i know how you feel, lily.  sing it girl.

8/6/11 15:27

one thing that fatigues me is continuing to spoonfeed my friends, in real life and on the internets, the facts and obvious conclusions that stem from those facts about the sorry state we find ourselves.  the economy, the political system now 100% captured by the big money interests, the society that embraces lying, cheating and stealing as a way to get ahead, while remain oblivious or in active denial about what is in front of our eyes.  denial most often activated by sinking into emotionally satisfying lies, that one party or another is to blame, that things will get better because they always do, that what we are living through is not unique to our lifetimes (unless you lived through the 1920s and early 1930s).

particularly tiresome is folks who will argue with me over facts.  often after admitting they are not knowledgeable or informed about a particular item or subject, about which i have spent a lot of time and effort to learn.  then they proceed to argue that i am wrong, because they 'feel' it must be wrong.  or they can't 'accept' that what i say is possible, much less is true.


thanks.  i needed that. hey, those voices in my head have steered me pretty damn straight lately. i'd be a fool to stop listening to them now.

and it is not as if i am infallible.  i am often wrong.  like yesterday, about the s+p downgrade of the creditworthiness of the united states of america.  i don't mind being wrong, when i am i promptly admit it and when needed, to make amends.  but facts prove me wrong, not what people feel, or what they can or cannot accept.

i did not think the s+p would downgrade.  wrong, bubba.  fine.  i'm interested in why.  why i was wrong, but much more importantly, why they downgraded.

(hint--it was not because all of a sudden this week the creditworthiness of the nation took a dive.  if these assholes were honestly and systematically evaluating fed credit, this downgrade would have come years ago.  if not decades ago.)

(hint #2--it was not because these assholes are honest, objective evaluators of anything.  their record makes this obvious.  how did they rate AIG?  AAA.  how did they rate all those junk mortgage backed securities?  AAA.)

i don't know, but i have a good idea why.  what led me to my reasoning, the following articles.  read 'em yourself, fish for a lifetime.

Is Too Much Significance Given to U.S. Credit Rating?

 

Police raid Milan offices of Moody's and Standard & Poor's

 

that first article is long; skim it and you get the jist.  there was another good piece on S&P's abysmal record of collecting fat fees for marking shit AAA, from michael shedlock's blog, but i cannot find it now.  him, and yves smith, are my first reads darn near every morning.  the ponds where i do my fishing.


but i'm also tired of repeating where i get my news and analysis.  i guess i'll start a blogroll on the right side, like all the cool kids.

last thing that makes me tired.  my personal dissonance.  seeing the facts, rejecting the overwhelming sea of lies, thinking instead of emoting, that is hard enough.  but recognizing the realities of our economic and political failures, while almost everyone else is unaware, or blissfully wallowing in the lies, delusions and emotional salves provided by the folks running the show for their own benefit, this disconnection from the mainstream weighs me down.  makes me tired.  really really damn tired.

at least that is coming to an end.  folks are starting to wake the fuck up; lights are flickering on, dots are being connected.  it is about damn time.