| How
To Rob a Bank and Get Away With It
A true democracy requires honesty in banking and investing. Our
financial services and investment industries have deteriorated into
a pack of Liars Loans and Ponzi Schemes, and our government and
its legal system are apparently ignoring the situation. The theory
that "The best way to rob a bank is to own one" has been
substantially proven.
The Guilty and the Guiltier on Wall Street are given a slap on
the wrist and rewarded with million-dollar bonuses. We send Martha
Stewart to prison for almost nothing and these criminals are running
free. William
Black, a senior regulator during the investigations
of the Savings and Loan crisis in the 1980s, says Bernie Madoff
is a piker compared with what's really going on. Fraud is the major
cause of the financial collapse.
This is a crucial point in the decline of democracy. The practice
seems to be morphing into anti-intellectual ravings and false accusations
instead of an informed electorate. The real crisis is the decline
of morality in this country. Greed and corruption have become the
norm, and not just in the financial, insurance and petroleum industries.
For example, in the industrial countries that provide healthcare
to their people, the first step was to make a moral choice: People
deserve to live. Nobody should die because they can't afford healthcare.
After that decision was made they went about finding ways to fund
the system. Their governments are for the people. Not Big Business,
as in the United States. Are real Americans actually unable to make
this moral choice?
The major failure of a democracy might be the right for an uninformed
public to vote. The system doesn't work if the voters are illiterate
and uninformed. Propaganda works too well with them. Especially
when you have a 24-hour media that is desperate for news and feeds
on the sensational, instead of the facts. The Republicans have certainly
embraced this technique.
In a Democracy, it should be about US. What's good for US is good
for everybody. Too many Americans are focused on themselves, not
the good of the country and its people. Again, this is a lack of
morality. We, as a country, and especially the religious right,
need to return to The Golden Rule and practice what we preach.
Real Americans need to get out and support Obama's efforts to fix
this country. And to combat the continuing lies and false accusations
of the vocal, but uninformed Republican right wing. Bush, Cheney,
et. Al, deserve to be in prison, not in the media. Hard-working
Americans deserve better than they're getting.
Links to Related Information:
Book: The
Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One
William Black
Video: Bill Moyers: CSI
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