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Showing posts with label zero sum games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zero sum games. Show all posts

Friday, May 04, 2012

Realpolitik [Today's News Poem, May 4, 2012]


Realpolitik [Today's News Poem by Khakjaan Wessington, May 4, 2012]

Imaginings obscure the wretched eye;
Corrupt the preconceptions, recall, ear.
Wherever there is truth, the lies must fly.

They nest and then disrobe, thus intertwine
As opposites in opposition's tears.
They complement the Yin and Yang, combine

The equal with unequal, all and one,
Or one and if it's zero, better you
Than me: that is the rule of life my son.

Before the Great Recession, I would sometimes give public lectures in which I would talk about rising inequality, making the point that the concentration of income at the top had reached levels not seen since 1929. Often, someone in the audience would ask whether this meant that another depression was imminent.

Well, whaddya know? ”
—PAUL KRUGMAN, The New York Times, Published: May 3, 2012

And thus


begat


And the Lord said It Is Good.

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Universal Exchange [Today's News Poem, February 24, 2012]


Universal Exchange [Today's News Poem, February 24, 2012]

Canopy, marketplace, sign of the scale—
What is the balance—what's in the balance?
Is it feast? Is it ample like booty?
If its sum adds to zero, then pity
Losers if loss is our destiny?
Loss is desire, pity's oppression
(And language subjective), meaning's
Subjective. Balance: the anchor,
Currency, chain and the sign of the tongue.

“There are a number of professions in which workers are paid, in part, with a figurative lottery ticket. The worker accepts a lower-paying job in exchange for a slim but real chance of a large, future payday.”

=

 =




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Friday, July 09, 2010

The Pawn's Fallacy [Today's News Poem, July 9, 2010]

The Pawn's Fallacy [Today's News Poem, July 9, 2010]

Defined by my pace on the map, I'm advancing
On tiles and my options are lined up opposing
My quest for the finish. I'm destined for something
Terrific: promotion; where origins matter
Far less than the power obtained. As a monarch,
My freedom to move by my whim on the chessboard
Is limited only by king and by checkmate
That comes with a flourish. And somewhere transcending
This board I'll recover my status—exceed it
Perhaps as a king on my chessboard. I'll gather
My forces together and crush my opponents
Forever in cycles of rebirth, ascending
The ranks to the top as the king of creation.

“With the exception of the redheaded Anna Chapman, who will doubtless soon be offered a talk show and a column on a British tabloid, they do look like a dull lot compared to their Soviet forerunners - who were very good indeed at their jobs. But they have all been offered a Moscow flat and a $2,000 (£1,327) state pension - the sort of riches plenty of Muscovites can still only dream of... But although the spies will not be paupers, their lives may not be easy.”
– Alexander Anichkin, BBC, 19:07 GMT, Friday, 9 July 2010 20:07 UK
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10581574.stm



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