by Marcus Free
The protesters we’ve seen on TV cornered by some newsman throwing a mike in their face were mostly young and inarticulate and they failed to respond coherently. And there were some of the same old leftist willing to exploit any given opportunity. But, there’s more to this story and if we dismiss them all too quickly as kooks and radicals we’re doing ourselves no favor.
I’m going to go way out on a limb now, but I think the Wall Street protests in New York are a symptom of a greater and growing problem that could lead us into society-wide meltdown.
Race division, economic division, language division, ethnic division, political division, every division we have here is like a fault-line crack in our social order. And when any one of them becomes so acute that the rest of them congeal and foment we’re on the verge of a massive earthquake leading to anarchy and chaos. It then always follows that in a moment of fear and tumult the police are given expanded powers and government does their crack down dissidents as civil liberties are trashed under the pretext of maintaining order.
The riots and mass social upheaval we’ve seen in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Libya, France, and even in England, all have their leftist fingerprints on them, there is no doubt about that, but that mass of anger that spilled over didn’t just come from a clash of left verses right ideologies. At it’s core it was a collision between the have’s and the have not’s. No country is secure when millions of it’s people are idle, out of work, underemployed, frustrated, seething with anger and resentment and staring across the street at 2% of the population with 80% of the wealth.
If we don’t acknowledge the inequities that brought about the great divide between the have’s and have not’s, then it’s like putting a plug on a pressure cooker turned on high. . . and time is not on our side when that happens.
The global recession was the set up that exposed the ruthless debauchery and selfish extravagance of Arab dictatorships, just like its also exposed the selfish extravagance and financial failures on Wall Street that brought about the worst recession in American history and threatens us with yet another recession.
When your average American is feeling financially threatened an fearful of their future – and he’s being pushed by the left and crushed by the right and every other faction that has an axe to grind is lobbying him, we’ve got a serious problem.
This is why we need to take a hard look where this anger began and deal with it in a cogent, rational manner or there’s a real good chance we’re going to see Arab-like upheavals right here leading to widespread violence and destruction. We can’t deny we have a problem any longer or we’re going to find the races riots of the 60’s looked tame by comparison.
People are fighting mad that Wall Street fleeced them and is still taking from them. They’re mad at government bureaucrats and our so-called highly paid watchdogs that sat idly by or slept, while the bankers plundered the real estate market and before that it was plundering by corporate tycoons that caused a scandal in the energy market. And in each case, when it was over the responsibles walked away unscathed and richer than ever, with virtually no consequences for their many crimes. The people are outraged because the government had the audacity to actually reward these modern day pirates with even more of our money, because the institutions they managed were deemed to big too fail.
Between government incompetence and those Wall Street looters, we’ve seen our society slide down the economic ladder. We’ve also garnered a monumental debt ($14 trillion) that has the greatest nation on earth crippled and broke. We must acknowledge these things, from the left and the right, if we’re ever going to fix it. We’re going to have to have a meeting of them minds or we’re going under.
The 2012 election is months away and it will be that hallmark moment where we the people will either take this country further down the road to a European style social democracy and past a point of no return or it will mark the beginning of rebuilding using the idealistic fundamentals that brought this nation to the pinnacle of global dominance.
In order to rebuild and restore what the nation was intended to be we’re going to have to deal with the anger that has the potential to escalate into unchecked rioting. Robber Barons on Wall Street do exist and they caused an economic calamity because of their unbridled greed and corruption. Billionaires do exist because they have evolved into tight nit, self serving, monopolies of money hoarders that can crush the competition and exploit the underclass at will. The chasm between rich and poor has grown to a dangerous division.
The millions of unemployed and underemployed are joining forces with the millions in disgruntled subcultures long separated by racial, ethnic, and national origins that have had us divided and they’re staring at these Wall Streeter’s and the multi-billionaires living so well and they’re eying these trust fund fortunes that will insure yet another spoiled rich generation will have the power to lord it over those who are power less.
I’m a confirmed free market capitalist, make no mistake, but I am also a realist and I see these things that must be acknowledged as a step towards recovery or that 2012 election could take us in a direction we really should not go.
Thomas Jefferson said the tree of liberty must be on occasion watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants and he wasn’t kidding.
Thank you for this article. It is refreshing to see a “confirmed free market capitalist” acknowledge the issues of wealth disparity and Wall Street greed–this kind of talk has become heresy for too many on the right. Class warfare is a real problem, but like Warren Buffet said, the rich are clearly winning at the expense of the poor.
“The protesters we’ve seen on TV cornered by some newsman throwing a mike in their face were mostly young, inarticulate, confused and they failed to respond coherently.”
If you get your news from sources with an ax to grind.
Re: “Billionaires do exist because they have evolved into tight nit, self serving, monopolies of money hoarders that can crush the competition and exploit the underclass at will.”
Monopolies of money hoarders? What utter nonsense. Nonsense to the point of being absolutely absurd. It makes for a nice sound-bite, but has little to do with reality.
How does one “hoard money”? Do these billionaires (or millionaires for that matter) put everything into cash and stuff it under their mattresses?
No, of course not. Many have paper wealth in the form of stock in their own companies. They invest just like anyone else in a myriad of holdings from land to savings accounts to bonds to commodities and stocks.
What the wealthy are doing now is just what any prudent investor would, putting their money where they feel it is safest. If I had a trust fund you can be certain that I would make damn sure it was being thoughtfully managed.
Spoiled trust fund brats lording over the powerless? Oh puhleeeeese. Lording over whom, powerless yacht builders? Powerless jewelry makers? Automobile manufacturers? Building contractors? Restaurant owners? Fashion designers? Besides, this country is still producing brand new millionaires who have come up from humble beginnings with savvy, hard work, ingenuity, and inventiveness.
It may be expedient and convenient to make provocative, divisive, comminatory, and simplistic statements in order to express concern for the dismal state of the economy. But that does not solve anything.
Until Government stops creating an atmosphere of uncertainty, stops encouraging bad investment and loans, stops living beyond its means to the tune of trillions, and regulators begin to consistently and aggressively prosecute and punish bad people for doing bad things on Wall Street or anywhere else, we will continue to spiral down.
I don’t see any change in sight until after 2012.
Pie government is definitely creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and is living beyond its means. Let’s hope we get the change we need in 2012! That hope and change thing sure has been coming up a lot hasn’t it? lol
Chris, you are welcome, we try to offer a variety of opinions on PS. I figured this one would get a fair amount of attention – it is controversial, but I think there were some good points that made it worth posting.
Re Libby’s:
“The protesters we’ve seen on TV cornered by some newsman throwing a mike in their face were mostly young, inarticulate, confused and they failed to respond coherently.”
If you get your news from sources with an ax to grind.
Libby, I have been seeking news and video that shows protesters who are anything but a bunch of confused people spouting mindless radical left-wing drivel.
Not even from Pacifica’s “Democracy Now!” have I found anything of note that shows anything different.
Your statement implies that there are some news sources, “without and ax to grind” that are contrary to other on the street interviews. Do you have something you can share that shows anything different?
Pie, the nation’s biggest banks are hoarding capital, because they’re not sure if it’s safe to lend it yet. You concede our fiscal insecurity, but deny the hoarding. This is not logical.
And there isn’t anything our government can do to make them, the banks, more secure. The banks, to their credit, do seem to have learned a lesson from that little fuss two years ago (you do remember?) when it came to light that, in consequence of the mortgage derivative binge, they were all ruinously undercapitalized.
They’re not letting that happen again. They will spend the next many years slowly expunging the bad debt, they will not be lending except on the most stringent terms, and so, we are not having economic development from that quarter any time soon.
Do we wallow? Or do we fire up the printing press? Or do you, clever boy that you are, have another suggestion.
My memory is fine, thank you. I guess you have no alternate news on the protests since you ignored my question.
My take is the notion that banks are hoarding capital is false. True enough, they have broken from the past and have made it harder to get loans.
Nevertheless, last year I was offered a credit card with 12 months of 0% interest and I was recently offered another card from another bank with 24 months interest free. The banks involved in those offers can hardly be accused of hoarding.
It appears to me hoarding narrative is a myth manufactured for political reasons by the Obama administration.
Chris and Warren Buffet: “like Warren Buffet said, the rich are clearly winning at the expense of the poor.”
Warren Buffet makes money when the rich are taxed more in investment income…he’s not exactly the person to be pontificating about using people.
But the real point here is the entire premise is a lie.
While it may be true that the rich are getting richer and the middle and lower classes are stagnating it does not follow that the rich are making money “at the expense” of the poor. That is utter nonesense!
If we truly care about greater opportunity for the middle and lower classes to grow in wealth and opportunity we had better at least begin with the truth about what’s going on.
IT IS NOT A ZERO SUM GAME!
The wealthy are not “taking” the “share” that should be going to the poor.
Government taqxation and regulation that sends companies overseas has more to do with stagnant wages and less opportunity. An educational system that pushes the arts, teaching and service work above all other forms of work hasn’t helped either. Unions that demand too much of the taxpayer or create an unworkable bottom line (car companies) have also pushed opportunity aside.
Wealthy people like to invest and are more than happy to help create opportunity…BUT NOT IF THEY ARE GOING TO BE UNREASOBABLY PUNISHED AND MALIGNED FOR IT!
Redistribution policies, the progressives ideal, offers peanuts and crumbs and pretends they are doing the poor a favor. The poor need jobs and ways to improve their own lives…not meager, just under the poverty level handouts divied up by stealing from others.
My sweet Lord, what will it take for people to realize what a sham the liberal progressive line is! What will it take to make them realize that a vibrant growing economy works better to their advantage?!! The rich will still get wealthier BUT so what? The poor and middle classes will have a lot more opportunity to make a decent living…and if they are smart, even to grow some wealth for themselves in the process.
Libby: “And there isn’t anything our government can do to make them, the banks, more secure.”
They could start by making the banking regulation clear and concise. Forcing loans to people that can’t afford them was a stupid, stupid progressive idea that has definitely ended badly for everyone and placed a bit of intimidation into the mix.
Bankers are not lending for another reason…NOBODY WANTS TO TAKE OUT A LOAN! Nobody whats the risk involved right now because there is too muchy unbcertainty about what tomorrow will bring. New taxes, new regulation, higher energy costs, cost associated with Obamacare. That describes perfectly the UNCERTAINTY that hangs over our nation like a shroud.
You can make all kinds of attempts to blame this on Bush or the Tea party or Boehner but it only makes you look the perfect fool/ MOst of what we are experiencing can be lain at the feet of the progressive left going back at least to Carter.
Obama has created this unrecovery and if we allow him to continue (with nothin to lose) he will throw us into deep depression in no time.
This is why the race card, class warfare and any number of other smear tactics is being used…THEY CANNOT DEFEND HIS RECORD!
Marcus Free: “…and before that it was plundering by corporate tycoons that caused a scandal in the energy market. And in each case, when it was over the responsibles walked away unscathed and richer than ever, with virtually no consequences for their many crimes.”
This is not true.
Following Enron scandal new regulations were written making CEOs/CFOs more accountable.
http://www.sgrlaw.com/resources/trust_the_leaders/leaders_issues/ttl2/598/
A number of CEOs got big fines and prison time; one (Ken Lay) died of a heart attack before he could be sentenced.
Jeffrey Skilling was ordered to pay $45 million and got 24 years in prison
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/24/business/fi-skilling24
CEO Bernie Ebbers of Worldcom was found guilty of all charges against him and was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/dialogue/candc/cases/worldcom-update.html
Tyco Execs were convicted and faced 15 to 30 years in prison.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/17/news/newsmakers/tyco_trialoutcome/index.htm
“I’m a confirmed free market capitalist, make no mistake, but I am also a realist and I see these things that must be acknowledged as a step towards recovery or that 2012 election could take us in a direction we really should not go.”
Glad to hear it.
I hope you will look a bit deeper into the roll government has played in making a lot of this happen. The groundwork for the banking scandal, for instance, was laid by legislation aimed at redistributing wealth through the forced issuance of bad loans. Our government had no business forcing banks to make bad loans.
I hope too that you will bother to investigate the scandals to discover when and how people manage to avoid being prosecuted…their “friends in high places” need to be removed from office, not rewarded with reelection.
It would also be smart to notice that most of the companies in America play by the rules and pay their taxes. High profile cases of scandal represent a very small percentage of the business world. If you are going to be a “realist” you have to include that which is not scandalous to get a clear picture.
“Nice article. Unusually fair and balanced for you guys. Truthful, too! Don’t ever see that! I note as well, the actions of the hoarders. One day it’s gold, the next it’s oil, the next, dollars.”
Truthful – fair – balanced, Quentin I can’t believe what I’m hearing! lol Wow….what’s next, you and Pie going bowling together? Well thanks for the kind words…I just hope you’re not coming down with something.
“My take is the notion that banks are hoarding capital is false.”
Then you live in a state of oblivious denial, and there is no point in any further discussion of the subject … with you.
Pie is exactly right. Banks are not hoarding their cash.
Anyone who uses the word “hoard” to describe what banks are doing is clearly of a mind that the money belongs to the masses and should be distributed as government elites command. (God help us)
Banks are sitting on money for two main reasons:
A. They aren’t about to throw good money after bad.
B. Individuals and businesses have no desire to take out loans.
The redistribution policies have created a constipated atmosphere. There is only one cure…throw out the redistribution monsters, demand policies that support growth in the private sector, demand strict prosecution of abuses in both the private and public sectors.