wv-girl:
you said:
The pretense can't last much longer. Something will eventually give way to hit everyone square in the face. In the meantime we should just follow the mood of the market and try to make money to pay off any debt we may have individually so they can't take anything we do own away.
and I can't disagree with you at all. I think you are spot on with this.
However, I'm not so sure your "everyone would panic" part is something to fear all that much. Yes, you'd send the markets into a tizzy if you admitted that many of the banks, AIG, Fannie and Freddie, etc., are bankrupt.
But, imagine if, as the President, you delivered the following speech, with confidence:
"Folks, it's time to end the game of charades and begin to address our problems head-on. We are in bad shape. Our capitalist system -- one built upon personal freedom and opportunity, but one that at the same time must be tempered by individual morality and ethics -- has been badly damaged by the actions of a very powerful elite. These elite -- both in the public and private sector -- tossed the modulating effects of morality and ethics aside, and -- driven by untempered lust -- instead chose the accumulation of personal power and wealth at the expense of others. As a result, the people of our nation suffer. Jobs have been lost, retirement funds have been plundered, and we find ourselves in an uprecedented dilemma. However, as the President of the United States of America, I am here to see that this never happens again. The buck stops here. Period. Yes, there will be short-term pain for many of our citizens who have been dragged into this fray outside of their knowledge and against their will. However, make no mistake -- I intend to hold every individual, every corporation, and yes, every government official who committed any fraudulent or illegal activity with respect to this financial crisis accountable. Along with criminal proceedings and, in many cases, jail time, a part of that accountability will also be to allow companies that have lied, cheated, and frauded their way to prosperity at the expense of our nation to suffer the consequences of their actions -- the dissolution of their respective corporations. Any further "bailout" money we spend will be to mitigate the "collateral damage" to you, the taxpayers and citizens of this great nation. Not another cent of your hard-earned money will be spent to prop up institutions who, through their moral and ethical failure, sought personal wealth at the expense of the nation and its citizens. We will survive, we will persevere, and in the end, we will prosper once again. However, the survival and prosperity of our nation hinges upon our ability to drive the cancer from the system. Like chemotherapy on the body, the "cure" will cause temporary weakness, pain, and a loss of our financial "hair." However, once the disease is purged, we will return to health -- and rise once again as a great nation, on the wings of freedom, ingenuity, and the American Spirit. I hereby swear, as the President of this nation, to do everything in my power to bring the criminals to justice, hold the offending companies accountable, and to completely rid the system of its financial cancer. Delaying any longer would simply allow the tumor to grow larger and more desructive. Please see today as both an end and a beginning -- an end to the fraudulent practices which brought us to where we stand today, and the beginning of our financial recovery."
Would a speech like that really cause any lasting panic? Or, would it actually be a welcome change that very quickly would bring renewed optimism and hope?
In any case, such a scenario is pipe dream. The truth will come out, eventually -- but not in that way. As Denninger says, the math does not lie; you can't "game the system" indefinitely. Eventually, things will implode, and the system will "reset" itself. I just pray that it occurs sooner rather than later, and that we can get ourselves back on a better track going forward.
Steve
:laugh:
