Eddie

2008.1: The year I stared into the abyss

Jan 1 ⋅ 1:37 AM

Where were you when Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy? Where were you when the US Treasury “got religion” and bailed out AIG?

I don’t know how many other people think of this year’s events that way. I find it weird that 9/11/2001 is a huge event in people’s minds, but this year’s financial crisis is not. Perhaps something to do with the view of life as a black-and-white quantity—you’re either alive or dead—rather than as a gradient of happiness? I always find it baffling how little punishment white collar criminals get. (Madoff facing 20 years in prison and a fine of $5 million after his Ponzi scheme’s $50 billion implosion? Really? That’s it?)

I remember one day in October when my coworker Kent said, with a nervous smile, something to the effect of “we’re screwed, aren’t we?”. It was near the height of the credit crunch and he had been reading articles about how the credit crunch was preventing the shipment of goods. From the way he said it and the look on his face, I could tell he had put together enough of the pieces to see how perilously-close the global financial system was to falling into the abyss.

He was genuinely scared; and so was I. But few other coworkers shared our fear. A lot of them don’t follow economic/financial news, so they depended on the evening news to give them the appropriate perspective. Hint: don’t depend on the evening news. Others complained about the bailouts financial companies were getting. Maybe I’m not being fair, but if basic necessities weren’t at the forefront of their thoughts, I don’t think they saw the big picture.

Comments (1)

  1. Lloyd

    I quite understand why that behavior can be found weird or baffling. But, at this point, you really can’t say you’re surprised, are you? Not after the many conversations on economic minutiae and generalities that we’ve had over the years, yes? (And my consequent and ongoing dismay at how the vast majority of us didn’t or couldn’t see this economic Mack truck heading directly towards us, much less try and do something to avoid it… like jump out of the way.)

    Nice post, better title. ;-)