The Carnival is in town! And then things go bad. Who's to blame? The carnies for trying to fleece and take advantage of the rubes, or the rubes for being naive enough to fall for the chicanery? I think the the answer is obvious. I blame the cops, those who should be watching and monitoring these transactions. Certainly, the carnies should have a better sense of morality, a greater caring for their customers. And certainly the rubes should be better informed and guarded. But ultimately, we're dealing with human nature, and without some enforcement of law and regulation, well, carnies will be carnies and rubes will be rubes.
As such, who is to blame for the cracking of our financial structure? The mortgage brokers looking to make a quick killing? The people who wanted a bigger house than they could afford, and shouldn't have been blinded by deals that were too good to be true? The credit default swappers creating a mighty ponzi scheme from the thinnest of airs? Or the average investor who thought they could ride the market whirlwind without a thought of how fragile it all was?
No, it was the withdrawal of the cop on the beat, the common sense regulation that was needed in order to create the checks and balances that make the whole system work.
The carnival can be fun and safe again, the economy progressive and profitable once more. We just need to restore those check and balances, and the cop/government needs to be back on the beat, as one more essential part of what makes it all go round!
I think carnies are more to blame than rubes, as they are not very sketchy looking people. But as a whole, I agree with your argument, but when is there to much regulation? Who sets up regulation? The government which is supposedly representing rubes and carnies alike? Its the balance between them that the regulation tip toes around making everyone seem happy, and that is why things like an economic downturn can happen when things appear to be normal because we want them to appear to be normal. Does that make sense?
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting! It does reduce the sensation slightly that these blogs are like trees falling in forests that no one hears!
ReplyDeleteI would agree that carnies have a greater share of responsibility, but i think that often, at least in our culture, the rubes are blamed more.
And it is absolutely true that too much government regulation can be stifling. That is why a full range of societal forces need to be watching the carnival, including those that cry out (from the media or academia or wherever), that certain seemingly altruistic actions may have unintended consequences.
And I like pie.
But you can't expect watchdog groups to actually pay attention to everything, and you especially can't expect them to have enough power to actually change the outcome. There are to many times trying to get people to care about politics of a vary black and white issue (is it bad to have kids work in labor camps?) that the bad outcomes occur without even an outcry from the public.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess that is a long tangent, but basically I am saying is that relying on watchdog groups for the carnies may not work out, but it needs an equal balance of of regulation and watchdogs.
I SLAVED AS A RIDE SUP, FOR MANY YEARS OVER A THUNDERBOLT,GRAVITRON,FORCE 10 AND A AWESOME RIDE CALLED THE EXACTSY AND NUMEROUS FUNHOUSES AND KIDDE RIDES.THE LONG HOURS PULLING LOADS AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN IN A DOGBOX ALL DAY FOR MINIMAL PAY IS B.S. I GOT SICK OF MAKING OVERWEIGHT CHEAP BASTARDS RICH.SO I BAILED IN THE BEGINNING OF A CIRCUS JUMP SOME 800 MILES FOR ANY HARDCORES OUT THERE MY BUNKHOUSE WOULD ARRIVE TWO TO THREE WEEKS AFTER.I GAVE SO MUCH TO THE MIDWAY FOR NOTHING IN RETURN WHEN YOU ARE TO OLD OR FED UP WITH MAKING SOME ELSE RICH THAT COULD NOT PICK UP A PIECE OF "PIG IRON" OR FIND A R-KEY TO SAVE HIS LIFE YOU GET FED UP.I LOVED THE LIFE BUT HATED THE FAT OWNERS I MEET ALONG THE WAY.EAST COAST MIAMI TO MAINE !!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Thomas... Seems like the line between Carnie and Rube isn't quite as defined when you're not using it as a metaphor.
ReplyDeletePersonally I think the rubes get what they deserve. Maybe if they weren't too busy spinning the propeller on their hat they would see they were being taken for a ride. If you get taken by a Carnie these days you're a moron. In closing are all Carnie's dirty? Yes, but you should know that. Like knowing that you are gonna get stabbed in the Wooden Nickle.
ReplyDeleteI like pie too. What is your favorite? I'm partial to cheesecake myself! Notin' like plain New York cheesecake!! ;-D
ReplyDeletePlain New York Cheesecake is purty good. I also like the pies from Grand Traverse Pie Company, like Lakeshore Crumb.
ReplyDeleteT.M. Strait
I was a part time carnie while in college. I worked the games on the midway. Because I was willing to be loud and work the customers or "marks" as we called tham I was given some of the more popular games called center joints. because they were in the middle of the midway and could handle a greater volume. I made a lot of money, as much as $1500 in 2 days, and by the way I wasnt "dirty" I dressed nicely and bathed daily even if that meant cold water from a hose. From my perspective I blame mostly the marks themselves for spending all thier money. The games were not "rigged" just very hard to win. We didnt have to cheat. the customers were more than willing to hand over there money to try and win something rather than earning it. We depended on the fact that there is always a certain portion of the population that wants something for nothing or next to nothing, People routinely spent $10- 15 dollars trying to win a prize instead of saving their money and buying it in a store. Its called greed. I think it was the biggest factor in the housing crisis People couldnt be satisfied with a perfectly comfortatble 1500 sf home they wanted more despite the fact that thier income was insufficient, Enter the carnies(banks) more than willing to let them play a game that was very hard to win. Shame on the lenders, But shame on the marks for their greed and lack of self control. On rainy days we had a saying- "you cant take a mark that doesnt show up at the fair". These people who wanted something they didnt earn should have stayed home. Personal responsiblity is what its all about. You should know that 99.9% of the "marks" were not the poor and downtrodden, they knew better. it was those who were well off, but wanted more without earning it.
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