"I've waited 5 yrs to see 1 figure on Wall Street speak in a moral language & I’ve not seen it once"

[kpete]

Jeffrey Sachs Calls Out Wall Street Criminality and Pathological Greed

The possibility of reform is remote until breaks within the elites take place.

Read more at http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/jeffrey-sachs-calls-out-wall-street-criminality-and-pathological-greed.html#Gi77xWO2eYLE1jTD.99


..I believe we have a crisis of values that is extremely deep, because the regulations and the legal structures need reform. But I meet a lot of these people on Wall Street on a regular basis right now. I’m going to put it very bluntly. I regard the moral environment as pathological. And I’m talking about the human interactions that I have. I’ve not seen anything like this, not felt it so palpably. These people are out to make billions of dollars and nothing should stop them from that. They have no responsibility to pay taxes. They have no responsibility to their clients. They have no responsibility to people, counterparties in transactions. They are tough, greedy, aggressive, and feel absolutely out of control, you know, in a quite literal sense. And they have gamed the system to a remarkable extent, and they have a docile president, a docile White House, and a docile regulatory system that absolutely can’t find its voice. It’s terrified of these companies.

If you look at the campaign contributions, which I happened to do yesterday for another purpose, the financial markets are the number one campaign contributors in the U.S. system now. We have a corrupt politics to the core, I’m afraid to say, and no party is – I mean there’s – if not both parties are up to their necks in this. This has nothing to do with Democrats or Republicans. It really doesn’t have anything to do with right wing or left wing, by the way. The corruption is, as far as I can see, everywhere. But what it’s led to is this sense of impunity that is really stunning, and you feel it on the individual level right now, and it’s very, very unhealthy.

I have waited for four years, five years now, to see one figure on Wall Street speak in a moral language, and I’ve not seen it once. And that is shocking to me. And if they won’t, I’ve waited for a judge, for our president, for somebody, and it hasn’t happened. And by the way it’s not going to happen anytime soon it seems.

More of interview:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/04/jeffrey-sachs-calls-out-wall-street-criminality-and-pathological-greed.html

[woo me with science]

1. Huge K&R

Keep this one on top.

[raouldukelives]

2. K&R It's not a left or right issue. It's a continuation of our Democracy issue.

Investing or supporting Wall St creates far more change than any vote can today. Supporting Wall St is worse than voting Republican.

I'm convinced we live in a center-left country. People want health care, not health insurance. They want more fair trade, not free trade. They want to protect the environment, not exploit it for short term profit. They want to make America stronger, not China. They want to repair our infrastructure, not wage war for corporations. They want to leave a healthier, happier world for their children. They want to honor the sacrifices of their forefathers and founding fathers. And why wouldn't they? They love the United States.

Everything even moderate Democrats claim to want fits well in those parameters. And I wouldn't be shocked if a few conservatives wouldn't as well. If we had true representation in this country, I think Bernie Sanders would almost be considered a moderate. He certainly would in my political radar.

The only thing holding us back from protecting & expanding the idea of American democracy is disinformation and propaganda funded and aired by shareholders & multinational corporations. If people are never allowed to exist in reality, they will never address issues realistically. If every economic and government report is skewed to present numbers that reflect what they want to believe, they will never provide honest representation to the people who elected them. The plundering will continue, the suffering will continue and the yellowing scraps of paper in Washington will fade into mythology.

If anything has "trickled down" from our corporate overlords it is the morals and ethics they have displayed in turning us into peons. Wall St and its backers are literally out of control. They are consumed by greed and we are all that is left to be consumed.

[Quantess]

3. K & R