Reply to WSJ Essay

For Immediate Release

Newton's 3rd Law of Physics: The pendulum swings both ways. When it does, it offers an opportunity to gratuitous commentary. I am glad this essay is billed as an essay: with such editorialisation as "self-styled patriots".

Let's offer the Wall Street Journal an analogy based on the unfounded optimism that some of their employees were English Majors rather than Business Majors. Or worse, Journalism Majors.

Dateline: Philadelphia--1776 Self-styled patriots voted to form a Colonial Economic Union and leave the Empire Economic Union.

Prime Minister, Lady Merkel, said she is willing to negotiate reforms but demands that representatives from other members of the Empire Economic Union be included. She offered to set up a conference next month, next year, the following Spring, the following Fall....

Foreign Minister, Lord Juncker said, "Don't let the door hit you in the bum on the way out."

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Schäuble issued a statement indicating The Empire would no longer trade with the Colonies. "You know that £50 Billion in manufactured goods we sell to you? Well we will stop selling them to you. That will teach you a lesson."

The Colonists have gone so far as to begin negotiating with Enemies of the Reich-- Oops, I mean Empire, which includes, but is not limited to The French.

The new Right Wing Independence Party of The Colonial Economic Union is negotiating trades deals and military alliances with the Right Wing Royalist Party of France led by Louis XVI.

The Military Leader, George Washington, denied the claims stating "After seeing what happened to Canada, India, Greece, Italy, Spain, & Portugal, we feel Amerexit is the best way to go."

King George said "I am disappointed that that these Anti-Empire, Heavily Armed "Self Styled Patriots" are choosing this Nationalist--Isolationist policy. and course of action."

Regards,

Slim.

PS. I am a globalist and wrote the PowerPoint Presentation on SlideShare

The Future of the G 20 in Good Times & Bad to encourage globalism.

The Future of the G 20 in Good Times & Bad 9.800 + visits

Forming an E 20 Group of Nations 6.000 + visits

And

Emerging Nation Economic Union. With 12.000 + visits

Singapore is my top visitor with more visits in 6 months than Germany in 6 years. And Germany has been hawking my site ever since I began inveighing against Merkelism--an economic system based on the fear that someone, somewhere is earning a living.

Warmest regards,

Slim.

Copyright (c) 2017 Bob Asken
All rights reserved.

Slimfairview@yahoo.com

Social Eugenics

by 

Slim Fairview

Social Eugenics, in its most benign form, is the attempt to study a productive group or team, analyse it, replicate it, and reproduce similar results.

This, of course, is based on a faulty premise and on a well-intentioned but ultimately evil paradigm.

"Social Eugenics is the dehumanising field of study that reduces people to a list of component traits in order to organise them into groups to achieve a desired result." ~ Slim Fairview

Also From the Quotations of Slim Fairview

1. "Leaders are defined by their followers."

2. "Look behind you. If people are following you, you're a leader. If they're not, you're not."

3. "You can't lead if you can't manage."

The entire initiative is based on reducing individuals to individual components.

Various individuals are defined by isolating social genes--or demographic DNA.  Each may be valid and defensible in its own right. But it is not the skills that are being called into question. It is the end to which they are employed.

Such may include but are not limited to

Sympathy

Empathy

Listening skills

Validation

Etc.

Others may have more objective criteria--math skills, for instance.

There are reasons why some people become accountants and other people become artists.  One and perhaps most significant reason is that "They Want To."  Similarly, some people work better in groups, others work better alone, still others in pairs.

When used, however, to create a perfect team or group, even when the goal is to organise people to work together to be successful, they have dehumanised the people and have created a contrived arrangement.

Some of the tools are

Teach Consensus Building.  Aside from my having defined consensus building as group-think built by a consultant, Consensus Building is really influencing the members of a group to embrace a shared value or a shared vision to validate a preconceived ideal.

Leadership Training.  This is a series of exercises (where there are no right or wrong answers) to teach people presumed to have management skills how to lead people in such a way that will justify blaming the employees for any failures to meet standards or to achieve goals.

There is still the observer effect.

When a man is at the checkout at the supermarket sees an attractive young cashier, he stands up straight, sucks in his gut, and smiles.  When his wife is with him, not so much.  The observer influences the behaviour of the observed.

Appearance of Science.  With the rise of Social Eugenics, people attempt to portray opinions as facts so they can challenge facts by defining them as opinions. (SF.)

Who's to Say What's Right or Wrong?

"Circumstances if not consequences will determine who's right and who's wrong--too often when it's too late to benefit from the answer."

In an article I am writing about "personal robots" I pointed out that people who are affluent enough to afford a PSR (Personal Service Robot) will become desensitised to people in the service industry.  A robot can replicate a human, but a human won't replicate a robot.

Social Eugenics is based on an analogous principle.  That people are components in a group; and by analysing those individual traits, people can organise the component people into groups or teams that will become successful at achieving the desired results.

Warmest regards,

Slim.

If you find anything here to be helpful, please don't hesitate to send me one of those really tricked out Macbooks and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.  Slim

Robert Asken
Box 33
Pen Argyl, PA 18072

SlimFairview@yahoo.com 

Copyright (c) 2016 Robert Asken

All rights reserved.

Marketing to Millennials

For the media and or marketing people.

Alton Brown said he was paid more for 1 episode of a kitchen/combat show than an entire season of Good Eats.

If you want to make money, be a financial success, give the consumers what they want: Bread and Circus. [Or, to show I know how to use Google--panem et circenses.]

The Cooking Network switched to cooking contest shows

MTV once stood for Music Television. Then, talk and reality TV, with game shows thrown in.

The House Decorating and Remodeling shows spend more time showing people smashing walls and cupboards with sledge hammers than they do to showing the finished product.
 
And...the cooking shows have switched to close-ups and what I call cut to cut to. Lemon slice, pinch of salt, egg yolk, cut to: cut to: cut to:

As the politicians transmogrified from the 5 second sound-bite to the 2 second sound-bite, and we coined the phrase "the elevator pitch", as MTV shortened our attention span by conditioning us to embrace images that changed in a matter of one or two or three seconds. so too has the market changed.

The Market Demands:

Short

Fast

To the point.

Slim Fairview's Four Rules of Communication:

Precision

Concision

Enumerate

Specify

Witness "Social Media".

c u l8r.
k.

Remember: When Selling to Millennials:

Loud Noises...Bright Colours...&...Shiny Things 

Tap into this and you may be more successful reaching the millennials.

Of course, when millennials do it, it's because they're millennials.  When I do it, it's because I'm old fashioned, old, or have no patience... &c.


Warmest regards,

Slim.

slimfairview@yahoo.com

slimviews@gmail.com

Copyright (c) 2016 Bob Asken

All rights reserved.

Hiring Einstein's Fish

Einstein said, "You don't measure the intelligence of a fish by its ability to climb a tree."

Okay.  Measure the intelligence of a fish by its ability to swim under water.

You don't measure the intelligence of a cat by its ability to swim under water.

Measure the intelligence of a cat by its ability to climb a tree.

From this I conclude,

If you want someone to climb a tree, hire a cat!


We don't do that.


We measure the intelligence of a fish by its ability to swim under water then hire the fish to climb a tree.  When the fish can't climb the tree, we hire a cat to climb the tree...and put the fish in charge of the cat.

If there is a problem, we send the fish to a leadership training programme.

If there is still a problem the fish goes into his boss to tell him:

The cat is not a team player,
The cat does not want to follow orders,
The cat wants to do what he wants to do.
 

The boss tells the fish to form a committee.

The committee decides:

There is no I in team,
To be a good leader you need to be a good follower,
The fish went to a leadership training programme and he wants to help the cat be the best tree climber he can be.
The fish will send the cat to a tree climbing training programme--run by fish.

If the company still has problems, the fish tells his boss, I did everything I could possibly do.
The cat is not a team player,
I tried to work with the cat using my leadership skills,
I sent the cat for training to improve his tree climbing skills,

The cat is counseled.

The cat leaves to take a job with a company where a cat is in charge of tree climbing.

The fish convinces you to hire more fish.

You end up with a tree surrounded with dead fish lying on the ground.


If you want someone to climb a tree, hire a cat.


Warmest regards,

Slim.

slimfairview@yahoo.com

slimviews@gmail.com 

Copyright (c) 2016 Bob Asken
All rights reserved.

Aapl Meets Hollywood

Apple Meets Hollywood

Personals:

Sexy hi-tech FIRM seeks creative Hollywood Mogul. Objective?  Hot Content.

Two years ago I suggested that APPLE and Facebook buy AOL Time Warner CNN. The reason? Content.

$1.5 Billion Dollars + 1.5 Billion Users = Profit$.

It never happened.  However, others have been buying up content.

Now, Apple is looking for content (original content) for their devices.

At the same time, another topic near and dear to my heart, is the move to move “In sync” with Cisco.  Why?  To make Apple products more useful to more people.

You all know the basic paradigm.

• An organization grows large.

• Economies to scale meet the law of diminishing returns.

• Efficiencies decline.

• Focus on the quality of some products causes the quality of others to suffer.

• There is contention among employees working on different projects.

• Profits will attract competitors.

• A large number of competitors will nibble at profits.

• Unique features of competing products will create pressure to improve your product.

• Pressure on employees (and on bosses) will effect morale negatively.

• Some competitors will go out of business due to bad products or management.

• Other competitors will blend together through M&A creating larger competitors.

• Those competitors will benefit from economies to scale as they grow.

• There will be market penetration. And innovation. And competition.

• They will innovate and or cut prices causing you more pressure.

• Big companies will begin to sell off bits of itself to:

• Concentrate on our core

• Do what we do best

• Cut costs

• Become more efficient

• Focus on R&D

• Better serve our valued and appreciated customers.

Now, APPLE is meeting with Cisco.  Great Move.

Now, about content….

We've all heard of 30 under 30. Outstanding people under 30 transforming the world.

Now, what about 60 over 60.

Boomers watch television.
Boomers watch commercials.
Boomers have discretionary income.

60 over 60

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2018/05/60-over-60.html

If you find anything here to be helpful, please don't hesitate to send me a really tricked out Google Pixelbook and to tuck a few dollars into the envelope along with the thank you note.  Slim.

Bob Asken
Box 33
Pen Argyl, PA 18072

Warmest regards,

Slim.

Slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright © 2015 Bob Asken

All rights reserved.

China: QE and Emerging Nations

Is it possible for the "Chinese Central Bank" to launch a bond buying programme for companies listed on the Chinese exchanges to enable them to start a stock buy-back programme to bring up their prices?

This will help small and large investors  

recoup their losses  

restore confidence in the economy, 

restore confidence in the markets and 

Restore confidence in the Government


This will refocus the Chinese Economy on:

Capital Investment

Economic Development &

Growth

And will:

Help to rebuild the infrastructure

Increase employment

Increase the consumer class

Increase the investor class &

Reposition China in the Global Market


The Next Challenge is Here


Looking at the change in the global landscape requires comment.  I have included my article The Next Challenge is Here in this article. 

At the end, I've included links to related articles.


First:  This in an Economics Lesson.  Focus on the Economics ONLY!

The haves are increasing arithmetically. The have-nots are increasing geometrically.

The real challenge is not the difference in the number of dollars between the haves and the have-nots.

The real challenge is the difference between the number of people between the haves and the have-nots.

This is not a sustainable model. Period!


What Politicians discuss is only what Western Nations can wrap their brains around.

Politicians say Mexicans take jobs Americans don't want.

Politicians say people in the Middle East are escaping war, genocide, and starvation.

Politicians say that migration in parts of Asia is the results of ethnic groups escaping ethnic based violence.

And of course, the scourge of the Earth, human traffickers.

Now, Remember when I said the real challenge is the difference in the number of people between the haves and the have-nots.

To grasp the concept, we will reference a few principles of physics to establish the metaphor.

We are witnessing an incontrovertible law of physics.

1.  People are moving from a greater concentration to a lesser concentration.  The high-density impact on emerging nations.  Populations are increasing--land mass is not.

2. Money. Money in the industrialised nations will reach  a saturation point if it has not done so already.  At this point, it will be necessary to move money from industrialised nations to emerging nations.

This was one of the proponents in my article Greek Proposal. The article is located here along with Dear. Mr. Varoufakis, and Antigone Defeats Merkel. To understand Europe, one must read Antigone Defeats Merkel and, by extension, Antigone. To understand Merkel and Germany, one must read The Anatomy of Human. Destructiveness. by Erich Fromm. 



FOUR STRATEGIES (The First Three are Wrong)


     1.  Protect your stuff from people who don’t have stuff.

     2.  Share your stuff with people who don’t have stuff.

     3.  Share other people’s stuff with people who don’t have stuff.

     4.  Help People Who Don’t Have Stuff to Get Their Own Stuff.


While history is rife with disasters that were caused by ignoring the challenge, this time may be different.

Not because I say so; but rather because 5 Billion “have nots” say so.

This time, the world cannot ignore the message.


Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it. Santayana.

“Those who never learned history are doomed—Period! Slim Fairview.


Solving the Emerging World Crisis

Forming an E 20 

Emerging Nations Economic Union

Third World First. Okay? 

Micro-Finance: $10. to the Road to Prosperity

G - 20 Summit! E - 20 Invited?

And President Obama said...

Our Middle East Muddling 


Warmest regards,

Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com  

Copyright © 2015 Bob Asken

All rights reserved

Merkel and Charybdis

Odysseus, King of Ithaca, would know what to do.

Every Greek man, woman, and child; every European man, woman, and child, has a right and the need to have his or her leaders call for and succeed in Chancellor Merkel stepping down. Now.

The Analysis is Simple

Have we followed Merkel's lead? Yes.

Have things gotten better? No.

Have things gotten worse? Yes.

Conclusion?  Do not follow Merkel's lead.

This is not politics.  This is not economics. This is common knowledge and common sense!

I have been calling for Merkel to step down since last year.

European Leaders who follow Merkel are by definition, not leaders.

European Leaders who follow Merkel are by definition followers.

As for Merkel, if you can't manage, you can't lead.  Merkel has failed to manage the crisis.

The Chancellor has proven willing to discuss any idea or plan that will impede or prevent any solution to the crisis being implemented.

You cannot cut wages, fire people, raise taxes, and call it a disaster plan--disaster plans are intended to prevent disasters, not cause them.  A one-pronged approach is not a solution--it is a weapon.  The very approach is designed to decrease the GDP.

I also warned that the Firewall around Greece would not help Greece's neighbor--Spain.  This is proving to be true.  In Spain, the most popular Tweet is "Stop Merkel."

The following are fairly comprehensive.

EuoBondage and Leadership.

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2012/06/eurobondage-leadership.html

Merkel's Last Stand

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/12/merkels-last-stand.html

The EuroCrats Trojan Plan--Destroy Greece

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2011/09/eurocrats-trojan-plan.html

Too Greek to Fail

http://slimviews.blogspot.com/2012/01/too-greek-to-fail.html

Firewall or Farce?

http://sidestreetjournal.blogspot.com/2012/02/firewall-or-farce.html

Now is the time for European Leaders to lead.

Sincerely,

Slim

slimfairview@yahoo.com  

Copyright (c) 2012 Slim Fairview

All rights reserved.

GreekEnomics

Today, President Obama, addressing the press at the G-7 meeting, invoked the mantra I’ve propounded for almost five years. Capital Investment.

How long have the EuroCrats been attempting to solve the Greek Economic Crisis?

Too Long.  The same applies to the EuroCrisis.

By now we should be able to invoke Slim Fairview’s Empirical Method of Analysis.

Have we tried austerity?

Yes.

Have things gotten better?

No.

Have things gotten worse?

Yes.

Conclusion?

Don’t do that.

The first rule of holes: When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

Reform is the smallest part of the solution to the Greek Economic Crisis.  We need, as I’ve said repeatedly, Capital Investment + Economic Development + Growth.

ONE PROPOSAL:

What is one thing Greece has been known for?  Shipping. Did anyone say Onassis?

If the EuroCrats don’t embrace this idea, the Chinese will.  Case in point.  When I heard that Air Travel will double in the next 20 years, I posed the question, does that mean we will need to double the number of airports, or double the number of planes?  What happened?  Boeing increased the size of the planes.

China is building a Canal in Nicaragua. Why? To accommodate the Super Ships. Why? To ship from Western Africa, through the Nicaragua canal to China and the rest of Asia.

Remember what I said in my article “Energy Independence? (Then What?)”  I said, when we no longer need oil from Saudi Arabia, then Saudi Arabia will need to find a new customer. (China) If China is the new customer, China is also the new friend.  And oil can move on supertankers through the Nicaragua canal to China and the rest of Asia.

It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of shipping and, by extension, the importance of ships.  Ship building in Greece, with Chinese Capital Investment, can meet that demand.  This is not strategic planning.  This is marketing.

Marketing: Find a need and fill it.

The EuroUnion has a narrow window of opportunity.  The EuroCrats must embrace Capital Investment and Economic Development as crucial to solving the Greek economic crisis.  In addition, the rest of the world must work with China to complete the building of the Nicaragua Canal.  This is to benefit the Global Economy.

Warmest regards,

Slim


slimfairview@yahoo.com

Copyright (c) 2015 Bob Asken 
All rights reserved.

Additional Reading:

Merkel's Big Lies 

Merkel and the Salesman

Merkel's Last Stand
 
EuroCracy, with Apologies to Swift

Beware! The Chancellor is Consolidating Power

Merkel and Charybdis

Greek/Roman