I love the story of US Airways Flight 1549 because the superb performance of the crew, passengers and air traffic controllers stands in such stark contrast to the incompetence and fraud of the various businesses and governments that have done so much damage to the world’s economy and to millions of lives around the globe.
While the crew has maintained they were just doing the jobs they were trained to do, it shows how “just doing our jobs” can turn a potential tragedy into a triumph.
Check out this amazing CGI reconstruction of the flight which includes the actual conversation between Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and ATC at LaGuardia. It just gives me chills.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Renowned investor George Soros said on Friday the world financial system has effectively disintegrated, adding that there is yet no prospect of a near-term resolution to the crisis.
Soros said the turbulence is actually more severe than during the Great Depression, comparing the current situation to the demise of the Soviet Union.
He said the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September marked a turning point in the functioning of the market system.
“We witnessed the collapse of the financial system,” Soros said at a Columbia University dinner. “It was placed on life support, and it’s still on life support. There’s no sign that we are anywhere near a bottom.”
Speaking at the same conference, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker was just as gloomy.
“I don’t remember any time, maybe even in the Great Depression, when things went down quite so fast, quite so uniformly around the world,” Volcker said.
If their comments are accurate and this is what governments and financial experts in the private sector have done to the global economy, why would anybody trust them to fix it? They obviously don’t know much about how to run an economy.
Every solution proposed so far keeps the same people in power and in charge of the system. The various stimulus packages just hand over more money and power to them. Does anybody ever stop to consider that maybe the people who created the system and run it are the problem? Those who keep giving them more money and power are among the guilty parties.
I’m not convinced that things are as horrible and Soros and Volcker make them out to be. The pattern so far has been to instill a fear of catastrophe into the population so people will surrender more money and control. The Bush administration did it and the Obama administration has been to follow the same pattern. It’s the way the government makes itself seem essential. Having people like Soros and Volcker make such comments may just be part of the big plan.
Volcker is an adviser to President Obama and is calling for increased regulation and “decisive actions” which I think means more money. His comments are catastrophic as is typical of such pleas for more government control and more taxpayer money. Remember the weapons of mass destruction and “imminent threat” that the Bush administration used to get us into the war in Iraq?
The world has been through turmoil many times before. It is never a fun time. But people can be remarkably resourceful when they are allowed to be and the vast majority of them find a way through it.
If you don’t believe that people can do amazing things when they empower themselves in the face of great obstacles, check out this YouTube video of blind classical pianist Tamar Shalvashvili playing Scriabin’s Poème Tragique Op. 34. I didn’t know that such a thing was possible. [I'm not sure if "blind" means totally blind or "legally blind."]
Consider what she has done with her life and her disability. Read about Scott MacIntyre, another blind classical pianist. (ScottMacIntyre.com says MacIntyre is “visually impaired.”) Compare what they have done with what the governments and bankers of the world have done to the financial system. They built a house of cards and according to Soros and Volcker, it has collapsed, taking millions of lives down with it.
