understood why it is the
way it is.
> Question: Is it better to government regulators sort
> out market distortions,
> or leave it to small business people to correct
> inbalances?
There is room for both. Ideally, small business would
do the job. But if the "market distortion" is a
monopoly, then consumers are hurt, ideas are stifled,
prices rise. I think big oil is a monopoly. They
have us all by the balls....BP, Texaco and Shell have
one and OPEC has the other. A small businessman just
can't go out and start a refinery. It is way too
expensive. That is when government should step in. I
think Microsoft is a monopoly too. They have 95% of
the market share. They are preditory about keeping it
too.
Anthony
All Hail Walmart
Re: [spiers] All Hail Walmart
> I do object to the relatively new policy of getting
> local government to use eminent domain to
> condemn and seize private property for the benefit
> of another private property owner (see the
> kelo rulings).
The Seattle Times also recently ran a story about the
State of WA. providing hundreds of Walmart employees
with healthcare via Medicaid or the State's basic
health plan to the tune of millions of dollars. And
Walmart encourages this. I find that equally
objectionable.
Anthony
All Hail Walmart
Folks,
You know I do not share the objections of the WalMart-bashers, since I thing
they are one of
the "conservators" in fact the best in the retailer class of lowering the cost
of items so more
people can have access to material benefits.
I do object to the relatively new policy of getting local government to use
eminent domain to
condemn and seize private property for the benefit of another private property
owner (see the
kelo rulings).
Previously Walmart had to face a small landowner who could charge walmart a
superpremium
to build near or in town. Therefor walmart kept their stores way out of town.
Good enough.
Now city councils are tripping over each other to entice walmart in by stealing
from citizens
their property to they can get walmart's superior tax receipts. To spend on
whatever... now
walmart is considering banking...
http://tinyurl.com/cdzln
and speaking of tax receipts... here is a pretty good "oops..." Notice the
bias... not clerical
error or greed or dull unawareness is the problem... but a house valuation is
the problem.
http://tinyurl.com/dcus4
John
Competing in Services
Folks,
If one perceives an unfairly distorted market, one might fashion a way to
take advantage of the malinvestment and misallocation to make money while doing
good.
The travel agency biz was something of a racket before a fellow started
expedia.com to exploit the travel agents unfair advantage.
Same fellow is now going after real estate agents.
http://nalert.blogspot.com/2006/02/house-valuation-site-may-have-realtors.html
Question: Is it better to government regulators sort out market distortions,
or leave it to small business people to correct inbalances?
John
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