Musings Report 2021-24 6-12-21 Blocking the Warning Light Doesn't Solve the Problem
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Blocking the Warning Light Doesn't Solve the Problem
We all know the solution when the red engine warning light comes on in your dashboard: cover it with a piece of tape.
I'm only half-joking, because sometimes the cause is not pressing--for example, the gasoline tank cap is old and leaking air.
Other times, the problem may be pressing and serious.
Blocking the warning light doesn't diagnose the problem or solve it.
Despite the obvious risks created by this "solution," a great many critical problems are being covered over much like the piece of tape over the warning light.
Consider the controversy swirling around cholesterol. The conventional consensus is that high total cholesterol levels are bad and medications to knock the number down are therefore good.
(Even if one has high "good" cholesterol, a total of "good" and "bad" that's too high will typically trigger a prescription for cholesterol-reducing medications.)
Is high cholesterol a cause of cardiovascular disease? The linkage is open to question, as the body produces cholesterol as well as absorbs it from food.
A poor diet is linked to low amounts of "good" cholesterol and high levels of "bad" cholesterol, but does this mean reducing overall cholesterol levels "fixes the problem" of poor diet?
No, it does not. The numerous negative consequences of a poor diet and low levels of activity/fitness don't go away if total cholesterol levels are reduced by medications.
So how is reducing cholesterol levels with medications not the equivalent of covering the warning light with a piece of tape? The high levels may be a warning sign of serious issues that demand solutions at the source (diet, lifestyle and fitness).
Reducing the symptoms doesn't fix the source of the problem; rather, reducing the warning light (symptoms) removes the signal to diagnose and address the underlying conditions.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) and other measures of inflation are another example of covering the warning light with a piece of tape.
The federal agencies tasked with measuring inflation have gamed the measure to understate inflation, especially in big-ticket expenses such as housing/rent, healthcare, childcare and higher education.
Reducing the measure of inflation without actually reducing real-world inflation is precisely like covering the warning light with a piece of tape.
This illusory "solution" creates a destructive feedback loop, as the false signals (low official inflation) give the green light to continue doing more of what's destabilizing the system, which then requires more manipulation of the readings to mask the rising instability, which then increases the instability.
The gradual impoverishment of the bottom 90% has been masked by manipulating inflation measures and increasing government stimulus, none of which increase the productivity or earnings of the bottom 90%.
As necessary as it is to tax the super-rich at the same rates paid by the top 5% (the wealthy but not super-wealthy) to restore some fairness to an absurdly unfair system, that won't reverse the gradual impoverishment of the bottom 90%.
The system is broken, its destabilization is accelerating, but the warning lights have been covered. With the warning light blocked, the complacent driver is unprepared for the engine freezing and the vehicle swerving into a ditch.
What can we do as individuals / households? Next week I'll present five general suggestions.
Highlights of the Blog
Posts:
The Fed Is Wrong: Inflation Is Sticky 6/11/21
The Sources of Rip-Your-Face-Off Inflation Few Dare Discuss 6/9/21
Post-Pandemic Metamorphosis: Never Going Back 6/7/21
Best Thing That Happened To Me This Week
Planted a new Ruby Grapefruit tree. Very thin soil and lots of lava rock mixed in with what soil there is, all of which provide good drainage.
From Left Field
Overconsumption and the environment: should we all stop shopping? -- yes....
In big tech’s dystopia, cat videos earn millions while real artists beg for tips -- and hook-loaded pop songs dominate for the same reason...
Exclusive: How Amateur Sleuths Broke the Wuhan Lab Story and Embarrassed the Media (newsweek.com)
The Icarus factor: MONEY AT THE EDGE OF CHAOS
Frenzied Crypto Traders In South Korea See Coins As Their "Last Chance Of Escape" -- a global phenomenon--few can afford the middle class lifestyle of a generation ago....
Seeking a Counterculture of Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing (via David E.) -- in praise of long apprenticeships, mentoring and concentration over distraction.... and reading....
An Inconvenient Truth: EVs May Offer A "Negligible" CO2 Difference From ICE Vehicles -- b-b-but wait, won't all our problems vanish once we electrify the economy?
IRS Stats - Migration between States Data 2018–2019 -- interesting to look up your own state: where people arrived from, where they moved to...
Just don’t do it: 10 exercise myths. -- not sure I buy all of these but the point is: don't overdo it...
I’m Not Scared to Reenter Society. I’m Just Not Sure I Want To. -- hermits unite! (yes, I'm one...)
The Age of the Influencer Has Peaked. It’s Time For the Slacker to Rise Again-- the futility and tiresomeness of ceaselessly promoting one's "brand"....
The Beatles in India: ‘With their long hair and jokes, they blew our minds!’ -- two new documentaries...
"We have all sufficient strength to support the misfortunes of others." Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Thanks for reading--
charles |
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