Bogdan Coman’s blog

When playing Starcraft (I used to do it when in university, what a time we had…), typing “show me the money” in the chat room is considered a cheat, as it gives you a bonus of 10.000 minerals and gas
In real life, especially during this financial crisis, you can scream “Show me the money!” as hard as you can… you can beg, try to have sex for them… no one will give you anything. Working hard might be a solution, but before even considering that, lets see how we got here and where we are going from here.

First of all, after I spent some time trying to understand why is the economy melting down and why people’s savings are going down the toilet, I came to the following conclusion: is all because human nature is naturally too greedy. Brilliant, right?

Okay, now lets talk “facts”. This is a case against the fiat monetary system as it is today, and not necessarily against the lack of regulations the government was supposed to impose on the banks, as if there would be no fiat monetary system, there would be no huge government, central banks or financial institutions too big to fail. (I will illustrate the story with three quotes from the movie Watchmen (2009) that I’ve seen last night and that I’m considering one of the best movies ever)

Lets say there are some guys controlling the financial system, let’s call them “bankers“, there are some guys that wants us to think they are are controlling the financial system, let’s call them “politicians“, and there are some guys using the financial system, let’s call them us “slaves“.
Politicians are the representatives of slaves while the bankers are taking care of slaves’s savings (if they keep them in banks as cash or under some other financial forms). Since they are all humans, they are all greedy (TBD). So they all together tried to come up with a plan, to have some more money without working for them. The main problem was that any plan they were to produce, wouldn’t work if they were all aware of it, so politicians and bankers started a plan without letting slaves know about it.

The plan went as follows:

1. How politicians made money without working for them
By using what’s called lobby (in some countries they are calling it corruption), bankers did convince the politicians to remove or not to implement some “stupid” rules that were preventing them from lending the slaves with more money they actually had in their treasuries (mainly from deposits) and to play in a reckless way with the investments they were in charge of.

2. How bankers made money without working for them
By being able to lend more money than they had in their treasuries and to give loans to everyone who asked for one, the bankers were able to create money out of fin air (also known as electronic money), so they gained more income from the interests they were receiving for the increased number of loans they started to offer.

3. How slaves were screwed made money without working for them
Slaves were able to buy bigger houses, powerful cars, afford longer trips, eat fancy food, retire earlier, etc., just by getting lower interest rates, on longer terms and unsecured loans from the bankers.

And they lived happily… until last autumn (2008). Why did the happiness stop?… Simple, because the slaves got so much in debt that they couldn’t even afford to spend money on the water they were flushing the toilet with.

Nite Owl II: What the hell happened to us? What happened to the American dream?
The Comedian: It came true. You’re looking at it.

(more…)

Mai hahaha, mai hehehe, nu ma gandeam ca “traim in Romania si asta ne ocupa tot timpul” a lui Mircea Badea este reala luata ad-literam. Adica, suna bine, iar daca traiam in Ungaria probabil as fi putut lejer sa spun: “traim in Ungaria si asta ne ocupa tot timpul”, nu? Deloc adevarat. De cand am lasat Romania pentru Canada, am inteles ca pot sa renunt lejer la partea cu “ne ocupa tot timpul” si sa pastrez doar “traim in Canada”. Nimic de adaugat dupa. Cum o fi sa poti infiinta online o firma intr-o zi, sa iti faci online toate platile, toate decontarile la sanatate, toate impozitele, sa vezi orele si minutele la care in urmatoarea luna autobuzul va opri in statia din fata casei tale, daca o femeie naste sa primeasca regulat acasa vizita unei asistente medicale, daca vrei sa dai o atentie la doctor sa intri la parnaie…? Cum o fi sa vezi ca altii pot? Iti zic eu cum e, e umilitor sa fii roman, asa e. Evit sa le spun celor ramasi in tara de diferenta, pentru ca pe langa faptul ca poate n-ar intelege, s-ar putea sa invidieze aiurea, da na ca citind aici or sa afle

Imi spuneau in Romania: “stai tu linistit, ca o sa ajunga sa-ti fie dor pana si de praful si poluarea de aici”… ori nu numa ca nu mi-e dor de nimic, ba chiar urasc mai mult ca cei ramasi acolo nu au cum sa evolueze, poate pentru ca multi nu stiu diferenta. Singurul lucru pe care il urmaresc de aici in legatura cu Romania este emisiunea lui Mircea Badea, care, cu exagerarile lui cu tot, probabil ca taie din fasa orice tentativa de dor de neam prin propriile lectii de viata pe care le preda unui popor plin de creiere spalate si castrat de cel putin 5 ori in ultimii 65 de ani (’45 Groza, ‘67 Ceausescu, ‘90 Iliescu, ‘96 Constantinescu, ‘04 Basescu). Chiar, ar trebui sa scriu un post despre cei pe care ii vad eu ca au ajutat la ideea de “roman” si unul despre acele lepre ordinare care au stricat “smecheria”… desi cred ca cei din urma sunt prea multi si nu merita timpul.

Sunt multi romani carora traiul in Romania le ocupa tot timpul asa ca au roit-o. Sunt foarte multi atat in Europa cat si aici (diferenta e ca acolo unde sunt, multi din cei din Europa sunt considerati tigani, iar astia de aici rusi). Culmea e ca romanii astia dezradacinati, ai dracu sa fie ei, nu gandesc ca cei de acasa. Ei s-au oprit de mult sa spere ca se va schimba ceva, stiu foarte bine de unde au plecat iar multi au plecat pentru ca au coloana vertebrala, nu ca n-ar fi avut dupa ce bea apa (…nu ca a pleca de sarac e o rusine). Astia sunt oameni adevarati, si n-o zic doar pentru ca m-am alaturat lor, ii invidiam cu mult inainte ;-). Pacat ca amintirile din tara ii fac pe multi sa fie circumspecti si retrasi cand e vorba sa “vorbeste romaneste”, dar la o adica nu strica nici precautia.

Nu vreau ca textul asta sa fie privit ca unul pro-emigrare, ci poate mai mult ca pe o refulare personala.