Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Getting away with financial murder, financial rape and other crimes against the public

What a set of headlines to find today. I just got back from a 1000 km journey to Grande Prairie and back, and found my newspapers stacked up for me to read.

From Nov 21, 2010 Lethbridge Herald cover story came this headline "PM TARGETS AFGAN CORRUPTION"
I had to take a few breaths and slow myself down from getting upset and angry at the thought of our prime minister working to prevent corruption in a foreign land, while I spend my time here in Canada trying to make the public aware of the extent of corruption at home. It seems bizarre, dishonest and misleading, but I am slowly learning that the job of our leaders is to lie to us and to distract us from the major issues. Like a pickpocket who has an accomplice "bump" or distract you so another can pick your pocket, I am starting to feel as if that is the role of our government.

Then , further into my reading a photo of a homeless man sleeping on the sidewalk in downtown Toronto, in front of the major bank towers. I found the photo striking since I made a video journey film titled BREACH OF TRUST, The Unique Violence of White Collar Crime. One of the premises of the film is that predators (mostly financiers) take advantage of those lower than them on the economic or political food chain, thereby causing financial violence which knows no end upon those poor victims. They have zero recourse against their abusers (somewhat like an eight year old child verses the Catholic church circa 1960) and the net result is a lifetime of self sabotaging behaviours. I will try to obtain the image and post it.

Then as I went shopping at my local supermarket, speaking to the meat counter guy about a certain cut of meat, I saw the posters and photos near the back about "meat thieves". Never seen or heard that term before, but here is was, big as life. Photos of surveillance camera shots showing people who were known meat thieves. All I can say here is pure profanity. The frustration of seeing our system so able to "see" crime at the bottom of the food chain, and "see no evil" for those at the top of the economic and political food chain. Pure profanity. Pure Profanity. (even as far as me saying "George W Bush" which to me is like saying the fuck word)

I will end with this: "I want to live in a country where predators and abusers (from any station in life) can be held to account for the damage they do to other humans, to the economy, or to the planet". Today I do NOT live in such a country. I live in a so called free country where politicians and bankers and a few others (corporations, resource companies, drug companies) from the highest echelons of society can nearly get away with any abuse they happen to specialize in. They do not have to follow the same rules as you and I, and the laws of the land are not strong enough to reach upwards against gravity high enough to reach their stations in life. George W. Bush, George W. Bush, George W. Bush