GuidoWorld

New Go! CD is up and Running

After some technical problems loading the music and lyrics and getting them published, I finally succeeded at getting it done.

The new CD is entitled Go! and can be accessed by clicking on to the music tab, and then clicking on the Go! album.

Once on the Go! album page click on the mp3 icon to hear song and click on the lyric to read the lyrics. To be able to read lyrics while listening to the song click on mp3 icon first and than click on lyrics (lyrics will appear in a separate window).

I’m in the process of updating some of my mixes. Let me know if there any particular mixes you want me to redo, especially if they are muddy or lack separation of sound.

Please take the time to listen to a number of tunes, since they are quite diverse musically and lyrically.

Also take some time to read some of my books. Currently Exploring Intimacy is the only book fully downloaded to the site. Two of my novels Public Relations and A Twist of Faith will be complete in a few days to a week. Each book already has a number of chapters ready and by the time you complete them, the rest should be up and ready for your eyes.

Enjoy.

Jim Guido

PS I should have my next blog up in a day or two.

Who Wants a Deflationary Depression?

The only people who would desire a deflationary depression would be those who would greatly benefit by its occurrence. So the question is better stated who would stand to benefit most from a deflationary depression?

Though many suffered from the Great Depression of the 1930’s there were those who reaped incredible and previously unimaginable monetary gains from the depression. Many of the wealthiest families and individuals in the US and Europe were formed during the Great Depression. While only a few truly made their dollars during the deflationary years, they acquired ownership and increased their position in their industries which bore fruit in the boon years following the depression.

Some who had hoarded their money took advantage of their peers who had lost everything in the stock market and bought their competitors businesses and assets for pennies on the dollar. Some went from being an average player in an industry to becoming the last standing proprietor and became an instant monopoly on the economic rebound.

The majority of the wealthiest families in the US and Europe either became so or stayed the elite because of how they capitalized on the Great Depression. The goal of the ultra wealthy is for as much money to go into as few hands as possible. It is hard to imagine a better time for this to happen then during a deflationary depression where there are so many losers and so few winners.

So the following are three of the top reasons why the ultra wealthy would want a deflationary depression, and how they would benefit from this environment.

1) The wealthiest can greatly increase their percentage of total global wealth

As stated above the most monetarily ambitious individuals and families who are hoarding billions in cash could buy entire sectors of the economy such as falling real estate and failing businesses for pennies on the dollar. Initially this investment would just increase their percentage of ownership and position, but would pay off big time when the economy rebounds.

Also those hoarding cash relative wealth sky rockets during deflation. Even if they stood pat their billions or even millions become more powerful and impressive as their peers and the global economy shrinks. When trillions of dollars evaporate out of real estate and the stock market those who maintain their wealth become wealthier in comparison. If I have 200,000 in a bank with deposits in the billions I’m not a very big depositor, but if due to losses in real estate and stocks the banks deposits shrink to a few million dollars than my 200,000 suddenly looks quite respectable.

2) Those who want a global economy could achieve it much quicker.

George Bush Sr. was the first president to talk to the public of globalism from the perspective of a “world order”. This global economy is hierarchical and the polar opposite of a global community. In the “new world order” the bulk of wealth and ownership is in hands of the few and the masses stand to benefit by this is the typical “trickle down economics” that has dominated US fiscal policy since the Reagan years.

In this view the entire globe is one homogeneous functioning economy. The greatest obstacle to this dream is the disparity of income and standard of living between the industrialized nations (mainly US, Japan and Europe) and the rest of the emerging and third world nations. This disparity can be rectified in two basic ways, either the income and wages of the industrialized come down or the emerging nations can come up. The most likely scenario is a combination of the two.

Yet, this economic leveling process could take decades. It’s hard to imagine the wealthy globalization zealots being comfortable with this rather lengthy process which hampers their economic dreams and goals. Patience is not one of the strong points of the economically ambitious.

The quickest solution for globalism is probably found in a deflationary depression centered around industrialized nations. In the last depression the old powers England, France and Germany had to borrow from an emerging nation (the US), and by the end of the depression the US not only caught up but surpassed the wealth and power of the aging empires.

Currently the US is the aging empire borrowing from the creditor emerging nation China.

In a deflationary depression wages in the US and Europe would fall as would the standard of living of the middle class. This fall would be rather dramatic and could allow global wages to meet in a rather short period of time. The emerging nations wages would not fall as much and may even rise during the deflation and would certainly be able to catch up almost instantaneously as the global economy begins to recover.

Just as a few of the wealthiest families in Europe were able to not only survive the shift of power from Europe to the US but actually flourish so will our current ultra wealthy families be able to survive any future geographical shift of economic power. After all, it is called globalism.

3) The corporate economic elite can unload their economic burdens and obligations.

Many of the largest corporations and governments now find themselves swamped in financial obligations they’ve made to their workers and citizens. Though most of these contracts were mainly constructed by management and sold to labor as a bargaining agreement, the corporations like to pose these contractual obligations as “entitlements”. While it is literally true that the workers are contractually “entitled” to these retirement and benefit plans the corporate PR departments are busy waging an image war over the perceived emotional meaning of entitlement.

Every day we are inundated with reports describing the ill effects of how adults and kids “feeling entitled” is injuring our economy and society. Every day we here how these spoiled brats who feel entitled to life’s luxuries are ruining the moral fabric of our humanity. Yet, feeling entitled and being entitled aren’t the same thing. If I work a job I am entitled to receive a pay check for the agreed upon amount for my services. It’s not about feeling entitled its about my boss living up to his word and obligation and giving me my paycheck.

Despite their best efforts the corporations, though getting some some unwarranted sympathy for their plight, is still swimming in a sea of debt. Their reckless investment and business practices are leaving them ill prepared to fulfill their retirement obligation to all their workers.

The investment menus of most corporations and businesses are quite limited. Couple this with the fact that interest rates are being kept at historic lows for a number of years is forcing companies and individuals to put greater and greater portions of their retirement plan funds in the stock market. Trillions of dollars were lost globally during last fall and this spring’s stock market tumble and on-going real estate correction. Many people found their self-managed and corporate managed retirement funds cut in half.

The stock market plunged some 87% during the last depression. There is every reason to believe that another depression would be as severe. In such a case near 90% of all retirement funds could evaporate, and with it so would the financial obligations of many of the world’s largest corporations. Looked at inn this way a deflationary depression might be the only way for a number of corporations and industries to be able to survive.

I’m not saying that a deflationary depression is being planned. Yet, I think it is unwise to be blind to the fact that some have and some would greatly benefit from a deflationary depression. These include the wealthiest of the wealthy, and the most powerful of the most influential. A deflationary depression not only solves their problems, but helps them reach their goals and dreams in the quickest and most powerful means available. A means that only comes about once a century of so, at least that’s what history has shown us.

But if you think that they are more concerned about your immediate welfare than their success and overall ability to impact the world, then maybe they will do everything in their power to avoid a depression.

Jim Guido

Denizens of Danger

I am baffled and saddened by the anger and fear which is dominating the debate regarding health care. In the US we never have a discussion, but always a debate. A discussion sounds hopeful of finding an agreeable solution to a problem, but a debate is one step from an argument it is seldom viewed or portrayed as a vehicle for harmony. We are being trained and provoked into battling each other through fear and hatred. We are being encouraged to be close minded and judgmental and emotionally outraged by the words “of the other side”.

Words no longer evoke thought but rather provoke emotional reactions. Any word uttered is immediately pigeon holed into some ideological caricature fraught with emotional negativity. No one can speak without being labeled a socialist, communist, neoconservative, or conspirator due to the vocabulary they use.

I don’t feel doing the right thing or trying to be a caring and empathetic individual is beholding to any particular ideology. I’m not sure what the solution is, but the problem is pretty clear. We have far too many people in this country who have no health insurance. Wanting everyone to have the basics in life to survive such as food, shelter, clothing and health care should not make you into bleeding heart or a Pollyanna. It should not be ethically tolerable for the wealthiest nation in the world to deny its citizens the basics of survival.

Supplying all citizens with access to the basic needs of life should be a given. One can earn many things, and one should take a responsibility for many things, but the necessities of life should be given to all, because it is the humane, just and right thing to do. We shouldn’t let greedy people goad us into fearing and hating the unfortunate even if they could have done something to at least partially prevent it. Most of us are very fortunate to have the lives we do and thinking ourselves better than our neighbor helps no one including ourselves.

Access to life’s basic necessities should be available for all people on the planet. The following song lyrics are from Denizens of Danger and can be found on the Edge of Eden CD in the music section of this site.

Denizens of Danger

I may not look like you
I may not talk like you
I may not show love like you
I may not believe as you
We’re all denizens of danger

I may not behave as you
I may not debate like you
I may not die like you
I may not show faith as you

We’re all denizens of danger

I want to live
You want to live
We want to live
That is why we keep on trying

I want to live
You want to live
We want to live
That is why I give

There’s no truth for all to agree
For you’ll be you and I’ll be me
A common goal a mass decree
In our lives we must feel free

We’re all denizens of danger

I want to live
You want to live
We want to live
So let’s live

I’m not going to give up trying to live

Jim Guido

The Body Beautiful?

I’m always amazed at how many of us behave in ways which seem to indicate that we do not view the human body as a thing of beauty? In fact there is much evidence to lead one to conclude that we are not only not happy with our bodies but view them as something to overcome and transcend.

Since the onset of puberty when I started to become attracted to the female form I found the majority of female bodies beautiful in one way or another. It was rare that I found a female form without some alluring or at least redeeming quality. Being heterosexual I was neither drawn to nor desired the male body. Yet, this did not prevent me from admiring my own or other males muscle tone or physique.

As I’ve mentioned many times how the female form has been central to art and the definition of beauty for almost every culture on the planet. Yet, despite this fact there does seem to be a tendency for people to be critical of the human form and in many ways find the human body disgusting or something to overcome or transform.

The use of make up has become more pronounced through the ages. While it can be used to enhance or draw attention to particularly attractive aspects of a person such as their eyes or lips, it also can be used to hide perceived flaws. If you pay attention to the message given in advertising the major role of current make up artistry to cover up flaws and create false impressions rather than accent strengths.

The entire realm of cosmetic surgeries even goes further in its desire to remove flaws and overcome weaknesses. Referring to a woman as a natural beauty is becoming a rarer event, especially amongst females.

The percentage of woman who state that they are happy or even comfortable with their bodies is shockingly low if you believe the statistics in magazine polls and psychological self-esteem studies.

If you look at Woman’s magazine’s beauty ads and photos you see a very narrow and unrealistic form of beauty. The models build and body type look very similar and they are air brushed into a rather cartoon like existence. Though male nudity magazines often tend towards featuring woman with larger breasts and flat stomachs you can still find woman of many varied body types being presented in an erotic fashion. Though the air brushed female is on the rise in male mags there is still plenty of space given to celebrating the varied forms of the female body.

The male form is far less celebrated in our society, and is at least as narrow in its definition of masculine beauty.

Other than a few rare exceptions the general male body is not considered attractive by our culture. In fact many woman state they find a partially or well dressed man far more attractive than a nude one. Not many men would say they prefer a clothed female body over a naked one.

In fact, many woman and men are uncomfortable and even disgusted by the male form. In modern cinema the naked female body is posed as a thing of beauty while the male body is seldom naked as when it is it usually is used a vehicle for comedy. While woman may complain that the female bodies in cinema are unrealistic and idealized, everyone realizes a male cavorting around in his underwear is a recipe for hilarity. A nude woman dancing and bending over is often erotic while a nude man dancing and bending over is used as a comic device in cinema resulting in people laughing and shouting words of disgust such as “gross”.

If people’s discomfort with the sight of the human body is becoming more pronounced it is nothing in comparison to the campaign against the human scent. When was the last time you heard someone praise the natural scent of a person other than their lover or spouse. Our bodies exist in a world of deodorants, perfumes, colognes, and scented shampoos where any trace of a natural human scent is impossible to discern. Any hint of the body’s natural scent would almost usually be viewed as poor hygiene. There use to be a difference between body odor and its scent.

Sure bad breath and stench are to be avoided, but isn’t there a positive role for one’s natural scent. Is the smell of the human body inherently offensive and disgusting? And if we feel the human scent repulsive what does it say about our view of ourselves and humanity in general.

In future posts I’ll take a look at other ways in which we show a dislike for our very humanity, sense of self, and experience of life. Yet, before concluding today I want to offer a couple more observations regarding our view of the male form and beauty.

If you’re male try to spend some time listening to female’s inn conversation, if you’re female pay attention to how central the concept of beauty is to feminine dialogue. When entering a house, or a shop or when first meeting another female it is rare that no observation or compliment regarding the beauty or physical appeal of something is not made within seconds. Something worn or in the room or changed is noted or praised. A new hair style, clothing, ear rings, etc, will be noted, or the feel or look of some object will be brought to everyone’s attention.

Over then last few years I’ve been astounded by the percentage of conversation time females spend assessing, appreciating and describing the sight, feel, smell and taste of beautiful things. Yet, despite this preoccupation with beauty and beautiful things how rare it is for woman to appreciate or articulate the beauty of the male form.

Males who seldom talk of the beauty of objects, on the other hand, generally view the female form as the height of beauty. This irony is depicted in the following lyrics from Preening Like a Peacock.

Preening Like A Peacock

Preening like a peacock hormones out of control
Preening like a peacock putting on the show

Women find beauty in natural things
Sunrise/sunset, seashores and gems
Women see beauty in many things
Flowers, colors, in fashion and rings

She sees beauty everywhere, preening like a peacock
Why is she looking way over there, preening like a peacock

A woman feels beauty in every touch
In satin, silks and in a baby’s flesh
A woman smells beauty in every sniff
In perfumes, herbs and floral scents

Spending hours smelling roses or buying a new top

A man sees beauty in the girl of his dreams
His temptress, his partner, his goddess his queen
A man finds beauty in a woman’s form
A breast, a thigh, a hip bone exposed

She is the goal of art
She is his anchor and spark
She gives the milk of life
Without her he shrivels and dies

A man feels beauty in the passion of curves
Flowing from buttock to the small of the back
A man feels completion with a woman in tow
She’s his altar, his Eden, his castle and throne

While I preen my feathers I feel oh so hot
Every time I feel I’m pretty I hear the bubble pop

Nothing pleases like a maiden in heat
Itching for pleasure from her head to her feet

Yet lust fades as quick as it comes
From an 8 course banquet to a stick of gum
In a woman’s world of beauty men don’t make the cut
A few handsome faces maybe and the occasional butt

But we’ll never really get it, we’ll continue to strut
We’ll shake our tail feathers thinking we’re too much
We’ll shake our tail feathers we’ll strut our stuff

To listen to this song go to the Priorities CD in the music section.

Jim Guido