Lose Your House, Collect $300

Ted Rall wonders why Why Aren’t Rioters Burning Down the Banks? in Lose Your House, Collect $300.

Rall reports that:

The foreclosure scandal helped spark the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Promising justice and compensation for the victims, President Obama’s Justice Department joined lawsuits filed by the attorneys general of several states.

Last year, Obama announced that the government had concluded a “landmark settlement” with the banks that would “deliver some measure of justice for those families that have been victims of their abusive practices.” The Politico newspaper called the $26 billion deal “a big win for the White House.” $26 billion. Sounds impressive, right?

Rall calculates that were about five (5) million people affected by these illegal practices by the banks. Most will get between $150 and $300 on average (assuming an average of two (2) people per household). The average for the overall settlement is $1,000.

Rall asks:

Why aren’t those five million people stringing up bank execs from telephone poles? It’s gotta be the Paxil.

I suppose it is the trained passivity of Western Society. Even the Occupy movement was heavily influenced by the non-violence mantra. This is probably why it faded from the scene. There is only so much that non-violence can achieve.

The basic premise of the non-violence is that the system can change peacefully and incrementally. But no system can contradict its core philosophy, and survive.

For Capitalism, the capitalists' return of investment has to be protected. Banks invested in these mortgages, so they should get their money back. This settlement is a small price to pay to let enough anger out of the system so that the thievery can continue unabated.

Rall is really appalled at:

But what really gets me is the 53 families who are getting $125,000 payouts for losing homes they were 100% up to date on.

Rall should realise that the only property rights that matter in a Capitalist system are those of the Capitalists which the state has been realiably protecting. The cops were protecting the stock markets and banks, not the homes of the workers.