What Is Going On Here? 

​

It doesn't take an advanced degree, or depth of understanding, to recognize a sea change taking place in human behavior as reported by the news media. There is no single source of stories that tell us that we are indeed on a slippery slope - possibly a crisis that moves the whole world closer to the edge of a precipice - a future that threatens the well being of entire populations, of individuals in close proximity to the very stories that are absorbed with the striking departure of otherwise decent human beings for activities that challenge the status quo in one activity after another.

What can we be talking about? 

Because it is so current that few can escape the devastating behavior of candidates for national office, begin with the words being bandied about in the so-called debates of recent weeks. Whether it is the 'attack' technique whereby one candidate singles out a competitor, or the response factor that simply exasperates listeners, viewers, and reporters, there is a widening gap between exaggerating and lying. What is one to believe? Is it fair game to mislead, mistake, or distort the issue at hand?

If they make it to the nomination for a presidential run, can they eliminate from their approach to any topic the warped language that made them eligible to win the Presidency? And does that hoist a red flag for every voter to expect the same behavior in office? (circa Richard Nixon).

Turn a page. Has the financial world become the hunting ground for those who have cast aside any moral or ethical behavior in the pursuit of power and money?  Banks, Investment companies, Hedge Fund developers and executives, ordinary brokers - all sources of upheavals in executive positions as one after another have departed supposed power posts, albeit, many with departing riches beyond their inflated salaries!

It has become normal, in a sense, for stories to appear weekly, if not daily, of stalwart, upright money managers who have been discovered by authorities to be involved in insider trading. Were they unaware of the potential penalty for illegal actions in their pursuit of the 'fast buck'? Are the several who shall be spending years behind bars just the tip of the proverbial iceberg?

Look around a bit. Has the craze to come up with a new and 'safe' Ponzi scheme run its course for the time being? Not so - if the crafty operators who think they can do better than ​Madoff have their way. As long as there are wealthy widows, vulnerable investors, and suckers in every community, there will be smooth, smart monied individuals whose pitch is so enticing it is hard to resist when ostensible 'proof' of success is displayed for the unwary who do not realize that their investment will go to pay off the back log of prior 'suckers' plus the operator!

Are all the bankers, brokers and followers guilty of improper use of their power to handle and move money - their only product? No. Take the recent discovery of a church going woman of mid years whose position as an accounts payable person for her church was found to have stashed away over one million dollars over seven years as she paid the bills - and kept a little here and there for herself and her penchant for expensive hobbies!

Sadly, it is only one aspect of the lead paragraph in this ViewPoint. Aberrant behavior is on the increase, as is the legitimate use of fungible funds. Can any person involved in the forthcoming, anticipated public offering of Facebook stock, fail to consider how the millions coming their way might be utilized for further gain - the first step in moving toward the precipice! Or, are the three former traders at Credit Suisse exempt from heavy penalties when they were discovered manipulating mortgages to the tune of millions of dollars? No way. They were caught - they are likely to pay for their foray into the world of easy money.

But it's not just money that is driving the world toward illegal, immoral, unsavory behavior. It would take a series of ViewPoints to even touch on the rampant discoveries of recent times. For example: Church hierarchy abusing young boys; college coaches using their vulnerable boys, and girls, to satisfy their deviant sexual pursuits - and those are only examples. How about small operators of children's preschool businesses whose hidden motivations were the abuse of their wards?

Entire countries, in Africa in particular, have been devastated by tribal differences, by evil leaders, and hundreds of thousands of innocent families have been victimized, torn apart, raped and killed for no reasons beyond the pursuit of some devious challenges to authority or desires.

If this summary of doom and gloom makes you wish their was someplace else to live, we are interested. So far, we are aware only of planet Earth. Maybe we have to find a way to make it a better place. Or else!

​

Richard Carlton

​Issue No. 3....February 2, 2012