Saturday, January 31, 2009

The New Robber Barons

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and bankers. It is its natural manure. ~ Thomas Jefferson (slightly amended for our times)
Banker greed made this economic collapse. One could argue, accurately, that the current crop of banking executives are more nefarious terror cells than anything huddling in al-Qaeda camps.

It is true that bankers don't seek destruction for its own sake. Bankers are not anarchists. They are worse. Anarchists have some sort of morals, they are motivated by something outside of themselves. They may be insane but at least they are altruistic lunatics. Bankers are pure greed.

The economy is falling apart. Their own banks are teetering on the edge of failure. The government gives their banks money to keep the banks solvent, to keep the economy going. And what do the bankers think is the first, best use of the money? Diverting it into their own pockets in the form of bonuses.

The bankers should think themselves lucky that Barack Obama is president and not me. Obama will criticize them and try to jawbone down their most egregious greed. I would provide a more intense way to encourage bankers to act rationally.

Richard Fuld, your table is ready.

Kill the bankers may strike some as extreme but, if you think about it, it is no more than they deserve.

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