Growing up, I was a radical. A radical capitalist, that is. Not many ten year old kids are acquainted with the notion of laissez-faire, but I was. Dog eat dog. Every man for himself. The whole schmear.
A few decades have mellowed me, but I'm still a passionate fellow, and I keep worrying those passions are going to do a polar reversal, and I'm going to wind up as America's Che Guevera.
Why? Because witness what the crooks have done to our country sickens me. I read about Jimmy Cayne (allegedly smoking pot, shooting rounds of golf, and playing bridge while BSC was collapsing), Ken Lewis (who caught the ultimate falling knife, paying $50 billion for MER all by itself and now has a combined BAC+MER which is worth only $40 billion just a few months later!), and John "the human chin" Thain. (whose antics you can read about here).
Years ago, when I'd see hapless Chinese bureaucrats dragged in front of courts and sentenced to draconian prison terms (or even death) for bribery and corruption, I would think what a savage government they must be. Not any longer. How many of you would tune in to see the top 50 profiteers from the sub-prime bubble be thrown into prison? (I'll leave out the idea of a public beheading, enticing as that might sound).
Some months ago, I mentioned that high-profile suicides would start to appear. They have. I think what's next is worse: outright murders. Would you really be surprised if Madoff ultimately met with an untimely death? He hasn't offed himself (incredibly). But how many people would like to get their hands on him?
Here's my idea………every day, for a month, nationally publish how much money (in total) each of, say, the top 100 folks who took advantage of the past few years made (and by "take advantage", I'm talking about those who lied or deceived or otherwise abused the system; not those who got rich honestly). Put them in the middle of an arena. Bus in 500 out-of-work Teamsters to surround them. Sell tickets to the public for the viewing stands. Let the Teamsters loose. Sound a trumpet. And let the show begin.
