Our civil wars

On leaving my role in international investment banking in 2004, I visited my Professor Emeritus from my Master’s days.  And he challenged me to identify the five key issues I would be taking from my relatively successful career (which wasn’t over – just that phase).

One was the sheer scale of corruption / fraud / sailing close to the wind / psychopathy I had witnessed at the top of the largest organisations around the world.

I later went on to research this theory and found that others had of course been there before me, and also that it is only intuitive that a psychopath would rise higher because they are conditioned to do so.  And most people are conditioned to let them. 

There is abundant research that suggests, that although representing only 10% (to varying severities) of the population they have much higher representation in the upper echelons:  for example in law and finance and corporate management and politics.  Again, this is not surprising; but what was surprising was the apparent increasing scale of their representation and the systemic penetration of their pathological ideals.  It also heightened my awareness about how to invest for my future:  diversity by country; real assets; clean passport; live away from major cities; and asset liquidity in severe stress.  

This article brings me back to the point again.  It argues that psychopaths have infiltrated the USA governance to such a degree that it is on a tailspin to severe civil crisis.  Well no news there – I have written about that before – but it does come at it from a different and interesting perspective.  The authors are an investment advisory house, with 50 years experience.  They too concluded similar investment ideals. 

And this article on what Marx would have made of the world today, albeit interesting, does not consider the scale of the rot that is evident everywhere. 

Whilst in Europe last year, the usual watching TV in a hotel room whilst the snow fell, I caught a USA program that I found disturbing.  The name?  Do not recall.  It was a “swat” team of drug enforcers that had, by any measure more weaponry than is reputedly given to the USA forces in the Middle East.  Miami maybe?  A reality show. 

This team would invade homes with massive force, from large SUV’s equipped like tanks, shoot to kill, and scare the living bejesus out of anyone in the vicinity.  It looked like a country at war with itself.

Then there is the increasing internal surveillance carried out by many countries on their own citizens today.  UK, USA, Australia, China.  And protected by the USA Patriots Act that enables a citizen from any (allied) country – for seemingly scant rational reason – to be deported from that country to the USA to meet, in some cases unknown charges.  Internal surveillance and snitching on your neighbour are key signals of governments out of control.  Facism comes to mind.  East Germany. 

All this looks like the psychopaths are winning and in the USA, it is in civil war already.

The author of the psychopath article is spending more time in Latin America (from the USA).  My article on moving to Mexico is looking more viable by the minute.