Exchange, Honesty, Ethics, 3

Unfortunately, as dishonesty degrades the individual, this takes the form of short−sightedness, too: it has been said that the criminal is stupid, actually, and could not figure out a better way than recurring to crime. This means that the more dishonest and degraded the individual, the less he or she can see this imbalance between his or her ill−gotten gains and the degraded state of the whole, ill−gotten gains included. Indeed, being stupid, short−sighted, he or she can’t see nor conceive of anything else beyond grabbing the loot and to hell with all the rest; and when such an individual thinks, if at all, the philosophy resulting from dishonesty, degradation and irresponsibility is mere justification: Who cares, I’ll be dead long before the long term effects of my misdeeds will hit. Which makes such individuals more likely potential supporters of materialism than of any form of dualism between spirit and matter, by the way: if they could choose, they’d rather not run any risk of being presented the bill in any form.

The border between Economy and Finance could be said to be that: in Economy what one earns is in exchange for a product of comparable value delivered to someone else; in Finance what one speculates is in exchange for a loss of comparable, if not much higher, value suffered by someone else. Economy is founded on production and delivery, finance is founded on deception and theft. It is the difference between intelligence and cunning, or between honesty and dishonesty.

Any form of speculation is criminal “exchange”, and nothing else. One exploits or causes the fact that relative values change in space and time, and pockets what someone else loses, without producing and delivering anything in exchange. Any speculation is suppressive, and it suppresses people in many a way simultaneously, which may not be immediately apparent: indeed there is the sheer robbery in itself; but behind it there is the additional damage to honest people due to the interference of speculation in the vital flows of exchange among people; and behind that interference looms the fallout of the counter−educational influence of the spreading of speculation, out exchange and dishonesty as normal or even positive.