This Is My Rifle: How To Save the Selfie Generation (Part 1) Posted by Jason James on 04/23/14 | Filed under Opinion, This is My Rifle

Last week I wrote an article centered around a conversation I had with two senior professionals on a flight back to Vancouver, BC from New York City. The general response from readers was one of interest in regards to the details of that conversation, so this week I will go back in time and provide a more in-depth look into what exactly was discussed during my five hour flight back to the city I call home.

For those of you who have not read the previous article, click here for the back-story. And for those of you who enjoy starting a movie half way through, by all means please continue reading.

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"So what occupation do you belong to?"

This is the first question of many hurled in my direction by a retired finance capitalist sitting in the window seat to my far left.

"I'm an artist and a writer", I reply.

"What do you write about?” asks the tall, stocky medical doctor and historian seated between us.

"Mostly social and political issues. And sometimes music, but I try to write about things that matter to me from a big picture perspective." My words are now somewhat slurred as an Altoid glides across the inside of my mouth.

The finance capitalist is closing his tin of mints and shoving them into a cluttered briefcase. He laughs slightly and leans forward in his chair. I can sense some disbelief in his voice that I- a 6 foot tall man weighing in at 245 lbs and wearing a black t-shirt with matching backwards White Sox hat- am anything even remotely close to being somebody who's opinion could be taken seriously. His eyes keep glancing over at the book in my hands- “Petrodollar Warfare” by William R. Clark- and I can see the daggers sharpening against the stone of experience behind his gaze.

"What do you know about the financial system?" he asks me with a grin on his face as if he was a cartoon villain fresh on the heels of his prey.

I pause for a moment and collect my thoughts. Truthfully speaking, I'm a foreigner in the realm of economics. I've tried many times to wrap my mind around the concept of currency, trading, derivatives, hedge funds and so on and so forth, but despite my best efforts the language of money just doesn't stick to the walls on the inside of my skull.

"Not much. I'm trying to learn the basics of it but it seems like every rule has a thousand trap doors leading to another set of equally impossible to understand laws that govern a world made of holes".

The finance capitalist appreciates my honesty. He lets out another chuckle, which is matched by an even louder laugh from the doctor sitting between us.

"I couldn't have said it better" the doctor interjects in a lighthearted British accent. "But these are things a man of your age should be knowledgeable of".

"I spent 40 years in the market and I never saw anything quite like what is happening now", the finance capitalist says with his body now turned fully towards me and the British doctor trapped in a slightly under sized airplane seat. "The whole financial system is imploding and your generation has no idea what to do about it".

He's absolutely right. For the past 20 years the world economy has been on a suicide mission and the members of society who are mentally, and physically, equipped to save our world from disaster have been relying on the very people steering this sinking ship to save it. We've been comfortable with shrugging our shoulders and expecting a government complicit in the financial gutting of our futures to step forward and close the gushing wounds that feed Wall Street. We were adamant in passing the responsibility to those who we thought had our best interest in mind, not knowing that those same figures of intelligent authority were shoving as much as they could into their own pockets and jumping overboard.

"So what do we do?" I ask as I sink back into my chair.

The finance capitalist responds with emphasis on every word as if he's sharing with me his last will and testament, "Kick, bite and push until the American government reinstates Glass-Steagall".

In short, the Glass-Steagall Act was a law passed in 1933 that prohibited commercial banks from engaging in the same activities as investment banks. Basically- and I mean basic to an extreme level- Glass-Steagall was a law that kept your bank, where you deposit your money to be kept safely within it’s (digital) vault, from using your assets to gamble in high-risk investments without your knowledge. In 1999 under President Clinton this law was repealed and less than 10 years later the entire US economy crashed.

"So that's it? Glass-Steagall is the key?" I ask the finance capitalist. Now his eyes are coming alive and I'm gaining his trust. He's surprised that I know anything about the Glass-Steagall Act.

"That's not all, but it's a start", he replies.

"So what do you think about the bank bailouts? Is there such a thing as 'too big to fail'? Should we have let them destroy themselves?" I have his attention now so it's time for the tough questions.

"Well, let me put it this way. If the American government didn't bail out the banks everything you can imagine would have evaporated. Bank accounts- both private and business- properties, everything that has a predetermined value would have disintegrated. Loans and mortgages would have been called in overnight and most of America's middle class would have fallen into poverty. The entire country as a whole would be bankrupt", he says with a tinge of disgust in his voice.

"So what you're saying is the American taxpayers had to reinvest back into their own banks through their government in order to save themselves from their banks."

The finance capitalist smiles like a proud father and says, "Yes".

Part 2 of this article coming next week.....

(Jason James is an artist, freelance columnist and writer for RefinedHype.com. You can read/download his free eBook, "This Is My Rifle" and listen/download his most recent album, "Pyramids in Stereo". You can also contact him here and here.)

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