We Have Entered a New Dark Age
Characteristic of a Dark Age are death, famine, pestilence and war. Of course, we have adapted to the modern. We drown investigative journalists in Holiday Inn bathtubs. Lynchlng census takers, we decorate the corpse with a magic marker. There is such enthusiasm for war we don't require a reason to start one. Fear, intimidation and ignorance triumph.
Public and private officials have subverted and prostituted traditional American institutions and values. The latest criminal scam began in the financial sector. Deregulation allowed bankers to enter the insurance, hedge fund and financial service industries. They initiated all manner of fraudulent credit instruments. For quick profits they doomed investors and home owners to bankruptcy. They built up stock market and housing prices to an unsustainable level forming financial bubbles. When the bubbles burst, millions of citizens faced ruin. Consequently, retail sales crumbled, small businesses failed and unemployment soared.
To counter the economic crisis, the banks demanded bail-outs to avert catastrophe. They would use the funds to restore credit for consumers and small business to encourage employment.
Instead, the banks restrained credit to build up tremendous cash reserves. In essence they used taxpayer money garnered at zero percent interest to pursue other profit-making possibilities. The taxpayers assumed all the risks while the banks raked in the profits.
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