1hundredsixty8

If learning about how The Big Banks avoided any severe consequences of their bad behavior in handling foreclosures after the 2008 financial disaster did not produce in you a sense of outrage (see Grab Your Pitchforks, May 6), perhaps you need more motivation. I suggest you begin by getting your apathetic self to a movie theatre this weekend to see Assault on Wall Street. From the trailer, it is my impression this movie should receive high marks from the NRA, as it deals with a man wronged by a Wall Street firm taking up arms to get revenge.

If you respond to less visceral stimulation, then a little reading may be sufficient to infuriate you. Dodd-Frank, the law that was supposed to protect us from the risky practices of the financial sector, has been moving at a glacial pace through the rule-writing phase, the stage of a law’s implementation where the applicable regulatory agencies develop the actual rules and regulations that put the law into effect. The banks have mounted an all-out offensive to render these rules impotent. In an excellent piece of investigative reporting, the Washington Monthly’s Haley Sweetland Edwards presents a thorough description of both the issues and of the obstructionist tactics of The Big Banks.  You can get other takes on this relentless grinding down of Dodd-Frank from Gary Rivlin in The Nation, and from David Dayen’s blog.

If this gets your blood boiling, you should pause for some contemplation before you head to your local sporting goods store to purchase an AR-15. Think about the level of distraction we are subject to in our politics and the media. In a gigantic game of bait-and-switch, politicians peddle fear of government debt, undocumented immigrants and Islamic terrorists, while the media obsesses about Kim Kardashian’s pregnancy. Reality TV trumps the reality of high unemployment and a shrinking middle class. Meanwhile, we are told little about the esoteric inner workings of our government’s oversight of an economy where the connected few extract most of the wealth.

So, forget armed rebellion. We need to demand more transparency of the corrupt relationship between politics and the financial sector. Sunlight, it is said, is the best disinfectant. Public outcry- in the media and at the ballot box- may be the most effective outlet for outrage and anger.  

You don't need a gun, Jack- you already have the right to vote. Use it.