"The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. We fell morally ill because we became used to saying something different from what we thought. We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore one another, to care only about ourselves. Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion, humility or forgiveness lost their depth and dimension, and for many of us they represented only psychological peculiarities, or they resembled gone-astray greetings from ancient times, a little ridiculous in the era of computers and spaceships."
Vaclav Havel,
New Year's Address to the Nation, 1 January 1990
“The disposition to admire, and almost to worship, the rich and the powerful, and to despise, or, at least to neglect, persons of poor and mean condition is the great and most universal cause of the corruption of our moral sentiments. To attain to this envied situation, the candidates for fortune too frequently abandon the paths of virtue; for unhappily, the road which leads to the one, and that which leads to the other, lie sometimes in very opposite directions. But the ambitious man flatters himself that, in the splendid situation to which he advances, he will have so many means of commanding the respect and admiration of mankind, and will be enabled to act with such superior propriety and grace, that the lustre of his future conduct will entirely cover, or efface, the foulness of the steps by which he arrived at that elevation.
In many governments the candidates for the highest stations are above the law; and, if they can attain the object of their ambition, they have no fear of being called to account for the means by which they acquired it. They often endeavour, therefore, not only by fraud and falsehood, the ordinary and vulgar arts of intrigue and cabal; but sometimes by the perpetration of the most enormous crimes, by murder and assassination, by rebellion and civil war, to supplant and destroy those who oppose or stand in the way of their greatness. They more frequently miscarry than succeed; and commonly gain nothing but the disgraceful punishment which is due to their crimes.”
Adam Smith, Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759
"I wonder if this ignorance of history is a cause or an effect. Does ignorance facilitate gullibility and exploitation, or does it not also make it more bearable for lack of comparison? Perhaps it is something of both. One can not otherwise explain America's fascination with and fatal attraction to second rate actors, narcissistic lotharios, idiot sons, wardheelers, and reality show divas. Such is the state of an empire in decline. A still vibrant nation can survive its Warren Hardings and Andrew Johnsons, and perhaps even an unfortunate run of them. One can only wait and see what will happen next, watchful and prayerful and hopefully prepared."
Jesse, 7 January 2011
The Payrolls Report came in pretty much on forecast.
Stocks failed in their initial rally attempt and went out losing ground.
VIX rose.
The Dollar fell.
Gold and silver rallied a bit.
Have a pleasant weekend.
