Money does not initiate Economic activity, in all cases, it is an intermediary token or rain check
September 5, 2017
“Money does not initiate Economic activity, in all cases, it is an intermediary token or rain check which has profound effects on social relations and commerce between individuals and nations, but money is a mere Idea and can be anything we imagine it to be”.
—”Near the window by which I write a
great bull is tethered by a ring in his nose. Grazing round and
round he has wound his rope about the stake until now he stands
a close prisoner, tantalized by rich grass he cannot reach,
unable even to toss his head to rid him of the flies that cluster
on his shoulders. Now and again he struggles vainly, and then,
after pitiful bellowings, relapses into silent misery.
This bull, a very type of massive strength, who, because he
has not wit enough to see how he might be free, suffers want
in sight of plenty, and is helplessly preyed upon by weaker
creatures, seems to me no unfit emblem of the working masses”
September 6, 2017
“Money is created in advance of us creating real stuff to buy”
I think this is the potential source of some confusion, money does not initiate Economic activity in all cases it is an intermediary token or rain check which has profound effects on social relations and commerce between individuals and nations but is a mere Idea and can be anything we imagine it to be.
Energy, on the other hand, is something which can be harnessed and accessed in the complete absence of Money or debt.We are limited by Physical Resources and Natural Boundaries, Money and Debt are only limiting by choice or as Aristotle put it.
“Money was intended to be used in exchange, but not to increase at interest. And this term interest, which means the birth of money from money, is applied to the breeding of money because the offspring resembles the parent. Wherefore of all modes of getting wealth this is the most unnatural”
Book I, 1258b.4
Nomisma (Greek: νόμισμα) was the ancient Greek word for “money” and is derived from nomos (νόμος) “anything assigned, a usage, custom, law, ordinance”.[1]
“….but money has become by convention a sort of representative of demand; this is why it has the name ‘money’ (nomisma)-because it exists not by nature but by law (nomos) and it is in our power to change it and make it useless.” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics [1133b 1].[2]
In modern Greek, the word nomisma means “currency”,[3] It is also a term used by numismatists when referring to the pieces of money or coin in the plural nomismata an example of which is the Aes rude of Numa Pompilius (the 2nd King of Rome).[4]
I think that what the EROI Cliff shows us is that we can make sensible energy investment choices and achieve a steady state Political Economy of Abundance, the main restraints are actually psychological and status based for which I recommend close study of the Pigou Dalton Principle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigou%E2%80%93Dalton_principle
https://www.ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Dalton-1920.pdf
If you dig into Pigou and Dalton their insight is that Status and Hierarchy and maintaining peoples illusions as to their place in the social pecking order are rather more important to getting a consensus to distribution of the wealth of the society than are levels of income or disposable income and therefore absolute levels of taxation Quite apart from the fact that Taxation has nothing to do with Spending of necessity it is though a convenient political myth.
To Wit
Beardsley Ruml.
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2017/05/taxation-for-revenue-is-obsolete.html
Hi Rob,
When I first read this, I had not realised this was a re-blog and then after reading the full piece I posted a more detailed comment on Tim Morgans Blog.
If we take your Last Sentence that “We” are in a severe state of overshoot. I would argue that “We” are not all in this together. The current Debt Based money system is very much a Them and Us dynamic and the Myths of Scarcity are very important to support the idea of Debt and the owners and controllers of the Debt through Interest (Usury).
Whilst Fractional Reserve banking has had some purpose in the overall banking mythology, under FIAT money systems including those notionally based upon Gold stories explaining Fractional Reserve Banking have been lacking in real exemplars, charitably they are always honoured more in the breach than the observance.
To move to an Energy-Based system of priorities rather than a debt based money system of priorities in Political Economy. An analysis of Both systems needs to be clearly based on an agreed understanding of how each would operate in the model we adopt to represent our understanding of each system.
Tim does look at stripping out Borrowed money for consumption from the Total US Debt increase, but the problem with Debt Based money is that All money even that earned and then spent on consumption is Borrowed into existence, the problem with Debt Based money is the Usury and the uncreated money when the money is borrowed into existence and not so much the privilege of seigniorage accruing to the creator of the deposit.
Another question regarding who can achieve prosperity is part of this prioritisation question, Tim posits a re-distribution scenario where the Rich are somehow sacrificing their Hard won riches to the Less well off, I think that Helmuth Kreutz shows quite well that unearned interest accruing to the wealthy is the process by which most differential wealth leading to huge inequality stems from, this is a derivation of the Exorbitant privilege on Monetary hegemony and the biggest obstacle to Energy-Based metrics of political economy are the social control aspects of the current debt based system.
”The monetary and financial system of an economy are part of the socio-politico-economic control mechanism used by every state to connect the economy with the polity and society. This neural network provides the administrative means to collect taxes, direct investment, provide public goods, trade. The money measures provide a crude but serviceable basis for the accounting system which in turn, along with the codification of commercial law and financial regulation are the basis for economic evaluation and the measurement of trust and fiduciary responsibility among the economic agents. A central feature of a control mechanism is that it is designed to influence process. Dynamics is its natural domain. Equilibrium is not the prime concern, the ability to control the direction of motion is what counts.
Money and financial institutions provide the command and control system of a modern society. The study of the mechanism, how they are formed, how they are controlled and manipulated and how their influence is measured in terms of social, political, and economic purpose pose questions, not in pure economics, not even in a narrow political economy, but in the broad compass of a political economy set in the context of society. ”
Martin Shubik
Here is a blog of my more detailed comment on Tims Blog, I intend to give it some more serious thought for a few days and jot down a note of the further questions which occur to me.
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2017/09/energy-economics-miixing-debt-apples.html
Like
The benefit of a fractional reserve system is that it makes credit abundant by borrowing from the future so we can enjoy something today rather than waiting until we have saved enough surplus.
The problem with a fractional reserve system is that it requires infinite growth which is not possible on a finite planet.
Another potential problem, which you appear to be focussed on, is that with inadequate taxation and social policies a fractional reserve system can result in a wealth inequality gap that causes social unrest. This problem is magnified with low interest rates as we have seen over the last decade.
Economic growth is an interesting topic because almost everyone wants it, but very few people understand why it is important, nor why it cannot continue.
You might be interested in this essay that I wrote:
https://un-denial.com/2016/01/30/why-we-want-growth-why-we-cant-have-it-and-what-this-means/Like
Hi Rob,
The Debt based money system needs growth not to collapse, the reason for this is that only the principal debt is created and not the interest, if More debt is not taken on as debts fall due there is not enough money in the system to pay the interest. Bernard Leitaer explains the way it works in his parable of the 11th round.
http://www.lietaer.com/2010/09/the-story-of-the-11th-round/
I will read your essay properly later, I am familiar with Bartlett’s famous lecture and the Exponential Function.
Carol Quigley understood the distinction evidenced in this quote from Tragedy and Hope.”Thus, clearly, money and goods are not the same thing but are, on the contrary,
exactly opposite things. Most confusion in economic thinking arises from a failure to
recognize this fact. Goods are wealth which you have, while money is a claim on wealth which you do not have. Thus goods are an asset; money is a debt. If goods are wealth; money is not wealth, or negative wealth, or even anti-wealth. They always behave in opposite ways, just as they usually move in opposite directions. If the value of one goes up, the value of the other goes down, and in the same proportion.”
Quigley Tragedy and hope.http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/02/usury-hells-fuel-and-mans-oppressor.html
On the question of Growth, What is Growth? GDP growth, Growth in National Well being etc. Energy Returned on Energy Invested is a hugely important measure in pursuing it I think any Borrowings from the old Debt based money system should be resisted.
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2017/08/technocracy-energy-based-economics.htmlTowards
an energy Based Monetary Unit, free of Usury.
Introduction to Technocracy – 1933https://archive.org/details/introductiontotec00tech
discussions — of ‘value,’ of fluctuating prices, of the gold standard, of changing interest rates, of items of pecuniary wealth which are at the same time items of debt — are
merely discussions looking toward a readjustment of the factors which prevent them
The problem of analysing political choices against the metric of a Monetary measure is the Money as a Thing is most certainly a Variable and as any good technologist, scientist or metrologist will tell you a unit of measurement has to be clearly defined and fixed.
The dollar. He notes that it is a variable. Why anyone should attempt, on this earth, to use a
variable as a measuring rod is so utterly absurd that he dismisses any serious
consideration of its use in his study of what should be done.
He also considers ‘price’ and ‘value’ and the fine- spun theories of philosophers and
economists who have attempted to surround these terms with the semblance of meaning.
These terms, like the monetary unit, may have had meaning to men in the past but they
mean nothing whatsoever to the modern technologist. The standard of measurement is
not relevant to the things measured; and the measuring rod and the things, measured as if
they were stable, are all variables.
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2017/08/conquestofdough-squaring-energy-food.htmlLike
I understand the issues you raise but I do not understand the point you are trying to make. If you want to continue the conversation please restate your point in one sentence.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
Money does not initiate Economic activity, in all cases, it is an intermediary token or rain check which has profound effects on social relations and commerce between individuals and nations, but money is a mere Idea and can be anything we imagine it to be.
I made a longer Comment awaiting moderation on your Essay post you linked to earlier.
March 10, 2018
Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Surplus Energy Economics DataBase ( SEEDS) Embodied Energy Circular Economy. #GrubStreetJournal #GrubStreetScience #GrubStreetEnergy #TheExergist #TheExergyst Exorcising the stupid from the discourse on Political Economy, Energy and Climate Change Fanaticism.
#TheExergist
Exergy
In thermodynamics, the exergy of a system is the maximum useful work possible during a process that brings the system into equilibrium with a heat reservoir, reaching maximum entropy.[1] When the surroundings are the reservoir, exergy is the potential of a system to cause a change as it achieves equilibrium with its environment. Exergy is the energy that is available to be used. After the system and surroundings reach equilibrium, the exergy is zero. Determining exergy was also the first goal of thermodynamics. The term “exergy” was coined in 1956 by Zoran Rant (1904–1972) by using the Greek ex and ergon meaning “from work“[1][3], but the concept was developed by J. Willard Gibbs in 1873.[4]
Energy is neither created nor destroyed during a process. Energy changes from one form to another (see First Law of Thermodynamics). In contrast, exergy is always destroyed when a process is irreversible, for example loss of heat to the environment (see Second Law of Thermodynamics). This destruction is proportional to the entropy increase of the system together with its surroundings (see Entropy production). The destroyed exergy has been called anergy.[2] For an isothermal process, exergy and energy are interchangeable terms, and there is no anergy.
Fig. 8. Imbalance in the intermediate trade and final
trade (The size of the sphere represents the corre-
sponding economy’s gross trade volume of embodied
energy.).
Global primary energy use associated with production, consumption and international trade (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320445428_Global_primary_energy_use_associated_with_production_consumption_and_international_trade [accessed Mar 10 2018].
February 20, 2020
#Wasssupppp Putting it all together, Energy, Debt, War, Sanctions, Elitism, Money Money Money. #Trump #Hall #EROI #EmboddiedEnergy #CircularEconomy
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2020/01/24/163-tales-from-mount-incomprehension/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/5/4/044006
2.1. EIR of oil and petroleum
The EIRp, oil typically lies between 10 and 30, but from 1949 to 2008 it ranges from 7.5 (1981) to 48 (1998) with a value of 8.8 in 2008 marking the year of the highest oil price in history and the beginning of the latest time period of US economic recession. The minimum EIRp, oil of 7.5 in 1981 also coincided with the peak of an economic recession in the US as well as the time of the highest overall cost of petroleum as a percentage of GDP at 8.5% (EIA 2008). EIRe, petro from 1970 to 2006 ranged from 5.3 in 1981 to 15.9 in 1998, the same years for the lowest and highest EIRp, oil. In 1981 EIRp, oil:EIRe, petro was 1.43:1 (minimum) and in 1998 3.05:1 (maximum). The EIRp, oil from 1949 to 1972 gradually increased from 19 to 29 with little volatility in the value. This lack of volatility can possibly be attributed to the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) acting as an oil cartel by prorationing oil production in Texas from 1935 to 1973 to create a price floor for balancing supply and demand (Prindle 1981). With Texas as the swing state oil producer until US peak production in 1970, this balancing on the price was possible.
July 8, 2018
Redefining Fiscal Conservatism. The Terra/Energy Based Fiscal Unit. Föres and Lagom White Paper, Boundary Conditions for a Fiscal Conservatism based upon Circular Economics. PART ONE Scope.
The Following is a precursor to the Whitepaper on
Redefining Fiscal Conservatism. The Terra/Energy Based Fiscal Unit. Föres and Lagom White Paper, Boundary Conditions for a Fiscal Conservatism based upon Circular Economics. (Part One) Scope.
⨊GåFöre(O⨋)The FedratedMutualSociety.⨊Före(s)And⨋Lagom(s) Putting the Complementary into Crypto Currencies!.
The Post is also a file note regarding calibration of the Embodied energy based currency .
Bernard Leitaers Terra has already done most of the Geo-Political reasoning I think I think a mathematically coherent theoretical model based upon realisable Energy potentials will grow out of Tims SEEDS thinking.
http://www.lietaer.com/2010/01/terra/I am not exactly a Calculus whizz but from the above Ingredients, something tied together with Bale String is within even my compass I think.
rogerglewison June 28, 2018 at 2:04 pm said:
3.1. Energy use associated with production and consumption world economy consumes 5.63E+08 TJ of primary energy resources (BP, 2016; IEA, 2016c). In order to identify which region is responsible for the energy use, three different accounting principles as recorded by the indicators of EED (energy resources exploited directly), EEP (energy resources embodied in production) and EEC (energy resources embodied in final consumption), respectively, are adopted inFig. 2. According to EED, mainland China, the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and India are the 5 largest exploiters, and together they are responsible for 51% of global total energy use. In addition, mainland China is also the largest producer with 1.22E+08 TJ of energy resources embodied in its production, based on the results of EEP. It indicates that 1.22E+08 TJ of energy resources are used globally to sustain the final production activities in mainland China. The UnitedStates is the second largest producer, followed by Japan, India and Germany. When it comes to EEC, the United States surpasses mainlandChina as the largest consumer of embodied energy. The world total energy use is the same under different accounting principles, however, the three methods differ by which region is allocated the energy use. The difference between EEP and EEC is small at the regional level because the goods and services used for final consumption in one region are mainly produced in the same region.
(PDF) Global primary energy use associated with production, consumption and international trade. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320445428_Global_primary_energy_use_associated_with_production_consumption_and_international_trade [accessed Jun 28 2018].
There is a massive amount of information to take in in this report the same authors have also published several other groundbreaking papers. EED (energy resources exploited directly), EEP (energy resources embodied in production) and EEC (energy resources embodied in final consumption), coupled with SEEDS Energy cost of Energy I think, point the way to a sensible Embodied energy cost of opportunity cost. WHich would be a true metric of decision making where resource constraints involve mutually exclusive investment decisions.
May 24, 2018
Global primary energy use associated with production, consumption and international trade
https://longhairedmusings.wordpress.com/?s=energy+returned
October 7, 2019
Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Surplus Energy Economics DataBase ( SEEDS) Embodied Energy Circular Economy. #GrubStreetJournal #GrubStreetScience #GrubStreetEnergy #TheExergist #TheExergyst Exorcising the stupid from the discourse on Po… https://t.co/17ttGRcIJk pic.twitter.com/9wIxnhvX62
— GrubStreetJournal (@GrubStreetJorno) October 7, 2019
Energy Returned on Energy Invested, Surplus Energy Economics DataBase ( SEEDS) Embodied Energy Circular Economy. #GrubStreetJournal #TheExergist #TheExergyst Exorcising the stupid from the discourse on Po… https://t.co/17ttGRcIJk Excorcising #Greta and the #XRBedwetters
— GrubStreetJournal (@GrubStreetJorno) October 7, 2019
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/120-the-need-for-new-ideas/
rogerglewison March 4, 2018 at 8:26 am
I enjoy reading and have learned a ton of technical information from the Stop These Things web site.
https://stopthesethings.com/2018/03/04/green-energy-fail-how-ideology-destroyed-australias-once-cheap-reliable-power-supply/For SEEDS and an EROEI perspective on our Industrial and Domestic energy budgets transparency is essential.
The jist of the attached article is that corrupt rent-seekers in the Green Lobby ( Al Gore Anyone) are instituting an ideologically driven energy solution onto the poorest in society completely ignoring the sensible transition that is possible for the payback of large subsidies from Big Central Government.
The Problem that Gore and his like say they are urgently solving is Climate Change, as a climate realist i do not burden my investigations into energy budget solutions with Climate Alarmist dogma that many do make it very easy for StopTheseThings to call out the renewables lobby who have been economic with the actualite much of the time and who are fanatically closed minded to mixed solutions at the expense of upfront pain.( bourne as a sort of penance for past sins).
The Energy Cliff does not make an appearance in the linked article and SEEDS would add rather a lot to StopTheseThings advocacy, Australian energy abundance surely leads to the idea that they have far more than they can use themselves and can use surpluses to exchange for what they do not have enough of?
At this point things like Leitaers TERRA currency proposals come to mind but most of all this quote from Benjamin Franklin which fits the polarised and binary state of the renewables versus legacy fuels debate.
In 1729 Benjamin Franklin wrote a pamphlet ´´A modest Enquiry into the nature and the necessity of a paper Currency.”
a modest enquiry,
”There is no Science, the Study of which is more useful and commendable than the Knowledge of the true Interest of one’s Country; and perhaps there is no Kind of Learning more abstruse and intricate, more difficult to acquire in any Degree of Perfection than This, and therefore none more generally neglected. Hence it is, that we every Day find Men in Conversation contending warmly on some Point in Politicks, which, altho’ it may nearly concern them both, neither of them understand any more than they do each other.
Thus much by way of Apology for this present Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency. And if any Thing I shall say, may be a Means of fixing a Subject that is now the chief Concern of my Countrymen, in a clearer Light, I shall have the Satisfaction of thinking my Time and Pains well employed.
To proceed, then,
There is a certain proportionate Quantity of Money requisite to carry on the Trade of a Country freely and currently; More than which would be of no Advantage in Trade, and Less, if much less, exceedingly detrimental to it.
This leads us to the following general Considerations.”
http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-01-02-0041http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/11/the-giant-sucking-sound-sharp-intake-of.html
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/11/on-climate-heresies-witchhunts-and.html
rogerglewison March 4, 2018 at 11:23 am
From Storm clouds gathering. I do not buy into catastrophe porn and the Private Frasier ***We are all doomed ** mindset.
The best attitude I have come up with is a sort of Stoic form of Ghandis dictum, *Be the change you wish to see in the world”
Saskia Sassen says as much in this paper which resonated with me when I read a few years back.
http://www.columbia.edu/~sjs2/PDFs/savage.pdfIt was introduced to me in a discussion about Coercive aggregation which reminded me of Marx’s Primitive Accumulation.
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2013/06/democracy-and-state.html
There are a number of dialogues on my Blog with Green Party CLimate Catastrophe and Population catastrophe pornographers.
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2017/01/watching-watchers-deniers-denying.html
Population gets a few mentions above, a key question is ”Who’s Reality * are we setting for the benchmark metric?
The Oligarchy is a bad idea, they are big enough and ugly enough to look after themselves time for some more bottom-up joined up distributed network thinking,
http://letthemconfectsweeterlies.blogspot.se/2016/01/the-iron-law-of-oligarchy.html
Blair Fix, Comparing Notes and the metaphyiscs of disagreement. #GoingDirect #PeakOilMyth #Population #CarbonCurrencyEndgame.
rogerglewis March 25, 2023 2 Comments
I found the book less impressive than you.
The Economic Superorganism: Beyond the Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and PolicyThe Economic Superorganism: Beyond the Competing Narratives on Energy, Growth, and Policy by Carey W. King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
What is the Purpose of the Economy? #ArtificialScarcity #TaxFarming #FinanceTailWagsCommunityDog #WagTheDog #Stupidlosophy to #CanofWorms #Aadhaar #
rogerglewis March 16, 2023 4 Comments
Charles A. S. Hall’s Cover blurb for the Carey w King Tomb is I think a fair reaction to what is a long and complex book. The author himself says that the lengthy quotes ( for context) and juxtaposition of opposing narratives are overly long
As a choice for the material, I question the wisdom of the choice but congratulate the effort, the net result if one is being generous, works and is fittingly described in the blurb by a giant in the field of Energy-Based economics( Political Economy)Prof. Charles Hall.
Marx via Schumpeter makes an appearance late in the book, which saves some face on the shortcomings in monetary theory, and the influence on the Author’s thinking of Prof Steve Keen’s own flavour of heterodox Economics shows, also in reflecting Keen’s own limitations. The Authors dislike of Matt Riddley shines through and gives a tell to the Authors own inclinations, an admitted likely failing in his own introduction (“I discuss many matters as objectively as I can, but I don’t claim that either, or anyone can be perfectly objective. “) Well said.
The Chapters on Debt and Finance are fine as far as they go and the Schumpeter quotes save the whole piece to my own tastes for a better grasp of Shumpeters insights into the money as credit context see Werner, much of the polemic even allowing for putting both sides is hackneyed retreaded phony “enfant terriblism” of the Leather jacket like Yannis’ variety.
Getting the niceties out of the way the Lacunae is the old apples and Oranges problem encountered at the SEEDS Surplus Energy Blog of Dr. Tim Morgan, Dangerous Exponentials, and The Perfect Storm.
In Short, the book is an exercise in knocking down mutually opposed straw men arguments, much of the argumentation I take no issue with whatsoever but the Ultimate apologetics for the discredited Climate Scientism and advocacy for Carbon indulgences ( SPASH #WrongKindofGreen Brave New World of Carbon Trading ) coupled with a failure to consider International Finance and PetroDollar hegemony which is an effect that the Authors own “Swing producer” price stability arguments for Texas in 1935, and in which we find ourselves living again in a deflationary age of a Quasi Petro/Carbon Gold Standard.
QED.
View all my reviews
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/42519454-roger-lewis
From Careys 2010 paper on Energy Intensity Rations of Oil.
2.1. EIR of oil and petroleum
The EIRp, oil typically lies between 10 and 30, but from 1949 to 2008 it ranges from 7.5 (1981) to 48 (1998) with a value of 8.8 in 2008 marking the year of the highest oil price in history and the beginning of the latest time period of US economic recession. The minimum EIRp, oil of 7.5 in 1981 also coincided with the peak of an economic recession in the US as well as the time of the highest overall cost of petroleum as a percentage of GDP at 8.5% (EIA 2008). EIRe, petro from 1970 to 2006 ranged from 5.3 in 1981 to 15.9 in 1998, the same years for the lowest and highest EIRp, oil. In 1981 EIRp, oil:EIRe, petro was 1.43:1 (minimum) and in 1998 3.05:1 (maximum). The EIRp, oil from 1949 to 1972 gradually increased from 19 to 29 with little volatility in the value. This lack of volatility can possibly be attributed to the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) acting as an oil cartel by
pro rationing oil production in Texas from 1935 to 1973 to create a price floor for balancing supply and demand (Prindle 1981)
. With Texas as the swing state oil producer until US peak production in 1970, this balancing on the price was possible.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/5/4/044006/pdf
Who Do You Believe, and Why? One final thought, perhaps propaganda is the passing off , of Ontology as Epistemology or, belief as knowledge.
rogerglewis March 26, 2023 Leave a comment
Who Do You Believe, and Why?
Todd Hayen
There is an awful lot of “I know I’m right” chatter going around on both sides. I am just curious, what makes you so sure you are right? And what makes them so sure they are right? Unless you are Einstein or something, I’m sure you are like the rest of us and need to get most of your information from another source.
Roger Lewis
Mar 26, 2023 12:21 PM
Reply to Maxwell
Thanks for recommending the Ranacourt, RFKjr Interview
https://rumble.com/v277v9y-all-cause-mortality-with-denis-rancourt-ph.d..html
I think That Denis’s 2009 paper touches a lot of important bases challenging many Sacred Cows of “Common Knowledge”
https://ocla.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/OCLA_Report_2019-1.pdf
Roger Lewis
Mar 26, 2023 12:32 PM
Pending…
Reply to Roger Lewis
Critical reflection on practice is a requirement of the relationship between theory and practice. Otherwise, theory becomes simply “blah, blah, blah, ” and practice, pure activism. Paulo Freire. Physician Heal Thyself. Luke 4.23
Enough Bla Bla Bla, Challenging the Davos Great New Narrative. Finding the Energy to re-set the Agenda.
Blair Fix, Comparing Notes and the metaphyiscs of disagreement. #GoingDirect #PeakOilMyth #Population #CarbonCurrencyEndgame.
Who Do You Believe, and Why?
Dear Blair Fix,
I agree with much of yours that you have written and share a common interest in the work of Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler. It is in their papers Still about Oil and there will be blood that you will find some of the reasons I disagree with the analysis you present in this Essay.
Hubert’s Work much Like Ehrlich’s is largely discredited.
I have been studying Peak oil and the Surplus energy Circular economy for over 10 years now and Have found the Book The Control of Oil, invaluable as a source
The control of oil: Blair, John M. (John Malcolm), 1914-: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive
I think the question Who do you believe is the wrong question. Trust and Belief are two different things.
I trust Denis Rancourt, I do not believe Denis as a default setting. With Blair Fix, I have been looking into his work further as I do not give my trust easily and I spent hours yesterday going through Blair’s Blog, and this gave rise to questions.
2/3
I had quoted Blair in a business Blog of mine.
“At The Risk of Reiterating Myself”
Baileys Bust, No Quarter Given, On the 1/4 Point Hike March 23rd 2023. UK Resi Market Survey #RICS, Where did all that wealth come from? Where is it headed And what should we do about it?
Starting assumptions.
Credit Creation and Taxation are intimately linked and it is to the Private creators of debt where the lions share of the seniorage from the same accrues , The purpose of the Policy decision to raise rates by a further quarter point when the residential and construction markets are cratering can not be explained by the “Economics Hadith” of conventional wisdom, as trotted out by the OBR, Treasury, or Bank of England.
CUI BONO? the linguistics of rapacious price gouging in the GloboCap new normal.
Inflation and the English language
Inflation! The Battle Between Creditors and Workers MARCH 23, 2023 by BLAIR FIXX
To start our journey into income redistribution, let’s talk about terminology. The word inflation … what does it describe?
To many people, ‘inflation’ refers to a decrease in the value of money. While this thinking is not wrong per se, it is needlessly abstract. We cannot measure the ‘value of money’. Instead, we measure price increases.2 Speaking of the phrase ‘price increases’, this language is also indirect. After all, prices don’t raise themselves. If prices go up, it’s because someone raised them. To bolster my profit, I raise prices.
My point here is that there are different ways to talk about the phenomenon of ‘inflation’. And paradoxically, the word ‘inflation’ is itself quite opaque. When ‘inflation’ rears its head, what’s actually going on is that groups of people compete to ‘raise prices’.
Now, if English writers cared about accuracy, you’d think that they would favor terms that are clear. And yet when it comes to price hikes, the opposite is true.
The Long Story short
Where and what is the real reason for the current policy stance by Central Banks worldwide and why would it seem that a destruction,(Transfer into the hands of the Billionaire class) of household wealth on a scale in excess as that in the GFC 1, is a price which Bailey and Powell are lining us all up to pay.
Is it that we should all be happy with owning nothing as the now infamous World Economic Forum “Misquote” would have it.
The Uberisation of everything following the Peak Everything bubble burst seems to be where we are in the midst of.
This Paradigm Shift.
This is a paradigm shift beyond post-Fordism and beyond Post almost anything imaginable from any of the Civics lessons I attended whilst going through, Primary, Secondary, Graduate, and post-Graduate Professional Education.
The increase in Rates as they affect the residential property market is one small aspect of this Faster and Further push, reaching into the fundamentals of the Democracy and Free world into which I took and take an active part in. It’s not a new change to an obscure part of the rule book. What is emerging is that There really has been a different set of rules For some all along.
Well not so fast! fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. #Stop the Steal
I wanted to look at his other interpretations and found that he had a similar skirmish into the What happened to Peak oil Question. I respect Blair’s Data analysis chops but do not and have not taken this as a green light to accept all that he makes claims about as being correct.
One final thought, perhaps propaganda is the passing off , of Ontology as Epistemology or, belief as knowledge.
Profit warning: there will be blood
3/24/2023
Who Do You Believe, and Why?
Dear Blair Fix,
I agree with much of yours that you have written and share a common interest in the work of Jonathan Nitzan and Shimshon Bichler. It is in their papers Still about Oil and there will be blood that you will find some of the reasons I disagree with the analysis you present in this Essay.
Hubert’s Work much Like Ehrlich’s is largely discredited.
I have been studying Peak oil and the Surplus energy Circular economy for over 10 years now and Have found the Book The Control of Oil, invaluable as a source
The control of oil: Blair, John M. (John Malcolm), 1914-: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive
I think the question Who do you believe is the wrong question. Trust and Belief are two different things.
I trust Denis Rancourt, I do not believe Denis as a default setting. With Blair Fix, I have been looking into his work further as I do not give my trust easily and I spent hours yesterday going through Blair’s Blog, and this gave rise to questions.
2/3
I had quoted Blair in a business Blog of mine.
“At The Risk of Reiterating Myself”
Baileys Bust, No Quarter Given, On the 1/4 Point Hike March 23rd 2023. UK Resi Market Survey #RICS, Where did all that wealth come from? Where is it headed And what should we do about it?
https://web.archive.org/web/20230331152806/https://notthegrubstreetjournal.com/
. This lack of volatility can possibly be attributed to the Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) acting as an oil cartel by prorationing oil production in Texas from 1935 to 1973 to create a price floor for balancing supply and demand (Prindle 1981). With Texas as the swing state oil producer until US peak production in 1970, this balancing on the price was possible
Tribal, Territorial Marking, When the Ephors meet the gatekeepers who argue with the Watchers, Whose shitting on whose slice of the pie.January 2020
On the pleasures of blogging , reflecting outloud in public when kindly no one pays any attention.
January 31, 2020
#Proper #PropTECH #MIPIM #MINDS #DataBases #Graphs An evaluation of Valuation v Priceification #FoolsGold #DataRush #HappyBrexitDay @BorisJohnson @TiceRichard @JoeBlob20 @financialeyes @Colliers_UK @Savills @JLLUK @CarterJonas @GeraldEveLLP @CBRE_UK @csiprop @JLL_Guy @katie_oliphant @EdwardCharlesW1 @TheOfficeGroup @LSHtweets @derwentlondon #CPR
Oscar Wilde defined a cynic in Lady Windemere’s fan as; ” a person who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”.
Big Data is the new oil, the Black and White gold or, the pixelated fools gold perhaps? Huge valuations are placed upon companies who can however incongruously or implausibly graft on the pre-fix or Suffix “- Tech, Tech – TECH”.
An old computing maxim is Garbage in Garbage out, that’s self-evident of course, “pigs ears and Silk purses” and all of that. But let’s remain in the porcine metaphor is Big Data really just “pearls before Swine”.
Perhaps I should explain? Military commanders know all too well that The Map is not the territory, for the purposes of “Prop-Tech” that’s an apt starting point. Of course, the Map is not the territory and the Model is not the thing, just as the name of anything is not the thing in itself. These are far more than just semantic games and when we look at Data, data processing, databases and the hugely powerful new generation of Graph Databases, we have to be very careful to remember that any description of a Thing, a phenomena, a market a moment in time or a reporting quarter is just that, a description of something that has happened in the past at a fixed point or over a period of time. Statically for a snapshot, we can describe say’ ? an unexpired lease term, the passing rental, the repairing obligations the asking price, the previous list of tenants and so forth. Databases are very good at this sort of description and comparisons over time and in parallel can give a sense of the dynamics of individual variables within what becomes a computer model based upon the Data across a whole album of individual pictures.
At this point, one usually swoons with eyes glazed over and we will all want to say something indicating understanding, something indicating the conversation has been helpful and interesting and signalling that we agree, Big Data is full of goodness and very very useful.
“You must have a very very clever Algorithm to go with that”
Perhaps a warning label should come with each Big Data truth claim.
“Two Algorithms and some snake oil to go”.
Valuation is an art and not a science, there is also art in Mathematics both pure Maths and Applied maths always have more than one way to get to a particular solution. That’s why they are Solutions and not answers, the word Solution implies the inevitability of there being more than one way to wiggle the Elephants Trunk.
## The Digital Gulag: A Warning from the Housing Front
*Originally posted on LinkedIn by Roger G. Lewis*
The promise of digital transformation has become a prison of our own making. As someone who has spent decades in property development and now works at the intersection of housing and technology, I feel compelled to sound an alarm about what I'm witnessing in the housing sector.
We are sleepwalking into what I call the "Digital Gulag" - a system where technology, rather than liberating us, is becoming an instrument of control and exclusion. Let me explain why this matters, particularly in housing:
### The Surveillance Economy of Housing
Today's "smart homes" are increasingly becoming surveillance devices. Every interaction is monitored, recorded, and monetized. Your thermostat knows when you're home. Your door lock tracks your comings and goings. Your smart speaker listens to your conversations. But who owns this data? Who profits from it? Certainly not the residents.
The real estate platforms that dominate our industry have evolved from useful tools into gatekeepers. They don't just list properties anymore - they shape markets, influence prices, and control access to housing opportunities. We've created digital landlords more powerful than any 19th-century land baron.
### The Illusion of Choice
We're told that technology democratizes access to housing information and opportunities. But look closer. The algorithms that power these platforms are black boxes, optimized for profit rather than social good. They reinforce existing inequalities while creating the illusion of fairness.
When I started in property development, decisions were made by people looking at communities. Now they're increasingly made by algorithms looking at spreadsheets. We've replaced human judgment with artificial intelligence that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
### The Death of Privacy
The most insidious aspect of this digital transformation is how it's eroding privacy in our most intimate spaces. Our homes should be sanctuaries. Instead, they're becoming data collection points in a vast digital network. Every smart device is a potential spy, every digital interaction a data point to be harvested and sold.
### Breaking Free
At Home@ix, we're trying to chart a different course. Our use of digital twin technology isn't about surveillance or control - it's about empowerment. We believe technology should serve communities, not corporations. But we're swimming against a powerful tide.
Here's what we need to do:
1. **Demand Transparency**: We need to know how our data is being used and who profits from it.
2. **Protect Privacy**: Our homes must remain private spaces, not data collection points.
3. **Build Alternative Systems**: We need platforms that serve communities rather than exploit them.
4. **Restore Human Agency**: Technology should augment human decision-making, not replace it.
### The Stakes Are Too High
Housing isn't just another market to be disrupted. It's fundamental to human dignity and community well-being. When we allow it to be captured by digital surveillance capitalism, we're not just losing privacy - we're losing our humanity.
The digital gulag is being built one smart device, one platform, one algorithm at a time. But unlike physical prisons, we're walking in voluntarily, seduced by convenience and digital baubles.
### A Call to Action
It's time to wake up. As professionals in the housing sector, we have a special responsibility to resist this drift toward digital feudalism. We need to build technology that liberates rather than constrains, that connects rather than controls.
The choice is ours, but the window for making that choice is closing. Will we continue down the path toward the digital gulag, or will we use technology to truly empower communities and protect human dignity?
The answer will shape not just the future of housing, but the future of human freedom itself.
---
*Roger G. Lewis is the Chief Innovation Officer at Home@ix, working on community-based solutions to the housing crisis. His views are his own and don't necessarily reflect those of his employer.*
[This piece captures Lewis's provocative stance on digital technology while maintaining his focus on housing and community empowerment. Would you like me to make any adjustments or proceed with anything else?]
Tribal, Territorial Marking, When the Ephors meet the gatekeepers who argue with the Watchers, Whose shitting on whose slice of the pie.January 2020
On the pleasures of blogging , reflecting outloud in public when kindly no one pays any attention.
Metaphor's for Tyranny
A poem is like an algorithm. Not in itself but similar. Algorithms are similies for poetry. Algorithms are not like poems which are streams of conciousness that enliven and awaken. A metaphor that inspires the imagination of possibilities. Not a modelled conformity of determinitistic tyranny. Algorithms are a metaphor for tyranny. Roger…
Barking at the moon
Top Ten grub street posts on Substack links on the going direct paradigm mind map
Barnes and Noble Nook Preview.
The Conquest of Dough (The Going Direct Paradigm Spring 2024, #1)
The Clockwork Forest: The Conquest of AI, (The Going Direct Paradigm Spring 2024, #4)
by Roger Lewis
Philosoetry (The Going Direct Paradigm Spring 2024, #3)
by Roger Lewis
by Roger Lewis
Philosoetry: The 2016 Collected Works of Roger G. Lewis and some fragments from (2013-2025)
·
Apr 24
On the Nature of Modern Verse: A Study of Roger G. Lewis's New Fragments
#Money