Margin Call is a 2011 movie that I would highly recommend to others, as it is well worth seeing for more than just its pure entertainment value. It captures completely the final hours spent by those involved in the biggest fraud and ultimate financial disaster since the crash of ’29. It is like being a fly on the wall when all of the high shenanigans of the self-absorbed, materialistic barons of Wall Street began to unravel. Heartless demigods worried about only one thing and that was being exposed for the charlatans they were and are.
 
The collection of fine acting talent in this movie manages to elicit some momentary sympathy for those caught up in unconscionable acts of greed and coming face-to-face with the reality of the horror of what they have done. But the fact remains, minion or executive, these people chose to sell their souls for money and corner offices or the allure of one day occupying an office with a vista.  It is perfectly clear that what makes this such a powerful story is the fact that it is based on painful truth. For all intents and purposes the real life situation very much played out as this script dictated; art truly imitating life.
 
This crisis for which the “unshowered masses” are still paying dearly is even more egregious because the majority of the “Masters of the Universe” walked away unscathed; offshore accounts intact. Every step along the way leading to the path of total collapse these people had clear cut choices to make, but the right choices would have entailed having a moral compass, which was obviously left at the door when they decided to take such a dubious career path.
 
There is something about the rarefied atmosphere in the high rises of Wall Street that causes unbridled euphoria and a sense of disconnect with all that is human or humane. A sensory overload if you will where the prospect of infinite power and wealth is so strong it creates a visceral response. Much like Alice through the looking glass, the world they enter is a mirror image of the world they once occupied. Encased in hermitically sealed glass monuments to greed all sense of reason and moral imperative are suspended. What’s wrong becomes right, what is morally repugnant is the order of the day. It is a sociopathic environment containing not even an ounce of empathy. The motto is survival of the fittest and the mission is pandering to the most primal instincts. Beneath their expensive European suits and manicured looks there is no substance, only stone monuments to avarice.
 
At least back in the days of the Wild West robbers like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid went about their chosen profession in an overt manner.  They blew up trains and robbed banks and you knew exactly who they were.  Unlike the Gordon Gekkos of Wall Street, who set about creating complex toxic assets and passing them covertly on, thereby causing a demon virus that ended up infecting the entire financial world.  The house of cards created by this fraud took the average investor down and ultimately it was the middle class who paid the price.  Many hard working Americans woke up to either no retirement fund at all or a seriously depleted one. 
 
Butch and Sundance were brought down in a hail of gunfire, which was what one would expect when choosing such a flashy life of crime.  However, in this modern day scenario our white collar criminals managed to game the system, so that they walked away with their wealth intact and will live to rob and plunder another day (no valuable lessons learned here).
 
Our economy is circling the drain thanks to the premeditated acts of individuals completely devoid of anything remotely resembling a soul.  They have created a fresh new hell for the middle class and those on the margins of society.  Due to their endless ability to inflict pain, we now have an expanded population of the hungry, jobless and homeless.

 If somehow these incarnates of evil were given a truth serum and instructed to compile unvarnished CVs of their past career experiences they would read like apocalyptic tales.  Highlights of such a document might read something like … “adroitness for diabolical deception and bringing the global economy to its knees…”  

This was a tectonic event and we will be feeling its effects globally for a very long time to come.
The fact that no one has been sent to prison over all of this and to add insult to injury, we ended up bailing their sorry asses out of the mess they created, one can’t really see where there is any incentive for them to clean up their act. In fact, there is every indication that they will at the first opportunity continue business as usual.
 
For the sake of sanity I have to believe that what goes around comes around and that in one way or another these Wall Street types will pay for what they have done, but quite frankly I don’t think it will be in this lifetime. Here is where I am solidly rooting for an afterlife where their backsides will be roasted for all eternity.
 
The harsh reality is that a majority of the 401-Kers will be living seriously diminished retirements thanks to these cretins and their need to amass great wealth and power.

It is no wonder that people are fed up and taking to the streets to protest and vent their frustrations. The 99% have had it!!

To give a bit of insight into the distorted minds of the Wall Street crowd, I will leave you with the words of Gordon Gekko … "Greed is good! Greed is right! Greed works! Greed will save the USA!" - From movie Wall Street – 1987

It is this exact credo that caused the economic tsunami that brought our economy to the brink both domestically and globally; a way of thinking that is beyond the pale when it comes to the pure destructive nature of man.