How would a libertarian handle a financial market collapse such as in 2008?

[slim 1,530]

I don't think you understand what a full financial collapse means, do you? !!!

All it took was Lehman to go bankrupt to tank the entire stock market (even the good companies). Even Apple fell from $177 on August 22, 2008 to $70-something by November 2008.

Bank of America $38 in mid-September 2008 to a couple of bucks in March 09.

When the stock market tanks EVERYONE panics. Nobody hires, nobody lends, GDP goes negative, incomes go down, wages go down, our consumer driven economy stops spending, companies layoff their workforce, companies go bankrupt, and peoples net incomes COLLAPSE overnight. Just to name a few things that happen. I honestly don't think you get that. My bad.

I don't think you understand what that means for average, everyday people.

We don't even notice.

If your 401k goes to sh!t overnight, I don't notice. If your stock is worthless it doesn't concern me at all. The reason? You're not talking about real money. You're talking about fake, made up pieces of paper. "But slim, if the company goes bankrupt they can't pay you anymore." Bull. They can't pay their shareholders anymore.

They have to keep paying me or else they can't produce stuff to sell and then they really will go out of business. Real and durable goods will always be around. Pieces of paper with arbitrary values based on future values are worthless now and they'll be worthless in the future.

Some day people in America are going to wake up and realize that. They're going to understand a portfolio of paperwork can't be traded for a chicken. Then they're going to feel really stupid because a redneck like me sits back grinning, stopping just short of saying "I told you so."