“The Golden Calf”
Wallis explicates, “The market has become our “golden calf,” our idol of ultimate allegiance. The Technicolor image of a furious-looking Charlton Heston as he played Moses in Cecil B. DeMille’s classic production of The Ten Commandments is familiar to many of us.” Here Wallis exploits twin allusions: Biblical and Artistic allusions in portraying the imagery of the infamous ‘golden calf’ which depicts the contemporary god-like eminence of the market today. Market investors worship the calf like the Biblical Israelites. Accordingly, the imagery is pertinent for it displays the blatant adulating of the market.
The Imagery of "Market Idols"
Wallis observes, “Today, instead of statues, we have hedge funds, mortgage- backed securities, 401 (k) s , and mutual funds. We place blind faith in the hope that the stock indexes will just keep rising and real estate prices keep climbing. Market mechanisms were supposed to distribute risk so well that those who were reckless would never see the consequences of their actions…Life and the world around us could all be explained with just the right market lens. These Idols were supposed to make us happy and secure and provide for all our needs. Those who manage them became the leaders to whom are looked, not just for financial leadership, but direction for our entire lives. That is idolatry.” The financial investments which warranty hefty profits are the absolute postmodern idols. Investors depend in these idols more than God owing to the idols’ fundamental worth. An investor who worships his investments would not genuinely venerate God since his/her conviction is devoted to the investments.
