Wednesday, September 28, 2011

True faces

The mask keeps slipping:

BBC: Can you pin down exactly what would keep investors happy, make them feel more confident?

TRADER: That's a tough one.  Personally, it doesn't matter. I'm a trader.  I dont' care about that stuff... We don't really care how they're gonna fix the economy, how they're gonna fix the situation.  Our job is to make money from it.  And personally, I've been dreaming of this moment for three years.  I have a confession, which is, I go to bed every night, I dream of another recession, I dream of another moment like this.

BBC: Why?

TRADER: Because, people don't seem to maybe remember, the 30s Depression, the Depression in the 30s, wasn't just about a market crash.  There were some people who were prepared to make money from that crash.  And I think anybody can do that.  It isn't just for some people in the elite.  Anybody can make money, it's an opportunity.

BBC: If you could see the people around me, jaws have collectively dropped at what you just said.
London trader dreaming of another recession

He's only saying what his colleagues believe. By some reports the Koch brothers doubled their wealth in the last year. By all reports the top 10% took all the gains in income for the last 20 years.

Americans are not completely unaware of this. Right now support for the Buffet rule - the idea that rich people should pay the same percentage of taxes that working people pay - is huget:  73% of the electorate supports it, and only 16% oppose it (11% aren't sure, which makes you wonder what they are sure about). 73% of people making over $100,000 support it; 66% of self-identified Republicans support it; 59% of self-identified Tea Partiers support it.

But have you seen a single Republican official go against Grover Norquist and come out in favor of any kind of tax? Do you expect to?

And yet, Republicans are still leading in polls and winning elections. What motivates these people to vote against their own economic interests? I would like to think it's simple racism, because as ugly as that answer is, it's better than thinking Americans are just that ignorant. A populace that supports racism is evil, but at least coherent; a populace that doesn't know how to support what it wants is the death of democracy.

2 comments:

  1. He is only saying what Woody has said for awhile. The best time to buy is now - for pennies on a dollar and the employer's market is making profit because people need a job and will work for less because they feel they have no choice.

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  2. Cash is king! Finally, an end to that pesky democracy. :D

    I think I read that only 40% of Americans have stock portfolios. That leaves the working class out in the cold. Of course, the robber barons aren't done; it would be naive to think they are going to let the small stockholders keep any wealth.

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