Courtesy of Pam Martens.
Citigroup, the Bank the U.S. Taxpayer Saved From Insolvency in 2008, Moved On to Dark Pools
Last week we were reading an article by Matt Klein in the typically staid, button-down Financial Times. When we arrived at the 10th paragraph, Klein tells us that he’s been chatting with Chris Arnade, a man who spent 20 years as a trader at Salomon Brothers and Citigroup, who has now retired to “document the lives of those less fortunate.”
The words “document the lives of those less fortunate” are hyperlinked to a blog by Chris Arnade with a story titled “Another Day.” The story and the photographs take us into a genre of poverty porn meets Schadenfreude – finding pleasure in another’s pain. The Broadway musical, Avenue Q, explains Schadenfreude in a song:
Right now you are down and out and feeling really cr*ppy
(I’ll say.)
And when I see how sad you are
It sort of makes me…
Happy!
(Happy?!)
Sorry, Nicky, human nature…
Nothing I can do!
It’s…
Schadenfreude!
Making me feel glad that I’m not you.
Arnade has been wowing an ever increasing number of media outlets, like NPR and The Guardian, with his essays on the lives of the homeless, drug addicted and prostitutes on the streets of New York. On his Facebook page, Arnade explains his mission:
…
