(Written in 2010, two years after that recession. Nonetheless, as I review, still true today.)
So, the latest word is that, after two years, only two people are being prosecuted for destroying our economy. It seems the loss of trillions of dollars and millions of jobs isn’t actually a crime.
Of course, this is not surprising. Too many in Congress and too many in business are dirty. Too many would go down if any real investigations took place.
Case in point: Barney Frank. You may have seen him on TV, chairing a committee in Congress, boiling with outrage at Wall Street and financial big shots. The real story is that he had as much to do with the sub-prime fiasco as anyone. He even got paid for it. Many tens of thousands of dollars. Moreover, his boyfriend at the time worked at Fannie Mae. (Do your own google on Frank and Fannie Mae.) Regardless of the consequences for the rest of us, these criminals were only interested in their immediate profit and pleasure. This is typical of criminal society–massive irresponsibility for the results of their actions. Which leads to an interesting question: What is homosexuality but irresponsibility toward the fate of the race? I spent some time on the streets when I was young, and avoiding the homosexual traps was just part of the life. Not everyone made it, but those are stories for another time.
The worse truth is that this behavior is typical of all criminal groups, including Congress. Each criminal offers the deal of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Frank is hardly alone. Millions of dollars from banking and insurance firms, who were selling thin air, went to politicians still in office, including now President Obama. Democrats and Republicans alike are neck deep in the mire.
Sadly, being criminals, these individuals and groups support other criminals. This is a fact often missed. The idea that a person or company can be a criminal in one area and a responsible citizen in another is a fantasy. The heart of criminality is irresponsibility. Any criminal will tell you, in whatever creative words they can find, that their crimes were forced on them, didn’t hurt anyone, were caused by the victim, and so on.
This sort of thing does not have a boundary in a person’s life. It spills over and spreads. There is no choice. If it’s okay to beat the wife, it must be okay for someone else to beat the wife–or the kids. It must be okay to drink the grocery money up since that is the way to stay away from the wife. Therefore it must be okay to be drunk on the job or lose the job. Just extend this in any way you like. Crime bosses are not great fathers except in the movies.
Companies are the same. Just look at the groups that Fannie Mae supported–and perhaps still does. Once the corruption reaches the top, companies will find a way to support other crimes and criminals. On the flip side, very often the companies that preach the most about responsibility are doing the most irresponsible things. Irresponsibility is something they know well, and the only way they can avoid the pain of self-inspection is to point the finger elsewhere.
Of course, this also applies to politicians. If you think about it, for what other reason has our system of legalized bribery, otherwise known as campaign contributions, continued to exist in our so-called free elections? Companies with criminal activities, by which I definitely include areas of irresponsibility, support politicians who will look the other way.
Almost any politician, to be elected, is under terrific pressure to take part in this crime. The cost is self-respect. The result is irresponsibility. The need for the money does not go away. There is always that next election. Some company or person with filth to hide or legalize will have a “contribution” to make. All that’s required is that the politician be just a bit more irresponsible.
Thus crime spreads through all of society.
There is a great deal to be said on how loss of self-respect leads to irresponsibility and crime. Many areas of our society are bubbling pools of irresponsibility–and the irresponsible encourage more of it. They preach behaviors that lead to loss of self-respect, knowing full well this leads to criminality. It is, after all, the path they have walked.
Most of these areas don’t get labeled as criminal.
But they should.