Conspiracy theory? No.

[aciel]

The other day, I said that lobbying was having a very strong effect on the bailout legislation. Someone called this conspiracy theory.

From Politico, According to the center, House members who supported the bailout received 51 percent more in campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors since the 1990 election than

Comments

[austingoof]

You're not talking about me, I trust? I never claimed that lobbying was not a problem. It's not a problem limited to the financial world. Every corporate interest has more influence over our government than is healthy. It's not really a Republican vs Democrat issue either. The seeds of the current problem were sown under the Clinton presidency. I can remember quite well the start of eTrade and AmeriTrade and how it was finally going to bring Wall Street to the common man. I can remember getting the first "cash this check for instant loan" mails that are pretty common now. I can remember seeing a secured credit card ad with a girlfriend who turned to me and said "I don't think I'd want to borrow money from someone that would loan money to anyone." But banks and credit card companies did. Not because they are evil, but because they want the interest and the penalties. They want you in debt, so that you can pay them dearly for it. After the dot-com bubble burst, people were commenting about the level of the debt in America, but we still kept borrowing and borrowing more. Now the greed and stupidity has caught up with us, and we have a problem to deal with. The dispute is over how we should deal with it, or not deal with it. It's a bit cynical to suggest that the people that want the bailout only want it because they will lose if they don't get it. I have no money directly invested in the stock market, and I want the bailout, because otherwise a lot of innocent retirees, and others are going to get hurt. So like the Great Depression, we need to fix the problem, put the right safeguards into place to ensure it doesn't happen again, and hope that in 70 years from now people have not forgotten what we have learned the hard way.

What I call conspiracy theory is the video that you first posted. It's full of these threatening quotes from presidents, generals, and bankers all suggesting a vast conspiracy of powerful greedy bankers using their influence to manipulate our financial system for their own benefit. Of course, there is some truth to the video. Even at some point I was worried, but then I realized I had seen it all before. I had seen the "New World Order" ID card. I had seen those same quotes before on YouTube in a "documentary" called Zeitgest, and I had heard it all before listening to Alex Jones (owner of infowars.com) on Austin Time Warner's Citizen's TV Channel. Here is a nice Wikipedia page that sums it up nicely

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_World_Order_(conspiracy)

In fact, just go to the link you posted on YouTube, and start clicking some of the related links, and see how many links you have to click away before you start seeing videos ranting about everything mentioned in the Wiki article.

On the other hand, if you want to believe that the Illumanti, Skull And Bones, Freemasons, Catholic Church, Knights Templar, Bilderburg Group, ..., are all secretly trying to enslave the world, that they caused 9/11, and that the UN, European Union, NAFTA, etc., are all just different ways for them to create their New World Order and finally rule the world, be my guest. In this case, you should get a copy of Atlas Shrugged, since apparently that is their secret manual for conducting the revolution. I'd just point out, if they have that much control secretly then how does anyone know about it? Why don't they just make Alex Jones, or one of his fellow nutters just disappear? Why would they want to eliminate national boundaries and openly rule the world, when they apparently exert so much power secretly.

[austingoof]

Sorry the wiki link is not coming through correctly. Let me TinyUrl it:

http://tinyurl.com/65xlhl

[aciel]

Look, that's absurd. It's guilt by association. Just because conspiracy theorists happen to agree that modern economic theory is bunk doesn't mean we're all wrong that modern economic theory is bunk.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[austingoof]

Yes, they are different. That's why I made two different paragraphs in my response. When I said you were buying into conspiracy theory it was because of two specific things that you freaking out about even after I had pointed out that they were flawed.

As to the system being broken it really isn't. Here is an analogy. Suppose you are driving along and you see a horrific car wreck. Do you declare cars as broken, and sell yours? Does the government ban cars? No. They pass new safety laws, and step up enforcement of existing laws. It's the same thing here. The economy was screaming along at high speeds with people dangerously weaving in and out of traffic, ignoring laws and common sense. Worse the cops apparently turned off their radars and weren't even trying to keep order. Many of the drivers didn't even have the experience to even to be expected to drive safely, but they got cars anyways. Everybody was happy, but someone stomped on their brakes and we have a massive pileup to clean up after.

If you don't already, you should listen to NPR. They have a great show Marketplace that airs small reports starting at 5:50 am, and at the end of the hour after that until I think about 9. Then at 6:30 pm they have a longer show. They have non-emotional reports and discussions of the issues; in fact, they have been talking about this for months, while the mainstream media is just picking up on it.

[austingoof]

Sorry, I mean to add that 60 Minutes had a great report this last Sunday. Non dramatic and to the point. They had one of the legal documents for a mortgage tranch. I've seen thinner textbooks. So it's amazing that people thought that they understood them enough to buy off on the risks, but of course at the same time they're being offered "insurance" that against defaults. Still I'd wonder why someone was offering me "insurance" on a great deal instead of keeping the deal for themselves. I put "insurance" in quotes because it was really swaps that were being sold. Swaps aren't insurance so they aren't regulated as such.

Bottom line is focus on your life. You're in a good spot. You can ride this out at UT, and hopefully about the same time you are graduating with a better degree things will be better.

[aciel]

But there's only one economy and billions of cars. We can afford a broken car or two. We literally can't afford a broken economy.