random quotes: the reality about modern life...

well, someone had to say it...

this is a strange, rather perverse story. just to put it in very simple terms: it's a story about us, people, being persuaded to spend money we don't have, on things we don't need, to create impressions that won't last, on people we don't care about. [1]

the reality of the society we're in, is there are thousands and thousands of people out there, leading lives of quiet screaming desperation, where they work long hard hours, at jobs they hate, to enable them to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like. [2]

we can change society's definition of success. away from the moronically simplistic notion, that the person with the most money when he dies wins, to a more thoughtful and balanced definition of what a life well lived looks like. [2]

[1] Professor of Sustainable Development at University of Surrey, Tim Jackson's TED talk Economic reality check, October 5, 2010
[2] Best-selling author and advertising CEO, Nigel Marsh's TEDx talk How to make work-life balance work, February 7, 2011

quotes of the day...

mood: bewilderment
sometimes, psychology (wishful thinking, denial, cognitive bias, blind spots, ideology, ...) is stronger than intelligence.

alan greenspan's comments on the financial/economic crisis:

I found a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works, so to speak.

That's precisely the reason I was shocked because I was going for forty years or more with very considerable evidence that it was working exceptionally well.

those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders equity, myself especially, are in a state of shocked disbelief.

source oversight.house.gov.