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Economic Inequality
By Larry Barkan
What an amazing coincidence: Goldman Sachs posts it’s largest quarterly profit in its 140 year history and has been well represented by membership in the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations. And some people say that the law of attraction is a hoax! When people think of the movie “Wall Street,” what mostly comes to mind is Gordon Gekko’s “Greed is Good” speech. But the theme of the movie really emerges towards the end when Gekko (played by Michael Douglas) has manipulated Bud Fox (played by Charlie Sheen) into selling out the airline for which his father works. Angry and disillusioned, Fox storms into Gekko’s office. To placate Fox, Gekko points to a picture on the wall of his office and notes that he purchased the picture for $60,000 10 years earlier, but it’s now worth $600,000. He then goes on to say, “The illusion has become real. And the more real it becomes, the more desperate they want it. Capitalism at it finest.” The movie was released in 1985. But Gekko’s speech is very much of our time. Today, many of us are Bud Fox. We’re waking up from our illusions, angry and upset. A friend recently applied for a substitute teaching position after losing his job. He told me that he filled out five applications in five school districts. The applications asked for written answers to the questions, “How would you put together a lesson plan?” “What would you want to know about your students?” “Why do you want to teach?” Additionally, he was fingerprinted and it took 4 months for his fingerprints to be cleared by the FBI. He said that the application process required more effort than it took him to obtain any job he ever applied for in his entire life.
I couldn’t help wondering how many financiers at Goldman Sachs and other places have had to be fingerprinted (unless they’re going to jail which doesn’t seem at all likely). My friend is pessimistic about his chances to get a teaching job. There are thousands of people applying. He noted that people at the bottom and middle of the economic pyramid are fighting among themselves for the meager crumbs while those at the top are reaping huge bonuses. “The rich have been doing it to the poor for years,” another character in the “Wall Street” movie remarks in response to an attempt by Gekko to convince him that he (Gekko) has no ulterior motive. “And so it goes” as Kurt Vonnegut wrote in his 1969 novel, “Slaughterhouse Five.” And so it goes.
I have been an author, motivational speaker and business consultant since 1984. I have three passions: The first is my wife of 37 years. The second is challenging conventional wisdom. The third is dogs and their welfare. I am the author of "Everyone Wins! Playing The Game of Conflict Resolution In All Your Relationships" as well as "Present and Persuade: Create Talks and Speeches That Capture Hearts and Change Minds."
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At the moment Spain has 4,600,000 unemployed people living on €426 a month unemployment benefit. If half of these unemployed people have a bank loan for which the payments are in arrears, 2,300,000 Spaniards will pay at least €30 per month as a fine to the bank. This means that unemployment is earning the Spanish banks a minimum of €828,000,000 per year - and all the banks are doing to get this money is making the position of their customers (victims) worse! Any company that is in the business of lending, investing on behalf of others or simply moving money around cannot possibly make a loss. It was nice of the governments to bail out all the banks so that they can now report 'profits' far higher than even they anticipated.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Well said. The same thing is happening in the United States. The banks are able to borrow money at zero percent interest, lend it back to the government by buying treasury bonds and reaping the interest. They never have to lend money and they will still make a terrific profit. And, of course, the money they're "lending" the government is from taxpayer bailouts. Who needs organized crime when we have organized banking?
What a great intel!!!
Ah, "Wall Street." In my opinion, this is quite simply one of the best films of all time. Not only because of its timeliness, amazing foresight (see stock market crash in October 87, and the rise of silicon valley and Microsoft in late 80's) but also one of the best performances by an actor in Michael Douglas' portrayal of Gordon Gekko.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
Thanks for commenting. I'm looking forward to "Wall Street 2" to see what Oliver Stone does with the current mess. I saw an interview with him in Vanity Fair magazine. When he was filming his new movie on the streets of New York, many people came up to him and said that they had gone to work on Wall Street because they wanted to be Gordon Gekko. Can you imagine? That explains a lot, doesn't it?
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