Consumerism as "mass trait display"

from the TierneyLab via CreditBloggers via Boing Boing

Jeffrey Miller, evolutionary psychologist at the University of New Mexico:

Consumerist capitalism is the least oppressive system of mass trait display ever developed. It’s much better than a militaristic dominance-based society or a theocracy or lots of other ways in which you basically display your intelligence and conscientiousness and disagreeableness by how efficiently you can oppress slaves or minority groups. But I think we can still do better.

Fucking bankers

From Andrew Leonard's excellent blog How the World Works (emphasis mine):

...Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill., so memorably noted two weeks ago, that banks "are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place."

Debate continued Thursday in the Senate on a credit card reform bill that the White House is pushing to get enacted by Memorial Day. ... amendments to the bill aimed at helping consumers and small businesses are ... facing uphill battles. ...

I'm with Durbin, as is, I think, a large swath of the general public. How is it even possible that the banking industry could exert "heavy pressure" after having been bailed out by Congress to the tune of so many hundreds of billions? It is preposterous.

Um, good question, there, Andrew. Any one in the Party that ostensibly represents "consumer and small businesses" care to hazard a response?