Some fingers are pointing to the banks for pushing for deregulation of the banking industry and asking to be bailed out for poor financial bets. Some fingers are pointing toward the government for agreeing to the deregulation and facilitating of using tax payer money to save banks that made risky financial moves. There is one party that (as per usual) is doing most of the finger pointing, but is just as complicit in the current state of our economy, the voter.
People will march for racial injustice, police brutality, gender bias and other visceral issues that get splashed across all manner of media. However, when it comes to issues of banking regulation, lending regulation and the influence of financial institutions on government direction, the reaction is at best elementary and short-sided.
There can be no denial that this country is driven by religion, protection of liberties, but most of all our nation is controlled by capitalism. Capitalism is defined as: An economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than the state. Put simply, the affairs of the economy do more to influence the success or failure of our nation than any other factor and not keeping a watchful eye on what's going with the regulation of the financial industry is a real mistake.
In the 80's the layout of how college loans and credit cards work was laid out in congress. There were some who wanted to allow bankruptcy protection against student loans like it is for most other forms of debt. Some of those same people spoke out against allowing credit rating on one account to be raised due to a delinquency on a completely different and unrelated account. However, congress was heavily influenced by credit card and lending companies, killing both of those provisions along with others that might have protected average citizens.
Now, credit cards and student loans are two of the more unregulated and powerful areas of credit and debt in the country and it will take significant action on the behalf of voters to change that. One of many sayings that I've heard from my childhood is "when you point a finger at someone, there are three more fingers pointing right back at you." Sure, Goldman Sachs is an easy target of voter unrest and disillusion, but if voters can take a shot at a harder target, voter complacency in holding representatives accountable for decisions made in relation to financial industries, we as a country might find our aim a bit more true.
2 comments:
It's a shame that it takes a national financial crisis for citizens to sit up and take notice. We, as a people, had no idea what half of this crap meant until the money was simply gone. That is so sad. On the other hand, I suppose it is better late than never. Sure, we are all in financial unrest, but we are making strides to make sure this doesn't happen to us again. I.e. folks are withdrawing their money and stuffing it back in the mattresses where it belongs. Keep on keepin' on, brothah.
Unfortunately, that is what our nation has become. A nation full of reactive people who have to wait to act until things are out of hand, while those people who see trouble (or the possibility of trouble) on the horizon and want to prevent it are seen as kooks and trouble-makers. Once we truly become a "proactive society" should that ever happen, we will be able to avoid situations like this and be able to out our energies in more progressive ventures.
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