May 2012
2 posts
Private Equity = Class Warfare
Shocking, I know.
But I just had to mention it. Because it is outrageous and it is ongoing.
This article in the NYT, discusses the bankruptcy of a large publisher
The publisher has struggled financially for years, laden with debt that was taken on when Education Media and Publishing Group, an Irish private-equity concern, borrowed heavily to finance the acquisitions of Houghton Mifflin in...
Activism perpetuating capitalism
Ok here’s something that pisses me off. A trust fund girl from my high school is out being a Greenpeace activist. Before that she was traveling all over the world.
So obviously she is being bankrolled by her parents. To the extent that she is resisting capitalism, she is relying on it even more. I guess it’s better than being an outright plutocrat, but you’re not gonna make a...
February 2012
1 post
Recognition!
So a relatively high trafficked blog, of which I am a periodic reader, has linked to one of my six month old posts that I wrote during my free time as a plaintiffs personal injury attorney.
I am basking in the glow of recognition.
As a life recap, I wrote most of the very lengthy pieces when I was more or less idle, working for a PI attorney who didn’t have enough work. I was...
January 2012
1 post
When Law School makes sense
If you can get a full ride at a top 20 law school, then going to law school is worth it. You get a healthy dose of elitism, and the study of law allows you to endure any kind of writing, as legal writing is the worst kind of writing in the world.
Otherwise, it is a financially ridiculous move. Only works out if you want to delay adulthood for another 3 years. Which I definitely did.
Also, it...
December 2011
2 posts
I guess this is Christmas
Christmas is where two of the three pillars supporting American capitalism (and american society) intersect. It is a potent combination of christianity and consumerism. While there is clearly tension between each, on christmas they are forgotten and we all revel in our shared ritual. In so doing, we justify and reinforce our way of living.
The third pillar, militarism, may make a small...
Broward County, Florida
A land of big avenues and small dreams.
American Capitalism on autopilot.
A grid. Sliced, diced and isolated. Yet, uniform.
October 2011
2 posts
Tiene Ocupado
Wishing I was on my soapbox for Occupy Wall Street, but instead I’m a damn corporate lawyer.
Since the media is trying to make sense of these protests because they have nothing else to write about, let me add something original and fresh, because I have nothing else to write about.
This is about justice.
Asking for a policy agenda from these protesters, as many commentators have, is...
September 2011
3 posts
The conundrum.
We are in a deeply depressed economy.
There is deep and severe unemployment, job insecurity and wage stagnation.
There is also a vast pool of idle capital, parked in cash and government treasuries, earning a zero rate of return.
Finally, wealthy individuals who have assets are unable to get a safe ROI of even four percent on their money.
What is the solution?
The government borrows the...
Prosperity!
Just realized that in my lifetime, the golden age of American Capitalism was ska music and SUVs.
Reel Big Fish and the Ford Excursion. Never gonna get more prosperous than that.
White collar blues
So you acquired a soul-munching fake economy white collar job and it sucks? Maybe you should take a moment to consider the value and satisfaction derived from honest labor, and realize that in this late stage capitalist economy, success and happiness move in opposite directions.
August 2011
15 posts
“The central problem to be addressed is clear enough. Compound growth for ever is...”
“While multiculturalism can accommodate the ideal of equality between most...”
“The role of the capitalist is to use money to command the labour or the assets...”
“In the neoliberal theory of the Austrian philosopher/economist Friedrich Hayek,...”
“The first lesson we must learn is that an ethical, non-exploitative and socially...”
“There are two broad wings of the deprived and the dispossessed. There are those...”
New job, less time
I’m now an ambulance chaser chaser. New job is decent. Humane workpace, living wage. Nothing too fancy.
Adjusting to new environment, no time for political tangents.
Let me just say that economically, we are in deep trouble due to impending austerity. Barack is a pussy.
Once I’m acclimated, my desire to express myself will re emerge and I may have thoughtful things to say. Stay...
Funny Stuff
“When I was growing up, my teachers tried to make the Sioux into saints and the...”
– War Nerd
Paging the Fed
Welp. Turns out we weren’t recovered from that huge financial crisis.
And, our political system is way too broken to pass what this economy needs (fiscal stimulus).
So really, the only hope is that the Fed steps in and does something. Inflation is super duper low, as are borrowing costs, so there shouldn’t be any concern about loose monetary policy.
But, what can they really do?...
“Snuffing out your child’s spiritual development in order that they get...”
– Ioz
“I psychologically torture my children in order to guarantee their superficial...”
– Tiger Mother (Redux)
“Re: “Free Market”
Just a reminder of the obvious, that the values...”
– Atrios
“Here is neoliberalism in a pork rind: the poverty of the many is preferable to...”
“Capitalism is a fickle bitch.”
July 2011
31 posts
So Frustrated with Politics
I’m not going to lie, the last 18 months have been brutal when it comes to politics. I am a partisan Democrat. I care about what happens to this country. I care about the people of this country, even the ones who don’t know what’s best for them. I care about poverty, and I care about the economy. Politics occupies a special place in my heart and mind. It’s where I exercise much of my creative...
“Fundamentalism, at its core, is about self-worship. It is about feeling holier,...”
– Chris Hedges
“Fundamentalists express the frustrations of a myopic and morally stunted middle...”
– Chris Hedges
“Fundamentalists have no interest in history, culture or social or linguistic...”
– Chris Hedges
“We live in a fundamentalist culture. Our utopian visions of inevitable human...”
– Chris Hedges
“The battle under way in America is not between religion and science. It is not...”
– Chris Hedges
New Urban Dictionary Term: Miami Handshake
Meaning: Bribe.
He said it would take two weeks to get my parking permit processed, until I gave him a Miami Handshake. Then it worked out just fine.
“A fraction of a rich man’s fortune is to the rich man only money but to a...”
– The Road to Serfdom is Paved with Tax Cuts for the Wealthy
I’m a live wire Free fighter Eavesdropper Come light up my fire, I’ll fix you up proper I’m just a young scholar with fists, enough knowledge to rip defunct proverbs and scriptures up Ominous visions must follow from wisdom, plus logic the rhythm, uncommon distinct, I won’t bow to the system, just swallow the drink to blunt sorrow exist, consume, borrow Resist,...
Personal Infamy: The NFL Labor Talks →
nanner:
ladonnapietra:
personalinfamy:
When you’re talking about the right to organize, you generally don’t want to be taking the side of rich, ignorant whores like Chad Ochocinco. I’ve heard plenty of erstwhile leftists, whose opinons I respect say something to the effect of: “these players have no right to demand more money, when…
His mug (and the rest of him) ain’t so bad.
Oh...
operapourlepaix asked: Having elected to remain ignorant of the theories of Austrian economics in an effort to protect yourself from being exposed to philosophies alternative to you own, you graced the "Austrian Economics" tag with one of the most profoundly stupid collection of fallacious question-begging assumptions in the format of an essay more accurately characterized as the rantings of a weak and lost...
The NFL Labor Talks
When you’re talking about the right to organize, you generally don’t want to be taking the side of rich, ignorant whores like Chad Ochocinco. I’ve heard plenty of erstwhile leftists, whose opinons I respect say something to the effect of: “these players have no right to demand more money, when teachers make $40,000 / year and NFL players make ten million.” And while that statement illustrates how...
A lawsuit about a colonoscopy
And a male yeast infection.
This is a dignified profession.
“The corporate elite achieves its aims of greater and greater profit by weakening...”
– Chris Hedges
“Human history, rather than being a chronicle of freedom and democracy, is...”
– Chris Hedges
“The massive redistribution of wealth happened because lawmakers and public...”
– Chris Hedges
“The bankrupt corporate power elite, who continue to serve the dead ideas of...”
– Chris Hedges
Lawyers, Fighting Over Documents
Wasting time. Billing clients.
Pushing paper.
Documents are worth fighting for, you didn’t know?
5 tags
Prospering in a World where Money is a Social...
There are plenty of lessons you can take from the recent financial crisis in the US, and the continuing slow motion train wreck known as the Eurozone. One key lesson is that paper money has no inherent value. No, I’m not telling you to go out and buy gold, or to horde land. That’s stupid. I’m just saying that paper money, and what it means, is ultimately controlled by the State. It is defined by...
My Letter to President Obama
Dear President Obama, I know things have been pretty tough lately, and I just wanted to let you know that I’m still rooting for you. With a couple of big exceptions, you’ve done a really good job. The problems that you inherited were huge, and you’ve done your best to deal with them. So even though some of my progressive/liberal friends have written you off, I haven’t yet. You inherited a pile of...
23 tags
The Road to Serfdom = Low Taxes
If you aren’t familiar with the “school” of “thought” that animates the Tea Party/Koch/Norquist faction of the Republican party when it comes to economic matters, you’re not alone. There is no school of thought that informs these folks on economic matters. However, they do subscribe to various schools of crazy proto-fascist dogma, which they describe as “economics.” One such tome is Friedrich von...
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
I haven’t posted something long and substantive to this blog in a while now. Just brief observations, political cartoons, quotes, and wildly popular hip hop lyrics written by yours truly. There are a few reasons for this effective absence. I’ve been doing a lot of research and writing at work, and my work load is adequate (though not overwhelming, which is a good thing). When I write a lot of...
Irrefutable evidence that practicing law is boring...
I’ve been living vicariously through my girlfriend’s cats.