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Savy I love your review! Cecilia Ho Thanks for sharing Laurel, sending you a hug and praying for your battle! Which other books are life-changing for you? Shelves: favorites , meaning-and-happiness. After I read this book, which I finished many, many years ago, I had become self-critical of any future endeavours which would take up a lot of my time. I would ask myself "is this or will this be meaningful to me?

It was this book that influenced me to consciously live as meaningful a life as possible, to place a great value on the journey and not just the destination, while knowing that "meaningful" doesn't always mean "enjoyable". So I studied Physics instead of Engineering. I went to York U instead of U of T. I went to Europe instead of immediately entering the workforce after graduation.

I want to recommend this book to all of my grade 12 students. View all 21 comments. Jan 14, Petra X wants to enjoy being alone, not lonely rated it it was amazing Shelves: history , reviews , reviewed , psycho-neurology-crime , philosophy-religion. How is it possible to write dispassionately of life in a concentration camp in such a way as to engender great feeling in the reader?

This is how Frankl dealt with his experience of those terrible years. The dispassionate writing makes the horrors of the camp extremely distressing, more so than writing that is more emotionally involved. It is almost reportage. The first half of the book is equal in its telling to The Diary of a Young Girl in furthering our understanding of those dreadful times.

T How is it possible to write dispassionately of life in a concentration camp in such a way as to engender great feeling in the reader? There are occasional glimmers of humanity from the Germans. These are so small that rather than illuminate any basic goodness, they cast further into the shadows the terror of living in a place and time where death might be a beating or a shot to the head at any moment.

There are also stories of the depths that some of the Jewish victims would sink to in what they would do to stay alive themselves. It made me think that rather than condemn these people for becoming tools of the Nazis, what would I do faced with death or the chance to stay alive a little longer and maybe save family or friends. The second half is about Frankl's psychotherapeutic methods and lost me in boredom.

I did read this in its entirety but it wouldn't have spoiled the book, or my appreciation of the genius retelling and brilliant writing of the first half, if I hadn't. View all 24 comments. For most of the book, I felt as dumbfounded as I would have been if I were browsing through a psychiatric journal. Filled with references and technical terms and statistics, it was mostly a book-long affirmation of the then innovative technique called 'logo-therapy'. I do not understand how this book is still relevant and found in most popular book stores.

It might have been that the book was popular in the sixties and seventies as it offered a powerful and logical argument against the reduction For most of the book, I felt as dumbfounded as I would have been if I were browsing through a psychiatric journal.

It might have been that the book was popular in the sixties and seventies as it offered a powerful and logical argument against the reductionist approach that leads inevitably to existential nihilism, but is that still relevant today? It also attempts to free psychiatry from the belief that 'eros' was the cause of all neurosis and turns the flashlight on repressed 'logos' - which forms the premise of the book and the title.

But, while the basic premises are powerful and moving, the breadth and scale of repetition of the same ideas and the technical jargon and the constant Freud-bashing ensured that I did not enjoy the book as much as I had hoped. I wish Frankl had stuck to his original title of 'The Unconscious God' - it would have been more representative of the book as his 'logos' argument directly derives from his postulation of a transcendent unconscious super-ego that trumps Freud's 'Super Ego' and a spiritual cum instinctual subconscious that trumps Freud's 'id'.

Unless you are looking for a historical perspective on the technical aspects of psychiatry and about the origins of 'logo-therapy', I would not recommend this book, especially for general reading.

If you pick up this book, like I did, in the hope that it is about Frankl's personal quest for meaning amidst the horrors of Auschwitz with a strong scientific perspective, you will be disappointed to find that you have picked up a medical journal that is pedantic and repetitive, with hardly any reference to Frankl's personal journey or about how he evolved his theory and practices that did transform many lives based on his experiences.

View all 30 comments. The original part one was the strongest I think because the rest started to go into the typical psychobabble inherent to books trying to contribute to the academic side of psychology or psychiatry but the first part really grounded the idea of giving meaning to one existence into personal experience and I found it very poignant about the mental state of people in very stressful and hopeless situations.

It's a very empowering and important idea that no matter the situation a person can control th The original part one was the strongest I think because the rest started to go into the typical psychobabble inherent to books trying to contribute to the academic side of psychology or psychiatry but the first part really grounded the idea of giving meaning to one existence into personal experience and I found it very poignant about the mental state of people in very stressful and hopeless situations.

It's a very empowering and important idea that no matter the situation a person can control their behavior and influence their own feelings of the situation. This idea of a person having so much control over their own selves and survival is one I whole heartedly agree with. Anyone having trouble figuring out life or what the point is could benefit from reading this I think. View all 8 comments. Apr 24, JV semi-hiatus rated it it was amazing Shelves: curiouser-and-curiouser , memoir , home-for-my-heart , , made-my-face-rain , 5-star-reads , nonfiction , favourites.

What is it that makes life worth living? Is it the pursuit of happiness? Attaining success? As human beings living in a vast and endless universe or multiverse for that matter , what are we actually living for?

I, for one, cannot answer those particular questions for you but know that I am also one of those who is searching for answers, trying to look for ways to make sense out of life, the numerous paths we've all trodden as well as the roads we haven't taken. We look backwards rummaging throu What is it that makes life worth living?

We look backwards rummaging through our past examining our own mistakes, failures, and losses and what we could've done to correct those that which cannot be changed. We yearn for the truth about our own existence where pain, suffering, loss, and even death is inevitable, but amidst those darkest moments, we rise above those conditions and grow beyond them as Frankl puts it, "'Et lux in tenebris lucet' — and the light shineth in the darkness.

In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Thus, logotherapy sees in responsibleness the very essence of human existence. Brimming with illuminating insights, Frankl explores, analyses, and shares his harrowing experiences in a concentration camp during Hitler's reign. More than that, he delves into numerous ways in how he sees suffering and pain as a part of life.

By employing logotherapy, he offers us ways to discover meaning in our lives by creating a work or doing a deed; by experiencing something or encountering someone; and by the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete. That is why man is even ready to suffer, on the condition, to be sure, that his suffering has a meaning. But let me make it perfectly clear that in no way is suffering necessary to find meaning.

I only insist that meaning is possible even in spite of suffering—provided, certainly, that the suffering is unavoidable. For someone who has been wandering and wondering about "meaning", this gave me a better understanding about life, offered me a glimmer of hope, and provided an enormous relief. Being diagnosed with depression a year ago, I asked my psychiatrist what was the meaning of life.

He provided a rather straightforward answer, "It is up to you to search for it as it will be a lifelong journey of exploration. This is also true of the crises of pensioners and aging people. View all comments. Frankl Man's Search for Meaning is a book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as an Auschwitz concentration camp inmate during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positively about, and then immersively imagining that outcome.

According to Frankl, the way a prisoner imagined the future affected his longevity. The book intends to answer the question "How was everyday life in a concentration camp reflected in the mind of the average prisoner? View all 5 comments. This is a short but extremely intense book, first published in It begins with the author's experiences in four!! He continues in the second half of this book with a discussion of his approach to psychiatry, called logotherapy, based on the belief that each person needs to find something in his or her life, something particular and personal This is a short but extremely intense book, first published in He continues in the second half of this book with a discussion of his approach to psychiatry, called logotherapy, based on the belief that each person needs to find something in his or her life, something particular and personal to them, to give their life meaning.

We need to look outside ourselves. There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is meaning in one's life.

There is much wisdom in the words of Nietzsche: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. When I tried to read the second, more academic part of it years ago, I floundered I don't think I ever got through to the end. But I stuck with it this time and found it truly rewarding. The second part did sometimes challenge my brain cells with concepts like this: I never tire of saying that the only really transitory aspects of life are the potentialities; but as soon as they are actualized, they are rendered realities at that very moment; they are saved and delivered into the past, wherein they are rescued and preserved from transitoriness.

For, in the past, nothing is irretrievably lost but everything is irrevocably stored. I had to read that one two or three times before I felt like I really grasped what Frankl was saying. And this one: Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now! I assume it's to help give us motivation to avoid making a wrong choice, by thinking through the likely consequences of what we are about to do.

But there are so many nuggets of wisdom in this short volume. A few things that really impacted me: We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment.

Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. It is one of the basic tenets of logotherapy that man's main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life. In accepting this challenge to suffer bravely, life has a meaning up to the last moment, and it retains this meaning literally to the end. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.

By the same token, every human being has the freedom to change at any instant. Inspiring words; inspiring life.

Bonus material: Here is an interview with Viktor Frankl when he was 90 years old. He died just a couple of years later. View all 15 comments. Feb 07, Francisco rated it it was amazing. This book stands out as one of the most helpful tools I've found in my life-long search for the way to live and be useful to others despite depression. As opposed to Freud, who believed that the primary drive in man, the most urgent motivation, was pleasure, Frankl believes that it is meaning.

Now meaning for Frankl is not something abstract and airy and noble but rather something very concrete and specific to your life - what is the task that life asks of you that only you can do? Look at the c This book stands out as one of the most helpful tools I've found in my life-long search for the way to live and be useful to others despite depression.

Look at the circumstances of your life, look at your talents and the people that surround you. Where is the need that is calling for you to respond? For Frankl, the hope that kept him trudging on day by day in the concentration camps was the need to re-write the manuscript taken away when first imprisoned where he could present to the world his theory of Logotherapy.

Why I found this book so helpful in my struggles with depression is because one of the rock-bottom places where depression can take you is despair. Despair is the absence of hope. The search for meaning, for a response to something life is asking of you, is the place where hope is born. Frankl states that hope, like genuine laughter or like faith or love is not something that we can will into being.

We cannot make hope appear willy nilly in our lives because hope is more than a nice thought, it is, like true love something that involves your whole being. I find this to be true but there are things that we can do to prepare the way for hope's arrival and hope will come, it will always come.

We can search for meaning because searching and looking and asking and expecting are acts and attitudes that we can will. Meaning, according to Frankl is found in three different forms. Meaning is found in creating or doing. Meaning is found in experiencing something greater than ourselves and in encountering another being through love. And finally, meaning can be found in the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering. The important thing here is that in all of these instances the value of the thing that gives meaning is subjective.

There is no scale out there that says that writing a novel gives more meaning than helping your spouse with the dishes. When it comes to meaning, the small, the hidden, the unsaid is as important as the great acts of genius and you alone are the judge.

Orienting yourself to responding in some way to what life is asking of you may not be the sole cure to depression but it is for me a necessary part of any healing process, of learning to live and be useful, despite the illness. Jul 22, Swaroop rated it it was amazing Shelves: favourites. Professor Viktor E. Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning has been on my 'to-read' shelf for quite sometime now. This book came to the top of the list at a time when life's in shambles and everything around seems to be crumbling.

This wonderful book has provided something to hold on to, and an understanding of the power of the true love for the beloved one. Man's Search For Meaning is for everyone who would want to live a meaningful life. This book is also for all those who have a goal in life to help others find a meaning for their life. Professor Frankl indicates three sources for meaning in life: doing significant work , selfless love for your beloved, and showing courage during difficult and trying times.

Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation. But there was no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bore witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer. A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life.

After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright. So, let us be alert; alert in a twofold sense: Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of.

And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake. View all 23 comments. Aug 21, Maxwell rated it liked it Shelves: owned , non-fiction , audiobook. I have to separate the emotional impact of the first half of the book from my overall impression on how effective the book was as a whole. It's really difficult not to find stories of the holocaust incredibly gripping, and the way in which Frankl speaks of his experience is inspiring and yet still maintains that gravity you'd expect from such a narrative.

However, the latter half of the book delves much more into a psychological, and less personal, examination of 'logotherapy' that is, the autho I have to separate the emotional impact of the first half of the book from my overall impression on how effective the book was as a whole.

However, the latter half of the book delves much more into a psychological, and less personal, examination of 'logotherapy' that is, the author's personal psychological theory. Once it became more of a text book with small sections reflecting on specific terms and theories, it was difficult to stay engaged.

I also felt it lacked the cohesiveness that the first part of the book had with a more linear narrative structure. Nonetheless, the nuggets of wisdom I gleaned from this book were worth the reading. And I can only commend Frankl on his 'tragic optimism' in such a horrific environment as a Nazi concentration camp. View all 3 comments. I never thought the book would actually deal with psychiatry, neuroses and some basic mental health issues.

The book just ended. Did it just end? Like end?! I was so enjoying the concepts and the writing. Loved the later half of the book more. This book is so informative and insightful from a very practical point of view, historically relevant and quite helpful from a medical point of view. It helps that the author is from the said field and he just wrote everything important in such a concise manner that you just cannot afford to skip a word.

I have less information about concentration camps or the history behind it. But yes, this book is like 80 percent more than that. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3.

Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Jake finds himself under arrest on suspicion of helping Macklin escape in the first place.

Add content advisory. User reviews Be the first to review. Details Edit. Release date September 28, United States. Vienna, Austria. MGM Television. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 30 minutes. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content.

Top Gap. Other OPEC members, such as Nigeria and Ecuador, face budget problems too, making them reluctant to implement more cuts that might shrink revenues further. Unlike many of their fellow members, the Saudis are better positioned to cope with the drop in prices.

Also unclear, after two earlier cuts failed to push prices higher, is what the group can do without prolonging the global economic downturn. OPEC itself, along with the International Energy Agency, has significantly revised down its projections for demand growth in Meanwhile, global crude inventories are growing, as evidenced by a U.

OPEC's last round of cuts would put its total production at about That is about , barrels per day higher than the forecast call on OPEC crude in much of A Nov. In a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto, Mr. Flaherty said he considers the tax cuts already planned for sufficient to meet promises the Prime Minister made at the recent meeting of G20 leaders. Tax reductions for next year include an increase in the income threshold below which individuals won't pay any income tax, the implementation of the Tax Free Savings Account, and reductions in corporate income tax.

Flaherty insisted that Canada is actually doing more than Britain or the United States, which have introduced, or have planned, sharp stimulus packages. Flaherty said.

Temporary stimulus packages are far less effective and only give a brief boost to the economy, he added. Some economists, however, questioned the value of counting on existing — or already announced — tax cuts to give a boost to the economy. While Mr. The plan, chiefly targeting health and education, will generate work for , people, Rudd said in Canberra.

Forecast budget surpluses will fund new spending to start this fiscal year and extend over the following four years. The government on Oct. He also bolstered funds to build properties for the homeless. Rudd said Nov. The U. The Reserve Bank of Australia this month reduced its economic growth forecast to 1. The central bank has slashed its benchmark interest rate 2 percentage points since September to 5.

Spain unveiled an 11bn euro plan aimed at creating , jobs. The announcements are the latest in a series of attempts by EU governments to shore up their economies as the financial crisis bites.

Spain's unemployment reached The Spanish government said it would invest 0. The construction industry has also been severely hit by the financial crisis, with property prices falling and companies slashing thousands of jobs. The Spanish economy shrank by 0. The European Commission has demanded that each EU member must spend about 1. Spain's plan is worth 1. Germany launched a similar 50bn euro package, while next week France is expected to unveil economic measures worth 20bn euros.

What does it take to get you in the holiday spirit? If that won't do it, then I just don't know what will. Oh, wait -- that's right, the person doing the giving is you. Sorry about that. I'm giving too. I feel your pain. It's old news -- mostly old, anyway. No one is asking themselves anymore is there some major institution that might fail and that we would not be able to do anything about it. So I think that is a positive.

The article spelled out their analysis in arriving at that amount, I don't think it's overstated. Bloomberg has been virtually alone among the major media in objecting to the Treasury's secrecy regarding the bailout, secrecy their article noted as well: "When Congress approved the TARP on Oct.

Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledged the need for transparency and oversight. While there are many screaming about the agency purchases, this is permitted under The Federal Reserve Act actually an amendment passed in the s, although it has never before been used. But consumer credit obligations are a different matter. They are both unsecured and not federal instrumentalities at their source, and there is absolutely no authority for Bernanke to do this. Loan against them, yes.

Buy them? Obviously, the smashing of the TNX along with agency spreads came of this; gee, is this a surprise? But how does this help the banks? Remember, banks borrow short and lend long. They ain't doing any lending with that sort of spread. Of course we already knew that, right? So what is this? It's a raw attempt to support house prices - an attempt that will just as have the others fail. I come back to first principles - the root of the problem is that banks and others made loans to people who could not pay.

That is, on balance there is too much debt in the system overall, and the quality of it is too poor. It might be nice to think you can "unring" this bell, but you can't. Nor can you solve anything by shifting who has or is guaranteeing the debt. All that does is change who eats the default - it does not change the fact of the default, nor the credit quality.

That is, the majority of the GDP increase over the years from was due to the granting of bad credit, not organic growth in wages and productivity. Now we can deny this for as long as we'd like, but until we face this truth we will not solve the problems that ail this economy.

Sustainable growth will not return, jobs will not "come home" and productivity will not mount a sustainable increase. Attempting to drive down the cost of money credit to "restart" lending is a fool's errand. That simply extends more bad credit into the economy which of course puts on the table even more defaults over time.

Down this rathole lies Japan's experience of the s, and ours to come - or worse. You can only drive asset prices in a sustainable fashion by driving up real wages through productivity and new technologies. If you do it through protectionism you get the s. If you instead depress wages through illegal immigration economic "growth" reverses unless you start making unsound loans, which is exactly what we did in the timeframe.

The latter always blows up in your face, and once it does, you can't reverse it. I am happy that Volker is on Obama's economic team. I am not happy with the idea that we're going to play FDR, because any dispassionate analysis of the "New Deal" infrastructure and "make work" programs shows that they were quite counterproductive to economic recovery never mind the other things FDR did like burning farmer's fields and shooting their livestock to "boost prices"!

Paulson needs to be fired and Bernanke sacked - or he needs to resign. These "promises" have no more ability to be kept than do promises that everyone can have free unlimited health care from 65 years of age onward. Paulson and Bernanke are effectively writing checks that President Obama is going to have to cash.

I suspect he is going to find that this will get extraordinarily difficult some time in , and when it does, that's when the real trouble will come. Just as President Clinton discovered that he's not really the "guy in the charge", so will President Obama - one way or another. Enjoy this bounce in the market and if you're trapped long use it to raise cash, and for God's sake, don't do anything stupid shopping over the holidays.

Making a list, keeping it short Tammy Trinneer let her children know early on that Santa may not be bringing as many goodies this Christmas. Trinneer's story was similar to that of many other shoppers. The down economy is forcing them to be more specific in their shopping. I'm out after Thanksgiving, which I don't normally do. She told them to "try to keep their lists to what they really, really want, as opposed to making a list just for the sake of making it.

Although they felt confident in their job security, they said they still know that others are hurting and are paying attention to prices. Jason Carabetta, of Pittstown, Pa. One thing that was available this Christmas season that was practically nonexistent a year ago was the Nintendo Wii. Toys "R" Us was packed Friday morning, with almost every parking space filled. The main mall, too, was crowded, but seemed to have fewer people bustling about. Some customers said they were pleased with some of the sales while others said they were unimpressed.

He said he was curious about how people -- mindful of the credit crisis on Wall Street -- were paying for the goods, whether they were using cash or credit cards. Woods is part owner of a business and elected to lower his salary rather than lay off workers. He said he took a second job to make up for the cut. Woods said he was pleased with the selection the mall had to offer. He said he pays in cash and also tries to use store coupons on top of the sales offered by stores.

At the end of September the contracts cost , euros a year with no advance payment. A basis point on a credit-default swap protecting 10 million euros of debt from default for five years is equivalent to 1, euros a year. Credit-default swaps, contracts conceived to protect bondholders against default, pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a country or company fail to adhere to its debt agreements.

Retail Sales to Suffer in as U. Consumers Curtail Spending Retail experts are predicting one of the most dismal holiday shopping seasons in decades this year — a crucial stretch that will set the stage for poor retail sales throughout As the U. Unemployment is up, home prices are down, and credit is hard to come by.

And although inflation is beginning to moderate somewhat — slowing to a pace of 3. With rampant inflation no longer artificially propping up consumer spending figures, retail sales have really started to lose their luster. Sales figures are based on the value of goods sold — not the volume — so the recent decline commodity and energy prices will translate into a sharp decline in retail sales.

The question, now, is how much worse consumer behavior will get. Gross domestic product GDP shrank 0. Tighter credit standards and lower home prices mean consumers have less of an ability to finance their purchases through debt. And even those with cash to spend are opting to save instead, as the economic outlook continues to dim.

That means once inflation is factored in, consumer spending will see a sharp decline in , and retail sales will be left to twist in the wind. According to a recent retail outlook report from Fitch Ratings Inc. A wave of consolidation and bankruptcies will spread through the retail sector as weaker chains fail and stronger brands shut down underperforming stores.

Department stores and specialty stores will be hit especially hard, as consumers cut back on discretionary purchases in favor of staples. Bankruptcies of stores such as Sharper Image Corp. OTC: CCTYQ are having a negative effect on the sale of gift cards, which stores traditionally have counted on to boost sales after the holiday season.

Gift card purchases are tallied when the card is redeemed, not when the card is purchased. In the past, the sale of gift cards have given New Year sales a healthy boost as gift card recipients go shopping after the holidays are over. But consumers are wary of getting left holding onto worthless cards while bankruptcy courts decide how to divvy up assets.

While the big chains are struggling and grabbing the bulk of the headlines, small business owners are barely getting by. That might not seem like a big deal if the stock market is your focus, but small-businesses are integral to the economy.

According to the Small Business Administration, businesses with less than employees account for almost half of private-sector employment. And small business layoffs mean slower sales for big box stores like Best Buy Co. BBY and Target Corp. TGT as another wave of unemployed workers grapple with lost income. Online retailers are starting to feel the pinch, too.

Web sales have been one of the fastest growing retail sectors for years, but popular sites such as Zappos. They sell movies. They sell blenders. And that focus on value will continue in Lee Scott Jr. KSS to offer rock-bottom prices on hundreds of consumer staples. That bodes well, as consumers will continue to stretch household budgets and consolidate trips to save on gas. It was the second-largest drop since the index started in Property values declined 14 percent from a year earlier, the broker said today.

The worst banking crisis since World War I has translated into job cuts and reduced bonuses. Citigroup Inc. Job vacancies in London financial services fell 48 percent in October from a year earlier, recruitment firm Morgan McKinley said earlier this month. Least affected by the slide in values are properties worth more than 5 million pounds, which dropped 1.

For a buyer with dollars, a 15 percent property valuation drop equates to a 35 percent slide when exchange rates are taken into consideration, he said. London and southeastern England accounted for more than three quarters of sales of million-pound homes last year, according to an index compiled from government data by HBOS Plc.

Million-pound homes represented 0. GM Pondering Brand Cuts The Detroit Free Press reported today that General Motors, in its attempt to put forth a workable restructuring plan to keep it from going bankrupt, is at least looking at killing off three brands—Pontiac, Saab and Hummer. Everyone knows that GM is over-branded. The problem has long been that the company does not want to have to pay dealers to fold the brands it does not need as it did with Oldsmobile in State franchise laws prevent a car company from simply ending a brand.

Hummer has been on the selling block for months. The automaker has circulated a document to prospective buyers, which have ranged from Russian business moguls to Turkish private equity groups. Saab is not thought to have any hot buyers. It has, at times, made money in Europe. But those gains have always been off-set by losses in the U. Saab is one of two Swedish car companies with limited interest from both consumers and investors. Both Saab and Volvo have a problem of not being quite luxury.

Both premium brands have long had followings of people who place safety above all other vehicle characteristics. Saab has also attracted some performance-oriented buyers as the company has long offered turbo chargers in some of its models. Volvo is on track to sell about 82, vehicles this year. Saab is on track to sell about 20, vehicles this year. Pontiac has been starved of hot new products for two decades. The G8 has been well received by auto journalists since its debut last year, but the large sedan category is so soft and sleepy that few have noticed.

Pontiac sales are on track to sell around K to K vehicles this year. A hefty percentage of Pontiac sales, though, are fleet sales to rental agencies. Every industry analyst and consultant has told GM management that for 20 years. It is one of the reasons that Pontiac, Buick and Saturn in particular have had a revolving door of brand campaigns—each new brand chief groping in the dark for a new big idea that will kick-start bigger interest in these product portfolios.

The contrast with Toyota and Honda is astonishing. Toyota manages a Yes, it has added Scion and Lexus. But the Toyota brand is amazingly efficient by putting so many efficiently produced vehicles under its flagship brand. Ditto Honda, whish has a 9. Hummer, Pontiac and Saab together only manage a 2. A few years ago, ad agency Deutsch, which currently handles advertising for the Saturn brand, cooked up a brand positioning for Pontiac that focused on the gritty side of Detroit, and surrounded the brand with music reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen.

The strategy was centered on performance, street rods and American car culture. That way, each dealer can manage a single showroom of products that has depth and breadth of sports cars, sedans, SUVs and trucks.

But that strategy also depends on supporting three different, attractive brand strategies. One of the arguments for keeping Buick is how well it sells in China. The Chinese are mad for the Buick brand. Sure, some brands are global. GMC sells well, and GM execs have long said there is now reason to kill it.

There is much argument for killing Saturn, too, leaving GM to concentrate in the U. But, as I said earlier, the big barrier is the state franchise laws, which give dealers a lot of legal firepower to get paid off if GM moves to shutter these brands. It seems like a reach that it would just close Hummer anyway as it still sees a market to sell the brand. As GM faces its near-death experience, asking Congress for survival money, it has to make some moves that tell analysts and legislators that is doing the things to fix its operations that everybody in the room knows it has to do.

Chief executive Rick Wagoner was taken to task at a special Senate hearing and pilloried in the worldwide media for such extravagance and poor judgement. GM has subsequently returned two of its fleet - reportedly five strong - of private jets. The carmaker made the request to the FAA despite insisting this week that Mr Wagoner will not repeat the mistake when he returns to Washington for further discussions about the bail-out next week.

Rival carmakers Ford and Chrysler, whose chief executives also flew to Washington in separate jets, have kept a much lower profile since the hearing. All three companies are desperate for funds to help stave off potential bankruptcy. Sales have plummeted due to the credit crunch and the economic slowdown, and they are burning through billions of dollars in cash each month.

With little or no ability to raise capital in the private markets, they have been forced to go cap in hand to the government. GM has warned that it could run out of cash in a matter of weeks and cannot wait until President-elect Barack Obama - who has promised to help the industry - is sworn in in January. The End The changes were camouflage. They helped distract outsiders from the truly profane event: the growing misalignment of interests between the people who trafficked in financial risk and the wider culture.

I tried. He claimed not to be smart enough to understand any of it, and I assumed that was how a Wall Street C. When his turn came to speak, he advised students to find something more meaningful to do with their lives. As he began to describe his career, he broke down and wept. When I emailed him to invite him to lunch, he could not have been more polite or more gracious.

That attitude persisted as he was escorted to the table, made chitchat with the owner, and ordered his food. The same veneer of denatured courtliness masked the same animal need to see the world as it was, rather than as it should be.