monitoring the abyss

Banks are being bailed out because they are "too big to fail." Same for large automobile manufacturers.

...

What do they mean by "too big to fail?" That a lot of people will lose retirement savings and jobs and so the result will be cataclysmic for society.

The direct way to solve this problem would be to allow the banks and industries to fail and then provide people with jobs and retirement. That would be the most economical "free market" approach to the problem.

But, if the government (ie., taxpayers) provide people with jobs and retirement, that is "socialism." We can't be having any socialism.

But -- we can't be having people lose their retirement savings and jobs, either. Because that would be chaos.

So, our leaders elect the most expensive, least responsible solution -- which is the same sort of thinking that got us here in the first place. Government will tax the taxpayers, give the money to the same crooks who created the problem -- and then by some miracle of the "marketplace," jobs will be saved and our retirement will not disappear.

Thus, we have "trickle-down" socialism. Give the help to the people who least need it and hope that the crumbs from their tables will fall off and help those who most need the help.

Except since the crooks will do what they always do -- which is steal all the money -- trickle-down socialism won't result in saving jobs or retirement. Just as trickle-down economics did not benefit anyone but the wealthy either.

Isn't monetary philosophy fun?