The Wall Street crash is simply a reflection of our culture. Despite dire warnings in our history, for example the gasoline scare in the 1970s, when the Arab nations taught us a lesson that we never assimilated. The 1970s were also the start of the environmental movement, which quickly lost steam as energy became cheap and abundant again. We have become a nation of spenders.
Although we knew 38 years ago that oil was not a renewable energy source, and although we began entertaining ideas of alternative fuels then, nothing came of it, either through effective lobbying by the oil companies, or through the indifference of our politicians. who believed in Carpe Diem and future generations be damned.
The economic crisis is not due to foreclosures (97% of mortgage holders are faithfully paying their debt), as our intrepid leaders in Congress would have us believe, but to the greed of Wall Street stockbrokers. that they invented new flawed financial instruments that no one could understand. Bill Steigerwald of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says “Yes, the greedy, corrupt, corporate and political rats on Wall Street and Washington are largely responsible for the collapse.…”.
An example of the comfortable relationship between Washington and the lobbyists is Sen. Chris Dodd (Connecticut) quoted in ‘Source Watch'”Dodd has received more money from Arthur Andersen than any other Democrat – $54,843.00 – and has worked aggressively to insulate Arthur Andersen and other accounting firms from liability to defrauded investors in cases like Enron.” Arthur Andersen and Enron, of course, are gone as companies, but the fact that they gave a lot of money to Sen. Dodd’s campaigns clearly indicate the quid pro quo in American politics that has gotten us into the current mess. Multiply this fact by 535 (total members of Congress) and you will better understand the urgent need to elect anyone but the current incumbents.
But lest we conveniently place 100% of the blame on our greedy politicians and corporations, let’s not forget that we have become a nation of spendthrifts and indifferent voters. Less than 50% of citizens bother to participate in elections on average, apparently content with the status quo or, ominously, convinced that their vote will change nothing.
We splurge with abandon. Our trash would make many Third Worlders jump for joy at the hidden riches. We have not embraced the European passion for recycling, certain that someone else will clean up the mess. We are the main contributors to global warming because of our enormous consumption of oil, but we look askance at those who point to a future catastrophe: “Let the next generation deal with the mess.”
It’s time to look at our cultural soul and denounce wasteful clothing. Our children and their children will look down on us, wondering why we didn’t do anything when all the signs pointed to serious trouble. The financial crisis was entirely preventable, were it not for the corrupt link between lobbyists and members of Congress. They should have done their job as our representatives, but the only job they care about is getting re-elected and getting rich. But then, we vote for them, right?