Seen on the street in Kyiv.

Words of Advice:

"If Something Seems To Be Too Good To Be True, It's Best To Shoot It, Just In Case." -- Fiona Glenanne

“The Mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” -- The TOFF *

"Foreign Relations Boil Down to Two Things: Talking With People or Killing Them." -- Unknown

“Speed is a poor substitute for accuracy.” -- Real, no-shit, fortune from a fortune cookie

"If you believe that you are talking to G-d, you can justify anything.” — my Dad

"Colt .45s; putting bad guys in the ground since 1873." -- Unknown

"Stay Strapped or Get Clapped." -- probably not Mr. Rogers

"The Dildo of Karma rarely comes lubed." -- Unknown

"Eck!" -- George the Cat

* "TOFF" = Treasonous Orange Fat Fuck, A/K/A Dolt-45,
A/K/A Commandante (or Cadet) Bone Spurs,
A/K/A El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago, A/K/A the Asset., A/K/A P01135809

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Fuck the Billionaires and Fuck Wall Street

On balance, they are nothing but evil.

Wall Street values two things that are disruptive to the American economy: They only value the stockholders of a corporation and they only value short-term results.

First the overvaluing of the stockholders: Wall Street has demanded that companies only consider the interests of the stockholders. They don't give a shit about anything else. In the search for short-term gains, Wall Street pressures companies to abandon long-established factories, instead of investing in renovations of those factories. The casting aside of American factories results in the surrounding towns and cities becoming hollow shells. When companies were controlled by families, those families were happy to see a ten percent return in exchange for making life better for their communities. But that's not good enough for Wall Street, for if offshoring the production will get a 20% return, that's what they'll do, even if it means throwing 20,000 people out of work.

In the process, the value of labor is completely discounted. A stockholder who invests $50,000 in a company can sell their shares later on. maybe they'll make money on the deal, maybe they won't. If they invest elsewhere, they may recoup their investment. Contrast that to someone who goes to work for the company: They are investing their time and, to some degree, their health in the company. If the company closes the factory, those workers cannot get that time and physical health back. In a sense, the employees have made a far more serious investment in a company than a shareholder. But they are no more valued than a robot.

As to the billionaires, nobody emphasizes why those fuckers need to be heavily taxed than Adam Neumann. His start-up, WeWork, is failing, thousands of people are losing their jobs, while Neumann is walking away with over a billion dollars, including a $185 million "consulting fee" which was paid by the bank that bought his shares. When a history is written of the WeWork endeavor, I suspect that it's all going to look like a giant con that will make Trump's cons look amateur.

Other billionaires seem to think that their ability to make money translates into their being experts on everything else: George Soros, the Koch Brothers, Michael "Big Gulp" Bloomberg, Tom Steyer and, of course, El Caudillo de Mar-a-Lago. Some of the aforementioned have been using their money to basically legally buy politicians to get things changed so that they can make more money without being hindered by niceties such as pollution laws or labor laws. "Fuck the World, As Long As I Get More" is their motto.

In a way, they are to be pitied. They are in a self-imposed race to amass more and more, regardless of the effect on their communities, their countries or the entire planet. In a just world, they'd probably be institutionalized in a place where they could shiv each other over games of Monopoly.

Wall Street is fretting mightily over the rise of Elizabeth Warren. They would do better to engage in an honest assessment as to why their conduct has given Sen. Warren the opening to appeal of the American people.

5 comments:

Eck! said...

Wall street...

I want it now,
and, I want it all...

Eck!

drydiggins said...

Sharing with friends in Australia. Scott Morrison has turned into Trump lite.

drydiggins said...

Oh, and as always, Wall Street's gonna fuck us first. Same as it ever was.

dinthebeast said...

And of course they want to be worshiped for it:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opinion/elizabeth-warren.html

-Doug in Oakland

Tod Germanica said...

Self evident, comrade. And The Market can't even do the one thing it's supposed to do, set value. Capital chases its own worldwide tail frantically seeking constant profit rise. In what world does that happen? It's all rent-seeking, suing, and fake intellectual property trusts.
Helped by Silicon Valley plutocrats in the information/disinformation and control industry.
When marginal tax rates on the 1950s super rich were the very highest and the money was spread out, it lead to great prosperity for all. Look it up, deniers.
And the rich were still rich.
And always will be until their grasping for ownership of everything in this world causes them to lose their heads again.
Can't happen here? Remember we said that about fascism in the USA, too.
Already public shunning, denouncing, booing and denial of service acts are increasing, usually aimed at republic party trumpist appeasers, toadys, Benidict Arnolds, child jailers, nazis and racists and Russians.
It could spread to the rich, the paymasters and beneficieries of the fight against democracy.
It seems even a trivial stock/bond transaction tax would raise us trillions per year and with little pain to the casino investment punters of Wall Street. Wonder why it's never been suggested.
Obama and that ghost Eric (place) Holder should have dropped those billions from helicopters after nationalising the banks for one year. Instead of rewarding the un-indited, un-investigated Wall Street banksters whose thefts and crimes led to the crash.