Let’s see. We’re going to build a system to monitor all Internet traffic coming in and out of the country. Hmm… The only other country to do this well is this communist, authoritarian regime over in the East. Hmm… Our democratically inclined, freedom-loving population might mistake this for some dystopian, Orwellian, Stepford-like scheme for the government to invade the lives of our citizens and perhaps use it to control information and the like. So we don’t want to frighten people and give them the idea that we’re going to use it to create perfectly conformist citizenry. Hmm… I know. Let’s name it Perfect Citizen! Perfect! Has a nice ring to it. Reminds me of the 1950s for some reason. And it follows up nicely on the name for that scheme to eavesdrop on all domestic Internet traffic. The one with the cool name that made all of that eavesdropping seem nonthreatening. You know, Carnivore.

Really sad that this is referring to an actual event. And probably played out this way.

Normally it would be our President but we all know that is not going to work in this case. So in the absence of a singular leader we can turn to, how about if the Fed or some other organizing force created that calming voice? Where are the radio ads and commercials explaining the situation to Americans and the world? It won’t fix the problem of mortgage defaults. But it will at least potentially influence what has become the root problem, the psychology of the markets. In the past two weeks I haven’t heard a single government official on NPR that has been tasked with getting the message out that the government has an approach they think will work (of course that requires them to have one). Why not create a concerted media campaign to just calm people down. As part of that why not enlist the help of the media conglomerates. We all know that the patriarchs of these huge media conglomerates can influence the content on their properties. It would be a much bigger effort but not dissimilar to the networks agreeing to not broadcast election predictions until after all the polls have closed. Why not appeal to their civic obligations and enlist their help to be that calming voice alongside a well-orchestrated government campaign to do the same?

Being mainstream is helpful in a lot areas. Being social, the clothes you wear, picking a plumber or a new camera, buying a car – wisdom of the crowds tends to pay off. In a lot of the things that are important to me however, it’s a lot better to move outside the herd. Investing, having an extraordinary life, reading, music, building a business, etc. are areas that I believe benefit most from looking where others (or at least the mainstream) are not. I wanted to start a blog because I wanted a voice. But what do I want to talk about? Things I see that are exceptional. Things that are off the beaten path but pretty cool. That’s what I am fanatical about. So why not talk about those things. Can’t hurt and just might be fun.