A cautionary tale my newly arrived country man/commentator on this bog, I have resided in Australia now on 15 years, but like you and others I came over from America and not unlike my learning curve here (Australia/this Bog) there are rules which one may not see at first.

In Australia and Here you attack the idea not the person, debasement of ones self is a sign of humility and grace both within this bog and this country (tall poppy syndrome), if ones comments are subject to rebuttal do not take it as an attack on ones self identity, open minds comes to the fore in this context. Vigorous debate is welcome, but not directed at said individuals for their thinking, having that said, there are well established rules here in regards to ad-homine attacks.

It may take some time to get used too, as in America I believe everyone wears their heart on their sleeve’s IE put individualism before community (sharing for the greater good of us all/or tribalism), although I have seen an encroachment of Americanism via the exported media/lifestyle upon the collective Aussie mindset that I personally find distasteful and repulsive in the last 10 years.

Now the dark side, as I have Prue-mentioned my past job skills/experience have enlightened me to the fact that, monies gained add nothing to ones self, save the impression said individual believes it does.

Case in point, on one of my many adventures to Costa Rica, whilst having drinks at a friends bar (ex-soccer goalie for the national team) in a small town on the Pacific side, which we ventured to many times, some ass hat came into the bar about 10ish and proclaimed what a bad ass he was and how sought after by the ATF/DIA he was and how for no reason he would open my friends gut if he looked the wrong way at him. Well, said friend asked if I would cover his back encase of some unfortunate occurrence eventuated, too which I agreed. But unlike most I let the locals take care of the problem (it was their turf) all I had to do was go to the purveyor of the establishment and convey the facts as I knew them, the rest night went with out a drama.

Ohh the mornings after on a live beach (no power or septics to befoul the ecosystem, 6km with maybe 10 people living off it with communal gardens to subsidize food needs) anyhow after a slow crawl back to the scene of the crime(damm the locals for the many Imperials{beer} which they proffer upon the obligatory stop by, 6 or 9 just to get into town) a short time after arrival a little birdie spoke into my ear and told me the story of some guy found upon the beach directly in front of the bar sans his passport, wallet and all manner of clothes, naked for all to see upon the sands, in a unconscious state, but alive to live another day. I still wonder to this day, if he accepted the education he rightly deserved and made adjustments to his manners.

skippy…its a fool Paradise, until it bites you in the ass or take time to see the wildlife hiding in the forest.

Skippy, I didn't think through your "user name" to tag you as an Aussie. It's actually pretty obvious, silly me.

This will probably knock you socks off to know "so am I, mate!" Have been for the last 3 years. I actually have dual citizenships and that is why I'm still very passionate about what is going on back in the States! My children, grand children, mother & sisters & their families still live there. They are the major reason I even take notice of what's going on back there.

What's your interest with it?

G'day!

Now Yves turn,

I'm from the "OLD SCHOOL" Yves, when I grew up we didn't have computers, mobile phones (Cell phones to you), blackberries or any of these modern day devices.

I use "Caps" not because I'm angry, I use Caps, "—" and (—) to bring emphasis to certain things I'm saying in a given sentence. Sorry for the confusion, I'll try to controll myself in the future.

I have nothing to be agry about! For all of you who live in Australia should know that, and for all of you back in the States, you should really think about immigrating!

Cheers!

Naw mate you got me all wrong, in fact you crack me up somthin fierce. Liberal, me you jest, I’m totally against party politics (bad historical evolutionary evidence), in fact I think your just havin a go at the line you perceive to be there.

Low self esteem yeah I’ve got a touch of that, comes from killing people for a living, only to realize later on the stupidity/horror of it and my years of putting money at the top of my to do list, silly me eh, never did much to change the perspective of myself, the advertising must have not worked properly, alas I’m defective.

Just remember I never assigned a value to you good/bad thing, just made an observation, wrongly or rightly about your statements and their impetus, amends if you felt other wise.

Skippy…as they say over here…don’t know you from a bar of soap…and would not make assumptions about your person out side of whats said via the electronically created pixels streaming at my eyes, you have a good one ya hear, I mean that.

You frequently type in all caps. In Internet protocol, that is yelling. So you are the one who is signaling anger.

The people I know, including Forbes 400 members, who have a lot of money do not brag about it. Ditto people who are very successful in their professions. Your claims that you make a lot of money comes off as being insecure. You again carry yourself in a way guaranteed to get that reaction, then claim it is the other guy. Sorry, it is you. DownSouth has been commenting here for quite a while and he does not have the traits you accuse him of. As I said, you need to bone up on the concept of projection.

I also do not understand why you come here to pick a fight (your tone is belligerent and says you DO want a fight) with people that are not buying your arguments.

First off re-read DownSouth's Post directed at me again. I'm sure you missed 195% of the self serving, condescending, elitist attitude he wrote his post with, not to mention his elitist assumption that I was a man of little to no means. (Again very condescending for someone who has never met me or knows anything about me)

I'll wait!

OK, now that you have re-read it did you pick up on it this time? Good! Now, let's see what feathers I ruffled with you.

Skippy said…
You seem a straight shooter and will direct my comments in the same light.

Jim T said…
Did you form this opinion from the posts on this topic alone or from seeing other topics too?

Skippy said…
It looks like your monetary gains were insufficient, in regards to your insecurity and must be a joy to work with.

JimT said…
Insufficient monitary gains? How many millions is insufficient? I thought I had enough, oh no. And somehow you figure I'm insecure and a "joy" to work with? Well, I'm retired so working with me shouldn't be a concern and as far as being insecure, I think you are projecting something there.

Skippy said…
You assume Downsouths stament…"I must say, I find persons like yourself highly frustrating to deal with, but on the other hand, most intriguing"…is from a lofty position above you

Jim T said…
I can read skippy (and I can tell you if you didn't read that as condescending, you suffer from low self esteem) But I can assure you I didn't read it as though DownSouth was writing it from above me, because I don't suffer from low self esteem.

Jim T will wrap up now…
Skippy grinding DownSouth with the High School Educated thing was to knock him off his perch a bit. To tell you the truth I have a lot of friends with Masters & PHDs too, my sister has both and is a University Professor, my childhood and current best friend is a Lawyer.

I'm not sure where you are picking up this anger thing. But I'm not angry at you, DownSouth, Yves, Bob or any other liberals on this blog. You have the right to your opinions and I have the right to have mine.

Any regime the banks put on themselves is going to be a joke. It would be another case of the financial industry regulating itself and we know how well that has turned out.

This is probably why I don’t like the term “capture”. Obama, the Congress, the government have not been captured. They have been bought and paid for. Capture makes it sound like something was done against their will. But that’s not the case. Capture merely directs attention away from the underlying issue which is corruption.

You seem a straight shooter and will direct my comments in the same light. It looks like your monetary gains were insufficient, in regards to your insecurity and must be a joy to work with. You assume Downsouths stament…”I must say, I find persons like yourself highly frustrating to deal with, but on the other hand, most intriguing”…is from a lofty position above you (which it is not, he has only made an observation on your personality with in the discussion/debate ensuing) and your rebuttal is based on your educational level in terms of years completed vs your level of wealth (congrats on the good run during a bubble, how are you doing now that it takes effort) where is your whit or deconstruction of thought.

All I see is unchecked anger with out clear reason to why it exists, times change, can you adjust to the next environment or do you prefer beggaring thy neighbors. Its seems to me you have an exceedingly narrow view of life, history and its implications down the road for all of us, out side the creation of personal wealth.

For myself, my classical education only showed me a glimmer of what was out there to be digested, I have furthered my understanding of the human world and condition more in the years after school than when I was in, so ones level of years in school means little to me, rather what they do after wards with their time, devote all energies to wealth creation or enriching the lives of all around them with out spending a buck.

Skippy…You said… To set you straight (even with my 12th grade education) I know that drives you intellectually elite, professional students crazy!

Did you mean to say he was your intellectual superior “elite” or did your mean “elitist” thinking he was, anyway your sure are “fresh and bold”.

Sorry for the breach of protocal Yves, but this guy gets my goat, he can come on the swat valley drop Ive planed, lets see him fight for his ideas.

Not that I feel a need to justify who I am, to you or any other over educated, intellecual snob, but I’ll give you enough clues so you don’t have an aneurism trying to figure me out.
———————————–

DownSouth said…

I must say, I find persons like yourself highly frustrating to deal with, but on the other hand, most intriguing.

Jim T said;

I’m taking that as a left handed compliment, but then again with my 12th grade education and the comment coming from someone so obviously of higher intelligence, it probably was meant to be an insult.

DownSouth said…

And again today we have you here arguing passionately on behalf of the 99.5 percentile incomers. I assume you’re not a member of this club that has a median income of $450,000 per year, for if you were you most likely wouldn’t have the spare time to spend here on NC that you do. So again, how to explain this behavior within the neoclassical paradigm?

Jim T here;

Notty, notty DownSouth, you make the age old error of making assumptions! You know “ASS” out of “U” but not “ME” in this case.

To set you straight (even with my 12th grade education) I know that drives you intellectually elite, professional students crazy!

Before I retired at the age of 44 the annual income figure of $450,000 per year was an off year, (try doubling that figure) BUT THAT’S NOT WHERE REAL WEALTH COMES FROM. That’s just making a living. Investing correctly, is the real key to wealth.

So hitting the stock market exactly right didn’t hurt! Were you around in the mid to late 1990s? Do you have any idea of the money that was made by people fortunate enough to have bought stocks such as Yahoo, Oracle, Netscape, AOL, etc… at their IPO prices? (Stock price runs to 300 + in one day, splits the next 2,3,4 to 1 and runs to 300 again and again 3-5 times each) those were great days!

Then to top that, having the foresight to cash it all in (1999)and walking away before the DOT.COM BUST!

That should be enough to fill in your blanks and answer why I might think like and side with the top 0.5% American Capitalists.

Obviously, Geithner expressed no interest in the idea of explicitly breaking up the large banks. They’re looking at ways to impose a higher cost for growing too large. They want a proper resolution mechanism for LCFIs and more resilient system so they can be allowed to fail.