The media's long-time strong attention on the stock market is a factor. Some people think I put too much attention on media behavior. The media pushes narratives that political people can seize upon. They can seize upon it using fear. Fear hovers in our thoughts more than we wish to acknowledge.
Trump and his people were betting on a stock market that could at least be perceived as favorable. Of course it's not favorable in an over-arching way. We can argue forever about trickle-down. I would suggest that Reagan's regime did things necessary to fuel personal initiative more. But that crowd could never apply the brakes.
So we end up now with a president who seems merely a caricature of what they promote. He seizes on the rhetoric and the imagery. He uses fear to fend off the forces that ought to be gathering outside the palace gates. The forces may be starting to gather anyway. But Trump may have enough boiling oil to buy time. Through the election? Can we be sure his fear-mongering and blatantly misleading statements about mail-in voting will not work?
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| Claudia Conway |
The charlatans around Trump will not withdraw until conditions get substantially worse. Can we not see what is at stake here? It's human lives.
What would Jesus Christ say about the disregard so many of us have, about basic human values, caring for each other?
It is actually easier to disregard the stock market now because - have you noticed? - the media has actually backed off from much of the daily focus. I was suspicious for years as I resisted getting drawn into what I thought was a stock market mania. Done with mirrors?
"The masses" may pay only limited attention to cable TV news but I'd bet many opinion leaders do. People consume it out of curiosity because at the very least it's a barometer. You can disregard a lot of the pure chaff. But as Jonathan Alter has pointed out, this media institution - still strong in the face of "cord-cutting" - puts forward topics that "leach" into the national conversation.
For years we'd see the little green or red arrows at bottom-right on our TV screen. Plus, a number showing the extent of an "up" or "down" direction, as if the move on a particular day had so much import. Politicians I'm sure saw an offshoot for their own fortunes. And in Trump's case, since he clearly represents the political crowd that doesn't believe in direct government help for people, he saw the stock market position as inextricably linked to how he'd fare. Frankly it was everything.
So as the pandemic first presented itself, you might say Trump understandably held off on bold pronouncements or actions. Most likely there would be a shock to the markets.
Part of the problem here is that the masses of "retail" investors out there, e.g. the gullible souls pushed into a 401K - make money only when the market goes up. Markets are meant to go up and down if allowed to work properly. And believe me, there are lots of players on Wall Street who know how to make money when markets go down. Or, if there's inflation. Or, if any prolonged trend develops. It's a world that the common folk really ought not feel comfortable in. In fact, we may conclude someday we were being manipulated.
The stock market news on TV was just too heavy-handed, too juiced and frankly too phony. The line between news and entertainment has of course blurred. "News" changed permanently when it showed it could be a profit source. Previous to that it was a public service and was in fact mandated by the FCC.
I grew up in a time when business news was boring, put in front of us only in an obligatory way. Wall Street seemed a distant place which is probably how it should be, save for the big wheeler-dealers. If you're my age and grew up in a small town, you knew the type of people who might have money in stocks.
I got steered into some sort of non-FDIC investment retirement fund when I was with Forum Communications, even though I expressly indicated I didn't want it.
Let's get psychological
I am taking the long way around the barn in the post of today. That's because my main point is about deferral of gratification. The long-time stock market fixation, lifted by the profit-motivated media - watch those Charles Schwab commercials - forces too much attention on today's news. The alternative would be long-term plans that serve people's interests better.
Long-term plans would call for contingencies vs. a terrible virus that would prioritize extinguishing the virus. So in the long term, this would actually serve our economic best interests. The huge problem is that we can't stand the short-term pain. Or to re-think that, maybe it's our national leaders who are so terribly averse to any short-term hit. The broad population would probably grasp the proper wisdom.
But of course, so many of us have money in the markets in some way. So maybe the best course of action will just elude us. And after prolonged disaster, we'll start waking up because we're really not that stupid. The German people are anything but stupid. But look at their unbridled calamity in the mid-20th Century. General George Patton thought the German people were essentially victims. The facts do in fact suggest otherwise: they chose their course.
Trot out the old saying about history repeating itself. And a child shall lead them, lead them out of the abyss. Well, just look at Claudia Conway.
Let's emphasize: deferral of gratification is considered a model for mature, wise behavior. Immediate gratification is associated with many poor people. Deferred or delayed gratification describes the process of resisting the temptation of an immediate reward in preference for a later reward. Ever heard of the "marshmallow experiment?" It illustrates nicely.
Donald Trump looks like he eats a lot of marshmallows along with his junk food. Would that we could just stop paying attention to him.
"The Marshmallow Experiment"
My podcast episode for today, Aug. 11, focuses on "the marshmallow experiment" as a model for understanding delayed gratification. Please click on permalink:
https://anchor.fm/brian-williams596/episodes/The-Marshmallow-Experiment-ehm5k4
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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