Dancing with a Behemoth called Wall Street....

“We must not become like the system we oppose”  Desmond Tutu

How do you dance with a behemoth?

The answer depends on whether you are a reformer or a radical.  The reformer must be nimble and risks pancake status—the radical must be fearless and risks obscurity.  The monster currently gobbling up the globe is in my mind the vilest of creatures—the rich guys and gals who don’t have any idea that they take debit cards at Arby’s.  Sometimes they are called the “investment class” and sometimes they are called power brokers—regular people just call them “the bankers and the politicians they own.”

This behemoth has cleverly linked its survival to the survival of the village.  It has made its excrement the soil that currently provides the people sustenance and to kill the beast is to starve to death.  This was not accidental.  Clever, but not wise—these risk takers took steroids to bulk their portfolios and then encouraged and required the villagers to borrow more than they could carry—then they took that debt and chopped it up, fried it and sold it.  Then they took each of these pieces and put it with other pieces and put whip cream on it and sold it again.  Then they sold it back to us and told us it was our retirement.  Then they made money off the interest on the debt they offered us and when it all fell apart—they asked us for a hand out.  We bought it because we are desperate, greedy and not altogether wise ourselves.   Now they report EVERY week how big their bottom lines are...that they are hording their profits because of uncertainty...well guess what...when 7-8 million Americans are out of work...there is a lot of uncertainty.  Normal people don't hoard their resources while others are suffering.  If, as the Supreme Court has ruled that Corporations have the same rights as individuals (http://open.salon.com/blog/david_price/2010/12/15/are_corporations_persons) ...then they should act as responsible members of the community.  Individuals are shamed, punished and jailed if they act against the laws and mores of a community.  Where is there shame?  They don't have any and never have.  We are fodder.

How do we avoid becoming like them?  We refuse to consume what they produce---can we?  We refuse servitude—can we?  Does it even matter if we do anything...they still hold the right to hire, the right to fire, the right to union-bust, the right to decrease wages & benefits and increase their bonuses...they will be rewarded for such behaviour.  Why is no one in jail?  Why aren't these Corporations being publically shamed by our news media EVERY DAY for not using their soaring profits to HIRE MORE PEOPLE.   Our economy stumbles along because of them.  Period.  Guess what CEO's...98% on the bottom feel uncertainty daily and never know if what we have been promised will pan out.  People near to retirement have been gut punched and looted.  And no one has paid any price except those already suffering.

We force it all in the sunlight and find another way to farm.   I'm not sure how or who or when...but, I will never trust they won't step on my toes during the Waltz...Never.