Much like Barack Obama’s prescient, early position on the Iraq War, Americans For Fairness in Lending, a non-profit consumer advocacy organization in Boston, Massachusetts was ahead of the curve in calling for increased federal regulation of the banking industry. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson unveiled a plan which many are calling the "most significant overhaul of U.S. financial regulation since the Great Depression.”
Leaning uncomfortably against a frozen emergency exit window, watching the sun rise over a waking New England I sat aboard a Peter Pan Bus destined for New York with two of my boss’s from AFFIL, Sarah Byrnes and Jessica Wheeler. I had begun an internship with the organization in the beginning of January. That day we were traveling down to the big apple to meet James Scurlock, the writer and director of Maxed Out- a groundbreaking documentary about the lending industry- to assemble near the hub of the American capitalist enterprise- Wall Street. The goal was to speak with as many lunch -breaking bankers and stock brokers as possible and give away free DVD copies of his film. I am no stranger to this kind of high-minded, well intentioned provocation- back in my vegetarian days, I used to duct tape various pictures of skinned animals to all the pretty, popular girls’ lockers in my high school to "politely encourage" them to stop wearing leather and fur. The ladies were all over me after that, but not exactly in the way a teenage boy desires.
What we discovered that day in New York was surprising to say the least. Instead of encountering the vociferous opposition which I had grown accustomed to, we found that many in the banking industry, in lieu of recent downturns in the market, were now willingly embracing some form of federal regulation! Below is a video compilation of that day- you can see my righteous, do-gooder fingers make a cameo holding up a Maxed Out credit card…...
Since that day I have really come to appreciate and respect the diligent work of my bosses as they have taught me to believe that it is possible to fuse one's moral outrage and desire for change with the practicalities of the working world.
Leaning uncomfortably against a frozen emergency exit window, watching the sun rise over a waking New England I sat aboard a Peter Pan Bus destined for New York with two of my boss’s from AFFIL, Sarah Byrnes and Jessica Wheeler. I had begun an internship with the organization in the beginning of January. That day we were traveling down to the big apple to meet James Scurlock, the writer and director of Maxed Out- a groundbreaking documentary about the lending industry- to assemble near the hub of the American capitalist enterprise- Wall Street. The goal was to speak with as many lunch -breaking bankers and stock brokers as possible and give away free DVD copies of his film. I am no stranger to this kind of high-minded, well intentioned provocation- back in my vegetarian days, I used to duct tape various pictures of skinned animals to all the pretty, popular girls’ lockers in my high school to "politely encourage" them to stop wearing leather and fur. The ladies were all over me after that, but not exactly in the way a teenage boy desires.
What we discovered that day in New York was surprising to say the least. Instead of encountering the vociferous opposition which I had grown accustomed to, we found that many in the banking industry, in lieu of recent downturns in the market, were now willingly embracing some form of federal regulation! Below is a video compilation of that day- you can see my righteous, do-gooder fingers make a cameo holding up a Maxed Out credit card…...
Since that day I have really come to appreciate and respect the diligent work of my bosses as they have taught me to believe that it is possible to fuse one's moral outrage and desire for change with the practicalities of the working world.
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