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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

You write fast and well.  I didn't notice a single grammatical mistake.  My 
skill set is not so keen.  I didn't mean to imply Rand was rong, just that we 
are headed in the wrong dirwection as might have been scenario in AS as 
predictor.  I believe you make too credit for Mr. Greenspan.  T.S. Eliot 
(East Coker) wrote:
 
"Do not let me hear
Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly,
Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession,
Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God."

I believe Greenspan became more foolish in his old age rather than more wise; 
which, in my opinion, happens more often than we care to admit.  Those of us 
who are fortunate will all grow old, but some of us will entertain folly more 
than wisdom , as we age.  Just as some old men always have...............


------------------------------------------------------------------------



--- On Wed, 12/10/08, Leslie <cayadopi AT yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Leslie <cayadopi AT yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Thought this list would appreciate this!
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 11:20 PM
> Bob,
>  
> Someone wrote:  <<<Ironically, one of Rand’s
> philosophical devotees was Alan Greenspan—the man who set
> in motion the exact circumstances described
> below.>>>
>  
>  
> How often did we hear on TV when Greenspan was in office
> about "the Alan Greenspan Legacy".  Yet not one
> person really thought about what kind of legacy he was
> leaving.  I did, many years ago.... from way outside the
> box for sure.  
>  
> I happen to agree:  "Whenever destroyers appear among
> men, they start by destroying money, for money is men’s
> protection and the base of a moral existence. Destroyers
> seize gold and leave to its owners a counterfeit pile of
> paper."  Of course money here in context of when this
> was written, money IS gold, and the gold standard had been
> partially removed.
>  
>  
>  
> Exactly what legacy is Greenspan leaving?   
>  
> What clues do we have that are not pumped to us from
> mainstream media?
>  
>  
> I don't know if many here know some of these things,
> probably do, but I'll state it anyway. 
>  
> 1.  Ayn Rand, Greenspan, and Von Mises - all best buddies
> part of Rand's Inner Circle.  
>  
> Von Mises/Austrian economic theory, promoted gold
> standard.  
> Ayn Rand, gold standard.  
> Greenspan even wrote a often cited paper on the gold
> standard.  
>  
> 2.  Greenspan was trained in Keynesian (or later versions)
> economics.  When he was first introduced to Rand's
> Inner Circle, he was wishy washy on facts.  He was asked if
> he believed that he in fact actually existed.  He did not
> know for sure, and after a heady discussion finally was
> convinced that he in fact existed (source = Rand's
> lover, N. Brandon).  Point being that Greenspan
> wouldn't adopt an idea until he was 100% convinced.
>  
> 3.  Greenspan (as well as others in the Inner Circle)
> routinely reviewed draft copies of Atlas Shrugged during the
> 9-10 years it took her to write the book, and contributed
> ideas from time to time.  (source = Rand's lover, N.
> Brandon).   At the end of the book Greenspan was convinced
> that the book would change the world, that people would
> accept the philosophy as truth.  Instead it was rejected.
>  
> 4.  One of the main characters in the book, D'Anconia,
> talked about his family's legacy - to increase the
> productive wealth greater than the prior
> generation(s). However, Francisco D'Anconia set out to
> continue the legacy, as we know he wound up destroying the
> copper rather than have looters have it, and therefore
> changed his family's legacy.   
>  
> Legacy being the key word here - because the word Legacy
> and Greenspan were often mentioned together in the media. 
> However, no mention of what the nature of his legacy would
> be was ever identified,  This is not unlike the rumors of
> D'Anconia being a worthless playboy, often mentioned in
> the media, but never any confirmation.
>  
> 5.  Another character in the book, Ragnar Danneskjold, a
> pirate/policeman who steals the wealth (gold) from the
> world.
>  
> 6.  Greenspan clearly wrote the piece on the gold standard
> back in the 60s/70s.  Did he ever change his mind? 
> Because becoming Chairman of the Federal Reserve would imply
> that he had.  In fact, the media often stated this about
> him, but did he?  Did they every check their premises? 
> When I started actually dissecting Greenspan's words,
> hidden within he continued to promote the gold standard. 
> So I do not believe he abandoned it at all.
>  
> 7.  Under Greenspan, we have experienced an incredible
> growth in money supply as he opened up the Easy Al money for
> Wall Street, fueling bubble after bubble.  The effects of
> this are coming at us faster and faster now.  
>  
> 8.  Ayn Rand (per Brandon) stated that Greenspan was the
> smartest of the all.  Did she say this lightly?  I
> don't know, but what I have read about her, she seemed
> to have been very rigid about her opinions, so I think not.
>  
> 9.  Dr. Robert Stadler in the book rejected pure science
> for working for the government.
>  
> 10.  Greenspan (in his book) told us that he remained
> close friends with Ayn Rand until her death.  
>  
> If you wanted to carry out the philosophy espoused by Rand
> - speed up the time table to expose "you can not have
> your cake and eat it too".... in what position could
> you make this happen?
>  
> I ask - 
>  
> 1)  Is it so ironic Alan Greenspan—"the man who set
> in motion the exact circumstances described below".....
> did Alan Greenspan truly take on the role of Dr. Robert
> Stadler - i.e. sell out Objectivism to work for the Federal
> Reserve, whom  many think is part of the government
> (including the media).  If so, would Ayn Rand have remained
> close friends with Alan Greenspan until her death?
>  
> or 
>  
> 2) Did Alan Greenspan take on the roles of Danneskjold and
> D'Anconia - right in front of the entire world.... and
> leave a totally different legacy than the media had been
> espousing and may only just now be realizing that his legacy
> isn't exactly what they never stated but alluded to?
>  
>  
> If the laster, Greenspan would not have had to invent all
> the crazy economic ideas that came out of Wall Street,
> etc...... all he would have had to do is endorse them and
> open the fiat money spigots.  
>  
> I think ironically - backwardation tells another story
> about the situation of gold reserves at the COMEX.  GATA
> has long been warning that the gold isn't there, a la
> Fed, who was in charge? Greenspan....
>  
>  
>  
> Note:  CNBC did an interview with one Julian Robertson a
> few years back.  Robertson's reputation years ago was
> along the lines of Midas Mulligan - everything he touched
> turned to gold.... until suddenly his fund went bankrupt. 
> Robertson came back on the scene a few years back, which
> prompted the interview.  He broke down at one point and
> made a comment something along the lines that there were
> those who has built a walled compound in New Zealand,
> totally self sufficient, and proclaimed that the world was
> going to be falling apart.... it triggered memories of Atlas
> Shrugged, of course.
>  
>  
>  
> Greenspan in his book informs that the Fed knew somewhere
> in 1999-2001 (I forget the exact year) that a housing bubble
> was in the making, yet they lowered interest rates and
> fueled it....  Coincidently, in 1998, LTCM nearly caused a
> worldwide systemic risk event.  In the book I read about
> that, there was talk about the seed idea that later created
> the mortgage b.s. that has currently caused a worldwise
> system risk event.  Greenspan was Fed Chair back then, and
> had probably already recognized the insanity of that,,, but
> if your purpose was to act out D'Anconia/Danneskjold....
> lowering interest rates makes a lot of sense.
>  
> When I read Greenspans book, I noticed that when he talked
> about other countries, he was direct, logical, etc.  Yet
> when he talked about certain events here, especially under
> him, that there were discrepancies, which was more aligned
> with my musings about Greenspan's true legacy.
>  
>  
> Anyway, that is pretty far out of the box..... or is it?
>  
> I would like you to think about this for a while before
> responding.  And for those here that follow economics, go
> back and re-think every move that Greenspan made, if in
> fact, his true legacy was that of a very different agenda. 
>     
> 
> So many things to me about Greenspan did not make sense,
> until I started thinking about the words
> "Greenspan's Legacy".
>  
>  
> Also, Bob, why do you call Ayn Rand's direction, the
> wrong direction?  
> Was it a wrong direction, or a logical outcome?
>  
>  
>  
> 
> --- On Wed, 12/10/08, bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> 
> 
> Thanks Jeanne:  Ayn Rand had the below to say about
> society, money, laws, etc.;
> see how much it appears that we may be headed in her wrong
> direction :
> 
> 
> 
> 
>       
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