There is currently much anxiety regarding the apparent instability of the financial markets. It is of interest that the obvious and understandable fear regarding the future of the global economy is not accompanied by an analysis of the underlying cause of this phenomenon. No one seems to be questioning the systemic flaw in the financial system that we have come to rely upon.
The apparent health or malaise of the financial markets has come to depend upon speculation. The wild activity that is reflected in the crazed up and down swings of the stock market is based on a simple and highly destructive paradigm – the goal of the individual speculator is to make lots of money solely through the manipulation of the flow of capital. Success in this regard is based on the idea of accumulating wealth not through productive endeavor but rather through the skillful playing of the markets.
Within this model, there is no concern for the financial well being of the community. Quite to the contrary, as we have seen, "ordinary" citizens have suffered greatly as a direct result of this cold and unforgiving logic based on the primacy of the individual. There is no morality in evidence within this bankrupt system; there is no self respect involved, and there is certainty no interest in the very future of this world of humans.
The end result of this kind of failed logic is a sad testimonial to the state of human progress. Greed, by its very nature, has produced this kind of volatility and an extraordinary amount of human suffering. It is exceedingly disturbing that the uncontrolled accumulation of inordinate wealth continues to be held up as the preferred way to do our nation's business.
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