We're about to sit through several days of the "who cares?" World Series between... who's playing again? Oh yeah, Texas and St. Louis. That's looking to be as exciting as golf without Tiger Woods or boxing without... gee, that's been so long, I can't even remember what it's doing without.
Texas and St. Louis, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk, Rory McIl..something might say: "What are we, chopped liver?" Don't get me wrong. As a business psychiatrist having that same challenge since Michael Bloomberg leveled at me fifteen years ago when I was at his 666 Fifth Avenue building appearing on one of his TV shows, and introduced myself as someone also from Boston, showed him my card and had him respond (in a mostly humorous, but revealing way), "What the f*** is a shrink doing in this building?" I kinda know the feeling.
I think Main Street is also having the same problem getting the attention of Wall Street and in getting any committed actions to help them. The Republicans seem dismissive or as Herman Cain recently gaffed even accusing Main Street for not having jobs or being rich. The Democrats seem like well intentioned Keystone Cops trying to gouge some of the "zip locked" money away from Republicans that feel entitled (notice I didn't say deserving) to hold onto.
America in large part has turned into a bunch of star struck people, many of whom have little compunction against star f***ing to get into the party.
I think the problem is that fear and greed and star addiction have in common is that they are all adrenaline driven. So whether we're afraid or greedy or addicted to what will happen next to the Kardashians, Lindsay Lohan's next cliff she falls over, Charlie Sheen's next bipolar rant, or whether in Occupy Wall Street fashion we've turned into raving Peter Finch's from Network who are "mad as hell and not going to take this any more!" we've become a nation of adrenaline junkies.
Here's the rub, the crash off an adrenaline rush is much worse than the excitement from the rush. In fact when the crash happens we will reach for anything else to re-excite us to keep the adrenaline flow happening.
As thrilling as adrenaline can be, until we realize that excitement will never bring us lasting satisfaction, that fun is not the same as joy, that lust is not the same as love or that taking a crap is not as fulfilling as giving a crap about life we will continue to chase after fool's gold.
And buying into gold futures does not a future make.