Operator! Give me the number for 911!

Hooray! Did you hear the good news? They’ve reached an agreement! Finally, a mature and successful conclusion to a series of hard-fought and inner-reaching negotiations that would have had disastrous consequences had they collapsed…yes..”The Simpsons” will return for at least another two further seasons..brilliant!

Now, if only those equally important and essential “actors” across European and US corridors-of-power would be able to take care of that other important little thing to continue its run for another few seasons…the Global Economy. Homer would be so proud of the farce created in Europe through a lack of political will. Good to know where priorities lie when it comes to what is important to society. Homer vs Jobs. Doh!

Another week of highs and lows. A quick necessary word of course for the sad passing of a titan in the tech-industry, Steve Jobs – rest in peace (more below). David Cameron seems to have forgotten the UK never entered the single-currency and his manners, by loudly shouting from the side-lines that the Euro has “but weeks” to survive and urging France and Germany to bury their differences and hammer out an agreement. Another “thank you for 1992” cheque in the post to George Soros should probably be the correct move by the UK. A small period of (relative and misleading) calm across the Levant, yet tensions still abound (clashes in Egypt overnight a worrying development) and felt at every corner across the wider Middle East: from Yemen to Libya where still the “evil one” is eluding the might of the international intelligence community, throwing insults at a wet-behind-the-ears transitional government and forcing an uncomfortable and unsatisfactory ending to the rebellion.

Who you calling a creator?

We still sit and watch the financial industry slowly implode. A massive and messy explosion would be more spectacular but human nature cannot handle such emotionally damaging and traumatic experiences. We need time to deal with loss. We elude reality at every corner for as long as possible in a cloud of hopefulness (see below) all the while secretly knowing what must really be done. Procrastination is dangerous. Yet it is part of our emotional-dealing-process.  The cannier and more realistic out there have recognised the writing on the wall for some time and moved on to pastures new. The financial industry had for too many years taken hostage an unfair proportion of incredibly skilled and talented individuals, putting to work their potentially society-changing minds and ideas in an environment where the only overriding desire was to “create” wealth – sorry, but no wealth is “created” in the financial world, unless you are literally printing money, like the Fed

Thank God for scientists that bother not with ego-massaging recognition, but carry with them some inherent desire to “better” things. The demise of the financial industry will only help accelerate this admirable human trait. Clever minds will gravitate to more meaningful professions. Will those same bankers also comprehend that there is more to life than grabbing the best table in a club and living out a fantasy “bling bling” life?…Ask a CERN scientist who “Professor Green” is and what he thinks of his latest musical release – sit back and take note of his facial expression.  Different worlds exist on this same planet.

Age and understanding

Throughout history, the old and powerful have married the young and beautiful. Not the perfect recipe for a smooth and happy relationship. Well, not for one side of it at least. After listening to an irate German official on one of the media channels and his outlook on the gloomy prospects for the Eurozone, a pattern began to emerge between couples and economic success. Can two totally different characters with so little common ground between them truly come together in a harmonious and arranged co-habitation? Look at Germany and France getting together with the rest of emerging Europe. Older still, Greece getting it on with the rest of Europe. We won’t even mention equally ancient “Turkey” which has been incredibly quiet about the entire Eurozone crisis after several years of yearning.

Several old and quite wrinkled nations with their set ways, strong cultures and, let’s be honest here, strong nationalistic tendencies. Bring in the new, young, good-looking and still learning but quite naïve nubile-nations of emerging Europe..and what do you get? A joyous and fruitful union? Endless nights of partying and days of comfortable companionship?…as we all know..that “honeymoon” period only ever lasts a few months.

As with any relationship that stands a chance of survival, some common ground must exist between the protagonists. A strong, mutual and often illogical physical attraction can be a wonderfully powerful and combining tonic. In the Eurozone’s case, emerging Europe was almost hypnotically drawn to the strength and allure of a wealthy and capitalist western Europe. The Euro was the equivalent of a lothario’s charm and guile, the Eurozone where he’d take his prey back after the successful hunt. For “old Europe” the intoxicating vibe and youthful exuberance of hope and unfettered ambition exhibited by those post-communist nations was blindingly glamorous and appealing. Emerging Europe was the devastatingly tantalising young-lady that old Europe wanted at their Eurozone party.

Sad reality is that these fleeting moments of illogical natural attraction (passion can be a great excuse for carnal desire) dissipate with time. As a satiating of the appetite wanes, stark differences in character, life-outlooks and comprehension make strikingly-wide appearances. France and Germany hoped that peripheral Europe, with its vastly different history and approach to the work-ethic in particular, would simply fall-in line with its pace of life. All hoped that a common factor in the form of the Euro would miraculously sweep away centuries of animosity and gulf-wide differences. Any quick glance at an inter-racial and age-defying relationship would have expressed the difficulties involved in keeping things together.

Relationships are about understanding and wanting the same things. The Eurozone is not a working relationship. One part of the relationship is too powerful. Certain commonalities are not going to outweigh a plethora of striking differences. The United States of America works on a single currency because the culture across the entire land hums in unison – the human desire to want more. Accepting that the “debt-of-one-is-the-debt-of-all “ is far simpler when you all have shared principles and ambitions.

Rotting Apple?

It is without question that Steve Jobs was a great man. Achieving as much as he did in only 56 years, the last of which were marred by ill-health and personal triumph ending in unfortunate but inevitable defeat, combined with global-dominating visions of the tech-future, was all nothing short of legendary. The trouble for his inherited empire begins now though. Legends are not easily followed. In fact, empires often crumble on the passing of their revered and once-in-a-lifetime leader. It is as if the weight of self-expectation and the proverbial shoes-to-fill are simply too heavy and large to bare. In earnest, there simply may not be another Steve Jobs around Apple.

Couple this with an industry that is as cut-throat and fast moving as an ancient battlefield, littered with the bodies of the weak where only the strong survive to conquer the lands they seek, and a picture of a shifting dominance in the “smart-phone” battle emerges. Samsung, HTC, Google/Android and Microsoft even, will more likely survive the next four years of innovation and shifting markets at the top of their game, higher than Apple. Imagine your bewilderment If someone had said to you back in 2004, as you were rushing-to-the-phone-store to pick up the latest new covers for your Nokia 8210 or showing off your “unbeatable” high-score on Snake, that Nokia would be almost dead and buried today – hmm..never say never.

Optimistically Healthy…

Scientists have quantified how optimism is actually good for your health. Apparently we optimists – I do consider myself one..why do you look so surprised? – actively acknowledge good news at the same time as partially ignoring risks and downsides. Hmm, sounds a little more like “ignorance is bliss”, but hey, with all that is happening out there, whatever works. Looking through the latest fog to emerge from the beginning of the end of the global economy, many would be quite tempted to adopt a Homer approach and simply admit..”If you really want something in this life, you have to work for it. Now quiet! They're about to announce the lottery numbers.” Oh Homer (yes, that was him calling the Operator), ever the optimist indeed.

Enjoy the week...let’s keep talking.

H