{"id":302,"date":"2010-05-03T19:03:34","date_gmt":"2010-05-04T02:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=302"},"modified":"2010-05-18T19:14:16","modified_gmt":"2010-05-19T02:14:16","slug":"how-do-you-win-a-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=302","title":{"rendered":"How do you win a game?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t

I wrote last time about the concept that Goldman is employing:\u00a0 “all that is not illegal is permissible”.<\/p>\n\t

When they say they did nothing wrong, they mean they did nothing illegal.<\/p>\n\t

If some judge finds that what they did IS<\/strong> illegal, they will find another judge.\u00a0 If all judges find what they did was illegal, they will make new laws.\u00a0 If that doesn’t work, they will simply re-organize under some other legal structure and continue to do what they wanted in the first place.<\/p>\n\t

So……how do you win a game? <\/strong><\/p>\n\t

I assure you it is not by being the best at something.\u00a0 Hard work is a VERY difficult way to win.\u00a0 It is a high effort strategy that, in real life, doesn’t often work.<\/p>\n\t

Why can’t you win by being the best and working hard?<\/strong><\/p>\n\t

Because the rules change (and there is always some fool out there willing to work harder).<\/p>\n\t

In sports, the rules stay mostly the same; the game is defined.\u00a0 We enjoy the fairness; we scream when the rules (which are limited since the game is well-defined) are broken.<\/p>\n\t

In life, the rules can change; the game can change.\u00a0 There is no “score”, no tidy buzzer at the end that tells you when its done.\u00a0 Those who win are those who make the rules.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\t

Goldman can use its influence, its special knowledge, and its money….to make the rules or change them if needed.\u00a0 They don’t break the law because they make the law<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\t

When I was in business school I was taught attractive industries are those with high barriers to entry.<\/p>\n\t

Here is how you make your industry attractive:\u00a0\u00a0 bend the rules in your favor.<\/p>\n\t

Capitalism in the United States is not about competition and free markets.\u00a0 It is about manipulating the rules of the game in your favor.\u00a0 That is the easiest way to win any game.\u00a0 It doesn’t require nearly as much hard work and is a much better guarantee of success.<\/p>\n\t

Think about it:\u00a0 How can you win long term if there is a level playing field?\u00a0 The best strategy is to un-level the playing field….not to work harder.\u00a0 If your long term strategy is working harder, you won’t be on top long…there is always some idiot out there willing to work harder.\u00a0 If your long term strategy is hard work, you will kill yourself doing it.<\/p>\n\t

I think Goldman’s strategy is simply how capitalism in the US works:\u00a0 its a plutocracy<\/a>.\u00a0 The rich are bending the rules to make sure they stay rich.\u00a0 The rich are largely smart, and we are busy working hard, so we don’t realize the bait and switch.<\/p>\n\t

I remember the story of Mickey Mouse from business school.\u00a0 Whenever the early Mickey Mouse movies get close to lapsing their copyright and entering the public domain, Disney simply gets the law changed<\/a> to extend the copyright.<\/p>\n\t

The pharmaceutical industry peddles treatments that work better than placebos….the treatments don’t have to work better than sunshine, getting friends, eating healthy, taking vitamins, exercising, etc….and often they don’t, but they can’t sell or patent exercise.<\/p>\n\t

They even invent new diseases<\/a> to match “cures” they have found (had you heard of erectile dysfunction before Viagra?).\u00a0\u00a0 You rig the game.\u00a0 If you can “cure” erectile dysfunction, then you need to make it a disease.\u00a0 Shyness is a disease now too (social anxiety disorder).<\/p>\n\t

In short, the patent system CREATES the current pharma industry.\u00a0 The industry manipulates those rules to protect their profits; they don’t want free markets.\u00a0 Its much more profitable to define diseases or massage the drug approval process regulations.<\/p>\n\t

Also, no business wants free markets……they want free markets when it suits them…and then closed markets when it doesn’t. <\/strong>The patent system creates a closed market; that’s good for copyright holders.<\/p>\n\t

Multi-national corporations<\/strong> (who are also quite well-connected and resourced) want free trade<\/strong>…because it allows them to move goods and labor unfettered.\u00a0 The only group you can bet for sure will benefit from that arrangement…is the multi-nationals themselves.<\/p>\n\t

Who do you think writes these laws?\u00a0 The industry almost HAS to write them; because they are the only ones with enough expertise to do so.\u00a0 Would you want some blowhard politician writing laws about an industry they have never even worked in?\u00a0 The industry groups draft the laws and try to get the politicians to sponsor them.<\/p>\n\t

Banking is the ultimate special privilege industry:\u00a0 It gets to create money…and he who creates the money, makes the rules.<\/p>\n\t

If you’re looking for a lesson in my rambling here it is this:\u00a0\u00a0 The winners make rules.\u00a0 Everyone else whines about working hard.<\/p>\n\t

If you beat me 100 to 2 in basketball and I re-define winning as having the lowest score….then I win.\u00a0 It doesn’t matter how good you are.\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote last time about the concept that Goldman is employing:\u00a0 “all that is not illegal is permissible”. When they say they did nothing wrong, they mean they did nothing illegal. If some judge finds that what they did IS illegal, they will find another judge.\u00a0 If all judges find what they did was illegal, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[28],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3IMYj-4S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":465,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=465","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":0},"title":"Of course the Earth isn’t flat. Of course smoking is bad for you. What does this have to do with the stock market?","author":"kellio","date":"September 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We will all look back in 100 years and wonder why people ever invested in the stock market. \u00a0It will seem like such an obviously misguided and\u00a0colossally\u00a0bad idea; how did we ever think that could work out? I admit that I do not understand the stock market. \u00a0It isn't that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inside My Head"","block_context":{"text":"Inside My Head","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":297,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=297","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":1},"title":"Ethics vs Morals: Has Goldman Sachs done anything wrong?","author":"kellio","date":"April 28, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Goldman contends they have done nothing but sell what other sophisticated investors wanted to buy.\u00a0 Did they do anything \"wrong\"? Hmm....... I want to draw a distinction between ethics and morals: Ethics is a set of rules, often set by a group, that defines right and wrong.\u00a0 Morals are our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inside My Head"","block_context":{"text":"Inside My Head","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":363,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=363","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":2},"title":"Wikileaks: Are they doing anything wrong?","author":"kellio","date":"December 3, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I will keep Wikileaks separate from Julian Assange, since I'm more \u00a0interested in the concept of Wikileaks than the person representing it. \u00a0I will also keep the specific content of the cables largely out of the discussion, since that is not central to my question either (btw, I didn't find\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inside My Head"","block_context":{"text":"Inside My Head","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":663,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=663","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":3},"title":"The free market doesn’t exist except as a rhetorical device.","author":"kellio","date":"September 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've talked about this before, and it is also discussed very well here. The line of thought goes like this:\u00a0 \"Producers competing against each other benefits us all.\u00a0 Free of government intervention, supply and demand sets the optimal market price.\u00a0 Through open and free competition, the invisible hand of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Inside My Head"","block_context":{"text":"Inside My Head","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=34","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":4},"title":"The important questions","author":"kellio","date":"December 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I have grown tired of asking questions to which I know there are no answers. Perhaps that is adulthood? I ask more immediate questions these days: What will I do today after work? What will I do today at work? Where will I eat dinner? What kind of beer do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Favorite Entries"","block_context":{"text":"Favorite Entries","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":386,"url":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?p=386","url_meta":{"origin":302,"position":5},"title":"What is the “Free Market”?","author":"kellio","date":"December 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't believe I haven't written about this before, but here goes: Free Market: When we think of the free market, it conjures up the classic example of an open air market where there are a near infinite number of sellers all right next to each other with similar items.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"economics\"","block_context":{"text":"economics","link":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/?tag=economics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=302"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302\/revisions\/304"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/chasingeden.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}