The Whiplash Decade
The Decade We Ate the Rich
Americans finally realized who took all their money — and now they want it back
This piece is part of the The Whiplash Decade, a package on the wild ride that was the 2010s.
A decade ago, everyone was hungry. The Great Recession, and subsequent bailouts, had emptied many pantries and created a new set of cravings among the 99% who had been left behind — for justice, for hope, for security. Fear and rage dominated. Disgruntled white conservatives had commandeered the nation’s attention, and so too had their reactionary complaints about the pace of the nation’s recovery. Bankers weren’t the problem, it was big government lavishing charity on the mooching class. “How many of you people want to pay for your neighbor’s mortgage that has an extra bathroom and can’t pay their bills?” CNBC’s Rick Santelli shouted on air in February 2009 in a rant that would give the Tea Party its name and origin story.
The men and women who caused the crash of 2008 had lots of bathrooms and little trouble with their bills. For their sins, the government largely left them alone. But now, as the decade shambles to a merciful end, they look a lot more vulnerable than they did in 2010. Public sentiment has turned against the rich, against families like the…
