John Rogers is a Friend of the Blog, co-originator of the “27%” crazification factor, and creator of (among other things) the show Leverage (2008-2012). For those who don’t know, Leverage is about a team of grifters and thieves who turn their considerable talents to defrauding corporate criminals. (It’s fun, good-hearted, and a bit silly; you should watch it!).
Leverage first aired when I was twenty-three and fresh off working for the first Obama campaign. Well, being young and jobless in that era, I had lots of free time to read about politics and watch television. I can’t remember if the plots seemed ridiculous to me at first or not. Soon enough, though, I knew that only half the show was unrealistic. White-collar crime really is as widespread and banally-accepted as the show portrays. But, of course, there’s no strike-team of good guys stealing the money back.
Anyway, I saw this and figured I would share:
1/ The one thing gratifying about the publicity around Rep. Collins insider trading & the massive fraud/corruption of Trump and his Cabinet members, is that the insane levels of unprosecuted white collar crime we found while writing LEVERAGE are entering public consciousness
— John Rogers (@jonrog1) August 11, 2018
3/ If a “black market economy” is an economy that exists around skirting the law, then the entire economy is a black market economy. That research was an unending parade of sociopaths made successful in a system optimized for them.
— John Rogers (@jonrog1) August 11, 2018
5/ Even the creation of the phrase “white collar”, rather than the more useful comparison of “systematized rather than spontaneous theft” is a pillar of this worldview.
— John Rogers (@jonrog1) August 11, 2018
6/ tl:dr It’s good a show ends when the phrase “cleansing white fire” is the first thought of your day, every day, when you wake up.
— John Rogers (@jonrog1) August 11, 2018
Leverage is off Netflix and Hulu right now, or I’d fire it up… There is also a tabletop RPG version I’ve always wanted to try.
Open thread!
The Rich And Powerful Take What They Want (Open Thread)Post + Comments (235)