Reply #51: I think that Europeans are going to vote big-time for Socialists and [View All]

[JDPriestly]

deal with traders through tough regulations. Goldman Sachs will probably find itself in a bit of a corner when it faces limitations on what it can do in the Eurozone and just how willing Europeans are to play its game. Governments can simply relegate debts and the interests of the creditors who hold the debts to the trash heap.

Yes, the governments and people who have the courage to show creditors who is boss pay a price for their disrespect for the wealthy and economically powerful, but if the people and governments are facing a choice between repeated recessions and impoverishment in the face of the amassing of tremendous wealth by the 1% and the banks or impoverishment due to government action to reign in unscrupulous investors, then the people and the governments are quite likely to choose the latter. If they make us suffer, we will make sure they suffer with us.

It's the wealthy who buy the Italian shoes and the French wines. They are unlikely to want to do without those things.

And note that Germany and France use alternative energy sources to supplement oil and are increasing their alternative capacity. They are not just working toward independence from oil but also independence from the US dollar. And then Russia and Eastern Europe have enormous resources and are an alternative to the Goldman-Sachs-dominated US.

The trader ignores the reality of the social contract that is the ultimate government of our societies. As a result, he depicts one scenario -- one possible outcome of the current situation in Europe. But it is not the only one.

The US will probably move to the right -- because our media is so overwhelmingly owned and manipulated by the right in our country. But even here, we could have increasing social unrest.

And, by the way, I don't think you will see a lot of unrest in Europe. The Socialist and Green Parties are well established and are not unrealistic or disorganized. They are just more willing to place some controls on the financial sector. Europeans have been through very difficult economic times before and know how to deal with it. Also, they have a better sense of history than do Americans or people in most of the world.

Goldman Sachs can run a lot of the world, but may find itself shut out of Europe and facing the loss of some of its investments there. In the end, who needs Goldman Sachs?