Monday, March 9, 2009

What Pluto In Capricorn Means To Me

I love dogs. They've always been good to me: friendly, loyal, and playful things that they are. You need to know how to handle them, of course. Dogs are by nature pack animals, genetically programmed to respond to and search for a sense of hierarchy in whatever social environment they find themselves in, even if that environment includes no other dogs.

I love free-market capitalism. It's been good to me, overall... certainly at least, it's been better to me than communism has been to, say, the average Chinese peasant.

As we have all seen in the last few months, there is a certain similarity between free-market capitalism and dogs: both have to be given a sense of their place, and firm guidelines... otherwise both will crap on your rug at will.

We all bought the hype. We all thought Rover was so cute when he was being bratty. And now, in both cases, we are scrubbing the floors and bemoaning the expense of buying new carpet.

If you haven't seen it, please have a look at the clip at the end of this article. Although "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" was taking a dig specifically at CNBC, the criticisms directed at financial news reporting can really be directed at The Big Money Mentality in general.

There are those out there who want to wave the Red Flag Of Socialism in your face and try to scare you into thinking that the changes in our system are the harbinger of doom for capitalism. Just as so many of us were lulled into accepting the status quo all these years (despite real income slowly dropping year after year, despite "wealth creation" going overwhelmingly to the already-very-rich) by The Money Cheerleaders, there are now those who want you to be afraid of the change that is happening now. They want you to think that increasing controls on markets and taxing the incredibly wealthy their fair share is wrong.

Similarly, there are a few (thankfully, only a very few) astrologers out there who have learned they can make a buck filling you with The Fear Of Pluto.

As should have been said to you before the crash... Don't Believe The Hype. Change makes room for the new and improved. The current economic crisis may have finally shown up modern economic theory for the somewhat-of-a-farce that it is... but its fall will leave room for something more accurate and more meaningful. Like, maybe... astrology.

Even on a bad day, I'm a lot more accurate than those clowns on TV and in the papers and magazines and sitting behind a desk at your bank who were yelling at you to invest in AIG last year.

Pluto frequently makes itself felt as a destructive force. Pluto is now in Capricorn, the pinstriped-suit sign that always makes me think the most of banks and investors and such. The one thing to keep in mind is that The Flaming Sword Of Pluto is ultimately, more often than not, a good thing. It is the fire that burns off the old weeds to make room for the new crop.

So, fear not. Change is required, and more change is coming yet, Pluto-style. Remember: it was a disaster that wiped out the dinosaurs... and it was the ability of your ancestors to adapt to that change that enabled you to be here now, all big-brained and upright with opposable thumbs... leafing through your bills and wondering how to make ends meet.

No fear. Breathe. You made it this far. You'll make it through the rest.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

When I read this I exhaled. So much mad talk abounds. Keep shining the light.. Thank you!