Apres Moi

I'm linking to an article from the Rolling Stone. Its basic premise is as follows. "The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d'état. They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations."

Amen to that. What I particularly like about this article is that it discusses the economic crisis in plain, in-your-face language with a minimum of the buzz words that the financial types like to use to obfuscate the issue. I would like to say that it offers some hope, but it doesn't. It merely documents in some detail what others have said, that the Treasury Department has become a branch of Goldman Sachs. Hank Paulson was a Goldman boy, as was Geithner and his chief assistant. The claim is made that AIG is going to get even more money because it owes Goldman. Oligarchy at work, man.

I hate to say it, but I see my worst fears being realized. Obama talks a good game and he's got the common-man touch with his very public college basketball brackets and his appearance on the Jay Leno show, but he's a captive of Wall Street. He's not going to be able to do the things that will turn things around, namely nationalize the big banks, sell off the parts of them that have some value, and deep six the rest. Once people see that his promises have turned empty, they're likely to turn to more extreme figures, figures like Rush Limbaugh, or at least someone with his stamp of approval. It's a depressing prospect. The oligarchs are determined to hold onto their money and power at all costs, even if that means fascism, and if they go down, they intend to take us down with them. Apres moi, le deluge.

I found the link for this article on the Naked Captitalism site, which I'm now including in my list of sites. It's often wonky and heavy going, but it's also informative.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/26793903/the_big_takeover/1