I was so busy railing against Yahoo! news and this Wall Street employee’s op. ed., I didn’t even stop to think of the genius of this editorial’s imagery, but how inappropriate of a metaphor it is for defending Wall Street. (Sorry for the oversight!)
Okay, so here’s what I mean: Saying Wall Street is like “the monster next door”, but then saying that they’re regular people, maybe even your neighbor, isn’t the best way to defend Wall Street, and here’s why: This metaphor makes it sound like you’re living next door to Doctor Frankenstein, and Wall Street is the Frankenstein monster. Sure, Dr. Frankenstein may be a good neighbor in some ways: he’s nice, says “Hello”, doesn’t let his dog poop on your lawn, collects your mail and newspapers while you’re out of town, etc.; but he keeps making monsters that come and kill your family all the time. Sure, he doesn’t intend for the monsters to kill your family, but he keeps on making monsters anyway, and they do kill your family.
See what I mean? He might seem like a good neighbor by himself, but he’ll never take responsibility for the monsters he creates, and he won’t stop doing it, either. And then, when you try to take umbrage at the deaths in your family, the good doctor reminds you of all the times he got your newspaper for you. See? He’s not so bad: He’s your neighbor! He didn’t do anything wrong: the monsters did it! He can’t control their behavior, so it’s not his fault.
See why it’s not such a good metaphor for defending Wall Street to reference a neighbor and a monster next door?
Here’s the original op. ed. (again):
