HOUSTON – Concerned with soaring debt, the gradual nationalization of the economy, and overt market manipulation orchestrated by the Fed, trader Ben Gudrow decided to take a stand. “Every dollar I lose is a metaphor for the collapse of faith and trust in the free market economy,” he explained. “I buy puts, not because they have any chance of making money, but because they should have a chance at making money.” Were he to simply buy into the market’s rise, he insisted, his winnings would only be the legal tender of a failed economy anyway.

During the interview, Gudrow turned often to poetry, whispering such proverbs as “first they came for our AAA-rated debt, and I did nothing.” But when tax evasion is incentivized, reckless debt is washed away, and savings are rendered worthless, what is the point of being principled? Gudrow explained: “When my children and my grandchildren throw their life savings into options plays, I want them to lose it all because they made a stupid decision, not because the system is crumbling around them.”