Listen Up

I am not interested in listening to the markets today. I may have some thoughts on them, but they aren't important - as if they ever were. Today I have no answers. Today it's time to listen, not talk.

Like everybody else, I have been spending time reflecting on the recent troubling events south of the border. My perspective is a bit unique. I lived in the U.S. during the tumultuous period of the late sixties. My thoughts this week have quickly gone back to those formative days and the strong memories now being evoked.

The parallels to the 67-70 period are unmistakable. The 'Hot Summer' of 1967 saw 'race riots' break out in U.S. cities as the economic disparities between urban and suburban America reached a tipping point. Disproportionately, young blacks were being conscripted to military service, as the national mood shifted to a hawkish stance on the Vietnam War. Richard Nixon, the Republican candidate promised 'law and order' and a 'winnable' strategy in the war. George Wallace won 46 electoral college votes as an avowed segregationist.

Twin blows to the socially progressive camp were dealt by the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, further accelerating the racial tensions. Riots at the Democratic National Convention later that summer dramatically reflected the growing mood of frustration and desire for change.

The memory of these tragic events, and many more like them, have been brought back to me by the current turmoil. Although the privileges I was born with gave me immunity to their direct effects, I can relate to the emotions now being experienced. Seeing them play out again after so much 'progress' has been made is deeply depressing. Have we learned nothing in the last 50 years?

For those who argue for "domination", turning to a 'law and order' quick fix, I have news for you. - that is the problem. If a police force condones the breaking of those very laws, order is impossible to achieve.

So I will spend today, 'listening' to these memories again. It's the least I can do, bottled up here in my cocoon of privilege.

And, if you are looking for the market to reflect either economic reality or a social conscience, think again. Just as money doesn't sleep, it seemingly doesn't think either.