There's only one end of the world...and this isn't it.
So here we are once again on the precipice, at least in terms of
global stock markets and credit markets. Another bout of nail-biting
panic is hardly unexpected, though it's always surprising when
otherwise sane people veer sharply into hysteria. It's a good, albeit
painful, reminder that the bonds of what we call civilization are
always more tenuous than we would like to believe, that things like
"value" and "worth" and "the economy" are ultimately the products of
human beings simply agreeing on a set of rules. Stocks, bonds, gold,
silver, none have any intrinsic value, nor do Gucci handbags, Deere
lawnmowers, and GM trucks (in case anyone was wondering about that
one). We act as if they do, because it gives us some sense of an
orderly world, and because the alternative is just too unsettling to
live with on a daily basis.
