I'm Back!

My TV works! I guess I should call back Time Warner and cancel the appointment. I did manage to focus and nearly finish Madame Bovary. And I finished Liar's Poker last weekend. Okay, so one's about a lust for love and sensual experiences and the other is about a lust for money. Apparently Michael Lewis wrote Liar's Poker as a warning so Wall Street wouldn't have another crash. Instead, Wall Street guys took it as a "how to" make tons of money and not get caught. This paragraph in the Epilogue sums up what he learned and is a powerful reminder of the disparity between what Wall Streeters reaped and what they deserved.

"My father's generation grew up with certain beliefs. One of those beliefs is that the amount of money one earns is a rough guide to one's contribution to the welfare and prosperity of our society....One thing that was almost always true was that people who made a lot money were neat. Horatio Alger and all that. It took watching his son being paid 225 grand at the age of twenty-seven, after two years on the job, to shake his faith in money. He has only recently recovered from the shock." p. 247

When did this belief change? Actors, businessmen, traders, etc. make tons of money while even doctors aren't being paid what they used to. Teachers- guiding our futures, get paid a mere fraction of the top earners. We're not paid on our over all contribution to society, but our immediate ability to generate a profit regardless of the long term effects.