Even if you’ve studied macroeconomics 101 back in the day, you may not have heard the term. Keynesian theorists bread from state sponsored academia are not oriented to hypothesize that investments can go wrong and can be counter-productive to a long term economic benefit. Today China faces the financial effect of amortizing vacant industrial complexes financed through non-transparent means as eloquently described by Jim Rickards in his book “The Death of Money”. Mr. Rickards claims that this phenomenon is not in and of itself a financial risk of devastating proportions to the Chinese banking sector but when matched up with other elitist transgressions in stimulating economic growth, perilous conditions have become beset. Mr. Rickards goes on to exemplify the flight of capital out of China by those instinctive purveyors of wealth who have concluded that all is not well in the Chinese banking system.
Apparently, it’s not only the western world which endorses the free flowing off balance sheet derivative market but the Chinese have become adept at putting it to work in helping Chinese savers acquire better returns than the near zero bank rate offered today. In spite of the 2008 financial crisis, Gobalresearch.ca now reports that the notional outstanding derivative book is twenty per cent higher now than it was back in 2008 and that Goldman Sachs alone carried $48 trillion dollars in derivatives at the end of 2013. The mortgage variety of derivatives were largely the cause of the 2008 financial crisis.
Sure you should “pick battles wisely”, but if you do not stand and fight for what you validate as worthy, then a slippery cascading slope of mediocrity, aloofness, and presumption may leak into every and all association or relationship which has meaning in your life. Then if others also stand down at every turn, a dichotomy is formed between the organized powerful and the disenfranchised powerless. You, by virtue of your breath and thought have power yet you cede it far too often. You opine inwardly that it’s not your fight and that other more charismatic leaders are better positioned to engage. You are wrong. Your passion when harnessed has a way of creating eloquence. You’ve been conditioned to feel like you’re ill equipped to be an arbiter of your affairs by those who posture as if they have your best interests at heart when in fact they selfishly seek their own agenda.
Freedom isn’t free. The more you cede the more you risk. The more you hesitate in ambivalence, the more you cower to the elite. Still caring about what other people think? If so, your subconscious mind is blocking your passion for seeking engagement in the worthy. Vibrate with purity when your cause is stirred and your fellow man will walk alongside in gratitude.
Support your dream in spite of challenges. Proof in point. Let’s call him Oscar. Fellow comes to Canada from Nigeria hoping to find a better life. Canada refutes his foreign credentials. He has no money nor family support from back home. Works night shifts doing security / warehouse work while attending courses full time during the day (yes, I asked the same question – when does he sleep?). Still finds time to study outside of class and work. Earns a scholarship. Lives in something like a dorm room.
He’s a quiet type void of distractions with a persona well suited toward maintaining goal oriented commitment. He calls upon his higher power inwardly only and acknowledges interim wins without fan fare. Oscar would recommed – to support your dream, let it percolate in confidence because few would be privy to your elements. It’s a simple unfolding fate fueled by your passion.
Today I join Oscar in celebration of his convocation from the faculty of Instrumentation Engineering Technology.
New community mailbox keys came with a letter signed by Canada Post’s “Senior Vice President of Business Transformation”. Does this mean that transforming the way mail is delivered is going to be a perpetual activity in which layers of executive involvement will be required? I remember the days when executive management entailed a CEO, a President and perhaps three Vice Presidents which headed up Finance, Sales and Marketing, and Human Resources. Your post office apparently has a “Junior” VP of Business Transformation and your price of a stamp has grown from twelve cents in 1979 to eight-five cents today. Expect an announcement for the celebrated position of Junior Vice President of Mailbox Graffiti Removal in the near future. However; I’ll happily fetch my own mail and eagerly anticipate if I can strike up a conversation with a neighbour momentarily suspended from the cell phone fixated glare.
Everyone is shocked. I haven’t spoken to one person yet who saw this NDP majority landslide coming. In retrospect, the passion at the ballot box was a healthy endorsement of democracy in lieu of climate rife with wasted taxpayer money and untrustworthy politicians. Many would purport the ruling Progressive Conservatives as elitist and out of touch. Even the sudden exit of Jim Prentice after having won his seat had a scent of arrogance while he shunned his constituents and superimposed a semblance of family responsibility to cover for his great escape in a debacle partly of his making. The old boys club is no more. The halls of power in parliament have shifted and for the sake of our economy dominated by the oil and gas sector, we hope that calm words from Rachel Notley translate into rational policy.
NDP administrations in other Canadian Provinces have had difficulty hosting an economic climate of vigor through words and deeds which business leaders had come to believe as threatening to progress. Business equals risk and risk deploys capital. Capital seeks homes where returns are reasonable and regulatory hurdles are in line with good common sense. All stakeholders are provided due care.
Trouble arises when irrational sentiment blurs the common good. Cause and purpose can be superseded by competing interests lost in the internal dynamics of an operating environment. Fearful that followers will lose faith if concessions are undertaken for the betterment of sound policy, leaders become distracted by whispering chatter of intransigent discontents.
Alberta is embarking upon an experiment of inexperienced politicians whom first must become versed in parliamentary procedure. They’ll come to learn the nuances of drafting legislation that will impact the lives of a constituency. Time will tell if they possess the capacity to be balanced, open, and sensible.
