Street roots
Jan. 6, 2012
That, as they say, is exactly how the bubble burst
BY THOMAS VINCENT
C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R
here are lots of reasons to like Matt
Taibbi. His writing is witty and
entertaining, his points skewer their
target with the uncanny precision of Robin
Hood s arrows, and despite his somewhat
lofty perch as a contributing editor for
Rolling Stone
Magazine, he retains a
truly remarkable level
of humility. But the
ttIF T O lA
main reason I find
Taibbi’s writing
WATT TAIBBI
appealing is because
f e w -
he is so successful at
making complicated
r
things understandable.
“Griftopia” is a
perfect example.
“Our world isn’t
Griftopia: A Story about ideology
R EU TER S/LU C AS JA C K S O N
of Bankers,
anymore. It’s about
Traders fo r Goldman Sachs work as chairman o f the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, makes
Politicians, and
complexity. We live in
an address on a television screen as they work on the floor o f the New York Stock Exchange.
the Most
a complex
Audacious Power bureaucratic state
dishonesty, extortion and outright fraud the
Greenspan played in our modern economic
with
complex
laws
and
author feels has been perpetrated against
Grab in American
woes, Taibbi concludes: “Greenspan was the
complex business
the American people by modern
crucial enabler of the bad ideas and greed of
History By Matt
practices, and the few
corporations: “The new America ... is fast
others. He blew up one bubble and then,
Taibbi, Spiegel &
organizations with the
becoming a vast ghetto in which all of us,
when the first one burst, he printed money
Grau, Paperback,
corporate willpower to conservatives and progressives, are being
to inflate the next one. That was the
2011,299 pages,
master these
bled dry by a relatively tiny oligarchy of
difference between the tech and the housing
$16
complexities will
extremely clever financial criminals and
bubbles. In the tech bubble, America lost its
inevitably own the
their castrato henchmen in government,
own savings. In the housing bubble, we
political power.” In
whose main job is to be good actors on TV
borrowed the shirts we ended up losing,
other words, Taibbi is
and put on a good show.”
leaving us in a hole twice as deep.”
saying that even though many modern
Unlike many modern pundits and analysts
“Griftopia” is not an exhaustive treatise
political movements like the Tea Party
who temper their writing in an effort to
on modern economics. Rather the book is
“reflect a widespread longing for simpler
appear “fair and balanced,” Taibbi makes
an attempt to shine a light on several recent
times and solutions,” ultimately, power will
absolutely no attempt to deny his biases or
economic and political debacles. In this it
go not to those who desire simplicity, but
pull his punches. At times his prose displays
succeeds brilliantly. The titles of the
rather to those who become adept at
sections say it all: “The Great American
all the subtlety of a hockey enforcer,
Mortgage Scam,” “The Commodities
dealing with the world’s increasing
complete with bare knuckles and a bloody
Bubble,” and my personal favorite on
jersey. (The chapter on Fed Chairman Alan
complexity.
Obama’s health care plan: “The Trillion
At its most basic, “Griftopia” is a series of Greenspan is titled simply “The Biggest
Dollar Band-Aid.”
Asshole in the Universe.”) Though the
seven essays on modern economics and
Perhaps the most notable passages in the
language in “Griftopia” at times borders on
politics. On one level it is straight analysis,
book are those that try to give readers some
interlaced with a wicked sense of humor. On crude, underneath it all, Taibbi’s economic
way to comprehend the almost
analyses are always well reasoned and
another level, however, the book seethes
incomprehensible scale of the theft that has
thoughtful. For example, on the role
with barely restrained anger over the
T
taken place right under their noses. For
example, when considering the massive size
of the recent bank bailouts, Taibbi writes,
“With the $13-plus trillion we are estimated
to ultimately spend on the bailouts, we
could not only have bought and paid off
every single sub-prime mortgage in the
country (that would have cost $1.4 trillion),
we could have paid off every remaining
mortgage of any kind in the country — and
still have had enough money left over to buy
a new house for every American who does
not already have one.”
As with the other topics covered in the
book, with the bank bailouts the author isn’t
content to merely note that the emperor has
no clothes. He also wants to identify and
point the finger at the thief who stole them.
“(T)he history of Goldman (Sachs) is the
story of the great lie at the center of our
political and economic life. Goldman is not a
company of geniuses; it’s a company of
criminals. And far from being the best fruit
of a democratic, capitalist society, it’s the
apotheosis of the Grifter Era, a parasitic
enterprise that has attached itself to the
American government and taxpayer and
shamelessly engorged itself on us all.”
“Griftopia” is a brilliant commentary on
the modern world. If you want a better
understanding of recent economic and
political happenings, this book is a great
place to jump into the pool.
Fair warning, however: After reading the
book, it is next to impossible to remain
ambivalent about its topic. Like Thomas
Paine’s “Common Sense,” Taibbi has
produced a clarion call, one seemingly
designed to wake people up and stir them to
action. Regardless of which side of the
political fence you sit on; whether you are a
billionaire or a member of the 99 percent;
whether you work on Wall Street or are
occupying Wall Street, if you are not at least
a little pissed off after reading “Griftopia,”
there is something definitely wrong with
you.
Reprinted from Real Change Newspaper,
Seattle, Wash.
PORTLAND CITY COUNCIL
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