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Death.Is.Beautiful.

In human life time is but an instant, and the substance of it a flux, and the perception dull, and the composition of the whole body subject to putrefaction, and the soul a whirl, and fortune hard to divine, and fame a thing devoid of certainty. And, to say all in a word, everything that belongs to the body is a stream, and what belongs to the soul is a dream and vapor, and life is a warfare and a stranger’s sojourn, and after - fame is oblivion. What then can guide a man? One thing and only one, philosophy. But this consists in keeping the daimon within a man free from violence and unharmed, superior to pains and pleasures, doing nothing without a purpose, nor yet falsely and with hypocrisy, not feeling the need of another man’s doing or not doing anything; and besides, accepting all that happens, and all that is allotted, as coming from the same source, wherever it is, from which he himself came; and finally, waiting for death with a cheerful mind, as being nothing else than a dissolution of the elements of which every living being is compounded. But if there is no harm to the elements themselves in each continually changing into another, why should a man have any apprehension about the change and dissolution of all the elements? For it is according to nature, and nothing is evil that is according to nature.

- Marcus Aurelius

Grains aren’t just little morsels of protein, carbs, and fiber bred for our enjoyment. They are baby plant eggs. Those macronutrients are there to sustain the seed’s growth and those micronutrients are there to protect it. They are the plant’s lifeline to immortality. They are literally shaped by the hand of evolution to survive and ravage the digestive tract of the poor sap that swallows them and discourage further consumption. Grain is only food because we deemed it so. Dairy? Dairy is objectively, absolutely food. Its fat, protein, and carbs are there to be consumed, albeit by young cows, sheep, and goats. It’s meant to spur growth, to pack on muscle and fat and weight.

- Mark’s Daily Apple

Thinking the debt crisis

Bond-holders of the European peripheral nation’s debt increase their sensitive anxiety levels and willingness to loan (invest) when big ECB or piny EU signal that they aren’t guaranteeing the liquidation of the debt. In other word’s they ain’t that tight with their peripheral cousins as some might have thought. This is expectant and makes common sense.

I’m the first to admit that real economics and finance cause me head cranks almost as much as trying to figure out why we are here, where did the universe come, how did everything begin and what was there before it began? Anyways, not so much as that but the symptoms are related. What makes me boggle the brain is (maybe not so much but let’s dramatize) is why everybody cries out that the world is coming to an end when investors charge higher interest payments to buy bonds from the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain) because of fear of default on their precious money. Why?

My brain tells me that government’s functionality must be completely dependent on debt. My farmer mentality would just suggest nations stop selling bonds, live with tax-payer receipts and EU welfare and curtail on unsustainable spending. Tighten the belt. Would this be a devastating shock on the economy, inflicting the citizenry’s life so much that riots, violence, and revolution would occur? Greece, Egypt, Syria, and other nations where pictures of rioters with flamed objects screen my mind. Guess so.

So I feel like there is a double-edged sword here. On the one hand the European community recognizes a huge structural problem in the peripheral nations where just liquidating the debt is not a remedy but a very short-term delay of the fundamental problems. On the other hand letting the insolvent nations fall on their knees and coincidentally incur huge losses on creditors will create a potential recession/depression accompanied by many, possibly destructive, negative internal effects and a negative economic paranoia might spread causing investors and creditors across the world to tighten up liquidity and become over-cautious and scrutinize every nation across the globe possibly causing more economic infernus. Is this mechanically an unacceptable outcome. Wouldn’t a little pain demand a more sound financial and debt system?

Taking this into account Merky&Sarkozy are trying to create a balance between solving the sovereign debt crisis with instilling structural changes by demanding austerity measures while the same time keeping the ping pong ball sliding on the racket allowing some commitment to keeping the default-able from defaulting. Is this safe or just destroying the little solutions that truly exist as some economic doctors suggest?

This is my take on things right now. This semester I’m taking a research class on the Global Financial Crisis so I hope to develop these thoughts.