I'm sick and tired of people venerating the rich. As if being rich made you great across the board, a virtuous genius who we must all make way for. Even worse, some of these pricks, like Elon Musk, truly think they're untouchable. Look at Elon's legal track record. He believes he can act with impunity, and now he wants a governmental penalty to be lifted because why? HE'S ELON MUSK!
But it's even worse, we had to see Michael Lewis hyping his book on every TV and news outlet extant. Yes, if Michael Lewis is involved, it gets a pass. Why? You don't have to look too deep to see that Lewis was snookered. But Lewis is bright and articulate and we can't say no, he deserves a slot on "60 Minutes." Welcome to the hype industrial complex, where we promote you and forget you. Can you say OLIVER ANTHONY?
Hell, if FTX was on the up and up, why was it based in the Bahamas? This guy wanted no oversight, no regulation. And when he got nailed he said he wasn't guilty, told not to use electronic devices at home and he did anyway, thank god they sent him to jail. This guy thinks he's above the law.
And we had to listen to the tale of the parents over and over again. Poor Sam. What about the innocent kids shot and killed in the inner city? If you're a poor Black you don't count. Because we must support the educated elite. I mean if you went to Harvard or M.I.T. you get a pass. You know math, whoopee! Turns out there's a whole lot else you don't know.
And the public... It's one thing if it's a tchotchke, like a Pet Rock, but crypto?
Let's talk about the Bored Apes, let's talk about NFTs... Hear about them recently? They're worthless. But everybody was stunned by the new new thing, everybody was trying to privately scam themselves into being rich.
Like the bozo bros on Reddit who thought they could beat the Street with GameStop. Which is floundering and failing while I write this. What next, supporting Egghead Software? Yeah, physical retail for games, that's a promising endeavor. Put it right next to the Blockbuster store. Hell, Netflix even got rid of DVDs by mail, but too many want to live in the past, as if it will never evolve, never end, and think they can outsmart the professionals.
It's not like Bankman-Fried had a ton of experience. Sure, young people can make change, but let's be clear, money is money, and money is a professional business. Kinda like ticketing. The public still can't understand it, but since they buy tickets they believe they know it all!
And enough with this lying and weaseling in the witness box. Seems like nobody in America can remember anything they ever said or did. If asked about losing his virginity, Bankman-Fried would say he didn't recall. And that goes for the Trump progeny too.
God, we watched TV and movies our whole lives, "Do you solemnly swear..." Those words are meaningless today. No one stands up for what is right.
Give those flippers, like Catherine Ellison, credit, they realized they were screwed, that they did wrong, they owned up to it. But no, those Mar-a-Lago people loyal to Trump, do they truly think Trump is loyal to them? He's proven over and over again he's only loyal to himself, everybody else is expendable. Furthermore, the same dudes you abused on your way up, you might meet up, on your way down. That's Allen Toussaint, from back when musicians were thought leaders, not whores, when money was important, but not everything. Artists? Look up the definition. Just because you play that doesn't make you an artist.
But Taylor Swift is a billionaire, Magic Johnson too! SO WHAT! Good for them, but what does it mean, as to their identity, the world at large, other than taxes are too low and the income gap is too wide. You're rich, you're a star, you get a pass, we all love you.
And then there's the greenwashing. Since Bankman-Fried was laying cash on left wing causes, you couldn't turn his money down. Thank god cultural outlets won't take Sackler money anymore. These people are and should continue to be seen as pariahs.
Sam Bankman-Fried should be sentenced to teach math to the underprivileged for the rest of his life. But that's too small for him, he's got to make a splash, put a dent in the universe.
Like Elizabeth Holmes. From birth these people have been coddled, told their sh*t doesn't stink, that they're never wrong. Hell, kids today all get a pass. When I was growing up the worst thing you could do was bring a note home from school, you'd get a whipping, literally. Today if you bring a note home your parent goes to the school and raises hell, their kid must be innocent!
Right and wrong? Irrelevant! I'm above the law, and furthermore my intentions are good, so I'm immune.
Used to be our heroes were poets, artists, people with something to say, who were providing insight, who had us questioning our values. But today we've got Marc Andreessen saying that Silicon Valley should get a pass, sans regulation, for the good of the nation. Huh?
Then again, that's the problem, right? Regulation. Let's hobble the government, defund the IRS, let's get the "Deep State" out of our hair. Sure, but don't ask for a handout in a natural disaster, and don't complain when the guilty get rich and go free.
The whole system is in play, and half of it is under the rubric of the Constitution. Yes, what men back in the 1700s thought, let's look to that. Hmm... How many television stations should there be? Soon, there will be very few TV stations at all, because of streaming and other choices. Bruce Springsteen and 57 channels with nothing on? Talk to a kid, they'll have no idea what he's talking about. New rules for new people. But if it gives me an edge, I'll twist the words however I want to.
Thank god Sam Bankman-Fried is going to jail. Chalk one up for the little people, those who can't afford a multi-million dollar defense, who believe in right and wrong and then discover their overlords do not.
Never mind the people who lost money in the collapse of FTX. People believe there's insurance for everything, they expect insurance for everything, there's that pesky government issue again, but the truth is you're rarely made whole. All that value wiped out? That hurt somebody. Maybe fat cats. But they were investing your pension money. As for the newbies investing in crypto... I've got a bridge to sell you.
Hell, you could tell Bankman-Fried didn't think the rules applied to him by the clothes he wore and his hairstyle. This is what rock stars did, because they were the other, they were so successful they could wear whatever they wanted. But today musicians are cartoons, rockers with leather and long hair, as if nothing has changed in half a century, never mind rock that rock has died, and it's the techies who wear hoodies and sweatpants but they're not like the rockers of yore, they're just capitalists oftentimes purveying empty items just to get rich.
So, Sam's parents will never get over it. Why don't they look themselves in the mirror and examine their complicity, their responsibility?
And Sam... Maybe you'll be like Ted Bundy. Just before being put to death he admitted he did it all, everything he was accused of, he was guilty. And so are you Sam.
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