Do you know what frightens me more than any terrorist ever could? The average American these days. They’re a scary bunch. Hostile, frustrated, and often either misled or just plain ignorant. And the scariest part? I think they actually mean well. I was reminded of this the other day as I took a train to Chicago. The passengers in the seats on both sides in front of me were pretty average married couples in their seventies. They had just met on the train, and as they started talking, I was suddenly overwhelmed with a strange queasiness. I usually tend to get along really well with most people of their generation, because I’m a bit of a cultural/moral Luddite myself; I think making money through the misfortune of others is bad, I think we should help each other out when needed, I have a practical level of materialism, and an old-fashioned work ethic. So what caused the queasiness I’m referring to? Well, the utter loss of hope for humanity any rational person might feel as a result of simply listening to their conversation. They started their dialog by agreeing how terrible it was that our president isn’t a US citizen. And then lamented that he had already destroyed the economy and the American way of life with his evil socialist agenda. I knew it would be an exercise in futility, so I didn’t bother asking them why the judicial system and congress and all of Washington was letting a known illegal alien run the country. I also didn’t ask them why, if the president was a socialist, he had so many bloodthirsty capitalists working at his side to prop up the biggest capitalist fraud in history and therebymaintain the elitist way of life he and his cronies prefer. These folks then went on to discuss the attitude of the military men returning from recent tours, and how if it weren’t for all these darn socialist agendas that lurk around every corner, the banking industry would be doing just fine. I didn’t bother to ask them why they wouldn’t think to question the greedy bastards that run the banks themselves, especially knowing that the exact same kind of greedy bastards caused the great depression that shaped their generation’s lives, or if whoever was president when they were in the service would have engaged in a war of aggression like we did with Iraq, depriving honor-driven men of the reward for their honor and sense of duty by sending them to wreck a country instead of rescuing it, and then add insult to injury by forcing them into additional tours at lowered pay. And that’s when my head sort of exploded quietly. Because although I’m using this handy real-life example involving people in their seventies to make a point, I hear the exact same words on a daily basis coming from people of all ages and social standing. And I’m sorry to say it this way, but I just can’t understand how people can be so fucking stupid. Never mind all the politically-driven media disinformation we’re subjected to on a daily basis that points the fingers in all the wrong directions, how can people not see the tentacles of the “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity“, as Matt Taibbi referred to Goldman Sachs in a Rolling Stone piece last year? You may be wondering why, after a meandering rant like this, I’m referencing a year-old article from a liberal rag like Rolling Stone. Well, because it’s taken that long for the more mainstream media to swipe the phrase Taibbi coined, and they’re only jumping on the bandwagon now because Goldman Sachs is getting busted. But it suggests some vague hope for repairing what I am convinced is the single biggest problem underlying virtually every other problem in America right now. If it’s not someone’s greed directly causing the problem, it’s the typical American’s ignorance, denial, or bizarre suspension of disbelief that lets the travesty that is our culture right now to coast along in blissful ignorance of how the finance industry has taken over our country, bankrupted it, and then made us pay for it. All the while allowing you to believe in the American Dream in which you think you have some hope of ever joining that billionaire club yourself. If at this point in the massive heist that’s been going on under our noses you’re still amongst those that would call the way I’m referring to all of this hyperbole, please take a moment to pull your head out of Hank Paulson’s ass, and at least find some amusement in the whole thing as a way of easing yourself into pondering more thoughts about it with some seriousness. First up: check out Confessions Of A Wall St. Nihilist: Forget About Goldman Sachs, Our Entire Economy Is Built On Fraud, in which Mark Ames (yeah, he’s a russo-phile that bites the capitalist hand that feeds him, but he doesn’t hide it) has a conversation with a friend who works for a private equity firm who explains why you’re stupid to think that anyone in government is going to prosecute the fraud that’s going on. And why you’re stupid to care. Ames has my vote as the next Hunter Thompson. I think he just needs to do more drugs or something. For a lighter read, see Bashing Goldman Sachs Is Simply a Game for Fools by Michael Lewis. He explains the misery one must endure as an entitled member of the the Goldman Sachs elite. After you’re able to at least find this stuff a little bit funny, consider getting serious about it all for a minute. Ease into the idea of taking it seriously with The Goldman Casino – Do investment banks do anything that helps America anymore?, by Eliot Spitzer. Yeah that Eliot Spitzer. It’s a shame, but only a politician whose career is already ruined by scandal has the guts to talk about this topic. The ones that still have a job are still too busy soaking up the cash. And finally, turn to a voice of reason and journalistic integrity, Bill Moyers. In one of the final editions of Bill Moyers Journal, he talks with William K. Black, who was a senior regulator for the Federal Home Loan Board who cracked down on banking during the Savings & Loan crisis of the 1980s. Watch it here, read it here. See you in line during the bank runs!