Indefensible Men

In the previous post and elsewhere, I have written about the culture of Wall Street and its role in the 2008 economic debacle. Here is an amazing post by Yves Smith at her blog Naked Capitalism. It was originally a magazine article and is a LONG read but well worth the effort. The reader discussion that follows is also astonishingly excellent. Starting the post and in the comments you will find quotes from Reinhold Niebuhr, Hannah Arendt, George Orwell, and others to give you some idea of the level of conversation.

In brief, “Indefensible Men” makes clear the enormous economic and cultural distortion that Wall Street has become. “Psychopathology” is the word that comes up more than once in the comments and it is not at all inappropriate. This is a world most of us have no experience with and can hardly imagine, yet it is impacting all of our lives and indeed much of the world—and not for the better. As the responders make clear, however, doing something about it will be a monumental undertaking.

We are in the midst of an economic, political, and cultural crisis of the first order. If it is at all possible, I encourage you to find an hour or so to read this piece and the conversation that follows.