Political Rhetoric - G7 Leaders Meet Again And Again And Again To Vow Cooperation
Meetings are often the scourge of humanity. I have been in large organizations where all some people do is go to meetings. Literally. If meetings were banned, many people in today's world wouldn't know what to do with their time. If anyone did an activity analysis in large organizations, I suspect we would find a substantial percentage of management in particular could be eliminated. That's quite ironic since its usually the actual creators of capital, the front line workers, who are the first to be released in an environment such as this.
A reasonably golden rule is that productivity is inversely related to the amount of meetings tolerated in an organization. The problem is that there is seldom anything of value accomplished in a meeting unless it is well-planned. Yet well-planned meetings are typically an oxymoron. In fact, the problem is recognized as so systemic that there is a developed methodology to productive meetings. And, there are consultants trained in that methodology called meeting facilitation. Ironically, I have been trained in meeting facilitation so spotting a boondoggle is as easy as a squirrel locating an acorn.
As an aside, a few simple requirements - an agenda, a problem definition, anticipated meeting objectives and the required attendance of any decision makers required to adopt these objectives - cuts an overabundance of meetings to a minimum and helps crystallize their purpose.
Now that we have some background we can combine this with the fact that politicians generally have a common talent - talk. And talk. And talk. They'll even talk as Rome burns. In fact, that is exactly what is happening in today's environment. Most political leaders have no idea what is going on in the global economy and no idea how to resolve it. Yet there is comfort in numbers. In other words, it's time to call a meeting. About what? Does it really matter? Problem definition and constructive action aren't often part of the skill set of politicians. And, the decision makers are not in attendance to these G7 meetings. That would require all lawmakers, the doers of politics, from each and every country. Finally, none of the attendees have enough knowledge about the cause of this crisis to recommend specific solutions. Therefore, these G7 and G20 meetings hold little hope of accomplishing anything. Instead we see continued handshakes for the cameras and a vow to continue to work together. Again and again and again. Meeting after meeting after meeting. And, what did the G7 leaders just decide? To cooperate. And, how many meetings have they had to confirm this resolve? Now tell me what has really come out of these meetings? Absolutely nothing. The meeting monster has consumed global politicians as they are stricken by the current crisis. That is not a good sign. We need less talk more of walking the talk. There are answers to this crisis but the status quo is so blindly consumed with saving itself, we shall likely continue into the abyss until the pain is greater than the desire to save current economic ideology. We will reach that point. It's simply a matter of when and how much damage has been inflicted in the interim.
Of course we will and shall cooperate where it makes sense. But, that doesn't mean the U.S. policy should benefit another nation over its own. Or, American taxpayers are going to support more repressive policies designed to benefit another nation. Especially a nation that does not embrace similar ideals. And, let's be clear. That is what we are talking about. Government actions across the globe since this crisis started are repressive. These bailouts are repression and tyranny for the benefit of an elitist few. Intervention on some level may be necessary to keep society from collapsing but they are still repressive. So, to apply them on a global scale is absurd. It would cause outright revolt against said politicians.
Yet now we see the knit-picking has already begun. It has not developed into all-out verbal attacks but countries have begun criticizing each other. Germany's Merkel is my current favorite for the skill of double-speak or talking out of both sides of her mouth. Merkel is calling U.S. domestic sourcing policies for any stimulus as illegal. Yet Germany has substantial policies in place to protect domestic investment and government sourcing. Substantially more protection than America. Germany's economy is comparatively a prison in its openness. I don't mention this because I have some specific concern with Germany's policies. They support a domestic agenda as they should. But Merkel is chiding the French bailout, chiding the European Union, chiding the U.S. and generally ridiculing everyone outside of Germany. Talk, talk and more talk meant for her constituency. Yet I don't see Germany volunteering to bail out the United States or to institute global bailout policies using Germany's money. In fact, Germany's heavy hand is why many European Union members are already in a depression and more are on the way. I'm not advocating the German people bail out anyone, because they shouldn't. But I am saying that this heavy hand is actually driving spikes into globalization and Germany's eminently beneficial economic position. In other words, Merkel is contributing to an ever growing economic crisis in Germany.
In the end politicians will do what has the greatest political value - addressing the domestic agenda. It's the principle Adam Smith talked about with the invisible hand applied to governance. In other words, people act primarily in their own self-interest when it comes to survival. So, we can really discount these G7 and G20 meetings as talk, talk and more talk. Instead, what we should watch for are cues as to a change in tone by one or many global politicians. Merkel's tone has changed. That bodes ill for the European Union.
A reasonably golden rule is that productivity is inversely related to the amount of meetings tolerated in an organization. The problem is that there is seldom anything of value accomplished in a meeting unless it is well-planned. Yet well-planned meetings are typically an oxymoron. In fact, the problem is recognized as so systemic that there is a developed methodology to productive meetings. And, there are consultants trained in that methodology called meeting facilitation. Ironically, I have been trained in meeting facilitation so spotting a boondoggle is as easy as a squirrel locating an acorn.
As an aside, a few simple requirements - an agenda, a problem definition, anticipated meeting objectives and the required attendance of any decision makers required to adopt these objectives - cuts an overabundance of meetings to a minimum and helps crystallize their purpose.
Now that we have some background we can combine this with the fact that politicians generally have a common talent - talk. And talk. And talk. They'll even talk as Rome burns. In fact, that is exactly what is happening in today's environment. Most political leaders have no idea what is going on in the global economy and no idea how to resolve it. Yet there is comfort in numbers. In other words, it's time to call a meeting. About what? Does it really matter? Problem definition and constructive action aren't often part of the skill set of politicians. And, the decision makers are not in attendance to these G7 meetings. That would require all lawmakers, the doers of politics, from each and every country. Finally, none of the attendees have enough knowledge about the cause of this crisis to recommend specific solutions. Therefore, these G7 and G20 meetings hold little hope of accomplishing anything. Instead we see continued handshakes for the cameras and a vow to continue to work together. Again and again and again. Meeting after meeting after meeting. And, what did the G7 leaders just decide? To cooperate. And, how many meetings have they had to confirm this resolve? Now tell me what has really come out of these meetings? Absolutely nothing. The meeting monster has consumed global politicians as they are stricken by the current crisis. That is not a good sign. We need less talk more of walking the talk. There are answers to this crisis but the status quo is so blindly consumed with saving itself, we shall likely continue into the abyss until the pain is greater than the desire to save current economic ideology. We will reach that point. It's simply a matter of when and how much damage has been inflicted in the interim.
Of course we will and shall cooperate where it makes sense. But, that doesn't mean the U.S. policy should benefit another nation over its own. Or, American taxpayers are going to support more repressive policies designed to benefit another nation. Especially a nation that does not embrace similar ideals. And, let's be clear. That is what we are talking about. Government actions across the globe since this crisis started are repressive. These bailouts are repression and tyranny for the benefit of an elitist few. Intervention on some level may be necessary to keep society from collapsing but they are still repressive. So, to apply them on a global scale is absurd. It would cause outright revolt against said politicians.
Yet now we see the knit-picking has already begun. It has not developed into all-out verbal attacks but countries have begun criticizing each other. Germany's Merkel is my current favorite for the skill of double-speak or talking out of both sides of her mouth. Merkel is calling U.S. domestic sourcing policies for any stimulus as illegal. Yet Germany has substantial policies in place to protect domestic investment and government sourcing. Substantially more protection than America. Germany's economy is comparatively a prison in its openness. I don't mention this because I have some specific concern with Germany's policies. They support a domestic agenda as they should. But Merkel is chiding the French bailout, chiding the European Union, chiding the U.S. and generally ridiculing everyone outside of Germany. Talk, talk and more talk meant for her constituency. Yet I don't see Germany volunteering to bail out the United States or to institute global bailout policies using Germany's money. In fact, Germany's heavy hand is why many European Union members are already in a depression and more are on the way. I'm not advocating the German people bail out anyone, because they shouldn't. But I am saying that this heavy hand is actually driving spikes into globalization and Germany's eminently beneficial economic position. In other words, Merkel is contributing to an ever growing economic crisis in Germany.
In the end politicians will do what has the greatest political value - addressing the domestic agenda. It's the principle Adam Smith talked about with the invisible hand applied to governance. In other words, people act primarily in their own self-interest when it comes to survival. So, we can really discount these G7 and G20 meetings as talk, talk and more talk. Instead, what we should watch for are cues as to a change in tone by one or many global politicians. Merkel's tone has changed. That bodes ill for the European Union.
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