United States Heading towards a Depression?

I understand. You cannot comprehend what I am saying.

I own a private business and run a non-profit.

I'm speaking from experience.

Just because you have difficulty understanding what I am saying does not mean that is the case for everyone here.

If you require a more remedial discussion I am more than happy to provide illustrations, if that would help.

 

In my world collecting empty beer battles or cans doesn´t qualify as you running your own business even if you make your living form it and consider yourself a "businessman". .)
I really don´t care if you run it as business or non-profit.

 

They are not different, it's the environment that makes them different.

My theory is this: large groups of working people are either high schools (unhealthy companies) or soap operas (healthy companies). What, you think there is one couple in Montana giving birth to emotionally healthy babies? People in offices are going to bring drama. There is no getting around that. Some guys can't keep it in their pants. Some girls are sluts. Some people (guys or girls) want to reach the top, some of them have integrity and some are sociopaths. Some are bullies. Some are liars. But most are none of these things and are good people, but clueless.

My theory is that people are basically the same person they were in high school for the rest of their lives.

People must be motivated. That is the overriding concern - people must be motivated. Now, people that are naturally self-motivated will disagree because they can't conceptualize something that they take for granted in themselves. In my OPINION people can be motivated by competition, survival, social needs, or self-interest. This is how I manage. I prefer to provoke people's competition instincts.

My impression of government, from people I've spoken to, is that 90% of the time they have employment for life regardless of whether they mess up or not. I have no direct experience to back that up. But they have no competition, there is no possibility of firing so no survival threat or loss of their work social environment. So without motivation they don't give a fuck.

This is a terrific, wonderful article on large businesses:
Big Company Politics when Someone Screws Up

My favorite:

Now, IMO companies in competitive industries don't have management like that. But companies that basically have a monopoly, or especially an oligopoly, can evolve to be like that.

 

The government controls the price of money (money is just another commodity), thereby controlling the price of everything else.

Ibid.

 

OK, if you think that problem with public sector is job security and people not get fired then why shouldn´t you campaign for accountability and control instead of advocating private companies over public organizations? Did you know that in the golden age of Japanese industry, they never fired anyone and your employment was life long? Some companies even provided cemeteries so the workers continue with each other after life. That didn´t hurt their growth and in fact some economist were saying that this Japanese culture was the motor behind their advances. May be the problem is not life long employment but management and lack of accountability.
What better example of oligopoly than water, electricity and phone were few set the market price? It is funny that no one spoke about my previous post when I mentioned that price of electricity went up 10 fold in California thanks to private companies. If private companies are more efficient than public sector then why did they need to increase the price 10 times? They have done the same thing in Europe and now poor people in Spain need to pay about 1/3 of their salary for just electricity.
The last 30 years hasn´t been about free market and private enterprise, it has been to find a way that government can help the few to steal everything. This is actually counter productive to capitalism since the consumers are paying almost their whole salary in rent, electricity, water and phone and hardly have any money for other consumption or savings that can provide the capital for different business development.

 

Actually, while the Dept. of the Treasury mints and prints the money, the private federal reserve conducts the monetary policy and thus controls the supply of money.

GWorld, your comparison of Japan and the US, which both have utterly different cultures and work ethics, is meaningless.

Also, I have no idea what the Spaniards are doing but the price of electricity, water and gas here are not huge percentages of people's earnings. You claim the prices went up in California but you didn't state why. It could be that it has nothing to do with efficiency. Maybe because they're no longer being subsidised by tax payers it was necessary?

 

What percent of their earnings utilities come to is really irrelevant. Once a government grants an entitlement, trying to reduce or take it away will be met with protests,riots, violence, and political pressure. I recall when the UK raised tuition to state Universities up to $5k. Here in California, our instate subsidized rate exceeds $20k and is rising rapidly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_electricity_crisis

Crony capitalism strikes again. Hard to call it true deregulation when you hand control of the market to two companies, Enron, on Reliant energy. Monopolies are as bad or worse than any government run operation.

 

Again - why are you assigning positions to me that I never took?

This is the problem with political extremists - you don't see people as individuals, instead you place them in a category and assume that they have all the characteristic of that category. I am neither a Conservative or a Liberal. I am one of those people that will vote either part. To a Liberal, that makes me one of those mythical people that actually decide presidential elections.

I'm not impressed by Romney, but I'm probably going to vote for him UNLESS Obama fires Eric Holder AND he decides to start upholding the Constitution.

I agree with you here, except I believe it's only been the past six to nine years because that is the time period where I've seen a disconnect in the corporate system.

The U.S. corporate system worked for years because Management had been accountable to shareholders. But today, that is not happening and government is not enforcing the law when a corporate officer blatantly and openly violates their legally-binding fiduciary responsibilities to the corporation.

It's like illegal immigration - the laws exist, but they are not being enforced.

 

It has been much longer than 6-9 years. When 1987, the movie wall street came out and Michael Douglas declared: "Greed is good", he wasn´t making it up. He was summarizing the culture that already got a hold on corporate culture. The last 6-9 years that has speed up and top government employees have joint the party and now there is nothing left to steal and economy has crashed.


May be people should have listened to Martin Sheen character in the movie: Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others.

 

I understand where you are coming from, gworld, but I'm only speaking from my personal experience here and that's where my six to nine years is coming from - I never saw it before that except from a greedo stockbrokerage called "Stuart James" around 1986. Although I do remember watching a "Making of Wall Street" program on HBO where Charlie Sheen and Michael Douglas both mentioned meeting Wall Street traders that were "inspired" by Gorden Gekko and his "greed is good" speech. There was a similar speech in the movie "Other People's Money".

 

I have the experience from 1980s when they began to privatize utilities and noticed the problem becoming crazy and acute when in 90s you could not get financing for businesses that would generate 20-30% /year profit and how everyone was talking that you should make it per month and we both know that is not possible unless you are stealing it from others.

 

What is a beer battle? Is this like paint ball? You certainly have some interesting customs in Canada.

For Profit and Non Profit are two different things. If you'd like me to explain further, I will. In the mean time, try Google.

 

Government controls the supply of currency, not its value. Does their meddling with the supply affect the value of that currency? Yes.

Do they have control over that value? No.

 

If I didn´t think that you are too ...... to understand, I would have probably explain the concept and the subject of the discussion for you but since you are, no point to waste my time.

 

I stopped following this discussion a while ago and now have absolutely no clue what the point of the thread is anymore.. . LOL!

 

Hah, it would make one hell of an interesting psychology case study!

Thesis: "The evolution of political debate via an online medium"

 

Now you are making perfect sense.

http://www.engrish.com/

 

How about you come back when your IQ is higher than room temperature?

 

Probably to hash out what we knew long ago. History is repeating itself.

 

If there's a million dollars in circulation and the government prints one million new dollars, the value of the post-printing dollar is 50 pre-printing cents, more or less. Think not? Then why has it happened just about that way every time it's happened? Saying that what happened isn't what happens isn't very astute.