He has argued that failed banks should not be bailed
out, Lehman's collapse was not a disaster, AIG should be declared bankrupt, that naked short selling is not a problem, that backdating isn't so bad, insider trading should be legal, many corporate CEOs are underpaid, global solutions are worse than local solutions, Warren Buffett is overrated, Michael Milken is a great American, the collapse
of the hedge fund was not a scandal, hedge funds are over-regulated,
education is overrated by the educated, bonuses at successful Wall Street's firms are deserved and possibly undersized, management buyouts are boons to the economy, Enron's management was victimized by an over-zealous prosecution, Sarbanes - Oxley should be repealed, corporate compliance culture is a disaster, shareholder democracy is overrated, hostile takeovers ought to be revived, the market is permanently
moving away from
public ownership
of equity in corporations, private partnerships are on the rise,
public ignorance is encouraged and manipulated by governments and corporations, experts overrate expertise, regulatory agencies are controlled by the businesses they supposedly regulate and Wall Street is much more fun than people give it credit for.
Oppenheim speaks
of growing up in Washington and California, his father's Russian ancestry and
education in China, his father's career in engineering, his mother's background and
education in English, living in Richmond El Cerrito, his mother's love
of the arts, his father's feelings toward Russia, standing
out in the community, his relationship with his older sister, attending Richmond High School, demographics
of El Cerrito, his interest in athletics during high school, fitting in with the minority class in Richmond, prejudice and cultural dynamics
of the 1950s, a lack
of art
education and philosophy classes during high school, Rebel Without a Cause, Richmond Trojans, hotrod clubs, the persona
of a good student, playing by the rules
of the art world, friendship with Jimmy De Maria and his relationship to Walter DeMaria, early skills as an artist, art and teachers in high school, attending California College
of Arts and Crafts, homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s, working and attending art school, professors at art school, attending Stanford, early sculptural work, depression, quitting school, getting married, and
moving to Hawaii, becoming an entrepreneur, attending the University
of Hawaii, going back to art school, radical art, painting, drawing, sculpture, the beats and the 1960s, motivations, studio work, theory and exposure to art, self - doubts,
education in art history, Oakland Wedge, earth works, context and possession, Ground Systems, Directed Seeding, Cancelled Crop, studio art, documentation, use
of science and disciplines in art, conceptual art, theoretical positions, sentiments and useful rage, Robert Smithson and earth works, Gerry Shum, Peter Hutchinson, ocean work and red dye, breaking patterns and attempting growth, body works, drug use and hippies, focusing on theory, turmoil, Max Kozloff's «Pygmalion Reversed,» artist as shaman and Jack Burnham, sync and acceptance
of the art world, machine works, interrogating art and one's self, Vito Acconci,
public art, artisans and architects, Fireworks, dysfunction in art, periods
of fragmentation, bad art and autobiographical self - exposure, discovery, being judgmental
of one's own work, critical dissent, impact
of the 1950s and modernism, concern about placement in the art world, Gypsum Gypsies, mutations
of objects, reading and writing, form and content, and phases
of development.