Nothing To Fear But Fearlessness Itself?

theodp writes "In a post last August, Robert X. Cringely voiced fears that Goldman Sachs and others were not so much evil as 'clueless about the implications of their work,' leaving it up to the government to fix any mess they leave behind. 'But what if government runs out of options,' worried Cringely. 'Our economic policy doesn't imagine it, nor does our foreign policy, because superpowers don't acknowledge weakness.' And now his fears are echoed in a WSJ opinion piece by Peggy Noonan titled 'We're Governed by Callous Children.' She writes, 'We are governed at all levels by America's luckiest children, sons and daughters of the abundance, and they call themselves optimists but they're not optimists — they're unimaginative. They don't have faith, they've just never been foreclosed on. They are stupid and they are callous, and they don't mind it when people become disheartened. They don't even notice.' With apologies to FDR, do we have nothing to fear but fearlessness itself?"

Comments

Cringley !Economics

[MSTCrow5429]

Cringley, among other bizarre and cringe inducing comments, states "trading is a parasite on investing." No, it's not. It's part of the market mechanism attempting to reach optimal allocation of resources, and can also be used to minimize risk. Trading and investing are serve the exact same function, and are not different beyond a perceived difference in amount of times that securities are held.

Re:Come to California...

[Mr. Slippery]

You should have elected the Republican. He was a businessman...

How is it that, after the disaster of the first "CEO president", anyone thinks that being a "businessman" is a qualification to hold office?

Re:Why should we be surprised

[benjamindees]

Honestly, no, I don't think it's ridiculous for someone in the modern era, in a first world country, to expect health care in perpetuity.

This is seriously one of the most idiotically short-sighted and uninformed comments ever posted to Slashdot. It stands as a testament to why the West is doomed to failure, and completely deserves all the death panels and totalitarian government that is headed our way. I am in absolute awe of the fact that it has been modded up.

Re:It's not fearlessness that's the problem

[cayenne8]

"And finally Barak Obama who is going to increase our national debt from $130,000 per home to $200,000 by the end of second term (2016)."

You know...I'm starting to doubt already if Obama will be a 2 term president...

His numbers are dropping quickly...and being associated with the Dem. majority in congress which has VERY low numbers, I think if another candidate that is decent comes along, Barack will be a one term president.