Danny Schechter - ColdType

xxviii
I was well aware of all the years of predictions of the coming
collapse of capitalism – that I, too, had scoffed at as the
mechanistic and apocalyptic fantasies of conspiracy nuts. And
yet, now I was being lumped by some into that same world
of weirdos and world-enders. (On the left, an article of faith
was that the workers would topple capitalism; in this crisis, it
seems as if the capitalists themselves are doing a better job.)
As a blogger and a columnist I began looking at the signs of
the deepening crisis by following what the people in the know
knew. I read the business press and then discovered some
thoughtful blogs offering a counter-narrative to the electronic
optimism oozing daily from cable TV outlets, such as CNBC.
A journalist for decades, I also knew that the devil is in the
details and that you can only dig up hidden truths if you focus
your attention appropriately and sharpen your skepticism.
Most traditional reporting is more superficial and unquestioning.
This work is not only time-consuming but demands a
sense of mission, which easily morphs into obsession.
This is not always an easy world to decipher either, as I came
to discover first as a student of Industrial and Labor Relations
at Cornell, and later, while pursuing an advanced degree at the
London School of Economics.
Not only is grasping the fundamentals challenging, but you
soon learn that the finance world is shrouded in secrecy, riddled
with complexity and increasingly dominated by “quants”
and experts in financial market algorithms. Its whole message
to non-experts like myself is go away – it’s too complicated for
mere mortals like you. This is the province for only the most savvy
specialists.
If what you don’t know will hurt you, keeping information from
you will also harm you – and the people who do so know it.
When knowledge is power, a lack of knowledge quickly turns
into powerlessness.
So here I go again, into the fray, ready to bang my head