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I remember a few years ago I had an argument with a co-worker (at work) who tried to tell me the responsibility for the collapse was on the shoulders of the people who asked for the loans. I almost lost it during that conversation...but it's that mindset that won't allow any aspersions to be cast against the gilded veneer of capitalism - as if to admit to anything other than its virtuosity is a death knell to their beloved ideas. I don't think of myself as a devoted anti-capitalist. On the other hand, I'm not too keen on greed, either. But the ideas that I do adhere to have their own weaknesses and potential for harm.
My mother believes it was mass insanity - and I think she has a point. I see it like a gang mentality only with Harvard MBAs and $1500 shoes. You surround yourself with enough like-minded people and you can convince yourself that anything is 'okay.'
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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
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