Day 295
A big stupid circle
Wash trading is a strategy in which the buyer and the seller are effectively on both sides of the deal, and a person will essentially sell themselves an asset to create the illusion that a particular asset is far more attractive than it actually is.
Imagine you're a pop star signed to a major label who has produced a new song. You really, really want to get it out to a top hits playlist because people who listen to music often use them as a guide to what they should listen to next.
So to do this, your label identifies hardcore fans, lures them to your concerts and fills up Internet with crap that reminds people of you. If your songs are any good, you rise on the charts. And then fans want to hear and see more.
The same is true for self-help books sold on Amazon. The practice can even apply to pilgrimages by visiting dignitaries to Bucha outside of Kyiv, which is what I thought when I listened to Serhiy Leshchenko explain laboriously to Mark Feygin why Z has been recognized correctly as Person of the Year.
We must not be distracted by the circular logic of needy operators.
Pop rock stars1, Hollywood actors2 and presidential pep talks3 win fame, not wars. Just like a year ago, when Z was insisting an all-out invasion was unlikely4, what’s necessary today is a trained, healthy and fully-equipped fighting force capable of vaporizing the enemy.
Before the February 2022, the outside world lived in fantasy land about Ukraine and Z because of loopy reporting. No one was that interested in Kyiv until the blitzkrieg. World leaders have only just recently showed signs of coming to their senses.
A lot of people have asked whether Z and his followers can be convinced to reach an accommodation with Vova in order to end the bloodletting. The answer is no for a zillion reasons. Russia’s military forces in Ukraine must be defeated and driven out. It’s a simple as that. The invaders must die. Rinse, repeat.
Think JDAM strikes.
Imagine Dragons Meets Z. Howard Stern Show (September 20, 2022)
Hollywood Actor Gives Z his Oscar. BBC (November 8, 2022)
Battle Cry for the World. Guardian (October 17, 2022)
Lost in Translation. Imminent Inevitability in Ukraine's Underpants (February 4, 2022)