privatize the profits. . .

but socialize the losses!

note that Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is now referring to Bush as "Comrade Bush," because he has gone farther to the Left even than Chavez in taking over banks.

the grand illusion of the last 30 years -- of a market, floating free of states and institutions, a magical place where anyone and everyone makes money -- has suddenly collapsed. good riddance, i say. "the end of history" -- what an egotistical dream! as if all of history were just leading up to US. but Vietnam was the beginning of the end of American empire.

there is no such thing as market without governments. the Right's fantasy, pushed successfully all these years (even Clinton loved the market), that the state was the enemy of the market, has finally been shown to be untrue. and in how spectacular a fashion.

so what are we left with? these thirty years of profits have all gone into private hands. the losses these fat cats wrought in recent months, however, have all been shared by taxpayers. in other words, they can get rich off the labor of others. and the government is only allowed to take a small amount of tax money for redistribution to the public. anything more bold -- raising taxes for health care, etc -- is labelled "government interference in the workings of the free market." the moment losses pass a certain line, however, these same fat cats cry out for help from the despised government. which is us, by the way.

so -- we socialize losses, but are not allowed to socialize profits. this is not a fair deal. i wonder how long Americans will put up with it.

if nothing else, this financial crisis is putting paid to the apolitical, lazy, self-centered attitude that characterized the American mainstream for so long. as long as i get my piece of the pie, goes that thinking, i could not care less for the evils wrought by this system. how tired i have been of this know-nothing attitude! how could it be that market proponents could hitch their message of greed up to Christianity, a message of selflessness! and worse, those in love with the system viewed anyone not in love with it with contempt. mere hippies! losers! sour grapes! the cynicism of these market believers, as if to them, life could contain nothing more than the love of material gain and power: that idealists are just hiding their secret lust for money.

they are wrong. and their bubble of a world is gone.