Greed is not good.

The media is obsessed. Politicians are in a lather. Wall Street is shitting its pants. All of this because banks rule America and neither Democrat nor Republican politicians have the honesty, the integrity, and the balls to do what is right. And what is right? At this point the answer is absolutely nothing.

I am referring to, of course, the stock market, that surreal invention whose purpose has long been retarded for greed and power, and its current plunge into the abyss. But before I delve into the current market flop, I think it wise to start at the beginning…

The stock market was created in order to help businesses searching for capital improve their operations through outside donations. Investors were gamblers and “the market” their bookie, paying interest when the company they invested in was “succeeding” and driving prices down when they were not. It is a system completely based on speculation and the promise that what the company is telling us about their financial situation is the truth.

This system of pretend ownership has always been a casino for the wealthy and a too risky, complicated, and difficult to access proposition for the common man and woman. But things changed slightly when big business and government scared us into believing “the market” was our only hope for retirement “savings.” The government pulled some strings, doled out some corporate tax breaks, and presto: we invested in private 401k programs we were told were safe while our public social security monies were deemed insufficient for the upcoming generation.

Unfortunately, the stock market isn’t a panacea that guarantees future wealth. Rather, it is nothing more than speculation based on the hope that our fake ownership will forever be more highly valued by those willing to buy our innately worthless stock certificates.

Truth be told, there is no real “ownership” in the stock market. If my paper loses its “value” on the free market then I don’t get to take a piece of the company I have invested in with me if that company likewise loses its “usefulness.” Instead, I get a handful of paper or more likely, a diminished account value on my computer screen. Not exactly the nest egg we’d all like to retire with.

The rope has tightened.

America used to be a place that made things: cars, clothes, tools, electronics, etc. Today, we make debt and then pass that debt on to the next schlub, and the next schlub, and on and on. All the time we hope that the collectors will never come and call our bluff; for if they do, one thing is certain: we don’t have the goods to pay them back in any other currency than worthless pieces of paper with a corporation’s name on it.

In theory, I suppose, this speculative money throw is a fine system, or so say the capitalists. As long as debt is successfully passed without anyone coming for “real” payment for what they are owed, the smoke and mirrors are successful at hiding the king behind his invisible clothes. However, if and when someone finally does come calling for something substantial to back up the promise, our “ownership” we thought held value means less than the paper it is printed on and any claim to real ownership we thought we held disappears like tears in rain.

Karl Marx predicted that unchecked capitalism would eventually destroy itself. That which we thought we owned, he surmised, would really own us. “Give a capitalist enough rope,” Marx sternly warned, “and he will hang himself.” Examining the details of the current stock market crash, this prediction appears to have come to fruition.

Mortgage lenders, free to make their own mortgage rates and loan to any applicant, used the government’s lack of oversight to extend their reach and pad their numbers, secure in their arrogance that the ever-increasing amount they were owed really meant that those who owed them could and would eventually pay. However, their arrogance went deeper. While they frivolously loaned their customers’ money they crossed their fingers behind their back as debt was shuffled to a different party. All the while they remained oblivious to the notion that it isn’t reasonable to loan something that you can’t back up especially when those who are to pay you can’t afford the terms.

On the other side of this equation, the ignorant would-be home owners agreed to ludicrous buying terms with the lenders, confident that inflated home prices would cancel out their debt and score them a handsome profit when they unloaded their over-priced home on the next speculator, himself hoping to turn a similarly quick profit.

The common denominator of both bank and buyer: neither could afford the risk they were respectively taking.

You made your bed. Now it’s time to lie in it.

The stock market world of fake ownership speculation is now in turmoil. Stock prices are plummeting, banks are failing, house prices are sinking, and the specter of a credit crunch is looming on the horizon. Meanwhile, politicians are scaring us into believing our jobs will be lost, our retirement savings vanquished, and our chance for future “success” compromised. The media, in similar drama queen fashion, is salivating at the theatrics.

So what is the solution for the common man and common woman in these so-called “trying times?” Should government use our tax money to invest in these failed banks and lenders? Should government “bail out” those who can no longer afford the mortgage payments they initially agreed to? No. Throwing money at the problem is not the answer. The answer is much simpler than that: fuck them all.

I am not a heartless bastard. I am a realist and an idealist. I believe in striving for perfection while taking into account every nuance of our society’s restrictions, limitations, and unfair practices. I also believe in accountability and responsibility. Those are the two most important elements of economics, neither of which have been shown by anyone involved in our country’s current dilemma.

I wonder: who is burdened with the fiscal accountability if taxpayer money is shuttled to these corporations and individuals who accepted none from the beginning? And who is politically responsible for creating the de-regulation that allowed greed and corruption to flourish? Those who gambled on home turn-over and outrageous over-pricing, those who lobbied for more lenient lender restrictions, and those who signed that de-regulation into law are the irresponsible criminals in this situation and those are the parties that should be held accountable. For their shortsightedness these crooks, greedy bastards, and ignorant jackasses should not receive our help.

Consider this: if people lived within their means, bought houses because they found a place they loved, they could afford, and were happy to live in without the greed of selling out as soon as possible, would any of this have happened? If banks and lenders were forced to be separate operating entities and had true accountability for their assets, true responsibility for working fairly and honestly with their customers, and weren’t treating the lending world like a gambling hall where no on ever comes to collect except for them, would any of this have happened? And if our government would have protected its citizens with restrictions on lending practices rather than promoting banks and lenders to do whatever they please while giving tax incentives for predatory practices would any of this have happened?

The bed that has been made has been made by The Invisible Hand of Free Market Capitalism. It is now time we let that Invisible Hand dig itself out of the hole it has created without turning to socialism, fascism, or any other –ism that appropriates public funds to private corporations. Change the system entirely, not the results of this great gamble that went bad; to do otherwise rewards the irresponsible and leaves those who did the “right” thing, saving, living within their means, and avoiding debt, once more punished for their personal accountability.

If the government votes into law any measure that puts taxpayer money into the hands of private corporations it will be one of the greatest tragedies in America’s history. It will also prove once more, loud and clear, that banks own us and we own nothing.

It is time we, the proletarians, lose our chains once and for all. If the government gives 700 billion dollars to the irresponsible corporations and individuals who brought this upon us the economic chains that weigh us down may prove the heaviest in our history.