Author: David, he was born in England, but has not lived there for a while

I think sometime in early 2007, I began to wonder if I was the only sane person in the world. Does this sound a bit extreme?

Well, consider the situation at the time. The world economy plummeted before anyone who opened their eyes. The dominant belief is that you can build a complete economy by taking on debts that people cannot repay, cutting them into pieces and selling them to others, and then selling them to others, and so on. system. This is always a bit surreal to me. It now looks more like a clown marching, blindly walking towards the edge of the cliff.

But it’s not just the clown who doesn’t seem to know this. Bankers and politicians are congratulating themselves on how the world economy has performed so well, while economists and financial journalists are scornful of these banks and politicians. Then, about the time when the first clown fell off the cliff, I discovered naked capitalism.

I breathed a sigh of relief and realized that I finally found a nonsense website with a lot of information, good writing, and not afraid to say what needs to be said. What makes me more gratified is that I found that there are many other reasonable people, excellent writers and thoughtful commentators out there. For reasons I will continue to explain, NC has quickly become a daily necessities in my reading. Soon thereafter, it became my main source of daily information, not only economic information, but also other information. A few years later, I started to get into the habit of making it the first thing I watched in the morning and the last thing I checked in the evening. A few years later, when I thought I had something original to contribute, I started to comment occasionally. Speaking of donations, I have been donating to support annual fundraising activities for many years. Listen, I will explain why you should do this. (Hint, hint jar is here).

First, consider alternatives. Like a considerable number of NC regulars, I grew up in an era of mass print media and relatively few television stations. We should not idealize those days, but compared to today, news sources are much more diverse. Newspapers and TV stations have a large team of professional reporters. If you allow some inevitable prejudice, you can pick up any serious newspaper, or open any TV station, and at least have an understanding of what is happening in the world. Since then, the media has collapsed. The reasons for this will not be detailed here: I only recall a few obvious ones; media concentration, drastically reduced news budgets, desperate search for Internet clicks, the disruptive influence of Twitter, not enough real news to fill the 24-hour cycle… …and many more.

But today’s media issues are not only technical and financial issues, but also ideological issues.

Historically, newspapers have editorial lines and reporters have biases, but there are also understandable restrictions. After the end of the Cold War, a new genre dominated by young reporters began to appear, practicing what BBC reporter Martin Bell called “attachment to the news”, which means no longer reporting the news honestly, but on the “good” side. Oppose “evil.”

In today’s dazzling “news media”, this attitude is common, as part of the post-Cold War economic and social liberal ideology, which is characteristic of today’s political elite. The same media’s hysteria about recent events, from Brexit to the election of Donald Trump, to the so-called global “populism” threat, is explained by the fact that, just like the collapse of the world economy in 2008, Since then, the ideological foundation of liberalism has been continuously disintegrating. The easy certainty of media courses is being undermined every day, spreading panic and fear among its members. Coupled with financial and advertising pressures, employment insecurity, and fear of personal and professional rejection, you have many explanations for the rancid swamp of today’s media.

So those who should tell us how it is, they themselves cannot accept the truth about it, and desperately try to convince us (and themselves) that it is not. So I rarely “read” newspapers now, because I don’t believe they will tell the truth, and judging from the opinion polls, I am a good partner.

Unfortunately, the general response to this lack of confidence is not an objective attempt, but a simple-minded reverseism that simply converts the white hat and black hat of the mainstream media. That’s not good either. But NC is the wisest and most balanced response I know to the catastrophic decline of traditional media. This is one of the reasons why I donate every year, and one of the reasons why you should also donate (Remember that friendly reminder jar…).

Then think about the advantages of NC. what are these? Well, let me mention the most important thing. First of all, Yves and co. are calm and restrained in the management of the website, but firm and coherent. What is brought every day is not a random list of links, but a carefully evaluated and curated collection that explains different aspects of complex issues, and without hesitation, you should read the completely wrong content, just to understand how powerful the idea is.

Then, the editors of the site have intellectual control. They not only provide you with links, but also provide comments and informed original analysis, usually for very complex issues. Here, I want to emphasize Yves’s ability to penetrate deep into complex issues and draw wise conclusions that ordinary people can understand. This is most evident in the recent excellent NC coverage of Covid (and praise for Lambert), but in fact, NC’s Brexit coverage left me the deepest impression, and Yves quickly learned a lot Complicated legal, political and cultural issues, and produced and promoted reports. To be honest, this was better than any content that the British media could provide at the time. (By the way, the same was true of the 2015 financial crisis in Greece. Frankly speaking, I didn’t know anything about it before NC educated me.) These are huge advantages and another reason for my donation to NC. You It should be.

But there are other advantages. Anyone can be right occasionally, if only by accident. Anyone can arrive early. But early and correct is a very rare combination, which is a combination that NC can be proud of. Likewise, NC has always been right and early in the development of the Covid legend, because it is in different stages of Brexit and the resulting chaos.

But naked capitalism soon discovered that Tesla and Uber were investment scammers, various pension funds were actually looted by scammers, frequent business trips and mass tourism would never come back, and the global supply chain was collapsing. NC is a good early warning mechanism to avoid being scared by what is happening in the world. This is another reason why I donated to maintain it, and you should do the same.

There is also an international level. You can find any number of linked sites to promote the views of American, British or European commentators on events in other parts of the world. But NC is unique in two respects. First, it links to a wide range of stories and comments from all over the world—not necessarily in English—that together provide a richer and more accurate impression of what is happening. Second, it clearly understands that we do live in an interconnected world, and what happens in the world affects other places. Many websites and publications approve of this idea, but few people put it into practice like NC does. This is another reason I donate every year, and so should you.

Finally, there is the comment area. We like to say that NC has the best reviews, but isn’t this an absolute fact? If there is a better one, I would like to see.

After the comment section of most of the world’s leading newspapers is messed up, Naked Capitalism’s comment section (if I’m late, I always read it first) is a paradise for interesting and lively debate. Anyone who follows the rules (and thanks to the heroic comment taster) can post here without risking the kind of personal abuse that is common on the Internet. Part of the reason is that Yves works closely with the help of the back-end team, but I think the collective spirit of the site also encourages people who are really interested in information and debate to come here, and those who don’t stay away.

But this is not only the tone of the comment, but also the content. The “best” review is also the most insightful review I have ever seen. In my mind, we not only have experts in economics, banking and finance, but obviously also computer, IT, science and engineering, mathematics and statistics, various medicine, construction and civil engineering, agriculture and agriculture, ecology, Most aspects of laws in different countries, politics, culture, linguistics, various types of literature, different types of music…and six others. In the case where we are unable to send experts, few topics appear in the link; a story about a country is normal, and it is found that we have locals or long-term residents or regular customers who can comment. The best and most insightful comments on the Internet are another reason why I donated to NC, and you should do the same.

As usual, NC is leading the way in identifying issues that will dominate next year. In addition to the endless all-out mud wrestling in U.S. politics, NC has given us non-Murkins a lot of education in this regard, as well as the accelerated dysfunction and collapse of various organizations, as well as the crisis in Myanmar (other places). Hardly involved), the most important election in France in at least 50 years, the pressure within the EU due to Brexit and other issues, the possible disaster in Lebanon that may plunge the entire region into flames, the continued rise of China, the rapid environmental collapse, and The future and consequences of Covid… As they said, just to name a few. NC has solved these problems and we need to make sure it stays there. This requires resources, including cash. So take out your wallet and donate.now.