The Zodiac - Sign of the Crab?
The twelve astrological signs are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. The word cancer comes from the Greek word for "crab".
Cancer is a word that scares most of us. We know cancer as a disease in which some cells grow uncontrollably The orderly process of organic cell growth breaks down, and these abnormal cells grow and multiply when they shouldn’t. The cancerous cells may form tumors, which invade nearby tissues and can travel to distant places.
Cancer cells kinda remind you of "Mega-me mergers" like SAFE and Boeing. Mega-me's differ from normal credit unions in many ways. For instance:
- Mega-me's grow in the absence of any signals from members asking them to grow. Normal credit unions grow only when supported by their member-owners.
- Mega-me's ignore financial signals that tell them to stop expanding indiscriminately and refrain from destructive growth. 'Me-first-and-only" has high costs.
- Mega-me's invade other areas beyond their scope and refuse to stop growing when they encounter other credit unions. "Me" becomes more important than "we" to a cancer cell.
- Mega-me's suck capital from local communities and drain local economies to grow larger. This lets the "tumors" grow more quickly.
- Mega-me's often hide from the regulatory system, much like cancer hides from the immune system. The immune system seeks to eliminate abnormal cells - with good reason.
- Mega-me's attempt to trick "the immune system" into encouraging their potential cancerous growth. Some regulators unwittingly provide "immunity" to these cancers, rather than controlling them for the good of all.
- Mega-me's, like cancer become voracious, devouring normal credit unions without purpose, nor benefit to members. The focus of a cancer is to grow for growth's sake - despite the end results.
- Mega-me's often rely so heavily on these abnormal, cancerous behaviors that they can’t survive without them.
