Forgive us our debts (As we forgive our debtors)

The ad says it all, really.

   The above picture of NYPD blocking a sidewalk and protecting banks from roving bands of occupy celebrators is NOT for the purpose of taking something deemed too dangerous away; but the purpose of the block is to convey the impression of a watchful eye, so that when you say, "we live in a nanny/police state!" you are simultaneously saying, "and thank God!"  

I.

The reason you think prosecuting the bad apples of the economic meltdown will work is that Banks like ‘Chase’ already exist, and if they already exist they must be safe-- or "some other omnipotent entity" would not have permitted them to come to existence. That is THE problem of  our time, or as I am oft to say, narcissism. We all believe in the big other watching over us and keeping score. Specifically watching me. I was born with a purpose! I’m one of a kind! Sure you are. Have a Dr. Pepper you rebel.

The true danger of the "Nanny State" isn't that it limits your freedoms but that it causes you to want less freedom.

II.

The point of consumer protection is not protecting the consumer from the market, but protecting the consumer for the market.

So long as the system is intact. So long as you don’t question the system itself, why, protest yourself to death if you want. And we have just the scarf for that! In fact, protest is the kind of relief valve the system needs occasionally. Maybe you get some change effected but the system goes unquestioned. 

You do of course trust the system to watch out for you. Every day you trust it to turn the lights green and the other sides red. You gobble up the food in wrappers and cans without a second thought. So safe and cozy. The TV raises your kids. Whats on exactly? Who cares. They’re quiet you idiot. 

All of our electronic gadgets have been rigorously tested and stamped with approval for you to consume. If they figure out later it all causes cancer, it will then come with a label, so your safe. Did you notice I just did it to? I said “they”. If “they” figure out...

III.

Recall if you will scolding hot McDonalds coffee spilling, small toys being swallowed by toddlers, strollers that crush infants and literally tons of examples of consumer beware. Often followed by recalls and outright bans. What is your first thought when you hear them?

 “How did those stupid toys ever make it to the store? Who approved that?”

“The dumb ass parent that bought it should be flogged!” 

“That’s what you get for buying a honda!”

 Note again and again that the instinctive reflex among the “public” is to blame the individual and protect the corporation, the system. Somehow, the person who fell HAD to be at fault. That’s how a score keeping god works. Duh. Karma. Whoever suffers as a result gets sold by the press as an object lesson in stupidity and human failure. THIS GUY deserved his heart attacks from eating hamburgers. Hate him. Your WAY to smart to die like him.

You'd think we'd be happy if the system caught an after-market danger, but clearly we aren't, it enrages us. The rage isn't because the government suddenly intrudes into our lives-- it always has-- it's because it's evidence that the system (ahem, your god) wasn't-- and therefore isn't-- all knowing. And that is what your narcissism fears most. 

This means that you will always locate such an entity because you cannot live without it; your allegiances will shift (your a Buddhist now, how cute!) but you will never permit yourself to live only in the abyss-mal world of your actions. Your always on the side of "who can fix this?," Your never on the side of "I helped cause this."  

And if that entity one day fails to save you, you'll feel the kind of rage that few mortals have felt. Adonai! Why hast thou forsaken me? See you on the news channel. 

IV.

The issue isn't the faulty banks, it is all of the correctly operating banks. The problem isn’t the toy that junior choked on but the millions of toys that no one choked on. The problem isn't the minimum balance fee, it is the credit card; it isn't the punitive late charges, it is money. 

It is the idea that because you can presently do something (banking for instance), that-something (banking) must be safe. Someone, somewhere has tested this shit out, right? It must be reasonably safe if engineers, economists and business folks above me and surely smarter than me approved of it. Wrong.

“Sure N., credit swaps on bundled sub-prime mortgage loans is risky, but banking itself is sound. Capitalism itself is... sound.”

Sure it is. Businesses are opposed to ethics. Not just shy about ethics but OPPOSED to ethics playing a role in the consumer market. Free market means zero ethics. 

Capitalism works by essentially taking “surplus” (the gains gotten from reducing wages given to workers) and storing it towards upper management (that being a generous term) and investors. This process creates a need to go back and give charity towards those who are not paid properly in the first place.

“I’m where I’m at from hard work, sweat and sacrifice. It was risky. Fuck you N. if your too lazy to earn it like me.”

You are right now completely dependent on numerous government agencies fulfilling their tasks moment to moment for your day to run smoothly. Some entity, greater than yourself and OUT THERE is handling it all. Whether it’s Daddy, the principal, the boss, road crews, cable company, electric, the FDA, water, sewer, police, the FED, NASA, Congress and Jesus. Most of these are either directly run by your government or rely heavily on subsidies all to your great benefit. Whether you use it or not. Your welcome says the rest of the nation. It’s all okay. Really, you can relax. The system will tell you when to panic. 

Which is really all you want anyway. Deep down, you assume you would not be allowed to make a truly dangerous choice anyway. Besides who wants to make life altering changes when you can vote on the next american idol! Start drinking judges.

Speaking of which, Soda/banks/clothes/beer/big macs have all been refined and improved so that you would probably like them; but it was packaged and marketed so that you would like them regardless of whether you liked them, and certainly without testing if it might eventually kill you and others. 

“I can drink high energy drinks if I want N... Its my choice.”

The question you should be asking but won’t is, am I free to not do it? Free to not use any of the above? The billions spent on advertising, market penetration, early adoption and branding must all be meaningless and silly then? Of course it isn’t. The tons of data being collected on you via facebook and google is staggering for a reason.

You cannot really say you have a choice to do or not do anymore. Your free to choose your identity through branding. Red or blue, democrat or republican, coke or pepsi, organic or genetic, chase or bank of america. Which is to say you have no choice at all. While the rhetoric for all these branded items is different (and purposefully antagonistic), they act, they do, they behave and they are... exactly the same. 

Now to choose none of the choices given requires... a leap of faith. And if you have listened at all, faith is less about belief and all about what you do, next. 

It's narcissism done right. Possibly the secret to a meaningful life. Pick an existence that is of value to more than just yourself, even if that existence defies the logic of reality-- your biology, your environment and of course everyone else. And once you have chosen who you want to be, once you have defined the parameters of this life, you force it to be true. And know that once you have invested your life in this identity, this existence-- all or nothing, even in the face of the doubt and terror that accompanies your rational self-- it will be impossible to fail.

Another world is possible.

N.