Griftopia by Matt Taibbi

Matt Taibbi has been a person of interest for me for years now. His political writing for Rolling Stone is the only reason I even keep up with the publication anymore, because the persona he presents is the kind that I admire. Taibbi is of the well-read, logical, clearly angry ilk that I think need be more prominent in the ever-maddening landscape of our times. It is he who I turn to for that anti-Wolf Blitzer sentiment, that knowledgeable passion which makes him seem like one of us: a regular person with something at stake.

In Taibbi’s latest book Griftopia, the stakes are plainly defined. I have found all of Taibbi’s books to be informative and entertaining, but this latest venture shows exceptional maturation on Taibbi’s part. This growth can be attributed to a few things, the foremost being the heaviness of the subject matter. This is where the stakes come in, as Taibbi explains the outright corruption of the American financial system which spreads its venom throughout our nation’s infrastructure, and most significantly our politics. It is a broad topic which sprawls itself far, but still remains readable.

Taibbi’s ability to explain his intricate subject matter is unparalleled in Griftopia, and his brash attitude isn’t lost with the new, didactic turn. Taibbi still understands how to call someone an asshole; just take this excerpted slamming of Alan Greenspan as an example: “Greenspan’s rise is instead a tale of a gerbilish mirror-gazer who flattered and bullshitted his way up the Matterhorn of American power and then, once he got to the top, feverishly jacked himself off to the attentions of Wall Street for twenty consecutive years.” These put-downs are definitely fewer in Griftopia than in the usual Taibbi book, but are no less impactful.

The tendency of the critic lustful for parallels is to compare Taibbi to the great Hunter S.
Thompson of 1970s gonzo journalism fame. The two writers have their similarities, with both having been attached to Rolling Stone and being described as possessing the same sentiments. The truth, however, is that I don’t believe they deserve the comparison. It is the “gonzo” label which is associated with other buzzwords like “stunt,” “antics,” or even “fabricated,” that links the two together. And while Taibbi has produced his share of antics (including my personal favorite of confronting 2004 then- presidential candidate John Kerry, in a gorilla suit), he just isn’t Thompson. And believe me, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

While Hunter S. Thompson is a legend in his own right, I don’t believe he took on anything as massive as this financial crisis which spans decades and covers a lot of political ground. Thompson did some amazing work in the 1970s, but perhaps did a few too many drugs and eventually became a caricature of himself. This is where the significance of Taibbi’s maturation really elevates this book. “Griftopia” features no stunts, or antics, or anything of the like. In this latest release, Taibbi becomes a full-on reporter, letting us in on the American catastrophe that is modern politics.

The pure disbelief and agony this report generates in readers is of massive proportions. Who
knew that America was selling itself to high bidders? Chicago has sold its parking meters, and Pennsylvania has offered up its famed turnpike a few different times. All of this is in order to pay state debt that won’t go away.

Taibbi is in my opinion one of America’s most important political writers, and it is important that analysts like him exist in order to bring us information that nobody else is really comfortable sharing. One great comparison to this book would be last year’s financial documentary “Inside job,” which definitely took American economics to task. Both are scathing commentaries on Wall Street (and Goldman Sachs specifically), indictments on a mildly disappointing Obama administration, and are well worth your time.

Finally, the close of the book contains that now-infamous Taibbi Rolling Stone article “The Great Bubble Machine,” featuring one of the most important phrases of the last decade. The phrase is cushioned within the first few sentences of the article, and I’ve decided to plaster that opening chord at the bottom of this review with said phrase highlighted in bold. I believe, with this effort, Taibbi has revealed and splayed before us our generation’s proverbial villain.

The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great Vampire Squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.

-Cody Mattox