Old School

Ok, so I get it. Groups need to have private spaces for the sake of maintaining community. For the most part, this applies to disenfranchised groups like African Americans or, yes, women. When it comes to social elites, however, these groups are usually insulated by their privilege and do not necessarily need artificially imposed privacy to maintain cohesion.

This is why it is insulting and infuriating to read about groups like "C Street" or "Kappa Beta Phi", which is a group of one-percenters. It seems redundant for a bunch of Wall Street financiers to get together for a swanky private party and congratulate themselves. To the average American, it appears that wealth and self-congratulation are the norm for these guys (and "smattering" of gals). After all, while "Main Street" flounders, Wall Street is doing just fine, not in the least because it accepted money from main street taxpayers to bail them out of their self-imposed troubles, all while glibly denying that it was the very government they disdain that saved their smug, shiny asses (See "This American Life" Episode 415: Crybabies).

These guys might believe in Wall Street, after all, there truly is a street named "Wall," but after weighing the evidence, I have decided that the "free market" they tend to extol is a supernatural entity, and I do not believe in it. I do not believe it necessarily selects for quality or in the best interest of the consumer. I do not see any evidence that the free market creates or encourages rational behavior on either the production or consumption side. It seems to me that the "products" these Wall Street guys are creating are not particularly real or of any use to the average consumer (until they fail and crash the entire economy). I don't see this class of individual as creating jobs that are beneficial to America, when considered in proportion to the capital they tie up. It appears that left to their own devices without oversight from an elected government, the lure of massive profits at any cost is too much for most people, and they will do anything to make more money.

I therefore add "The Free Market" to the list of gods in which I do not believe. I hope it enjoys the hazing it gets when it joins Thor, Zeus, and Mammon in the grand ballroom of the subconscious.

Unemployment

Yes, you read that right. I've been laid off. On the bright side, perhaps this means that I will be able to write more.

Right?