Re: [A-List] A question on buybacks

["Anne Williamson" <annewilliamson@xxxxxxx>]

No, the problem is not in profits, Sabri,
but in the money.

The search for profit and honesty are
not incompatible.  Quite the opposite.  A
true wealth creator works on fundamental
principles for the long haul -- it's the sharks
who go for the quick and easy.  And, yes,
they too are seeking "profit" -- they just
don't want to bother earning it.  It's the
difference between one student who studies
for his Algebra test and succeeds and therefore
has a gain (knowlege), and the one who doesn't,
cheats, still gets an 'A' but is in fact suffering the
loss of the knowledge that could have been
his with a little mental elbow grease and
an expenditure of time.  The "cheater" gave
himself the short end of the stick, and probably
will go on doing so for a lifetime unless life
itself "corrects" him.

What is influencing the loose and easy times,
the thefts, the swindles, etc. is phony money -
that's why hard money is known as "sound
money," it's real.  Fiat money is phony money,
vapor money, debit money -- mere paper, a
promissory note earning interest for the
issuer who did created nothing of value for
his gain.

Money by definition is a store of value, a means
of exchange, and a unit of measure.  Fiat money
has no value, it's only successful as a means of
exchange - you can't truly measure with it since
it's value is constantly changing, or subject to
change - it's phony money.

Money is what allows for the division of labor,
and economic progress for all peoples - "money"
is right up there alongside the wheel for its
importance to civilization.  Currencies are what
both unite and divide all peoples.

But when the lie is in the very means of economic
activity (sweat being the very first) then nothing
can be built upon it that is sound, that is honest.

We have no standards - in money, in behavior, in
expectation, in conduct, in academia, in government,
but the chain of corruption begins with the most essential
matter we exchange, i.e. money.

There's much more to a "gold standard" than just
a yellow metal.  Gold is accountability -- and that
is exactly what everyone is trying to evade today.

No standards means no truth no integrity no honesty.

Profits in and of themselves are innocent; sound profits
are true achievements.

Anne

----- Original Message -----
From: Sabri Oncu <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ALIST <a-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 2:18 PM
Subject: [A-List] A question on buybacks


> Hi Anne,
>
> Thanks for your response. It was most informative.
>
> Somewhere in your post you say:
>
> > There's the rub, as key as profits are the
> > integrity of their source and creation are
> > just as important.  Dishonest money almost
> > always gives a poor return to both the
> > individual and society one way or another.
> > Culture is the other side of the profits coin.
>
> I have a question related with this:
>
> If dishonesty keeps becoming widespread, that is, systemic,
> cyclically, or put another way, if we keep seeing systemic
> honesty-dishonesty cycles when look at the history, is it not
> reasonable to suspect that there may be a relationship with these
> cycles and the search for profits? Could it be possible that in
> the world economy we live, honesty and search for profits are not
> compatible, at least, in the "long" term, whatever "long" means
> here?
>
> Best,
> Sabri
>
>
>
>
>