Market politics

[bkp_duke]

Then we will just have to agree to disagree. I will not concede your point, and I am sure you will not concede mine.

 

[JRP3]

There is a strong belief in the long history and tradition of China and a deference to ancestors which may have worked to stifle innovation. China is of course not alone in that mindset but may be a more extreme example.

 

[Intl Professor]

Not my expertise, but my impression is this will be the Chinese century (again!). They have the largest gene pool to choose from and it's their job to cultivate it well for success. So far so good. Watch out for AI advances, my guess that is the key bell weather.

On the other side is legitimate concern about debt, especially for local governments.

 

[EVNow]

There is a strong belief in the long history and tradition of China and a deference to ancestors which may have worked to stifle innovation. China is of course not alone in that mindset but may be a more extreme example.

That's a weird argument in a country where half the people believe earth is a few thousand years old and don't believe in either evolution nor climate change.

 

[Off Shore]

That's a weird argument in a country where half the people believe earth is a few thousand years old and don't believe in either evolution nor climate change.

(Would have rated this Informative as well as Funny but it's really only 40%.)

 

[woof]

I volunteer for an organization that runs the worlds largest celebration of creativity. It's a global competition among school age children, to see which has the most creative solution to a select set of challenges. Every year, the Chinese students win many of the challenges, especially the more technical ones. I've been told winning almost guarantees the kids a slot at the more prestigious Chinese universities. Thus, when suitably motivated, the Chinese can be just as, if not more, creative than the rest of the world.

 

[wdolson]

(Would have rated this Informative as well as Funny but it's really only 40%.)

And there is a fairly big overlap between that 40% and the 40% or so who still approve of Trump's job.

I volunteer for an organization that runs the worlds largest celebration of creativity. It's a global competition among school age children, to see which has the most creative solution to a select set of challenges. Every year, the Chinese students win many of the challenges, especially the more technical ones. I've been told winning almost guarantees the kids a slot at the more prestigious Chinese universities. Thus, when suitably motivated, the Chinese can be just as, if not more, creative than the rest of the world.

China's culture is changing. Sometime in the last 10 years I read an article about Chinese expats with STEM skills. Quite a few had found the culture they experienced in China stifling to their creativity and they left for the west where creativity was well respected and even rewarded. Many had experiences in school where they were punished for being original thinkers and for those who had gone to college in the west it was an amazing experience to be rewarded for being original.

The culture in China is changing and being innovative is considered a good thing after centuries of harmony being the biggest cultural value. This shift has really only happened this decade and it will be interesting to see how it changes the overall culture in the coming years.

Back when Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was out I was seeing an acupuncturist who was American, but had studied it back when it was rare for Americans to learn Chinese medicine. He had to immerse himself in Chinese culture and had picked up a fair degree of Chinese to learn acupuncture. He sometimes watched Chinese movies in Chinese to keep his skills up. He observed that the theme in many western movies involves a hero protagonist who saves the day and stands apart from the crowd. The common theme in many Chinese moves is the protagonist tries to fight the common wisdom and tries to go his or her way, but by the end of the movie realizes that the common wisdom is the best and comes back to the fold.

Another thing I came across many years ago was the difference between shame and guilt cultures. People in all cultures have both, but in some the more dominant motivator for correcting behavior is shame and others it's guilt.

Most western cultures tend to be guilt cultures. The culture teaches children to develop an internal conscious which drives their actions for the rest of their lives. A significant number of westerners will feel wracked with guilt if they do something most would consider wrong and they are the only person who knows.

Shame is a driving motivator in a lot of other cultures. Some far eastern cultures have the concept of "saving face". That's because having the neighbors know you did something against the cultural values is the critically bad thing. In some cases like stealing ideas from others is considered a good thing by those around you, especially if it's someone from outside the culture.

Another example of the shame thing in Chinese culture is the new app that uses Grindr tech to identify when they are near someone in debt. Westerners tend to consider someone's finances a personal issue and exposing someone's financial information without their permission is considered a gross violation of privacy. But being deep in debt is a matter of shame in Chinese culture and shaming your neighbors by knowing how much debt they are in is a way the government is using to curb personal debt.

The Chinese have created laws against IP theft under pressure from other countries, but enforcement is lax and breaking those laws are rampant because culturally getting away with these kinds of theft is considered jut fine and in some cases makes someone a hero among their peers. IP theft happens a lot in the west too, but theft laws are more enforced and a lot of people doing it don't talk about it or keep the circle who know very limited.

To curb IP theft in places like China, it has to become a cultural taboo and like debt and trot people who steal IP out into the public square and humiliate them. But it's difficult for westerners to convince Chinese to change their culture, especially since westerners can't really conceive of the cultural levers that could be used.

For westerners educating people that IP theft is stealing and having some laws to back it up is enough to at least keep most people doing it underground. What IP theft is done is mostly for personal use and few profit from it because to profit means coming above ground and that opens you up to getting arrested or sued by the rights holders.

 

[EVNow]

(Would have rated this Informative as well as Funny but it's really only 40%.)

That's because you are not adding the 33% to that 40% !

So, I was being charitable. The % who strictly believe in evolution is 22%.

 

[DragonWatch]

I am a forward observer, born with log term planing skills ~ indecently I am educationally and height challenged. And, I was born with a wooden spoon in my mouth. Bottom Line

I listened to my son-in-law discuss with a friend the topic of creativeness, ingenuity ~ you know all that crap people say about the US; not long ago. Later that evening, I told him his theory was totally wrong. I had achieved all that was perceived that was good, and creatively become the cream of the crop (successful stone sculptor). That part I took credit for But, and yes, here comes that butt again ~ my brother with the same genetics was a total bust and ultimately burden on society. His response was, "oh yeah."

My mom and dad feared that bullies would have a hay day with me growing up. Problem was the slugs could not catch a 10.4 second hundred yard dash little kid that probably would have left them flat on the road. As one relative's kid put it to his father, before I had children, "dad he looks tougher than you."

My wife of many, many, many years. Met her on the 23d of August 1973. We are both first born's of families of threes, and publicly educated, and the same height. But, always a but, she is three months older than me Both of our fathers were directly involved in the air/space craft industry following WWII. Her father with just an AS degree in mathematics was ultimately called in to help create the ejection system after the failed crew lift off. My father with just an AS degree and almost as good in mathematics was sent onto USC where he graduated a year after I graduated from high school. He was being groomed to become a vice president. My long story point here is that between the two fathers, one, my father had put together a super nest egg, while I just had to dump money into my father-in-law's account to cover their financial well being at '92 (both '92) for he and his wife. Dad-in-law no nest egg; not even a broken shell of a nest egg. Both Dad's well educated for their time.

Back to my wife. Extremely smart, only joined my path because I was persistent and apparently cute I never saw myself as cute/handsome or gave a crap about money. The army showed me the money; $98 bucks a month and a brand new kid (private) not yet twenty. The clown you elected president cried all the way to the bank due to a bone spur. Both my father's (included in-law) served during WWII. My father's flight crew trained B-29 crews for deployment. Though enlisted, my father retrained the Navigators in additon to his real job. Specifically trained the crew that dropped the first "A" bombs. My wife would never have served ~ period. But, for some damned reason (BUT) she supported me 100% throughout the officer portion of my military career. Used my enlisted time to obtain the GI Bill to fund my education; then went back into service to become an officer. We met while backpacking, I asked her to marry me a week and a half later, and we married by the 30th of December. We had no real money, but lived very comfortably ~ not under a bridge I offered her the opportunity to go to college, assumed we could both work part-time and I had the GI Bill ($450 a month once married). She declined, continuing her very blue collar job until I graduated and we had our first born, the sixth first son in a row. She did however, try passing the Mensa IQ test. Sorry, out of my pay grade However, she finally graduated with her BS and was Phi Beta Kappa graduate; later went on to obtain her Masters (I beat her though). She accomplished the BS with two preteens and a ghosting captain.

What have you learned today? Well education and intelligence do not provide the "engine that could." Was it having the deck stacked against me that provided that engine? I was the guy that while my peers talked about taking the hill; finished their cup of java only to find in their field glasses, I had already taken the hill. My peers were so pissed off at me that they took extraordinary measures to torpedo my career. Yeah, I know there are no torpedo's in the army, but try telling my officer peers Do not tell them that I resigned as a Major so that I could support my wife in her dream career. It would melt their heart to know they wasted their hatred of my success. FYI ~ I was the only field artillery officer during my period to design, build a prototype and and convince the army to produce for world wide distribution a manual driven (computers were not up to the task just yet) war game ~ with my name on it. Got my only ARCOM (medal) for my time and energy

I planned, as a junior in high school my military service/GI Bill since my mom told me that they would only fund my sister through college since she was a girl. And, I knew I needed funding based on my teachers making it clear, very clear, it was going to take a lot of very, very hard work to get into, stay in, and graduate from college.

The Wright brothers learned to fly at a time when flight was becoming possible. The brothers held back creativity while the Germans had an air force ready for WWI. Elon is not native American, in case you missed the memo. Elo's dreams/long range planning and creativity exceed even the best of the best. What is the real case between Edison vs Tesla back in their day; you know the real inventor/creative person?

Elitism and money is what prevents creativity. Education is just a tool to open or in some cased block doors to creativity. Flying under the radar like me is costly to the soul, but worth the ride

Leadership is not a learned skill or necessarily a natural talent. I think of myself as the quiet leader, focused on truth and responsibility. Anyone can lead from a position of hate, and deliberately causing fear. My type of leadership does not deliberately cause fear and definitely does no feed on fear. I think that is the easiest way I can describe it for now. It is definitely the the chicken or the egg scenario. Does hate beget fear or does fear beget hate? For the eggheads, it is not the devil's work. That dumb ass, the devil gets way too much credit

 

[Intl Professor]

Sometimes we can get lucky. Anything bad for me was directly my own fault. Can't blame it on the devil either. Despite all I am in living Nirvana which my Buddhist wife explains is possible after death and better than Heaven because you have broken the cycle of life, death, rebirth. After prayer and meditation earning "merit" called boon, she comes over, gives me a hug and kiss to share the "boon" with me. (She says a monk once told her that did not diminish her merit, it just grows its influence throughout the world.) Sounds like the Dalai Lama to me.

Aren't we all lucky for the goodness of others. Do you disagree with that?

Edit: To make relevant to investing, without elegiac filigree, think positive.

 

[AudubonB]

MODERATOR:
Let’s keep this thread about politics, and not get involved in discourses about racism and stereotyping and other divisive topics.

 

[Intl Professor]

I love your irony.

 

[EVNow]

Interesting twist in 2020 Dem primary polls.

Biden plunges - effectively tying with Sanders and Warren. In 2 polls.

YouGov :
22% - Joe Biden
19% - Bernie Sanders
17% - Elizabeth Warren

Monmouth U.'s new 2020 Democratic primary poll (Aug. 16-20):
20% - Bernie Sanders
20% - Elizabeth Warren
19% - Joe Biden

ps : Expect to see a lot of hit pieces on Bernie. If you thought Tesla gets hit pieces, you should see what WaPo did with Bernie. 12 hit pieces in 12 hours

 

[Curt Renz]

Bloomberg through Yahoo - today: Trump Says He’s Unwilling to Risk U.S. Energy Wealth for Windmill ‘Dreams’

 

[AZRI11]

Bloomberg through Yahoo - today: Trump Says He’s Unwilling to Risk U.S. Energy Wealth for Windmill ‘Dreams’

When they make an Opera out of this administration, there should be a windmill on stage for the third act

 

[EVNow]

Bloomberg through Yahoo - today: Trump Says He’s Unwilling to Risk U.S. Energy Wealth for Windmill ‘Dreams’

Trump has long fought windmills - because, you know, they cause cancer.

 

[AZRI11]

Trump has long fought windmills - because, you know, they cause cancer.

Only if they are pulling in air from northern Russia

 

[Curt Renz]

When they make an Opera out of this administration, there should be a windmill on stage for the third act

 

[elasalle]

World Problems be dammed. I'm concerned whether next G7 can be held at my Doral resort. Peace Yo....

 

[elasalle]

Fed not playing ball, and even rate cuts likely not gonna impact Markets too much if at all.
So Trade Deal is only Game in Town. ...

China saying it never got the phone calls from #1.