Wednesday, January 18

I have no grasp on this

Since I live in Switzerland, I got accustomed to the reality of Swiss radio.
It goes like this: 10% World News, 20% National News, 40% Financial News - the other 30% are dedicated to sports and traffic irregularities, and the weather of course.
The biggest chunk of reporting tries to analyze the financial sector. I listen to it, but as much as I do, I understand less and less. Perhaps I am just stupid, but the so called "financial crisis" in Europe makes no whatever sense to me at all. All I hear, is that countries wish to borrow money from other countries, and preferably with low interest rates. Now Standars & Poors downrated several European States, which leads again to a credit crunch.
Now, you must correct me, show me the way to understand. Why is it so, that all countries need to borrow money from other states (especially the United States) to fill their coffers?
How can this work? You borrow money from each other, then again from each other just to make the government work ... somewhat, until the next crisis.
This is a bit complicated, because I have had not the energy to think this through. So I will act as Simple Simon! Here are my questions.
When states borrow money from states who have no money either, where does the actual money come from, or be held?
How can nations get away with flabbergasting debts and continue on that course, while we citizens are ordered to keep a sane fiscally balanced household otherwise greedy banks will chop our head off with two digit interest rates and penalties.
And Italy whines - if they have to pay more than 4% interest on loans for their state coffers.
I guess my question really is: How come that capitalism got so harsh, that it defeats it's own means and direction?
Unlimited growth,  and expansive profit gains for each quarter can not be the future, it is against all common sense. No government can expect longevity on such premisses and borrow money from something, which there is not, in order to maintain a certain status quo.
They just found some fossil collections of Darvin's in a drawer. Perhaps Darwin was right after all: The world evolutes around the fittest for survival.
But how does that apply to nations? Borrow less? Be more self-sufficient?
I have no specific recipe, just like the demonstrators at Wall Street. But I have a feel that this whole system will come to a halt, just like the cruise ship on the Italian coast.

2 comments:

jozien said...

This is great Zee, maybe i should not laugh. But this gives me hope. When everything right now is as crazy as this as it certainly is, we will always be okay, because we are now.

And i love to hear about your lucid dreaming, i can't say i have enough of them. They are for me always a metaphor, as i see life as a dream, if i only could be aware, i could truly fly in the blue sky. What you do when you become lucid at night, or maybe better how do you experience it?
Grazie

Zee said...

For me lucid dreaming is no metaphor, Jozien.
The way it works is quite simple. You take a string of imaginations, thoughts and feelings into your sleep/nightlife. When you are half asleep, you start to spin it. You yourself actually take control of the narrative. It is like whispering to all what is around you, and whatever is around you that responds. In that way you can form your dreams, create your own pathways - and so on. The beauty of it is, you steer images and emotions as if you are the captain of the boat. Nor more random dreams, but novels that do enfold exactly at your liking.
The draw back, you will get less hours of deep sleep.
But since I figured this out, not long time ago, how to control dreams, I gladly take the disadvantage to not be able to fall into a merciful coma for an hour or two.