I AM MAD AS HELL, AND I AM NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE. Sound Familiar. This quote from the Network (1975) has been coming into my mind a lot lately. The quote especially hit me when I was watching Jim Cramer on the Daily show with Jon Stewart. If you haven't seen it I would recommend it. It brings up interesting issues with the media but it does it in a way that I found to be a misguided and irrational. Jon Stewart was saying that it is the media's fault for the financial collapse. Since they have a mic they should have screamed from the rooftops that the sky was falling before it happened. These people on CNBC can predict the future. And when they get it wrong it is because they were helping out their friends on Wall Street. Hey John, Isn't it possible that they were wrong. This interview was a way for Jon Stewart to talk about how upset he is that he lost money in the Market. Well grow up Jon, everyone lost money. Your dissatisfaction for the status quo is well known but you going to your window and yelling, "I am mad as hell and I am not going to take this anymore," is not really going to accomplish anything. Cramer has substantive suggestions while you offer only ideological hopes. You don't seem to have actual suggestions of specific rules to change.
I think the real point of this interview was to bring out populist unrest. Yes people are upset about their finances, jobs and lives. But what I don't understand is why people trust financial advisers. Jim Cramer advocates people doing their own homework. Jon Stewart is upset that his mother had a buy and hold strategy since 1950 (which she still would have mad a killing if she had bought the index as a whole) and has recently lost about ten years of growth. Well I say that people should not trust others to do everything for them. People need to make individual decisions. Some lie and deceive to get ahead. I don't know why that's a news flash. People will do what they can to get around the laws in place. Others should recognize that fact and acknowledge it. In the end of the day trust yourself and think and reflect on what you do. If everyone really thinks about what they do on a daily basis then they will not be taken advantage of. What are the odds of that happening?
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Lack of free time is a big hinderence to people's ability to 'do their own homework.' A big problem in the US is the amount of devotion people are expected to display to their jobs. Long hours and long commutes contribute to a general lack of energy and inability or unwillingness to exercise and eat right. People don't even have the time to take an interest in their health - how can they find time for their stock portfolio? It's much easier to just settle for McDonalds.
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