An Observation on the Bailout - For IP

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Robert Alberti <ip () sanction net>
Date: September 26, 2008 5:36:09 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: jonathan () pobox com
Subject: Re: [IP] An Observation on the Bailout - For IP
Reply-To: alberti () sanction net

On Fri, 2008-09-26 at 17:09 -0400, David Farber wrote:
> From: "Jonathan S. Goldstein, Esq." <jonathan () pobox com>
> Mark my words, these execs and their shareholders will rue the day
> they gave a seat at the table to the federal government, the unions,
> the socialists, the anti-capitalists, the coveters and the fools who
> don't understand economics, job creation and incentives.

Just trying to get clear here, who are the fools and coveters who don't
understand economics, job creation, and incentives?  Because for the
last few years it's been pure-play no-holds-barred capitalism, by people
who supposedly understood economics, job creation, and incentives. And
what they chose to do rather than create jobs and incentives is that
they chose to bend or break the rules, violate basic economic common
sense, and repackage garbage as investments in order to rip off
everybody and make themselves vastly rich.

They didn't seem to have any ethical qualms about this, and the
interests of the nation or the public didn't seem to enter into their
equations - just "how much money can they get as fast as possible."

Who are the fools?  Who are the anti-capitalists?  I'd say the people
who have been running our economy into the ground for the past thirty
years. Who are the 'socialists'?  The people who would rather detach
health care from business and have a single-payer healthcare system with
3% administrative overhead (as in every other developed nation in the
world)?  Or the so-called 'capitalists,' who would rather yoke every
business in America to a commercial health-care system with 22%
overhead, so that small businesses cannot grow because they cannot
afford health care for their employees?

I don't see any saints or experts in the latest Wall Street mess. What I
see following the S&L crisis and Enron and now this is that old white
guys in suits are willing to sing the praises of deregulation and
capitalism as long as that gains them membership into the privileged
class of people who are paid $20 million bonuses for screwing up.

These aren't capitalists, patriots, or even good citizens.  These are
pathologically greedy narcissists and sociopaths spouting the accepted
ideology in order to rob the rest of us blind. All I've seen from Wall
Street are frauds, swindlers, con-men and crooks dressed up in expensive
suits.

Maybe 'execs and shareholders' will rue the day when their boardrooms
were invaded by people who don't share their rapacious worldview. But it
will probably be better for America, her citizens, and the world if
somebody reined in this kleptocracy before it does further harm to our
society.
--
Robert Alberti, CISSP, ISSMP                       (612) 961-0507 cell
President, Sanction, Inc.                          (612) 486-5000 x211
http://sanction.net                                (612) 486-5000 fax
"Security solutions are cultural solutions facilitated by technology."





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