Matt Taibbi
By Gabrielle Healy
Usually, fundraisers are boring. Lots of people talk, asking for money, you know the drill. However, much to my surprise, I recently attended a fundraiser that was very interesting. The event was for South Coastal County Legal Service (SCCLS), a great organization.
Here at Sturgis, most of us are fortunate enough to be able to afford a lawyer or legal consultation, if the time ever came for those services to be required. The SCCLS provides free legal consultation for people who cannot afford a lawyer who live in the Southcoast of Massachusetts, and the Cape and Islands. Inability to afford legal counsel is a common problem in today’s hard economic times, and the SCCLS provides a much needed service. They deal in immigration law, education law, financial law, and much more. This is an invaluable service, helping people make their way in the world, legally. Whether the laws and legislation are fair, is debatable, but for now, the SCCLS aids the fight for justice.
My mother and I were drawn to this event because of the speaker, Matt Taibbi. Matt Taibbi is a reporter, primarily for Rolling Stone, but he has been published in other noteworthy magazines, newspapers, and the like. He grew up in Westport, and says that his first job in news was with Southcoast Massachusetts’ local news publication, The Standard Times. During his illustrious career, he has played professional basketball in Mongolia, founded the popular news organization known as “The Beast.” He even rented an apartment in Russia for $15.00 after the Soviet Union collapsed. More recently, he has been covering the event known as “The Great Recession,”which took place in the fall of 2008, and he followed Mitt Romney’s run for presidency.
While I wouldn’t say that Mr. Taibbi was the most engaging speaker, he did make the financial meltdown very clear, as he has done in his news articles. Economics and financial literacy usually aren’t taught in schools, but it has become increasingly important in today’s society. He did a demonstration including audience members, and used analogies to make these difficult concepts more simple. As he explained how the bankers bet on bad loans, and how many people lost their money, he made the work of the SCCLS seem important and relevant, especially in financial law.
For more information about Matt Taibbi and his journalism, go to:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog .