What is more intrinsically corrupt than allowing people to engage in high-reward/no-risk capitalism -- where they reap tens of millions of dollars and more every year while their reckless gambles are paying off only to then have the Government shift their losses to the citizenry at large once their schemes collapse? We've retroactively created a win-only system where the wealthiest corporations and their shareholders are free to gamble for as long as they win and then force others who have no upside to pay for their losses....
The people on whose behalf these schemes are being implemented -- the true beneficiaries -- are the very same people who have been running and owning our Government -- both parties -- for decades, which is why they have been able to do what they've been doing without interference....
If there is any "pitchfork moment" -- an episode that understandably would send people into the streets in mass outrage -- it would be this.Nobody really even seems to know how much of these losses "theGovernment" -- meaning working people who had no part in the profits from these transactions -- is undertaking virtually overnight but it's at least a trillion dollars, an amount so vast it's hard to comprehend, let alone analyze in terms of consequences. The transactions are way too complex even for the most sophisticated financial analysts to understand, let alone value. Whatever else is true, generations of Americans are almost certainly going to be severely burdened in untold ways by the events of the last week -- ones that have been carried out largely without any debate and mostly in secret.
....what's probably most amazing of all is the contrast between how gargantuan all of this is and the complete absence of debate or disagreement over what's taking place. It's not just that, as usual, Democrats and Republicans are embracing the same core premises ("this is regrettable but necessary"). It's that there's almost no real discussion of what happened, who is responsible, and what the consequences are. It's basically as though the elite class is getting together and discussing this all in whispers, coordinating their views, and releasing just enough information to keep the stupid masses content and calm.
"The little people must eat my losses, Sweetie. There is no alternative. It is a Free Market, for sure, but Wealth Bondage is too big to fail, so Government does what it must to keep things under control. Now, as I cash in my golden parachute for managing Fannie and Freddie, I must go talk with Randy Ottinger about my personal journey from Success to Significance. He is speaking at the Harvard Club. What a sweet boy. A bit naive, but in a good way, if you know what I mean." So Candidia, my generous patron and goddess of the Free Market System was chortling, as we drove back in the limo from meeting with Hank Paulson, her Faithful Steward and Savior of Wealth Bondage.
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