Fear, Greed, and the Financial Crisis—an American Expat's View From Abroad
An expat of Wall Street and the United States reflects on the economic crisis
I am no nihilist. I fear poverty and decline as much as the next person. I have lived roughly half my life span and can see old age somewhere in the middle distance. Like most people past a certain age, I have become more cautious. My one radical life change—moving from New York to Slovenia, tossing out one career and having no idea what the next would be—is behind me, and I doubt I would have the courage for another one. I have children who can see their adulthood in the middle distance, and I want them to have a happy and prosperous future. So though logic and equilibrium would dictate that the twin towers of greed and fear must both be obliterated in order for a truly new system to emerge—that, as the economist Joseph Stiglitz suggested, Wall Street's meltdown is to capitalism what the fall of the Berlin Wall was to communism—I still hope for a reprieve. I hope that the measures taken by the very visible (and very clumsy) hands of Bush and his team of panicked free marketeers will stem the final collapse. Because at least when communism went under, all those jumping ship had another ship to jump to: a lifeboat, an economic and political system that many had viewed as their salvation for years.
Now we have nowhere to jump.
Just the void.
Erica Johnson Debeljak is the author of the memoir Forbidden Bread, forthcoming in April 2009.
Reader Comments
Fear vs. Greed
Without a world view, voters in the U.S. can only fulminate on old popular culture stereotypes. Truly, the distance between the author's insights and Americans' homegrown thought-ruts is breathtaking.
view from another american expat
My sentiments exactly, Tina, since some time ago. Osama set out to defeat the U.S. where it hurts the most, its economy. Bush fell for the challenge, and played the Iraq card, way off base, but a perfect response for Osama's purposes, a way to waste the government's resources on a non-issue, and the beginning of the end.
Osama has won, for exposing the American culture for what it is to the outside world, a greedy and parasitic beast, feeding on impoverished countries, furthering its interests unabashedly by way of corporate impositions on poorer countries.
The U.S. is truly a disgusting example of capitalism run amok, but the majority of the Americans do not realize how much the corporations and the military machine run the government.
Just look at the faces of the present administration. Do they not all have evil faces, rarely a genuine smile. They are up to no good. And this is their last chance to run away with the golden egg before they have to give up the helm to the Democrats. They'll leave it bankrupt, but that's OK, because they spent 8 years furthering their own personal interests and that of their corporate supporters.
The fact that Osama has won should wake America up to his message, and I hope that America matures to the point where it will stop bullying its way around the planet, stepping on everyone's toes.
November 15 may be a start in the right direction, if the U.S. will agree to be a part of the international community, instead of the spoiled child. The attending countries need to spank the spoiled child, and set some rules for it to abide by, a reprimand is not enough. It will be interesting to watch history unfold.
The financial crisis has really publicized some of the worst practices on Wall Street, many of which socially conscious investors have worked to remedy over the years. It’s good to see the global financial crisis take center stage during the SRI in the Rockies’ responsible investment industry conference with the belief that a more socially responsible approach to investing can—and should—play a role in helping to transform the investing world. Here is their link for those interested in learning more on this event: www.SRIintheRockies.com
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