In the pursuit of an
alternative, philosophically flavoured web-log, two distinctly
different 'Ying' and 'Yang' sections follow.
The intention is to
starkly highlight the apparent oppositional cultures and values
between the present 'clubland corners' of international finance (as
seen by previous Libor and recent FX scandals) and the spiritually
powerful and socially righteous influence of the millennia old
eastern perspective that is Confucianism.
Today, beyond the
everyday functional and very necessary 'lingua franca' of
capitalism, which itself can unfortunately appear alien, it seems that new and more opaque language constantly arrives. That of codified terms and phrases seemingly invented to cause dis-connectivity and remoteness.
As such the very language of western-derived “global capitalism” must itself be re-orientated to something far more broadly understandable, credible and convincing so as to underpin worldwide belief in an often volatile but 'up-lifting' ideology.
As such the very language of western-derived “global capitalism” must itself be re-orientated to something far more broadly understandable, credible and convincing so as to underpin worldwide belief in an often volatile but 'up-lifting' ideology.
To this end,
investment-auto-motive's intentionally juxtaposes what appear very
alien counter-parts;
1. The Lexicon of
Modern Finance
2. The Edicts of a True
Sage
If 21st
century capitalism is to become truly improved, then the “better
tomorrow” rhetoric heard soon after the 2008 'depression' must be
translated as action positively woven into the worldwide fabric of
investment, commerce and consumption; with far greater gravitas
prevailing.
[NB the word
'depression' scarcely used but all too true]
1. The Modern Western
Lexicon -
(aimed at the layman)
It must first be said
that the core lexicon of 20th and 21st century finance
pertains to the necessary central functions of deploying capital as
part of the investment process. This spans an A-Z which covers a host
of acronyms, words and phrases which underpin broad business
modelling, project modelling and other aspects of “investment”
per se: DCF (discounted cash-flow), NAV (net asset value), BV (book
value) and P/E (price to earnings level).
However, the result of
a over a century's worth of finance sector expansion (ie “financial
innovation” via “financial instruments” saw both the growth of
ever more systemic complexity and a greater remoteness of the
system's own primary governors. The size of the global derivatives
market a obvious example of the former, whilst the latter seen by the
dishonourable actions of some affecting the inner workings of Libor
and FX markets
Competitiveness, and
indeed hyper-competitiveness, has historically been a product of the
yesteryear “WASP” mentality within a finance sector clique which
in the modern era was spawned from Vienna, moved to Paris, onto
London, Hong Kong, New York, Tokyo, Delhi and Shanghai – Shenzen.
As capitalism itself moved onto the next big economic chapter in
whichever country, it was inevitable that the very culture of finance
in each city would be imbued by the “hungriness” of new sector
entrants, whether once poor and ambitious individuals working within
a firm, or similarly new start-ups seeking a either a slice of any
transaction value within a burgeoning new market, or able to gain
from “buying low and selling high”.
As with any tribe-like
SIG (special interest group) cultural identity is partially borne
from, and later promoted by, the application of a clique-like
language: so as to be “in the know or in the club”, both verbal
and often visual.
The language and
codification obviously becoming more remote and specific the greater
the SIG secrecy. Today's multi-device, multi-platform communication
age has both allowed clans of similarly minded to form in cyber-space
and seemingly promoted different clanships; dedicated chat-rooms
spanning from youth-orientated tribes (eg Goth / Emo / Twilight /
Zombie / Cyber-Punk etc) to the likes of Mumsnet (obviously for
pre/post natel mums) to 'silver-surfer' rooms for an ageing and
seemingly ever more socially remote older populace. Add-in the
constant stream of information overload from ever multiplying
sources, and it is little surprise that speech and general
communication has become condensed: the impact of shortened “text
speak” [txt spk] setting the stage for ever more diverse,
explicitly / implicitly alienating codified “SIG speak”
[NB As an interesting
aside, given this trend, a following post script looks at how this
trend is possibly being inadvertently (or possibly intentionally
promoted) via the continued fascination with the WW2 code-breaker
Alan Turing in the new film 'Imitation Games'
The very story
highlights the pathway “from confusion to clarity” via
Confucianist principles].
As regards the
financial sector SIGs, just as crypto-Tarantino film-buffs and
emerging film-directors seek to de-construct and reconstruct filmic
plots and motifs, and video-game players seek to similarly
de-construct and reconstruct on-screen war strategies (just as
chess-players have); so it seems that any SIG will (all too
unfortunately) attract and include various hyper-competitive, and so
often collusive, types. Others drawn-in to possibly Machiavellian
schemes so as to either not feel socially omitted or even to avoid
victimisation.
Given that humour
provides a sensory feeling of well-being, confidence and belonging,
it has historically been deployed by the manipulative as a method by
which to bring other people onside, so creating group bonding and the
facilitation of any nefarious plan. This done possibly with the
ignorance of those 'on board' used as uninformed pawns, to the
obvious direct detriment of specific victims.
This has been the
typical process for the “boiler-room scandals” that have existed
from the formation of the very first 'professional' stock-market in
Amsterdam, throughout the centruies and decades to date: 'The Wolf of
Wall Street' sadly glamourising the prime perpetrator, Jordan
Belfort; with Paramount at least serving the retail and institutional
shareholders of its parent Viacom by making $392m on a $100m budget.
Much as the novelist
Arthur Hailey shone a torch into the auto-industry workings of 1970s
Detroit in his book 'Wheels', so far more infamously by the late
1980s the “big as life” fictional characters that are Gordon
Gekko and Patrick Bateman and Sherman McCoy had been created,
respectively in the film 'Wall Street' and novel and film 'American
Psycho', and likewise 'Bonfire of the Vanities'. Each reflections of
Wall Street's 'top-dog' mantra, anti-hero swagger and differing
levels of anti-social psychosis.
These reflective
stories had the immediate effect of social ripples across the then
increasingly apparent 'post-industrial' era. Wherein NYLON 'big bang'
innovation had led to the blooming of the financial services sector,
and so according aligned content feeding the broad public's
fascination with the metaphorical “cut and thrust” of high
finance deal-making; titles such as 'Barbarians at the Gate'
crystallising the Sun Tzu mentality where competitiveness met
avarice.
That 'cut and thrust'
made all too physically real by investment banker Bateman; whilst the
self-made anti-establishment Gekko simply sought to dissect the
undervalued assets of troubled firms.
Though Gekko was later
recast in 2010 as becoming more humane, what both characters
originally share is the overt “hunger” and nigh-on unlimited
“animal spirit” which unfortunately propels many a young new
financier.
Hence, the seemingly
ever re-generated, rapacious internal mentality that exist within
certain sections of the world's money markets; created in the modern
age by the media and super-charged by notional professionals with
agenda-driven SIG mentality.
Thus, over the
prevailing decades the media has created a definite milieu in the
public's consciousness, one of money, power and hedonism: the
mythologies of Wall Street, The City and financial districts
elsewhere. It is one which still attracts the intelligent, young and
ambitious, even if the reality for many high-flyers is the mundanity
of process-led, time-crammed vs high precision, tasks; the very
antithesis of the sector's notional 'sexiness'.
Perhaps no wonder then
that such a lexicon is created, by the more imaginative. The concern
being that – as seen time and time again - the ambitious and
dishonourable create self-serving inner-circles in often quite remote
self-contained, specialist silos.
The following phrases
are a mixture of sayings drawn from the finance sector: some
'sexified' by the media and so re-injected into Wall St, The City etc
with added appeal and zest; but for the most part drawn from John
Lanchester's 2014 glossary-like book “How to Speak Money”, as
partly illustrated by The Times newspaper supplement T2 on
28/08/2014. This with additional commentary by
investment-auto-motives as deemed useful.
Starting with the
infamous:
“Murders and
Executions”- uttered by Bateman, the darkly humouristic
re-interpretation of Mergers and Acquisitions which had already
become an over-used Wall St phrase by the mid 1980s, and periodically
utilised by later new entrants into finance, itself as a codified
message as to who was or was not supposedly “in the know”.
Continuing with the
lesser known:
“Bear Hug” - an
offer supposedly so generous apparently impossible to refuse, but as
with all value assessment, why cash-out if the underlying asset is
obviously valuable to others who are desperate to 'over-pay'? Better
then in most cases then to “maintain one's own larder”.
“Buy Side” - the
typically large institutional funds (ie pensions, insurance), private
fund managers and private equity funds that purchase investment
intelligence services from...the
“Sell Side” - those
analysts / brokers / investment bankers who undertake the 'bottom-up'
and 'top-down' investigative work.
“Consolidated”
(the) – those funds which undertake investment strategy in-house,
typically for proprietry and client trading to theoretically
demonstrate that through a shared “skin in the game” approach
that they are wholly aligned to creating a 'win-win' outcome for the
client. (This somewhat undermined by certain hypocritical firms that
foresaw the US housing bubble and 'shorted' their own interests
whilst advising clients to 'stay long').
“Carry” (the) -
short-hand for 'carried interest': the incentive fee earned by a
fund's managers, separate from the management fees which pay the
operational costs; increasingly seen as an overt expense to be
reduced or eliminated by an increasingly informed and demanding
client base.
“Cheeteahs” -
high-frequency trading (HFT) firms with IT systems and geographic
locational advantage to act as rapid-fire (micro-second) first-movers
in high volume markets. (As with 'Bulls' and 'Bears', Wall St likes
its animal metaphors to enliven its 'animal spirits'
“CoCos – Contingent
Convertible Notes, debt which converts to equity depending upon
pre-set circumstances, typically the share price staying above a
specific value for a certain length of time. If instead a firm's
value-creation remains poor – and its stays “a dog” - its
remains as a typically set high yield fixed income instrument.
“Cramdown” - the
re-organisation of a failing company, as approved by major
vote-holders and/or official agency, to the detriment of other
share-holders, the latter forced to take a...
“Haircut” - in the
Chapter 11 restructuring process, or complete bankruptcy, the
requirement for many creditorsor often lower order creditors to
accept much reduced cents on the dollar as resultant comprimised
repayment
“Dark Pools” - non
public market, private exchanges by which large trade volumes may be
undertaken without visibility which may create consequential
reactionary market-shifts by other observing traders; recently 'open'
exchanges such as the LSE seeking to offer similar 'closed curtain'
services at specific times of the day, primarily for institutional
and large private equity funds.
“Dumb Money” - a
derogatory term for the majority of small-time retail investors who
rely upon the apparent 'professionalism' of financial service sector
intermediaries; especially so 'financial advisors', who themselves
are typically un-informed foot soldiers with often only basic
knowledge of the products of the company they represent
[NB This the massive
cohort of the population that John Lanchester seeks to inform]
“Dumplings” /
“Princelings” - the children of wealthy, powerful Asians given
jobs at western banks to assist broader present or prospective client
relations.
“Gearing” - a
alternative term to 'leverage' or more precisely Credit. Gearing
typically used as a credit to equity ratio; originally applied to
cash-flow rich businesses by either equity-holding founders or
early/mid stage private equity parties, or often both; the
theoretically quickly grown business able to 'throw-off' much
improved cashflow and so rapidly raise the value of equity stakes.
But through the late 1990s and 2000s, this over-stretch and failure
to meet projections caused the collapse of various companies; so
providing rich-pickings for either asset-strippers or 'fire-sale'
buyers, often for bolt-on acquisition into similar business models.
“Greeks” (the) –
hellenic symbols used to denote a 'future's formulae': 1.delta,
2.gamma, 3.theta and 4. “vega” (the latter not real but
creatively conjured-up to fit); reflecting 1.stock-price today, 2.
the date for exercising the option, 3. the price for exercising the
option, 4.the expected volatility of the stock.
“Headwinds” - a
term used to denote usually macro-level challenges encountered by a
fund's general portfolio, or directly experienced by the specifically
oriented fund (typically sector directed, geo-politically directed or
regionally or globally 'events driven'.
“McNuggeting” –
the creation of a stabilised price environment, by way of stabilised
input costs, for commodities/products with historic supply and so
price volatility.
“Shorting” - the
borrowing of all or a specific allotment of a counter-party's held
shares in a target company which the borrower believes will actually
fall in stock-price, so ultimately paying less for the block of
shares at the later date; a risky move given the possibility for a
rise of the stock-price if supporting intelligence appears.
“Naked Shorting”
the term used for a form of market manipulation via the illegal
selling of shares that do not “affirmatively” exist, hence
by-passing the conventions of supply and demand.
“Target-Rich
Environment” – the appropriation of military-speak demonstrating
the broad range of theoretical investment opportunities available.
“Tournament System”
(the) - the hierachial employment structure by which ambitious lower
order staff, management, executives and company founders work hard –
so providing high productivity - in order to hopefully eventually
gain the sizeable renumeration package of CEO / Partner / Chairman
level.
Elsewhere
“Nugget Hunting” –
a contorted term originally used for the real (or supposed) discovery
of major gold nugget deposits. Rumours periodically spread to induce
gold-rush migration of the poor toward certain regions so boost sales
of associated goods and services (eg ancillery equipment empty
hotels, etc) aswell as locate mass labour and consumers for
alternatively planned industries.
[see Australia's
'Welcome' nugget in Ballarat, Victoria, specifically its real discovered size vs
the size of the giant nugget publicised ]. The true 'nuggets' then not the metals / minerals in
the ground but sales by the stores.
Thereafter applied to
create an apparent market demand, which to gain from relies upon
purchase of associated goods / services. Latterly apparently used in
the IT-centric “Mining” context for BitCoin.
An Aside -
Just as John
Lanchester's book seeks to inform the layman about the hidden,
obverse sophistication of financial markets, so similarly his former
engineering namesakes - Lanchester Bros Automobiles
- likewise sought to
educate its clients about what was then the remote world of vehicle
engineering. In their instance, the advantages gained from a well
balanced “mid-ships” powertrain.
It is this philosophy
of “balance” that is vital to the well-being of the financial
sector and broader national economies, unfortunately the massive
sizemic shifts experienced in 2007-8 requiring unprecedented
counter-balancing forces (flat base rates, QE programmes etc)
2. The Edicts of a True
Sage
(aimed at financiers)
The words of Confucius
have been periodically seen within the investment-auto-motives weblog
over the last seven years, applied when contextually useful to
demonstrate the need for straight-forwardness, trust and social
cohesion all corners of society; and especially that of finance.
Unfortunately (like the
financial sector itself) the more 'modern' a society becomes, the
less straight-forward it becomes. Especially so since the ever more
sophisticated inter-twining of subtle message-driven media (through
formats and technologies) with general mass societal and so personal
consciousness. The 20th and 21st century's
'top-down' (im)morality messaging contrasts sharply to the yesteryear
'bottom-up' morality message of Confucius; wherein individuals
themselves where expected to be morality broadcasters for the
betterment of society.
[To this end the
Confucian perspective has been latterly echoed by such diverse
commentators as the 18th century's Jean-Jacques Rousseau
and 21st century's (very media savvy) Russell Brand].
Thus it seems that even
six years on from the financial crisis, there is reduced yet a still
prevalent mass western reaction regards “the betrayal of
capitalism”. The prime concern being that partial collapse of once
wholly positively perceived capitalism, occurred within a
post-religious secularist era: thus the heavy fall of two
'grand-narrative' social frameworks. So creating an ever bigger
“belief vacuum” for many, so possibly opening the door to new
forms of combined spiritual and economic “snake-oil” sellers;
such false promoters likely to easily surmount the barriers to entry
into financial services given the circumnavigation abilities over the
regulatory environment.
So it is in this age
and context, that every corner of the financial services sector
should heed the words, sentiments and perspectives of the
non-religious Confucius, as were handed down through Chinese history
(from the Han dynasty onward) by way of The Analects; a compilation
of his recorded sayings.
Chinese Emperors
recognised the value of the Confucian belief system, spread via The
Analects, so as to encourage a capability for general self-rule over
the massive swathes of land which formed both dynastic regions and
Old China large. The Sage's quotes etc reflected what was considered
an age-old natural framework for societal affairs, best viewed as
instrument for personal guidance and so 'bottom-up' societal
influence; rather than the literally hidebound 'top-down' dogma of
formal religion which was thought to promote tribalism, division and
selfishness.
Central themes are
those of:
1. “Superior Man”
- obviously now translated as the “Superior Person”.
2. the Art of Living
3. Balance
4. Constancy
5. Courage
6. Death and
After-Life
7. Demeanour and
Deportment
8. Division of Labour
9. Education
10. Family
11. Filial Love
12. Fine Arts
13. Genius and
Inspiration
14. God
15. High Aim
16. Learning
17. Manners
18. Meaning of
Government
19. Meekness
20. Mental Morality
21. Military Training
22. Pious Observances
for Deceased Parents
23. Propriety
24. Providence
25. Provision for
Dependents
26. Qualities of a
Leader
27. Rectification of
Purpose
28. Sincerity
29. Speech and Conduct
30. Taxation
31. Temperance
32. Uprightness
33. Will
The initial categories,
pertinent to the realm of responsible investment, have provided the
following selected quotes
“the object of the
superior man is truth”
“the superior man
must make his thoughts sincere”
“what the superior
man seeks is in himself, the ordinary man looks to others”
“the superior man is
not partisan”
“the superior man
does not set his mind 'for' or 'against', but to what is right”
“the superior man is
correctly firm and not merely firm”
“the superior man is
distressed by his want of ability”
“the superior man
seeks to develop the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to develop their evil qualities; the ordinary man does the opposite”.
“the practice of
right living is deemed the highest”
“from the highest to
lowest, self development must be deemed the root of all by every man”
“by nature men are
nearly alike, by practice they get to be wide apart”
“when the ancients
sough to exemplify illustrious virtue throughout their empire, first
ordered well their states; desiring to order their states, they first
regulated their families; wishing to regulate their families, they
cultivated themselves; wishing to cultivate themselves they first
rectified their purpose; wishing to rectify their purpose, they first
thought to think sincerely; wishing to think sincerely, they first
extended their knowledge as widely as possible”
“when you know a
thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to
acknowledge that you do not know it – this is knowledge”
“when a man's finger
is deformed, he knows enough to be dissatisfied; but if his mind be
deformed, he does not know that he should be dissatisfied; this is
called ignorance of the relative importance of things”
“when you hear words
that are distasteful to your mind, you must inquire whether they be
not right”
“there are four
things from which the Master was entirely free: he had no foregone
conclusions, no arbitrary predeterminations, no obstinancy and no
egoism"
“learning without
thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous”
“the wise through not
thinking become foolish; and the foolish by thinking become wise”
“the study of strange
doctrines is injurious indeed”
“those who are born
in the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Those
who learn and so acquire are next. The dull and stupid who yet
achieve knowledge are a class next to these. Those who are dull and
stupid and yet do not learn are the lowest of the people”
“the great man is he who does not lose his child's heart”
“he who has sincerity
without effort hits what is right and discerns without laborious
thought; he is a sage who naturally and readily follows the path”
“there is no evil to
which the inferior man will not proceed when alone. When he beholds a
superior man, he tries at once to disguise himself, concealing his evil under a display of virtue. The other penetrates him as if he
saw his heart and reins”...”what is in fact within, will show
without”
“the superior man is
easy to serve and difficult to please, if you try to serve him in a
way which is not accordant with right he will not be pleased; but in
the employment of men he uses them according to their
capacity...(conversely)...the inferior man is difficult to serve but
easy to please; if you try to please him, though it be in a way which
is not righteous, he may be pleased; but in his employment of men he
wishes them to be equal to everything”.
“those who follow the
part of themselves which is great, are great men; those who follow
that part of themselves which is little are little men”.
“Let a man stand fast
in the nobler part of himself, and the meaner part will not be able
to take it from him”
“it is the
characteristic of the completest sincerity to be able to
foreknow...he is like a spirit”
Conclusion -
The history of modern
capitalism has indeed been volatile, and undoubtedly those already
with wealth and influence have been able to take advantage of such
periodic volatility (as with 2008 onward) by recognising the timing
of cycles and the opportunities born from challenges.
Yet as now globally
recognised as capitalism spreads, it's very model (when well
modulated) offers new horizons for most: alternative possibilities, increased education, less
arduous work, greater convenience and improved comfort.
“Modulation of the
System” then is the key, and this is the central theme of
Confuscianism, itself ostensibly born from the 'Tao'
Although the mass media rightly draws public attention upon financial sector scandals, it must be remembered
that the “watchdogs” and 'good guys' of the system: those internal supervisory bodies and specifically external regulatory agencies, which
are responsible for highlighting such problems.
Although the 'revolving
door' still operates - to good and ill consequences – the fact
remains that the system itself relies upon the good judgement and righteousness of not just the “watchdogs” or
“sheriffs”, but of the very inhabitants who choose to undertake their
workaday lives within the sector.
Of course their will specific functional SIGs, and within each,
those who are dishonourable, whether by way of politicised career climbing or
more problematically able to 'rig the system' ultimately to their
monetary advantage.
Yet it still appears
the fact that, above and beyond the banking scandals seen, the very scale and importance of national and international finance, from London to Beijing, demands that those in positions of functional responsibility be trustworthy; thus Confuscian to some degree.
Today's prime issue then is for seniors and executives having the wherewithal to understand the deep complexities of specific parts of an oft befuddling, inter-connected system.
Today's prime issue then is for seniors and executives having the wherewithal to understand the deep complexities of specific parts of an oft befuddling, inter-connected system.
John
Lanchester highlights the problem.
As the son of an old school banker in an era when investment was directed toward wholly “visible” commerce, the yesteryear system was clearly comprehensible. Yet today, in an age when money and associated instruments have themselves become the prime products, the very structure and fabrication of the financial system itself must be questioned, and not just by the layman; but critically by those who occupy the the upper echelons. However, as internal managing agents and official representatives of their own company's stockholders - many of which exist on the inside - they themselves are encapsulated by, and so "held hostage" by the modern, global financial system.
As the son of an old school banker in an era when investment was directed toward wholly “visible” commerce, the yesteryear system was clearly comprehensible. Yet today, in an age when money and associated instruments have themselves become the prime products, the very structure and fabrication of the financial system itself must be questioned, and not just by the layman; but critically by those who occupy the the upper echelons. However, as internal managing agents and official representatives of their own company's stockholders - many of which exist on the inside - they themselves are encapsulated by, and so "held hostage" by the modern, global financial system.
Can the complexity be deconstructed and the simpler yesteryear "visible" model become re-expanded? So as to fill the gap of any discontinued overly sophisticated instruments and markets. And if the genie cannot be put back into the bottle, can it at least be partially contained and off-set?
The very premis of 21st
century capitalism is the burgeoning of new B2C and B2B economic participants across a myriad of EM regions, coupled with new business and consumer trends within ethically re-aligned AM countries.
This offers enormous hope of at least stemming the previous tide of never-ending financial innovation, which itself was created to maintain a form of fabricated economic momentum which was fundamentally slowing within the west even as new-tech promised to replace old-tech.
As such financial innovation becoming at least partly replaced by investment in the tangible, whether directly physical (as seen with infrastructure build plans) or the tangibly related (ie services and research/development). Thus the 'real' as opposed to the all too abstract and ethereal.
This offers enormous hope of at least stemming the previous tide of never-ending financial innovation, which itself was created to maintain a form of fabricated economic momentum which was fundamentally slowing within the west even as new-tech promised to replace old-tech.
As such financial innovation becoming at least partly replaced by investment in the tangible, whether directly physical (as seen with infrastructure build plans) or the tangibly related (ie services and research/development). Thus the 'real' as opposed to the all too abstract and ethereal.
If this economic reality check does indeed hold sway, over the remainder of 21st
century, it would be best served through the ideal of a merged mentality within the financial sector, wherein the selfish gene and animal spirits might be subsumed into that of a higher Confucian
consciousness.
The American, Japanese
and now likely European provision of Quantitative Easing –
themselves necessary counter-balances - ensures that over the
forthcoming decade that Capitalism is not the “zero-sum game”
which up to 2007/8 it had appeared to become.
The trickle-down wealth
will ensue, even if painfully slowly at present.
Importantly it may well
be the influence of mainland China, through its promise of ever greater
financial global connectivity (propelled by the recent Shanghai –
Hong Kong 'Connect' exchange), that provides the impetus.
Whilst China obviously has its own relative glut of US$ billionaires, and many of their “Princelings and Princesses” will lead the capitalist charge across the globe, the very fact that filiel reverence still largely spans generations will play a role. Since the generational links hold with critical memory the “days of want”, the previous responsibilities of dynastic leadership, and (even if failed) the pro-societal ideals from its Communistic past.
This portends that Confucian capitalism must promise and deliver publicly perceived fairness in order for itself to reach full potential.
Whilst China obviously has its own relative glut of US$ billionaires, and many of their “Princelings and Princesses” will lead the capitalist charge across the globe, the very fact that filiel reverence still largely spans generations will play a role. Since the generational links hold with critical memory the “days of want”, the previous responsibilities of dynastic leadership, and (even if failed) the pro-societal ideals from its Communistic past.
This portends that Confucian capitalism must promise and deliver publicly perceived fairness in order for itself to reach full potential.
Post Script -
As per the SIG mentality...
...and the manner in which it has affected the western mainstream.
The emergence of special interest groups has been prolific with the inter-connectivity of the web, able to unite (but also divide) people across a plethora of often self-identity related topics and issues. However in an Orwellian-McLuhan manner, it appears that the broad adoption of often SIG specific communicational short-hand has become itself a powerful force in moulding broader mass culture.
This seemingly very well recognised by the culture industry itself.
A contemporary example within British popular culture is the UK advertising poster for 'Imitation Game': the story of Alan Turing. This seemingly multi-directed at various target SIG audiences across the generations, from those with WW2 memories (which helped form much of their own identities), the Baby-Boomer generation, and onto younger Y-generation “IT geeks”, “games geeks” and the increasing number of “socially distant” who with a graduate education and insight into post-modern sociology might even think themselves akin to a modern-day Turing.
This seemingly very well recognised by the culture industry itself.
A contemporary example within British popular culture is the UK advertising poster for 'Imitation Game': the story of Alan Turing. This seemingly multi-directed at various target SIG audiences across the generations, from those with WW2 memories (which helped form much of their own identities), the Baby-Boomer generation, and onto younger Y-generation “IT geeks”, “games geeks” and the increasing number of “socially distant” who with a graduate education and insight into post-modern sociology might even think themselves akin to a modern-day Turing.
The film's 'quad'
poster shows a myriad of background dials representing the Enigma
code-breaking machine, all appearing similar with a pointer set to
between D and E. This then somewhat of an initial disappointment to
some viewers drawn to hoping to deduce any“secret code” created
by the films director or poster designer. But of course to add
intrigue there is nod to code-breaking. Within the thirty-plus dials
set to D and E there is one set differently to between W and X; those
who take the time to view all the background dials, supposedly
becoming “in the know”.
investment-auto-motives
suggests this then a “copy+” of Damien Hirst's cigarette-butt
case installation artwork, which deploys a single cigar-butt innocuously amongst
a hundred-plus cigarette-butts.
Thus in the
intelligence and communication age, a level of often meaningless
visual codification (beyond that of status fashions or cars etc) has
become a marketing commodity in its own right.
This would no doubt amuse Turing himself. He, a laser-focused yet a 'simple soul', unfortunately existed in a complex environment which offered anything but the essential everyday truth(s) he sought.
Truth unsurprisingly the essential platform which all intelligent people demand, for powerful progress.
Truth unsurprisingly the essential platform which all intelligent people demand, for powerful progress.
With this as a guiding principle, the 21st century edict must surely then be: "Minimum Confusion... Maximum Confucianism".
