Monday, January 17, 2011

Its hard not to be depressed or apathetic about things

Given the state of the country and where we appear to be headed, it is hard not to be apathetic about politics. It is like there really is no option for good. It is either evil or less evil.

I am reading "All the Devils are Here" - a book about the causes of the financial crisis. What strikes me first and foremost about it is that it is a demonstration of the fact that "the market" does not work - in the sense that it does not regulate itself. And the actors in it are not rational. After all, it was the financial wizards, the absolute best and brightest that capitalism can ever hope to have, that directly caused the financial crisis. These CEOs that are supposedly so irreplaceable and valuable that they have to be paid hundreds of millions of dollars - they lost billions upon billions and had to be bailed out or they would have brought down the entire world economy.

This rather shatters the bullshit that they are really worth all that much money. They aren't. Of course, they continue to be paid at that rate and they continue to be in charge and they are making more money now than ever before. They should be in prison.

Like I said, it is hard not to be depressed or apathetic. Nothing has changed. Nothing will change.