. . .
K “de Tocqueville noted the outsized influence of lawyers in the young country. At the time, e-con-omists were just transmogrifying on the world stage.”
J “Today, lawyers and e-con-omists are the high priests ranging the American political and economic landscape . . . and wrecking our land and lives. We as a society need to disregard the lawyers and the e-con-omists and regard the physicists and the physicists.”
K “How do we do it today? I ‘upvote’ you.”
J “You are agreeing with me again. That is positive.”
. . .
K “I shared a story that I reflect on frequently. An old experienced law professor who taught comparative law in American and European law schools for over two score years shared his settled observations about the fundamental difference in training and perspective between American-trained lawyers and European-trained lawyers. With some exceptions, an American-trained lawyer first asks: ‘Can we get away with it?’ With some exceptions, an European-trained lawyer first asks: ‘Is it lawful?’.”
J “Lawyers never fail to please. I read that about $1,400,000,000.00 in now forgiven Paycheck Protection Program loans were distributed to some of the largest law and accounting firms in the country. About 126 law firms in the Top 300 took $809,000,000.00 in forgiven PPP loans. About 236 accounting firms in the Top 300 took $635,000,000.00 in forgiven PPP loans. Greed never rests; greed never sleeps.”
. . .
K “Me neither.”
. . .
J “Most successful e-con-omists are celebrity con artists assisting those in power to get away with unlawful activities. By contrast, physics is reality. Physics is truth. However, even the most recent announcements about fusion fail to reveal the true Energy Returned On Energy Invested (EROEI) and the limits of current technology. The physical world is stern and unbending and does not yield to our hopes and dreams.”
K “Physics may be the true dismal science.”
J “True enough. I refer to ‘physicists and physicists’ to get one thinking. Maybe. Is anyone thinking? How about the biologists? Physicists . . . and biologists . . . need to be the new high priests.”
. . .
[See “The economy is moving from a tailwind pushing it along to a headwind holding it back” by Gail Tverberg at Our Finite World dated December 16, 2022; a discussion of the limits of renewable energy at “‘The New Energy Economy’: An Exercise In Magical Thinking” by Mark P. Mills at the Manhattan Institute dated March 26, 2019 and some perspective on the recent fusion breakthrough at “Scientists Have Made a Breakthrough in Fusion — but Don’t Get Carried Away” by Mark P. Mills at the Manhattan Institute dated dated December 13, 2022.]
Bumper stickers of the week:
Many live humans; Few dead dinosaurs.
Disregard the e-con-omists; Regard the physicists.
Change your attitude; Change your latitude.
Pay your bills; Develop your skills.
So many challenges; So little time.
Disregard the lawyers and the e-con-omists; regard the physicists and the biologists.
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