Offener Brief an Gregor Gysi zum Thema Geld, Zinsen und Kredit

Lieber Herr Gysi. Ich habe soeben hier: http://www.linksfraktion.de/reden/weil-ihnen-banken-lobby-regiert-nicht-selbst/ eine Rede von Ihnen gelesen und möchte auf einen massiven Fehler in Ihrer Argumentation hinweisen. Sie bringen das Beispiel, daß Geschäftsbanken sich bei Zentralbanken Geld für 1% leihen, und es dann für z.B. 10 Prozent an einen notleidenden Staat weiter verleihen. Nun sollte man meinen 900% Gewinnmarge wären schlimm genug - wo gibt es so etwas sonst, ohne etwas zu produzieren oder irgend einen Mehrwert zu schaffen. Nur ist die Wirklichkeit viel schlimmer, und selbst in diversen Standardwerken der VWL (etwa Samuelson/Nordhaus: ECONOMICS) ist dies falsch dargestellt.

Tatsächlich sind Geschäftsbanken nur sehr begrenzt auf Zentralbankgeld angewiesen und müssen gemäß Basel Akkord nur eine risikoabhängige Mindestdeckung hinterlegen. Diese liegt im Schnitt um die 2%, je nach Risikoeinstufung auch bei Null oder 10%. Diese minimale - und letztlich aus einer Selbstverpflichtung erwachsene - Mindestdeckung durch Zentralbankgeld bzw. Eigenkapital hat zwei ganz wesentliche Effekte: Zum einen ist es ein gigantischer Profithebel für die Banken. Das geliehene Zentralbankgeld - oder auch das vorhandene Eigenkapital - kann vielfach verliehen werden. Da haben wir dann keine 900% Gewinn auf die "Einkaufskosten" des Geldes, sondern auch schnell mal 50.000 % (in Worten: Fünfzigtausend Prozent). Das ist der eine Effekt. Der andere Effekt ist der einer selbsterfüllenden Prophezeiung: die Zinsen, die eine Bank von einem Kreditnehmer verlangt, werden nach dem Risikoprofil des Kreditnehmers bemessen, und das gilt für Privatpersonen bekanntlich ebenso wie für Unternehmen und Staaten. Bei der Triple A Bewertung eines Staates gehen die Zinsen gegen Null, macht aber nichts, denn die zu hinterlegende Sicherheit für einen Kreditbetrag ist = 0. Einem reichen Staat kann also eine Bank praktisch ohne Limit Kredite (echtes Geld ist das nicht) zur Verfügung stellen, ohne daß sich das Ausfallrisiko dieses Staates nennenswert erhöht. Schließlich sind die Zinsen entsprechend niedrig. Da Die Bank Zinsen bekommt, ohne selbst ein Risiko einzugehen oder irgendwelche Kapitalkosten zu haben ist das dennoch ein gutes Geschäft. Der zweite Effekt, die selbsterfüllende Prophezeiung - und meines Achtens ein Verstoß gegen das grundgesetzliche Gleichbehandlungsprinzip - kommt durch die Ungleichbehandlung ins Spiel: Während das ohnehin leistungsfähigere Deutschland beispielsweise fast keine Zinsen zahlt muß Griechenland tief in die leeren Taschen greifen. Man muß kein mathematisches Genie sein, um zu verstehen, daß die aufgrund des hohen Ausfallrisikos höheren Zinsen das Eintreten des Ausfallrisikos letztendlich überhaupt erst bewirken. Das Risikomanagement verstärkt – oder erzeugt gar selbst erst – das Risiko. Bei Unternehmen ist es dasselbe: Wenn zwei Unternehmen im selben Markt konkurrieren kann das finanzstärkere immer gegenüber dem finanzschwächeren auftrumpfen, da das finanzschwächere mit sehr viel höheren Kapitalkosten bei der Beschaffung von Zwischenfinanzierungen kämpfen muß - oft übersteigen dann die Kapitalkosten die Gewinnmargen und besiegeln das Ende eines Unternehmens. Dadurch wird systematisch weltweit der Wettbewerb auf allen Ebenen massiv zugunsten finanzstärkerer Akteure verzerrt. Profiteure sind meiner Erfahrung nach lediglich Banken und sogenannte "Unternehmensberater" und „Sanierer“, deren Aufsicht notleidende Unternehmen zwangsweise von den Banken unterstellt werden. Aber der wichtigste Punkt bleibt die Schaffung von Kreditgeld aus dem Nichts mit ihrer unvorstellbaren Hebelwirkung. Meiner Ansicht nach ist unser Finanz- und Bankensystem (unser = das weltweite) die zugrundeliegende Wurzel eines Großteils der Menschheitsprobleme - von sozialer Ungerechtigkeit über kriegerische Auseinandersetzungen bis hin zu Umweltzerstörung und globalem Klimawandel. Es letzt sich alles in ganz wesentlichem Ausmaß zurückverfolgen zu der Art und Weise wie Geschäftsbanken „Geld“ erzeugen. In Wahrheit handelt es sich bei den Zahlen auf unseren Konten nicht einmal um Geld im Sinne eines gesetzlichen Zahlungsmittels, sondern lediglich um virtuelle private Schuldscheine. Wir bezahlen mithin nicht Zinsen für geliehenes Geld, sondern dafür, daß uns die Privatbanken Schuldscheine aushändigen.

 

Auf einen derartig ausgefuchsten Betrug muß man erstmal kommen. Wer die Darstellung nicht glaubt kann gerne bei einer weit detaillierteren Ausführung der Bank of England nachhaken. Es lohnt sich, das komplette Paper zu lesen. Werden nach Strich und Faden betrogen.

 

The Self Consuming Society

No matter what we do: at the heart of it all is one culprit: an out of control self serving "economic" system that has largely become a self serving end in itself. I am a physical scientist and die hard atheist, but this is akin to the manifestation of all-consuming pure evil that was warned against, over and again throughout the ages in all religions and legends around the world. Something that has to grow, continuously, to survive. Something that never seizes to be hungry and that presses all humans - in fact all living beings of the planet - into its service to meet its demands. Something that utilizes the lowest human characters - sociopaths, psychopaths, narcissists, machiavellists - as its agents to control the majority that even considers them the elite. And it is not a something that came from outer space, not a something that nature inflicted upon us, not an accident or a natural disaster: it is a something that WE created. We have become tiny daisy wheels and microchips in the very machine that consumes us, that will kills us. We call economic what is quite the opposite of what the word means, unless "the economy" itself is that which is to be served in the most efficient way. Then again: We also call our own species "Homo Sapiens Sapiens". The (even doubly) wise human. WHAT A FREAKING JOKE! Ever wondered why it is so quiet in outer space? Where are all those mighty space faring star-trekking civilizations? Just guess, folks, just guess.... Carl Amery aptly used the metaphor of Beer Yeast for the working principles of our neoclassical economy. We are the yeast, and the alcohol is the money.

An excellent thriller on the wicked global workings of money:
One Trillion Dollar, by Andreas Eschbach (in English) (in German)

Bundestagspräsident Lammert droht mit TTIP Ablehnung

Soso. Wenn es so indiskutabel ist, wie er sagt, soll er nicht drohen, sondern MACHEN. Punkt. Meinen Respekt hat er dafür.

Das Argument der TTIP Befürworter "(...) dass Europa sonst Einfluss bei der Regulierung des Welthandels einbüßen könnte." Ist bestenfalls drollig. Regulierung durch weitgehende freiwilige Aufgabe der Kontrollfunktion? Aha. Regulierung durch Deregulierung. Hört sich an wie Schwimmen durch Untergehen oder Sättigung durch Verhungern. Die Leute denken sich Sachen aus...

http://taz.de/Bundestagspraesident-ueber-Verhandlungen/!5245410/

Plädoyer für ein starkes Europa...

Die politische Situation ist verworren und verlogen. Tony Blair gab jüngst zu, daß der Irakkrieg letztendlich die Ursache für den Aufstieg von ISIS und die Destabilisierung der ganzen Region sei. Nicht, daß dies nicht offensichtlich wäre. Von einem Fehler mag er nicht reden - schließlich könnte Großbritannien zusammen mit den USA zumindest moralisch in die Haftung genommen werden.

In der EU wird der Ruf nach dem "Schutz der Außengrenzen" lauter, und das nicht gegen einen militärischen Angriff, sondern gegen verzweifelte, frierende Menschen, die hunderte, teils tausende von Kilometern zu Fuß zurücklegen, um ihr nacktes Leben zu retten. "Außengrenzen schützen" ist nichts anderes als die Forderung danach, hunderttausende von Menschen in Lager zu internieren, oder im Sinne des Wortes im kalten Regen stehen und am langen Arm verhungern zu lassen. Wir haben es mit einer humanitären Katastrophe größten Ausmaßes zu tun, wie sie allerdings andernorts auf der Welt immer wieder zum Normalzustand gehört hat und auch jetzt gehört - man denke an den Sudan, und an die Tsunami, Erdbeben- und Sturmkatastrophen der letzten Jahre in Asien. Diesmal lässt sich das Gewissen nicht mit einer 20 Euro  Spende an "Deutschland Hilft" beruhigen.

Die Reaktion der Bevölkerung der EU ist ein Rechtsruck, das gesamtgesellschaftliche Äquivalent zum Cocooning. Das ist die Antwort eines kleinen Kindes, das glaubt, es sei unsichtbar wenn es die Augen verschließt. Die Monster der Erwachsenenwelt aber sind real. Wenn die EU versagt, ist auch Europas Rolle in der Weltgeschichte zu ende. Im Vergleich zu den "Big Players" unserer Zeit ist selbst das ökonomisch aufgeplusterte Deutschland nur mehr ein politischer Zwerg. Die tatsächlichen Angriffe auf Europa kommt von Innen - durch die eigene zaghafte Bevölkerung und eine EU Kommission, die demokratische Grundprinzipien für politisch motivierte Handelsabkommen (CETA, TTIP, TISA) zugunsten der Macht transnationaler Konzerne in den Wind schlägt. Hinzu kommt die seit mehr als einem Jahr immer wieder ausufernde Aggressionsrhetorik der US-geführten NATO und auch der US Regierung die wirkt, als gäbe es ein Interesse an einer ausufernden militärischen Eskalation. Gerade jetzt braucht die Welt ein starkes, moderates und humanistisches Europa das hinter seinen Grundprinzipien steht und gewillt ist diese auch gegen innere und äußere Widerstände aufrecht zu erhalten. Die Wähler und nationalistischen Politiker einzelner EU Staaten begehen einen fatalen Fehler wenn sie meinen ihre Souveränität würde durch einen neuen Nationalismus gestärkt. Das Gegenteil ist der Fall, denn nur im Rahmen der EU lassen sich die Interessen der Mitgliedsstaaten weltweit auch nur bemerkbar machen.
http://www.taz.de/Europa-in-der-Krise/!5242110/

EX US Geheimdienstmitarbeiter warnen Kanzlerin Merkel vor Falschaussagen der US Regierung

Die US Aktivistengruppe "Intelligence Veterans for Sanity" hat am Vorabend des NATO Gipfels in Wales einen außergewöhnlichen Schritt unternommen. In einem eindringlichen Memorandum, verfasst als offener Brief an Kanzler Merkel, warnen sie vor Falschaussagen der NATO und auch der US Regierung zur tatsächlichen Situation in der Ukraine. Die Gruppe, zu der hochrangige ehemalige Beamte aus NSA, CIA, FBI und dem US Militär gehören, veröffentlichte den Brief zunächst im US Nachrichteportal OpEd News und inzwischen auch in Deutschland.

Coleen Rowley, pensionierte FBI Spezialagentin und Anwältin sowie Hauptautorin des Artikels, warnt unter anderem vor gefälschten und falsch interpretierten Fernerkundungsdaten. Sie verweist mit Nachdruck auf die Präsentation gefälschter Nachrichtendienstlicher Informationen durch den damaligen Außenminister Collin Powell vor dem Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen. Auch NATO Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen hat eine zweifelhafte Vergangenheit in Punkto politische Wahrheit. Nicht nur, daß er sich seit Monaten völlig unangemessen in politische Belange einmischt - er verstieg sich auch schon als dänischer Ministerpräsident am Vorabend des Irak-Krieges in einer Rede vor dem dänischen Parlament zu Aussagen wie "Irak hat Massenvernichtungswaffen. Das ist nicht etwas, das wir lediglich vermuten. Wir wissen es." Heute wissen wir, daß diese Waffen nie existiert haben und lediglich einen fingierten Grund für die längst beschlossene Invasion lieferten. Eine Lüge, die zehntausende Menschenleben kostete.

Es ist vollkommen unklar, was aktuell in der Ukraine geschieht. Klar ist jedoch, daß der Westen seit Jahren provokative Signale in Richtung Moskau schickt. So sendete am 01. Februar 2008 der damalige US Botschafter in Russland, William Burns, nach einem Treffen mit Russlands Außenminister Lavrov zum Thema NATO Osterweiterung und Ukraine ein Kabel an seine Chefin Condoleeza Rice. Dort hieß es: ""NYET heißt NYET: RUSSLANDS ROTE LINIEN ZUM THEMA NATO-ERWEITERUNG." Burns gab der Mitteilung die höchste Priorität. Es dauerte anschließend keine zwei Monate, bis die NATO Führung auf einem Treffen in Bukarest formal erklärte, die Ukraine und Georgien würden eines Tages Mitglieder sein. Eindeutig ist hier der Westen der Provokateur.

Die Europäische Union kann nicht das geringste Interesse an einer Eskalation dieses Krieges haben, der im schlimmsten Fall ganz Europa betreffen könnte. Die EU und Russland sind geopolitisch natürliche Partner und in vielen Bereichen funktionierte die Zusammenarbeit seit Jahren tadellos. Die USA haben ein machtpolitisches Interesse daran, eine zu enge Partnerschaft zwischen EU und Russland zu unterbinden, da sie durch eine solche Partnerschaft in die zweite Reihe gerückt würden. Für die Europäische Union - und für Kanzlerin Merkel - kann deshalb es nur eine Strategie geben: keine Militäreinsätze gegen Russland.

Quellen:
http://www.heise.de/tp/artikel/42/42680/1.html
http://tinyurl.com/Merkel-memorandum

Taifun Haiyan - Katastrophenhilfe für die Philippinen - Benefiz Auktion

BENEFIZ VERSTEIGERUNG @ebay

"Wirklichkeit ist das, was nicht verschwindet, wenn man aufhört, daran zu glauben" meinte Philip K. Dick. Wirklichkeit ist in diesen Tagen, wenn man den Fernseher einschaltet und Menschen sieht, die 16 tausend Kilometer entfernt auf tropischen Inseln neben den Leichen ihrer angehörigen auf Hilfe warten. Ich beschäftige mich seit fast 30 Jahren mit globalen Umweltveränderungen und insbesondere dem Klimawandel, und Ereignisse wie dieses - auch wenn im Einzelfall der Zusammenhang nicht erbracht werden kann - entsprechen den Voraussagen. Die Extreme werden extremer. Wir müssen uns auf eine Welt einstellen, in der Nothilfe für die Ärmsten der Armen unter immer weiter verschärften Bedingungen zum Normalfall wird.

Der Taifun Haiyan ist eine Kategorie von Sturm, die es eigentlich nicht gibt. Kinetische Windenergie steigt mit der 3ten Potenz der Geschwindigkeit, und somit war Haiyan mit seinen bis zu 380 km/h schnellen Böen fast 5x so stark wie der Rekord Wintersturm Kyrill, der im Januar 2007 weite Teile Westeuropas verwüstet hatte. Ich kann mich an diesen Sturm gut erinnern, den wir damals in Marburg miterlebt hatten - die ganze Nacht hörten wir das explosionsartige Knallen und Krachen der Der berstenden Bäume in den Wäldern der Lahnberge. Unser Ortsteil Marburg-Ginseldorf war von der Außenwelt abgeschnitten, selbst das Notfallzentrum an der Uniklinik auf den Lahnbergen war wegen ganzer umgestürzter Wälder nicht zu erreichen. Ein Sturm der fünffachen Stärke sprengt die Vorstellungskraft, und das wahre Ausmaß der Katastrophe in den Philippinen ist noch längst nicht abzusehen.
Für den Augenblick ist Nothilfe gefragt, und die wird am besten von gut ausgebildeten und organisierten Profis geleistet, wie beispielsweise von ISAR - International Search and Rescue Germany, aus Duisburg. Gut organisierte profis die ehrenamtlich mit geringen Kosten sinnvolle Hilfe leisten die wirklich ankommt. Wer helfen möchte kann dort etwas spenden: ISAR

Benefiz Versteigerung zugunsten der Sturmopfer auf den Philippinen

Wer mehr tun möchte: wir versteigern den limitierten Druck "Sanctuary" des Hawaiianischen Künstlers Christian Riese Lassen . Das Bild wurde 1992 von der UNO für den Welt-Umweltgipfel in Rio in Auftrag gegeben. Die Versteigerung läuft bis zum 22.11.2013. Die Verwendung des Geldes wird nachgewiesen und veröffentlicht!
 ZUR ebay BENEFIZ VERSTEIGERUNG

Are we forever dreaming of Utopia?

To be honest, all things considered, I would say that the last three or four decades in western and northern European countries, in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and a few other territories were as close to old dreams of "Utopia" as any place could possibly be. Same was true for most folks in the US between the 60s and nineties. Unfortunately the improvement does not continue forever, certainly not when it requires perpetual economic growth. Complex systems feature overshoot and downfall. Resonance catastrophe and collapse. That's, quite simply, a fact. And ignoring "Late lessons form Early warnings (the title of an enlightening EU Report) is, well, silly. Warnings come before visions. And as Michio Kaku informed me (not that it was new to me) when I once interviewed him: "Humans only move under the impression of great shock. That's our nature." In other words: we are stupid. We just love to hold on to the cozy status quo. Lack of visions? There seem to be plenty of them. But how realistic are they? How realistic can a single vision be for a complex world of 7+ billion that has entered the anthropocene? Marx attempted one such vision and it already collapses because it seemingly applies to another planet with another dominating species - certainly NOT for really existing humans of our time. Freeman Dyson warned that any system that is to work has to assume that all humans are crooks. I'd say potential crooks. Only 5 or 10% really are crooks (5% fully fledged psychopaths). The remainder are merely lazy, a bit greedy, mainly concerned about feeling good and having things and impressing their neighbors and a hell of a lot of people devoutly believe in things and ideas that, quite simply don't exist (and some of them get so infuriated about those non-existing things that they even go about and KILL each other!). Any uniting vision for this bunch please? Many attempts were made. Some of them resulted in wide spread belief in things that don't exist...and the aforementioned related fighting and killing.

Ending the Age of Embedded Journalism...

Julian Assange, in my view, is an activist and first of all an investigative Journalist heading an investigative Journalism network. Investigative Journalism is a noble and dangerous profession and always was. Beyond that any musings about Julian Asssange's character or private preferences are none of my business. He is, after all, not an elected official or a state officer...
I keep thinking that if Wikileaks had appeared in the atmosphere of the 70s or even the 80s (here in Germany at least) it would have made the news, but it would not have lead to any hysterical reactions. In these old days the "mainstream media" themselves still were thoroughly engaged in investigative Journalism. But we now have lived in the age of embedded journalism for such a long time that we hardly remember what investigative journalism in nation-wide major newspapers looks like. An entire generation grew up without ever encountering it! And the face of embedded journalism is diverse: long before Journalists were embedded in selected military units encountering selected operations, they had been embedded (and thus effectively neutralized) in commercial units leading to selective whitewash reporting. At one point Journalistic output had become more defined by corporate advertiser interests than by the earnest urge to inform the public. What Wikileaks might be able to achieve, if anything, is to shake up Journalists, writers and citizens and remind them that a truly free press is an absolutely mandatory pillar of a truly free society. The best example to the contrary may well be Italy with a head of state who simply owns all major media outlets and thus controls much of the public opinion - enough to win elections. And albeit current day Italy may be an extreme case, the other western countries differ only by degree, not in principle. We need a free press. We need investigative journalists. I really dislike the worn out word "hero", but perhaps they can be called the "heroes of democracy". And I wonder if the likes of Sarah Palin ever bothered to familiarize themselves with the works of George Orwell or Aldous Huxley - on my side of the Atlantic they still are mandatory reading in high school.

Picture Moment

Since Sophie is in the header with me, here be an Image of Liv and me. It became somewhat famous and was used in numerous publications around the globe. If interested do a google image search on “Pipitdapo”.

Top Three Most Sustainable Brands: Wagner & Co Nominated for German Sustainability Award

(Cölbe July 21, 2010) The corporate philosophy of the solar energy pioneer Wagner & Co Solar Technology can be summarized in a single phrase: sustainability is our business. Now Wagner & Co was selected by a high profile Jury as one of three nominees in the category "most sustainable brand". The company is finalist for the German Sustainability Award. It will be awarded by the German Sustainability Council during a Gala in Düsseldorf on November 26, 2010. The event is held and organized under the auspices of the German federal government and Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel.

 
 
For more than thirty years Wagner & Co developed, constructed and manufactured award winning top flight solar energy systems, motivated by the idealistic goal to make clean and independent energy available and affordable for everyone. Wagner & Co is known for continuous innovation, including the planning and installation of many large scale solar plants, among them many technological "firsts". But the company does not only excel in the field of sustainable technology - the organization is also built upon sustainable foundations: from the outset, the 9 founders from the anti nuclear student activist scene devised the company as employee owned and with democratic decision structures. Despite more than thirty years of perpetual growth and economic success, these structures as well as the flat hierarchies, are still firmly in place and form the heart and soul of the company - a company now globally active, serving customers all over Europe and beyond, with branches in four European countries and the United States.
 
Following the motto "solar technology for everyone", the company also engages in corporate responsibility and supports sustainable development projects in diverse settings: solar hot water for a school cantina in the Chernobyl affected region of Belarus, solar light for a boarding school in Tanzania, solar water supply for a Nigerian village, to name a few.
 
The nomination for the German Sustainability Award confirms the path and strategy of Wagner & Co, focusing on sustainable high-quality products and a sustainable corporate governance with healthy work/life balance and a participatory climate for the company's employees. Past awards and nominations went to companies like the organic food brand Alnatura and the global logistics giant Deutsche Post/DHL. The high profile of these corporations as well as the status of individual prize winners underscore the nomination's value. The illustrious list of prize recipients includes for example the British heir to the crown and environmental activist Prince Charles or the retired UNEP director Klaus Töpfer, who also serves on this year's jury board.
 
Having been identified as one of Germany's three most sustainable brands and thus been nominated for the Sustainability Award is yet another encouragement for the company to further promote and live a cooperative and environmentally friendly business style. For a common solar future.
 




Wagner & Co is one of the leading collector manufacturers in Europe. The company offers solutions for solar heating applications and solar electricity. In 1979 Wagner & Co was spearheaded by nine college students rooted in the ecology and anti nuclear movements of the 70s. Nowadays the company headquarter and main production facilities are situated in Cölbe and Kirchhain, right in the geographic heart of the EU (near Frankfurt, Germany). The company is employee-owned, independent from the stock market and has more than 350 employees. The total turnover amounts to approx. 250 million Euro. Thanks to its subsidiaries in France, Spain, Italy and the United States the company passes on its more than 30 years of solar energy know how and experience throughout Europe. Many times Wagner & Co products came out first in rigorous tests by Stiftung Warentest (German consumer testing agency), and currently the solar package COMBI line SH 1440 AR is certified as “best in test” for the third time in a row in spring 2009. In the field of solar electricity the company offers highly efficient photovoltaic systems with precisely dimensioned installation components produced by globally renown manufacturers. Wagner & Co is a pioneer on the European solar market and received numerous awards, including the "Ethics in Business" award and the OTTI Innovation award.

Mind Virus Internet

The internet was invented by the military. The World wide web was invented by researchers, and in the beginning it all was good - I recall that at first, back in 1994, the intention was to keep the web free and clean of the stain of commercial activities. It was to be a realm of research and experimental communication. But that did not take into account that the world is in the grip of only one remaining religion or ideology, depending on the point of view: the "Profitum". Money. We have long entered an era where money has not only become an end in itself - which already is a ridiculous notion, no, the sad and ultimately all consuming fact is that money is the only all dominating end in itself remaining. The focus of all human activity is to serve a religion that is indebting us all, a religion that creates guilt (debt) and guilt only. A religion without ethics, moral, sense or sensibility. A religion that is unintelligible in its entirety. The Internet is only the latest tool to serve the total exploitation of the human mind, soul and bank accounts. And indeed: much of the websites are parasitical. If not the entire web is a parasite of the mind, a gargantuan mind virus stealing our time, our thoughts - our life. Did life get better in any true and tangible way thanks to the internet? I think the development of the web shows clearly what United States Culture is mainly about: advertising. Trying to brainwash people into believing that they cannot live without possessing certain - in fact entirely useless or unnecessary - things. It is a culture focused on having instead of being. A culture that has and has ever more and more and constantly feels deprived of something without ever quite knowing what that is.

Why I am not a good Blogger

Actually I think nobody is a good blogger – nobody can be. The principle of the blog is to perpetually babble on about something. About anything. Ideally daily. Unfortunately nobody has something relevant to say every day. In fact most of us never have anything relevant to say in the first place. So – why would I bother spending my time writing something irrelevant day in, day out?

Think about what kind of Blogger Albert Einstein would have been. The great Albert, the Icon of intellectual superiority and moral integrity in the 20th century. He would have written E equals m c squared. Grand. He would have written on a bit the Lorenz transformation. Interesting. And a few rather incomprehensible treatments on tensor calculations and 4 D space time. A no – actually he would not have written that in a blog as he would have published these things – as he did then – in peer reviewed academic journals. So what would Einstein have written in a Blog? Maybe a few witty statements about fashion, God (also a fashion) and a few things about people and their follies in general. There are a few dozen bonmots about Einstein. But not much more. Actually I believe he would not have become a blogger. Because there is no reason for it. Maybe some students would have sat down and collect his quotes and put them up on a blog or on Twitter or a similar one of all those hollow internet entities.

Einstein simply did not have enough to say to create an interesting blog. So who the hell would I be...

Climate Change: Does it make sense to argue with rightist believers?

I have been reading the notorious Newsmax Newsletter for a while (it really is a painful thing for me to do), and it often leaves me speechless. For one, it clearly caters to the scientifically disenfranchised (which is a mild way of expressing it). At first it was difficult for me to understand that any even remotely educated person would fall for the style and content of these right-wingers’ arguments, but apparently there are enough relatively intelligent people with a cemented – and very limited - world view. Often it strikes me as if these people live in a parallel reality, and the method is to transfer bits and pieces of the actual reality into their limited realm where those morsels of facts and knowledge are cut off their roots and interpreted in the context of a world with which they have nothing to do. And although it is not politically correct to say that: it is impossible to convince a true believer of anything that contradicts his or her belief. It means to pull the mental ground away from under their feet – so understandably there is resistance to this onslaught of science. At the same time scientific ignorance is still the norm, not the exception. Even here in Germany – nowadays a very liberal, progressive and rather well educated society. If I go out onto the street of a big city, 80% of the 2009 populace I encounter there will not be able to tell me the difference between solar thermal applications and photovoltaic. Ten years ago I actually did a survey which included question aimed at finding out whether people could distinguish between “ozone hole”, “ozone smog” and “greenhouse effect”. The result was very sobering. So how much insight can be expected from the layman, when it comes to the tremendous complexity of the global climate system meeting the tremendous complexity of the globalized economy? It is near nil. And – although I am a trained physicist, climatologist and have over 20 years experience in the field: even much of my own perceived insight might amount to not much more than an illusion of understanding. When asked about the details I too often have to say “I don’t know”. The contrarians don’t do that. They blurp out their invented facts without doubt and hesitation. They are – or act like – believers. I have likened the situation to a medieval inquisition court. Imagine a scientist attorney in court addressing the Grand Inquisitor in favor of a defendant: “Your argument does not hold, because your fundamental proposition is unproven or wrong: the presumed existence of god and the devil.” I assume the argument would not have been very successful. But this points towards a fundamental problem: as long as we are arguing with people who live in an invented reality, there is no way of countering their arguments, because every scientific argument is a signal sent into and filtered by their closed set of quasi scholastic logics. They are, by their own definition, RIGHT. This means before their argument begins, they, in their own view, already have won the argument. There is no loosing. The scientific culture on the other hand is one of arguments, debate and discourse – a culture constantly in flux. The political right wing is by definition “conservative” - their values are solid, inflexible, well defined and ideally even eternal. Every change is perceived as a threat, and nothing is more disturbing to this mindset than the ever changing world of scientists. What a scientist like me considers a fascinating adventure of the mind that will keep me motivated up and running until the end of my days, many others perceive as an existential danger. So again: I am afraid there is no way to argue with anyone who religiously believes in any given ideology or religion and who is determined to defend their views – in fact their mental makeup – with every force they can muster. In such an argument everything you do or say – no matter what – will be turned against you. Because everything you do or say, no matter what, is, by definition, wrong from the onset. The only hope is to reach some of those who are not entirely inflexible yet, who’s mind is not yet completely close. That already would be a big success.

Such is that.

Freely quoting Laotse...

Taking others for a ride is an art.
Taking yourself for a ride is a higher art... 8-)

What a former vice presidential candidate knows - and what not, and what she and I have in common. Or not.

Yesterday I read in the notorious Newsmax newsletter, which I receive for unknown uncanny reasons: “Sarah Palin unaware that Bristol had sex”.  Umpf. Okay, I thought, not surprised. She did not know that Africa was a continent, so it struck me as consequent that she was not aware that people in the city of Bristol also are busy with common human activities. A moment later I realized that Ms Palin, who – like my good old self – once attended Hawaii Pacific University, has a daughter named Bristol. But the wondering went on: was Ms Palin aware that Bristol is the 11th largest city in the UK and former center of the British slave industry? Did she name her daughter after the city? And if so: why would she do that? If she didn’t, she would not only not be aware that her daughter was busy with general human activities – she also would have been unaware of the origins and meaning of her own daughters name.

P.S.: Ms Palin and I are no alumni – we both have in common that we did not graduate from HPU. I graduated, for example, from the University of London. London is the largest city in the UK and of the European Union. If it were situated in the US, it would be the 2nd largest city there. Not that it is important... I assume Ms Palin and I have a lot of things in common that we both did not do... I did not, among other things, become Vice President of the United States. Or any other vice president of any other state. Nor president. And I never will. Again something she and I have in common. I hope. For the well being of the world.

We can save the World - but NOT the economy!

I recently participated in the "Climate 2009" event - an online conference hosted by a Hamburg/Germany based university and the World Meteorological Organization - one of the pre-curser events to the Copenhagen conference next month. Having been involved in climate change science and policy in the one or the other way over the last two decades I have gotten somewhat tired. The discussion strikes me as if a ship is sinking from overload, and the passengers and crews are discussing whether one form of weight pulls the ship down more than another. They stay within the system, that is. I raised a question: Is it possible to ever achieve a net reduction of energy related emissions within a framework of forced continuous exponential economic growth? Is it principally possible to find a way of de-coupling economic growth and energy/resource consumption with related emissions? As far as I can tell fundamental physical laws stand in the way of constant exponential economic growth. Unfortunately raising this question means to question one of the leading global dogmas: that growth is the savior. Economic - or rather fiscal - growth is practically divine. That question is not asked. One quickly is viewed as a nutty doomsday prophet or conspiracy theorist. On the other hand - when talking to economists, businessmen and scientists individually on a one by one base they usually quickly admit: it is impossible. Simply impossible. This means our entire beautiful globalized economic system is based upon either a big lie or a big mistake. And - everyone who thinks about it quickly realizes it. And: the proportion of the issue is so enormous that nobody has even the remotest clue what to do about it. "Recycle Aluminum" is not really an answer. As a result everyone just closes their eyes and moves on as before.

When younger I argued against children, against population growth, and now I, myself, have three daughters and cannot even plausibly argue along these lines. I also drive a relatively big car because my job (in solar energy R&D) requires me to travel, our family of 5 plus dog won't fit in a GEO Metro AND we live in the country. So it goes. And we try to recommend not using excess resources on an individual level, yet the economy as it is is entirely based upon just that: ever more consumption of everything!

Be that as it may: arguing against forced economic growth as the fundamental cause of our future demise nowadays is like standing as an attorney in front of the grand inquisitor of medieval times saying "Sir - I herewith plead not guilty for these women accused of witchery, because God as well as the Devil and their ilk are cultural inventions and do not really exist, hence, they cannot serve as arguments in court."

Brainless American Right Wingers Scare me Shitless

The right extremist NEOnazi Newsletter NEWSMAX had a headline today: Radical Obama won’t be re-elected. I wonder what that means? Here is an example for something that I consider so radical and extremist that it does not fit into any mainstream description of political wings: The Government of a Superpower deliberately lies about evidence and reasons for a war and then, without any such reasons, goes about and bombs an entire a country to rubbles. The American right wing self proclaimed pro-lifers/pro gunners do not seem to have much difficulties carrying out mass-abortions by blowing the expectant mothers to pieces, if those mothers speak another language or carry another passport or killing pregnant women is in the “Pro Lifers” financial interest. This is what the American Military does. Among other things – like mass murdering wedding guests in Afghanistan. This is what EVERY military machinery does that embarks in a war. Which is one of the reasons why we should avoid war altogether. There are no heroes – only desperate young men and women who are forced to do and experience things nobody should ever be forced to do and experience.

I keep reading along the NEWSMAX newsletter, and I believe these people are in need of some serious mental treatment (of course the liberals do not force mental treatment upon others – only the right wing has such ideas like the “Freedom Commission on Mental Health”). I read things like “Obama care can be stopped”.  The majority of that sentence consists of the phrase “care can be stopped”. Care is an awful thing, isn’t it? It strikes me as if the believers of the market religion (who often falsely claim – or believe themselves – that they are Christians) find nothing more terrifying than the notion that people actually might CARE about each other. People apparently are not supposed to care about EACH OTHER. They are supposed to care about the market, their job, about consuming, about making money. About the economy. About paying their credit card debts. They are supposed to care about HAVING and not about BEING. All these people believe in is money. All they want is money. More of it, and ever more of it. That is their true and only faith. And there are millions of such believers – tens of millions in the US. That such people exist in the first place  scares me shitless.

Seeking Climate Change Solutions from within a Diseased Dystem?

I have been involved with global environmental and climate change related issues since my high school days in the 80s - that is well over 20 years. Having a geo and physical science background, I try to look at the entire problem from a whole systems perspective, and at the root of the entire global change syndrome seems to be the coupling of energy/resource use and economic growth. There is no evidence that economic growth (defined as fiscal/monetary growth) is going to be de-coupled from physical resource depletion anywhere soon (how could it?) - energy consumption and resource consumption pretty much follow the growth curve of the global GGP (gross global product). And yet aside from some fringe groups the topic of economic growth itself as the main cause of environmental degradation and, indeed, the main threat to the very planet itself is not taken up by anyone (Why do we need continuous economic growth? What drives it?), aside from a few fringe groups without influence in the political arena. Instead, enormous attempts are made to accommodate the climate change issue within the existing institutions and to find fixes that turn climate change into even further economic growth. In my view the wrong incentives are in place everywhere - e.g. Carbon trading focuses on trading profits, not on carbon reduction. In my view topics like our financial crisis and climate change also are deeply intertwined. And nobody could yet plausibly explain to me how a monetary and economic system requiring perpetual exponential growth in order to function could ever be sustainable - if I am not mistaken a physical and mathematical impossibility. I am not in any way ideological, but my prediction is that it will be impossible to adequately address the climate change issue within the existing economic and financial paradigm. Kyoto has been a band aid, and here in Germany - a world leader in renewable energy - the power hungry Internet alone easily outperforms all contributions of the renewable energy sector and the so called emission reduction successes in this country were nothing but a statistical trick made possible by the historical coincidence of the re-unification.

If anyone thinks that the issue will be solved by efficiency or a service oriented society: there is no 100% efficiency and there is no service that does not require any energy or resources at all, therefore a perpetual exponential growth is impossible in any case. And even if we consider that economic growth will more and more rest with non-material goods (e.g. software) there is another limited resource: consumer time. It does not matter how we look at it: perpetual exponential economic growth is not possible. And there also really is no need for it from an individual's point of view - it merely is a built in requirement of our financial system. Every single unit of money forming out of thin air results in a corresponding quantity of resource consumption and pollution.

If anyone can explain to me where I am wrong and how perpetual exponential economic growth in a limited world is possible without violating the most fundamental physical and mathematical laws, I would be very thankful. I also need to understand why even the richest country requires continuous economic growth in order to function properly. I hold a Ph.D. in Astrophysics, and studied Economics, Climatology Oceanography and more, so you are most welcome to throw some serious theory and math at me. Before you do that, however, you might want to read Prof. Binswanger's rather mathematical book "Die Wachstumsspirale", though.

Tweepy out of Touch Crown of Creation

I made an interesting discovery recently – I was vaguely aware of that before, but now it is clear: the vast majority of people cannot be at ease by simply being alone and sitting somewhere in quietude and thinking or dreaming a bit or – doing just nothing. The vast majority of people go nuts when they suddenly hear their own inner voices. That’s why they always must do something – or always must immerse in a sea of noise and continuous distractions called entertainment. I find that deeply disturbing. Conversation with others mostly amounts to one shallow, entertained and distracted mind’s surface out of touch with its own roots exchanging superficialities with a similar kin. Chippy, chippy chirp chirp. Tweepy, tweep, tweep. Crown of creation, heh?

The Oppositeness of It All

Mails coming in claiming “Importance” to themselves are always spam – almost without exception. Statements that are shouted in most cases should not be listened to. And so it continues: no justice among the righteous, total control in self proclaimed free states (even if it is only the rope called money tightening around your neck), and reasons for war (another word for mass murder) usually are non-existent – or quite different from the public claims, and so-called truth in general is mainly nothing but unfounded belief.  Practically everything within the human world is based upon is a lie.