Everybody Wants to Rule the World
by David Atkins ("thereisnospoon")
Via Crooks and Liars, it's nice to see a Wall St. hack admit what anyone paying attention already knows: the banks run the show all around the world, and your average stock trader has all the conscience of Jeffrey Dahmer when it comes to economic affairs. Witness Mr. Alessio Rastani, ladies and gentlemen:
Stock market trader Alessio Rastani commented on the current economic crisis to the BBC on Monday, saying, "Governments don't rule the world" but rather Goldman Sachs does and he "dreams of another recession."
"This is not a time right now for wishful thinking that governments are going to sort things out," Rastani told the BBC. "The governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world."
In a candid interview about the Eurozone rescue plan, Rastani said the market is ruled by fear and cannot be saved by the rescue plan.
"They know the stock market is toast," he said. "They know the stock market is finished."
Rastani said most investors are moving their money to places it would be more safe, like U.S. treasuries and the dollar, as they simply do not care about the state of the economy but rather about their own pockets...
"For most traders...we don't really care that much about how they're going to fix the economy, how they're going to fix the whole situation," Rastani said. "Our job is to make money from it."
Finding optimism in a grim situation, Rastani said he's been "dreaming" of this moment for years.
"I go to bed every night, I dream of another recession," he said.
Mr. Rastani appears to be a guy trying to make a name for himself, so I'd take his predictions with a grain of salt.
Still, what most people who watch Mr. Rastani wax eloquent about his love of recessions will think of is the man's sociopathic insouciance about the suffering of millions. We humans are an emotional and intuitive lot, and we can sense an enemy bent on our destruction for his own personal gain. It makes us react out of a sense of self preservation.
But it's important to move past that and see Mr. Rastani for what he is: an honest man. People who go into the business of buying and selling stock have only one interest in mind: making money at the expense of other people. A stock broker or bond trader creates not one iota of real value to a company; she doesn't craft a single product with her hands nor yield a single creative insight with her mind. He doesn't help tailor a single product to a consumer's needs, save a single life, feed a hungry diner or teach a single child. A financial trader does one thing and one thing only: buy pieces of paper cheap off one sucker, and try to sell it dear to another sucker. It's a zero sum game: wherever there's a winner in the financial markets, there's an equal loser sitting on the other side of the trade. And no product or service of value created in the transaction beyond interest on an investment.
Asking for a display of conscience from people in this business is a waste of time. That's not to say that a great many of them don't have consciences. They do, of course. But the industry itself by definition lacks a conscience, and it attracts those of sociopathic disposition. It takes a certain kind of person to celebrate taking advantage of suckers willing to buy dear and sell cheap every single day without thinking about what will happen to their children and their families. Mr. Rastani is simply an honest reflection of his industry.
But of course, the greatest honesty in his rant is not about his love of profit from economic calamity, but rather his frank admission that the financial industry owns the world's governments lock, stock and barrel. Some would call that arrogance. I would call it a frank assessment of reality. Senator Durbin has already admitted as much for the American government; the only surprise is in hearing such candor from one of the Wall St. players on the inside.
So here's to Mr. Rastani. The last honest man on Wall St. Thanks for the insight: you've been helpful.
Now it's up to the American people to decide whether they're going to take it lying down, or if they're going to do something about it. I hear there's a little protest going on as we speak...
Update: And no, despite the rumors, this is not a hoax. This guy really meant what he said.
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