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We Greedy Little Humans

'Innocent bystanders' is the phrase on regulator's lips right now. That's you and me. People who had nothing to do with this financial meltdown but who will be suffering its consequences nevertheless. The criteria for saving a failed institution or letting it go to bust is the sheer size of 'innocent bystanders' that will get hurt. So in the case of Lehman Bros there are no 'innocent bystanders' because it wasn't a deposit taking institution, but rather a sophisticated investor pit of squirming greed, so it has been allowed to fail.

But it's going to be a different case when it comes to the insurance mega-giant AIG. If this goes down it will be a Hiroshima style nuclear bomb with 'innocent bystanders' piled high on the streets of major towns and cities around the world. So it wont go down; politicians the world over know they simply will not get re-elected if they let it, and that's what they care about. Millions will be glad that they are so self centred.

But is this really the right thing to do? Let's not forget we operate a capitalist system; markets rule and governments regulate. When government's regulatory systems fail allowing markets to abuse their power and influence, shouldn't this failure be allowed to play out in order to give all of us a severe lesson in capitalist economics? And then we rebuild it, as we will, but perhaps in a better form. To borrow an eco-friendly term, in a more sustainable form. Perhaps one where growth at all costs is not the driving force.

Isn't our world wide obsession with growth at all costs the root cause of all this chaos? Isn't this an opportunity to break away from that ethos? Aren't we all trying to save the planet rather than consume it into extinction? Where's it written that our economy has to grow every quarter?

What a load of old bunkum that is. Just as if we greedy little humans are going to buy into that Disneyesque vision. We want more, want it all, want it now, and always will. That's why our species dominates the planet. We're aggressive, demand driven, avaricious consumers with appetites that can never be satiated. Whatever happens to our financial system over the coming months it will not involve global meltdown. Nor will it involve re-writing the global rule book. All that will happen is the blood will be mopped up, asset values will fall back to proper affordable levels (hallelujah) a couple a old chapters will be torn out of the book a few new ones added- and off we'll all go again. Chastened for now, but soon back on the quest for more, more, more. Let the games begin.