Pop Culture Ideology

If chuckleheads like Alan Greenspan can derive personal ideology from popular culture so can I. I give you some Krugman, on the subprime credit crisis:

So where were the regulators as one of the greatest financial disasters since the Great Depression unfolded? They were blinded by ideology.

"Fed shrugged as subprime crisis spread," was the headline on a New York Times report on the failure of regulators to regulate. This may have been a discreet dig at Mr. Greenspan's history as a disciple of Ayn Rand, the high priestess of unfettered capitalism known for her novel "Atlas Shrugged."

In a 1963 essay for Ms. Rand's newsletter, Mr. Greenspan dismissed as a "collectivist" myth the idea that businessmen, left to their own devices, "would attempt to sell unsafe food and drugs, fraudulent securities, and shoddy buildings." On the contrary, he declared, "it is in the self-interest of every businessman to have a reputation for honest dealings and a quality product."

It's no wonder, then, that he brushed off warnings about deceptive lending practices, including those of Edward M. Gramlich, a member of the Federal Reserve board. In Mr. Greenspan's world, predatory lending - like attempts to sell consumers poison toys and tainted seafood - just doesn't happen.

God Ayn Rand is shit. Elitist fantasyland hargle bargle of the worst variety- the kind that justifies and encourages greed and predation. No wonder our country is totally fucked. I'd much rather take a page from DOCTOR WHO: travelling time and space righting wrongs as I go, battling fascism, toppling totalitarian regimes and freeing the oppressed.

Sure the travelling in time and space bit is hooey but by golly I like the cut of Doctor Who's jib.