About Me 0090: About Making Money

Beer Money. The team of Robert Roode and James Storm have been tagging together since 2008, and are currently enjoying their fourth reign as TNA World Tag Team Champions.

Each man came from a successful tag team to form perhaps the best tag team that TNA has ever seen. But where do they rank among the best of all time?

Despite fans’ many criticisms of TNA, including my own, it appears that historically the company does seem to care more about its tag team division than WWE does.

Roode’s former faction Team Canada, Storm’s former team America’s Most Wanted, along with Team 3D, LAX, The Voodoo Kin Mafia, The British Invasion, Generation Me, and The Motor City Machine Guns, have all vied for TNA tag team gold in recent years.

The division has thrived since the beginning of the company, and has been featured on TV and pay per view.

Then there’s WWE.

We all know that the current state of tag team wrestling in WWE is virtually non existent, with the championships currently held by Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.

Bound together by necessity, which is a polite way of saying that WWE creative didn’t really have anything for either guy to do, Marella and Kozlov have actually looked pretty good since winning the straps.

Now, everyone calm down, I didn’t say they were The Road Warriors or anything.

But, for the WWE, we can’t really hope for much more than the tired old formula of two mix-matched guys thrown together for the sake of a lousy, half-hearted push. When it comes to their tag team division, it’s par for the course.

My, how things have changed in this business.

Once upon a time, the National Wrestling Alliance not only featured the greatest singles wrestlers in the sport, its tag team division was second to none with The Rock n Roll Express, The Road Warriors, The Russians, The Midnight Express, The Minnesota Wrecking Crew.

These guys perfected the art of tag team wrestling, and gave Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Ricky Steamboat a run for their money when it came to the best match on the card.

Man, where’s the Wayback Machine when you need it?

Of course, WWE hasn’t always neglected its tag team division.

Arguably the greatest era for tag team wrestling in WWE was 2000 to 2001. Three teams came together for a tag team war the likes of which had not been seen since the 1980’s NWA. Three teams redefined tag team wrestling in the business with three little words: tables, ladders, and chairs.

Edge and Christian. The Hardy Boyz. The Dudley Boyz. Three of the best tag teams of all time, blowing the roof off of arenas all over the country every week, each team pushing the other, bringing out the best in every man involved.

This was, without a doubt, a tag team renaissance, a great time for fans who yearned for a revival of the division.

These guys all understood their roles in the company, and fought to carve their names into wrestling history, next to the greatest teams ever. They also wanted to steal the show, and give fans something to remember.

Mission accomplished on both counts.

But with the focus shifted away from tag team wrestling in WWE, and TNA looking to grow as a company, the art of tag team wrestling now has a new pair of Rembrandts. Beer Money.

Yes, that was impossible to say without a smile.

The truth is, Beer Money works on a couple of different levels. One, because of Roode, who brings an intensity and ice-cold determination to his character and approach as a heel. Two, because of James Storm, because he’s funny as hell.

I love this guy. He is a riot, and every time he opens his mouth, or for that matter, just smiles at someone, it’s comedy gold. He makes the team, gives them a bad-boy edge that would make Jake Roberts jealous.

James Storm’s gimmick works so well because it’s so normal. He’s just a guy with a cowboy hat and dark glasses with a beer in his hand.

He looks less like a wrestler and more like the lead singer in a Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band. He plays the part so well, and is more comfortable in his gimmick than perhaps anyone in the promotion.

For me, Storm would be a star in either company, on any level.

Fortunately for fans, right now he is one half of TNA’s biggest tag team, Beer Money. I have to say, I thoroughly enjoy this team and their work in the ring.

Aside from Storm’s comedy, the guy can work, and he is a great fit with Roode. Beer Money, in a lot of ways, is a throwback to the classic heel teams of the NWA.

They have the tough streak of The Minnesota Wrecking Crew, the finesse of The Midnight Express, and the swagger of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard.

And much like these three teams had memorable feuds with The Rock n Roll Express, Beer Money has had a momentous run against The Motor City Machine Guns.

The pace and tempo of the Guns, matched up against the fierce ground and pound of Beer Money, have made for some great moments in TNA. Both teams are working hard to own the night, every time they set foot in the ring.

That’s what tag team wrestling is all about, and I for one am glad to see it happening again. The only question I have is, how long will Beer Money stay together, before TNA creative, such as it is, decides to split them up?

It would be a shame if their run as one of the best teams in the company lasts only three years. Beer Money deserves to have a legacy, an opportunity to be considered among the all-time greats. But perhaps that is not meant to happen in TNA?

Considering that WWE gave up on its tag team division years ago, the chances of seeing Storm and Roode work for Vince appear to be slim to none.

But, if given a chance, I have to believe that not only would Beer Money make the best of it, they would do what they continue to do every week in TNA: steal the show.

It’s an interesting bit of speculation, when it comes to debating Beer Money’s place in tag team history. Perhaps it’s too soon for that. Perhaps as Storm and Roode continue to build their reputation week in and week out, we should just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Let the renaissance begin…again.

Sumitted by Mike Krieger of Kam LP

The people must be helped to think naturally about money. They must be told what it is, and what makes it money, and what are the possible tricks of the present system which put nations and peoples under control of the few.

- Henry Ford

U.S. investors should welcome, not fear, climbing commodity prices. The increases are "largely a reflection of the fact that the pace of economic growth, particularly in the U.S., has picked up," said Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at consultants IHS in Lexington, Massachusetts, and a former Federal Reserve official who has been covering the global economy for more than 35 years. "It's not something to be worried about."

- Bloomberg article from yesterday

Why Fiat Money is Immoral

Today’s email is going to be a little different. A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine from NYC who is not in the business but is on my weekly email distribution list asked me to explain fiat money and why I think it is the wrong way to go. Below I am going to paste my response to her. There is so much disinformation out there about money it is scary. Sadly, the strategist at my former employer added to this several weeks ago. He wrote: “Gold, which is effectively just another fiat currency.”

Clearly he failed to look up the definition of fiat currency.

Fiat money is money that has value only because of government regulation or law.

Definition of Fiat: An authoritative or often arbitrary official order or decree. THIS DOES NOT EXIST TO GOLD AS MONEY TODAY AT ALL.

Gold is not money under “fiat” in any country at the moment. Rather the market is making gold as money today which is the OPPOSITE of fiat money.

With that off my chest, here is the response to my friend…

Ok, so let’s do a brief thought exercise on why I believe commodity money is preferable to fiat money. When you have fiat money, a government, or in the case of the United States today, a banking cartel (the Federal Reserve), is granted exclusive authority to create the nation’s money. Laws are used to enforce the use of this money otherwise people probably wouldn’t use it. Under a commodity money system, where let’s say the U.S. issues dollars but those dollars are backed or convertible to a commodity (in many cases gold but it can be other things) there is a limit to the amount the government or banking cartel can print or issue and this is in relation to the amount of the commodity that exists or is available to the government or central bank. The current propaganda that is rife throughout economics textbooks and the like tell is the notion that commodity money is bad since it stifles human innovation in relation to the amount of gold or whatever commodity used. They say this is bad and that there should be no “limit” on money creation based on something as arbitrary as a commodity and that this is bad for growth. This is complete nonsense and is used to keep people in the current fiat system where money power is exercised most egregiously by the few against the many. The reason they defend the current system is simple. With the power to create unlimited currency at will (via the Federal Reserve) you possess total and absolute power over almost EVERYTHING in the economy and society at large. The Fed not only creates the money but they distribute it where they want. In QE1 and QE2 they decided to buy specific assets. In the case of QE1 where they bought toxic assets, this was just another bailout of the banks and others that made poor investment decisions. Did the money go to build new schools? No. Did the money go to build high speed trains as is done in China? No. Did it go to building out massive alternative energy infrastructure? No. It went to save the banks because at the end of the day the Fed exists as a backstop to the banks and it is to the banks that the Fed answers to at the end of the day. It is a brilliant scam that 95% of Americans do not comprehend. So in this case all of the money is going to the banks (which destroyed the global economy in the first place) and other players in the financial world. Remember, the banks ARE the Fed and the Fed creates the money. Gate keepers at the Federal Reserve and academia make understanding economics, the Fed and money seem so “complex” but the scam is really VERY simple.

I am not saying that I necessarily back the classic gold standard but it is much more of a moral and genuine capitalistic system than what we have today. One of the arguments against the gold standard is that the rich have all the gold anyway and they will still have the power. Ok, well let’s suppose this is true. Under a gold standard they would need to mobilize this gold to exercise their power and influence and pay people off to do their bidding. This has a real cost to them. Gold will be spent. At some point they will choose not to spend it on this or that and ultimately they will lose their power/money by spending too much gold. They can’t just create more out of thin air to exercise unlimited money power on the populace.

This is in complete contrast to how things work today. With the dollar they can create more and more everyday and buy people off without ANY cost in the short term (until the dollar itself collapses). This is why the most dangerous thing that can happen would be a global fiat currency to replace the U.S. dollar.   They could start over in their never ending system of money power with a new currency that can be printed at will and used to buy up the world and all its resources at no cost to them. The end result would be slavery for the masses of humanity. The global monetary system as it stands is one of the most immoral social structures ever created by man. Most of us in America do not understand this since we have been the beneficiaries of it up until now. We are like the feudal lords in pre-revolutionary that couldn’t see the world beyond their favored social status until they lost their heads. The system as it stands has led extreme exploitation and corruption, not true capitalism. If we continue on this path the next stop is a feudalistic fascism.

In a Fiat System Banks Must be Like Utilities

At the Sanford Bernstein conference several years ago Joseph Stiglitz spoke and said a good and healthy financial system is a small financial system. I couldn’t agree more. This is especially the case in a purely fiat money system. Money is too important to allow greedy children in expensive suits on Wall Street and dangerous academics at the Fed to play around with. I do not claim to know what the ideal money system is but I want to be very clear on this point. If we have a fiat system like today the banks should be the most regulated industry on the planet and operate like utilities. They are supposed to help the productive economy innovate and create wealth. They are not supposed to be parasites that suck the lifeblood out of the real economy and compose 16% of the weight in the S&P500 (only technology is bigger at 17%). Something is VERY, VERY wrong here.

I placed the quote at the top of the email to demonstrate just how entirely disconnected the corrupt elite class is in the United States is today from the average citizen. Many historians assert that Marie Antoinette never said “let them eat cake,” but surely she made comments similar to those at the top of this email from the Bloomberg article. What is happening now is nothing new. It has happened over and over again for millennium. The elites of every era always think they will stay in control no matter what. They will be wrong once again.

Watching the circus from Colorado,
Mike

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Monday, January 24, 2011

About Making Money

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