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Can the StarOption Exchange System Work without SVO Dictating its terms?

nodge

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Jun 10, 2006
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Hi Gang,

There was a comedian (forget his name) that performed for a USO show in Iraq. His bit starts out by talking about all the troubles currently in Iraq what with the various factions fighting each other and all, he then thinks about how to solve the problem and concludes by saying, “You know what this country really needs to solve all of these problems, or at least keep them in check? A brutal dictator!” The crowd of soldiers rolls with laughter.

I think it is fair to say that if we owners were all citizens of the country of SVO (with us having absolutely no vote or say in anything having to do with any aspect of how our “country” is managed or how much we are “taxed” and we have no direct communication from the powers that be,) our SVO “government” as it currently exists would be considered a dictatorship.

Now sure, from the day we are born, every fiber of our bodies is raised to believe that democracy, with its voting and elected officials, etc., is the answer to everything, and it is in fact so important that it’s worth fighting for and dying over. But as the comedian in Iraq noted and most parents of at least two kids know, every now and then, sometimes you need a dictator.

In SVO’s case, what would happen to the StarOption exchange system if SVO were to allow actual owners at each resort to run the show? I’m guessing the owners at the more desirable resorts (lets call them “Sunnis”) would start arguing that they should “charge” more StarOptions for owners at less desirable resorts to stay there. Likewise, owners at less desirable resorts (lets call them “Kurds”) will not be happy with having to “pay” more StarOptions to transfer into other resorts, etc. I think that if owners at each resort ran their own show, the StarOption exchange system would fall into permanent chaos and die.

So, there you go. It appears to me that SVO may have actually created a timeshare internal trading system that REQUIRES a dictatorship over every property in that system to keep it running. If so, as owners we have to ask ourselves if the StarOption exchange system is more important to us than our ability to control and run our own individual resorts. If the answer is “yes,” then maybe we (me too) should stop complaining when our dictator dictates over us. If no, then we need to start talking about ways to ease our dependence on StarOption exchanges and how to gain more control over our respective properties.

As for the future of OUR dictator, things didn’t really work out that well for the one in Iraq. Let’s hope that it faces a better fate. If not, we’ll need to start figuring out what, if anything, we can do to keep some semblance of the StarOption system alive should SVO (voluntarily or involuntarily) give up the reigns.

-nodge
 
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