We can’t all gamble our way to prosperity. From Charles Hugh Smith at oftwominds.com:
Surely the Fed gods will affirm the cult’s most revered articles of faith. But false gods eventually fail, even the Fed.
Every once in awhile the zeitgeist sets up an either / or: either the zeitgeist is crazy or I’m crazy. (OK, let’s agree I’m crazy; see, it’s not that hard to find something to agree on, is it?)
What strikes me as crazy is the global Cult of Speculation which has recruited virtually the entire human populace in a bizarre cult in which speculating wildly is now the accepted norm, a norm papered over with fine-sounding phrases such as “investing for the future,” “hold on for dear life,” “conviction trade,” “new paradigm,” and so on, all variations on the time-honored “this time it’s different.”
But speculative frenzies that sweep up everyone with a few quatloos to place on the gaming table are not different, they are the norm. Humans love gambling, winning, windfalls, something for nothing, being ahead of the pack (“the new paradigm,” etc.) and the excitement of running with the triumphant herd, all of which are fulfilled by speculative frenzies.
All the speculative free-for-all is lighthearted fun on the way up, but there is a much bleaker reality that few are willing to recognize, much less discuss: now that the global economy is in thrall to the top 0.1% and the foundations of widespread prosperity crumble into dust, the ladder to wealth, power and prestige has few rungs left.
Most of the few remaining open slots in the top tier have already been taken by insiders and the offspring of the already-wealthy, and so the only way to get ahead is to speculate and win–not just win, but win big.
In other words, the fundamental driver of this speculative frenzy isn’t just greed, it’s desperation. For the vast majority of the world’s population, speculating and winning is their only chance to escape debt-serfdom or wage-slavery.
