Re: Pyramid schemes: from Albania to the US
On 09.01.22 23:11, José María Mateos wrote: I've just discovered the PDFs in the reader with sheer joy. In the nettime link to this collection (https://www.nettime.org/pub.html) it says that it can be bought as a book, but the link to the autonomedia bookstore is broken. Is there any possibility to obtain a copy? I guess not at this point, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Amazingly, the book is still in print and can be ordered via the Autonomedia website. https://autonomedia.org/product/read-me/ all the best. Felix -- | || http://felix.openflows.com | | Open PGP | http://felix.openflows.com/pgp.txt | # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
Re: Pyramid schemes: from Albania to the US
On Sun, Jan 09, 2022 at 07:10:12PM +0100, Felix Stalder wrote: people are desperate. In the 1999 nettime reader, there is an account of the Albanian pyramid scheme which brought the country to the brink of collapse. SUBJECT: PYRAMID SCHEMES: ALBANIA 1996–98 FROM: GENC GREVA DATE: WED, 30 SEP 1998 11:22:29 -0400 https://www.nettime.org/nettime/DOCS/zkp5/pdf/markets.pdf I've just discovered the PDFs in the reader with sheer joy. In the nettime link to this collection (https://www.nettime.org/pub.html) it says that it can be bought as a book, but the link to the autonomedia bookstore is broken. Is there any possibility to obtain a copy? I guess not at this point, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Thanks, -- José María (Chema) Mateos || https://rinzewind.org # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
Re: Pyramid schemes: from Albania to the US
This is sharp thinking, kudos to Felix for sending it on. Housing prices in the US (plus numerous other countries) were already akin to a Ponzi scheme in the runup to 2008. They were paper values sustained by myth, lending home-buyers an illusion of stock-market wealth, directly translatable into cash by home-equity loans. After the crash this configuration ALREADY gave rise to a neofascist wave in the US. We know this for a fact because the Tea Party originated in the media room of the Board of Trade in Chicago. But interestingly - because it affected so many people who never gave a thought to speculative profits - the housing crash also gave rise to a powerful socialist movement in this country. Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto-garbage has primarily attracted speculators, especially of the small-wallet, middle-class type. The much-discussed NFT phenomenon represents a bid by the temporarily wealthy to lend themselves a cultural halo imbued with the aesthetic refinements of people like Elon Musk. Apparently it also represents a "great white hope" for many hackers and digital artists too -- but don't miss the ocean for the ship of fools. The neofascist wave has not yet fallen. Even bigger storms are brewing. I wonder, will all those former friends and allies with their heads currently in the ether snap back to something real when the lightning strikes? On Sun, Jan 9, 2022 at 12:11 PM Felix Stalder wrote: > The unraveling of large Ponzi schemes is a hugely destructive affair, > all the more because such schemes thrive in societies were official > institutions are either weak or captured by criminal interests and > people are desperate. In the 1999 nettime reader, there is an account of > the Albanian pyramid scheme which brought the country to the brink of > collapse. > > SUBJECT: PYRAMID SCHEMES: > ALBANIA 1996–98 > FROM: GENC GREVA > DATE: WED, 30 SEP 1998 11:22:29 -0400 > > https://www.nettime.org/nettime/DOCS/zkp5/pdf/markets.pdf > > Of course, the situation today with crypto-currencies is much more > extreme today, simply because of the size of the bubble that cannot but > burst at some point. Below is an excerpt of a recent article that tries > to think through the consequences for the US. And Europe is probably not > that much behind. > > > > > > The Ticking Bomb of Crypto Fascism > The crypto market’s inevitable crash will pull America’s politics in an > even scarier direction. > HAMILTON NOLAN JANUARY 4, 2022 > > https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-ticking-bomb-of-crypto-fascism > > <> > > > The crash of crypto is bound to happen for the same reason that all > Ponzi schemes eventually crumble: There is not an infinite supply of new > people willing to pay ever-increasing prices for the stuff that you > currently own. The more interesting question is not whether many > small-time investors will lose a lot of money on their crypto > investments, but what will happen when they do? > > Here is what will happen when hundreds of thousands of younger investors > are smashed by the crypto crash: They will be radicalized. This will not > be experienced as simply a decline in prices, because crypto represents > much more than a simple investment to its most fervent adherents — it > represents a way out of the American trap. It represents the existence > of opportunity, the possibility of economic mobility, the validation of > the idea that you, a regular, hard working person without connections, > can go from the bottom to the top, thanks to nothing but your own savvy > choices. When that myth is shattered, disillusionment with the American > system will follow. Unfortunately, given the realities of the moment, > these newly disillusioned and radicalized and angry and broke people are > far more likely to turn to fascism than to socialism. > > Crypto, a portfolio of inherently worthless online tokens, is already > sustained almost entirely by myth. Its value proposition is so > inscrutable that when it melts down, almost any narrative could be > crafted to plausibly explain it. It was the Fed! The government! The > leftists who hate entrepreneurialism! It was the dark and devious forces > of the shadowy deep state! Anything will do. It will enforce the priors > of those who placed their faith in crypto as a good substitute for the > American dream — a crowd of Barstool Sports readers and tech > libertarians and the types of people who used to buy silver bars from > Alex Jones before they turned to Bitcoin. The crypto-evangelist > population skews heavily towards a sort of New Age libertarian, > anti-government right wing-ism, and when they see their financial dreams > evaporate, they will likely set their sights for revenge on the things > they already despise. The broad effect will lead to a large number of > newly angry, bitter, disillusioned, hopeless people who are too steeped > in the culture wars to turn towards working class solidarity, and > instea
Pyramid schemes: from Albania to the US
The unraveling of large Ponzi schemes is a hugely destructive affair, all the more because such schemes thrive in societies were official institutions are either weak or captured by criminal interests and people are desperate. In the 1999 nettime reader, there is an account of the Albanian pyramid scheme which brought the country to the brink of collapse. SUBJECT: PYRAMID SCHEMES: ALBANIA 1996–98 FROM: GENC GREVA DATE: WED, 30 SEP 1998 11:22:29 -0400 https://www.nettime.org/nettime/DOCS/zkp5/pdf/markets.pdf Of course, the situation today with crypto-currencies is much more extreme today, simply because of the size of the bubble that cannot but burst at some point. Below is an excerpt of a recent article that tries to think through the consequences for the US. And Europe is probably not that much behind. The Ticking Bomb of Crypto Fascism The crypto market’s inevitable crash will pull America’s politics in an even scarier direction. HAMILTON NOLAN JANUARY 4, 2022 https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-ticking-bomb-of-crypto-fascism <> The crash of crypto is bound to happen for the same reason that all Ponzi schemes eventually crumble: There is not an infinite supply of new people willing to pay ever-increasing prices for the stuff that you currently own. The more interesting question is not whether many small-time investors will lose a lot of money on their crypto investments, but what will happen when they do? Here is what will happen when hundreds of thousands of younger investors are smashed by the crypto crash: They will be radicalized. This will not be experienced as simply a decline in prices, because crypto represents much more than a simple investment to its most fervent adherents — it represents a way out of the American trap. It represents the existence of opportunity, the possibility of economic mobility, the validation of the idea that you, a regular, hard working person without connections, can go from the bottom to the top, thanks to nothing but your own savvy choices. When that myth is shattered, disillusionment with the American system will follow. Unfortunately, given the realities of the moment, these newly disillusioned and radicalized and angry and broke people are far more likely to turn to fascism than to socialism. Crypto, a portfolio of inherently worthless online tokens, is already sustained almost entirely by myth. Its value proposition is so inscrutable that when it melts down, almost any narrative could be crafted to plausibly explain it. It was the Fed! The government! The leftists who hate entrepreneurialism! It was the dark and devious forces of the shadowy deep state! Anything will do. It will enforce the priors of those who placed their faith in crypto as a good substitute for the American dream — a crowd of Barstool Sports readers and tech libertarians and the types of people who used to buy silver bars from Alex Jones before they turned to Bitcoin. The crypto-evangelist population skews heavily towards a sort of New Age libertarian, anti-government right wing-ism, and when they see their financial dreams evaporate, they will likely set their sights for revenge on the things they already despise. The broad effect will lead to a large number of newly angry, bitter, disillusioned, hopeless people who are too steeped in the culture wars to turn towards working class solidarity, and instead turn towards hate. -- | || http://felix.openflows.com | | Open PGP | http://felix.openflows.com/pgp.txt | # distributed via : no commercial use without permission #is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nett...@kein.org # @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject:
