Saturday December 20, 2008
Posted by David Rothenberg on Monday, December 22, 2008
During Georgia’s senatorial runoff election last month, the press quoted an anonymous woman who stated she was voting Republican because she was afraid of Socialism under Obama.
Well, there is always something out there to scare the children… Communism, new immigrants, gay marriage, terrorists, Black men… There’s always a group to exploit.
Socialism is getting a good play on Fox and other Neanderthals outposts. For the uninformed, Socialism is when the government assumes the duties that would otherwise be in the hands of profit makers. For instance, the police and fire departments are examples of socialism and so are the army, the navy and the air force…libraries, public schools, most prisons, Social Security and many pension plans.
In fact, in the United States we have a mixed economy…the private and the public sectors which seemed to work well together until George W. and Dick Cheney began to undermine the public sector and turned too much over to the private sector with no accountability. Now that we are in a serious fiscal crisis even the most conservative Republicans are looking for government money to rescue the banks and the brokers. You know…the people who support their expensive political campaigns. Socialism is when government money is being spent on poor people.
Obviously, we have to take a long, hard look at the financial structures that exist in our society if we want to continue as the free world’s leader. The issue is not private or public but honesty, efficiency and accountability. During the last two Presidential terms, we have had a complete breakdown and that explains the current crisis, in part. The presence of greed and the absence of accountability is a dangerous combination.
The New York Times reported this week that huge year-end bonuses are still forthcoming. Journalist Louise Story wrote that one analyst with a base salary of $130,000 received a bonus of $250,000. We’ve all heard reports of CEO’s given millions even while their companies were shedding workers. Story reveals that Merrill Lynch's earnings turned out to be a mirage. Mortgage investments plunged in value and people are receiving bonuses. Most shocking is the report that “Merrill Lynch is prepared to dole out bonuses even after they had to be propped up with billions of dollars of taxpayers money”. The sense of entitlement seems limitless.
Need we add a paragraph or two about Bernard Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme has caused a tsunami up and down the East Coast? People who appeared financially protected for life now finds themselves broke, some selling their apartments. There is no bailout for them.
Do you remember those Enron tapes during that company’s scandal? The greed and cruelty by young wheeler-dealers was devastating to hear…talking about the losses of a widowed woman as they manipulated their way up the greed ladder. The collapse of Enron was a precursor to much of what we are seeing now on Wall Street.
I have often wondered about people with 5 or 6 homes, private jets, yachts and season boxes at every imaginable ball park and concert hall as they keep grasping for more… and at the same time often seem impervious to the plight of people around them. And I wonder why people with $25 million bonuses fight unions seeking improved living and health conditions for their workers.
One of the saddest aspects of our national greed is that the religious community, often described as the moral center of our democracy, has long abdicated that role. A view of church real estate folios and their snuggling up to the fiscal power brokers is a clearer barometer of religion today than the sermons uttered to the flock.
The most influential spiritual leaders in America are fiscal wizards whose avarice is often indistinguishable from the Wall Street and Motor City titans who have been in the news. Look at the structural obscenities on Sunday morning TV. The architectural splendor seems to be the manner in which modern religion is measured…and sermons that equate piety and profits are all too ubiquitous.
Does anyone have an idea where the moral leadership is in our nation?
So, no, I am not frightened by the prospect of progress under Obama that might be labeled socialism. It is the unbridled thrust for wealth…for accumulating things that I fear in our nation. There is insufficient protest against this drive because we have become a nation with a lottery mentality. Buy a ticket. Win millions. Big business, ineffective government agencies and a lust for things nurtured by so-called religious leaders in a smug partnership…that’s what scares me. Socialism? Just call it government aid and you won’t be frightened, Georgia lady.
I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb.
Well, there is always something out there to scare the children… Communism, new immigrants, gay marriage, terrorists, Black men… There’s always a group to exploit.
Socialism is getting a good play on Fox and other Neanderthals outposts. For the uninformed, Socialism is when the government assumes the duties that would otherwise be in the hands of profit makers. For instance, the police and fire departments are examples of socialism and so are the army, the navy and the air force…libraries, public schools, most prisons, Social Security and many pension plans.
In fact, in the United States we have a mixed economy…the private and the public sectors which seemed to work well together until George W. and Dick Cheney began to undermine the public sector and turned too much over to the private sector with no accountability. Now that we are in a serious fiscal crisis even the most conservative Republicans are looking for government money to rescue the banks and the brokers. You know…the people who support their expensive political campaigns. Socialism is when government money is being spent on poor people.
Obviously, we have to take a long, hard look at the financial structures that exist in our society if we want to continue as the free world’s leader. The issue is not private or public but honesty, efficiency and accountability. During the last two Presidential terms, we have had a complete breakdown and that explains the current crisis, in part. The presence of greed and the absence of accountability is a dangerous combination.
The New York Times reported this week that huge year-end bonuses are still forthcoming. Journalist Louise Story wrote that one analyst with a base salary of $130,000 received a bonus of $250,000. We’ve all heard reports of CEO’s given millions even while their companies were shedding workers. Story reveals that Merrill Lynch's earnings turned out to be a mirage. Mortgage investments plunged in value and people are receiving bonuses. Most shocking is the report that “Merrill Lynch is prepared to dole out bonuses even after they had to be propped up with billions of dollars of taxpayers money”. The sense of entitlement seems limitless.
Need we add a paragraph or two about Bernard Madoff, whose Ponzi scheme has caused a tsunami up and down the East Coast? People who appeared financially protected for life now finds themselves broke, some selling their apartments. There is no bailout for them.
Do you remember those Enron tapes during that company’s scandal? The greed and cruelty by young wheeler-dealers was devastating to hear…talking about the losses of a widowed woman as they manipulated their way up the greed ladder. The collapse of Enron was a precursor to much of what we are seeing now on Wall Street.
I have often wondered about people with 5 or 6 homes, private jets, yachts and season boxes at every imaginable ball park and concert hall as they keep grasping for more… and at the same time often seem impervious to the plight of people around them. And I wonder why people with $25 million bonuses fight unions seeking improved living and health conditions for their workers.
One of the saddest aspects of our national greed is that the religious community, often described as the moral center of our democracy, has long abdicated that role. A view of church real estate folios and their snuggling up to the fiscal power brokers is a clearer barometer of religion today than the sermons uttered to the flock.
The most influential spiritual leaders in America are fiscal wizards whose avarice is often indistinguishable from the Wall Street and Motor City titans who have been in the news. Look at the structural obscenities on Sunday morning TV. The architectural splendor seems to be the manner in which modern religion is measured…and sermons that equate piety and profits are all too ubiquitous.
Does anyone have an idea where the moral leadership is in our nation?
So, no, I am not frightened by the prospect of progress under Obama that might be labeled socialism. It is the unbridled thrust for wealth…for accumulating things that I fear in our nation. There is insufficient protest against this drive because we have become a nation with a lottery mentality. Buy a ticket. Win millions. Big business, ineffective government agencies and a lust for things nurtured by so-called religious leaders in a smug partnership…that’s what scares me. Socialism? Just call it government aid and you won’t be frightened, Georgia lady.
I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb.
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