William Burroughs, famous junkie and beat novelist once remarked: 'maybe a paranoid schizophrenic is just a guy who has wised up.' This morning reading some of the political blogs and the news of the day, it's easy deduce that it's all (politics and big business) one big con game. I don't want to fall into cynicism but sleaze, greed and corruption seem to pervade the 'system.' We actually reward the con men, we've grown to respect the individual who can lie through their teeth and get away with it.
Dylan: 'you must be honest to live outside the law.' Washington D.C. is all about 'the con,' who you know, who has influence. The 'Idealist,' (are there really any left -- okay how about Eliot Spitzer? Maybe.) has come to be seen as 'the Sap,' the guy who just doesn't get it. It's all become so cushy from Wall Street to Main Street. Respectable ponzi schemes: the Stock Market, the Insurance Industry, Mutual Funds, etc.
So, you play the game, knowing it's a game, you play to win, 'where did that pea go,' but you know somehow its probably fixed. Woody Gutherie: 'Some rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen.' You live in the world of the con, you swim in the con, you hope you can discern what's a con and what's not.