A cartoon of Edward Sorel reproduced in ‘ The Coming Economic Armageddon ' by David Jeremiah ( www.landmarkonthenet.com ) is titled ‘The Four Horsemen of the Wall St. Apocalypse'. “The cartoon pictures skeletons riding four horses in a wild stampede over the ruins of the New York Stock Exchange. Each skeleton is labelled with one of the four heart attitudes that contributed to our current financial situation: mendacity, stupidity, arrogance, and greed,” describes Jeremiah, before delving into a discussion of each of these qualities.

Rampant deception

The author opens the ‘mendacity' (or deception) section by ruing that almost every day we read or hear of identity theft, mail fraud, hoaxes, pyramid schemes, extortions and rip-offs. “Many of these scams are directed at the elderly, and authorities tell us that in times of economic uncertainty these crimes increase exponentially.” Cautions Jeremiah that deception is rampant today not only among scammers and con men but also in business corporations, as when a major automobile manufacturer hides a flaw in its cars' acceleration mechanism to avoid a massive recall. “Deception is rife in our own government and media as leaders and reporters spin the negative elements out of their explanations of political agenda, hiding costs and consequences in order to sell programmes that increase their power.”

Phantom earnings

As for stupidity (or foolishness, mindlessness, irrationality), the author cites the case of Bernie Madoff, who was reported to have stolen $65 billion from his investors, while in reality the total amount of money invested with Madoff was around $20 billion. “The $65 billion includes the false profit — the phantom earnings that were reported to the investors each month, which they were led to think was their growing wealth.” The story gets stupid, in Jeremiah's view, when the investors paid taxes on their supposed earnings, the money that never existed. “Some of the victims are trying to get their tax money back from the government — the only apparent beneficiary of Madoff's scam. But filing under ‘theft deductions,' as currently allowed by the IRS, they will be fortunate to recover a dime for every dollar they paid in taxes.”

Money power

In the section on ‘arrogance,' the author counsels the wealthy that they should not let their riches be their life. Do not let your possessions be what you live for, do not allow your riches to make you haughty and arrogant, as if your wealth makes you superior to those who do not have it, he guides.

For a reflective read.

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