I keep telling anyone who will listen that this is not the time for frivolity; people are out of work, hungry, and not owning a decent hat. In response, I am told that I should mind my own business, have another eclair, and--that as long as The Treasury is printing money overtime-- now is the time to wear the most indecent hats. I just don't understand what's going on anymore.

Well, maybe I do. Perhaps I have witnessed the collapse of a society that never really got it right. First we were confused about slavery, then about industrial revolution versus human needs, then about isolationism about when we wanted to join the European jousting group. Just why did we feel the need to have seven aircraft carrier groups patrolling the world's oceans when 20 percent of our citizens were on food stamps? Some day the bill comes due and no one wants to open that envelope.

And, it wasn't just about "greed", it was about looting on a grand scale with the shining example being a weasel named Bernie Madoff. (Actually, he is a particularly special example of the reptilian kind which feeds on its own. Absolute poetry in a world of theft.)

A fancy hat... That is all we need now.