Main Street vs. Wall Street

“I think Senator McCain’s absolutely right that we need more responsibility„” Barack Obama said during the first presidential debate,” but we need it not just when there’s a crisis. I mean, we’ve had years in which the reigning economic ideology has been what’s good for Wall Street, but not what’s good for Main Street.”

Wall Street. Main Street.

I recently learned what the term “metonymy” means, so I feel pretty smart every time I hear the pols (over)use these labels terms to contrast bad ole’ big business with the little guys.

Websters defines metonymy as a “figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (as ‘crown’ in ‘lands belonging to the crown’)

This political season Wall Street has come to represent the greedy corporate types running the country into the ground. Main Street: the rest of us who vote and haven’t faired so well (in part because some of us spent too much - doing our patriotic duty - and overreached on our home purchases, but we’ll overlook that for now.)

My personal metonymic nemesis: Joe Sixpack. I drink six packs - regularly. But I do not want to live in a land belonging to the Joes - not Palin’s Joes anyway.