The US Wall Street protest is expanding across the United States as well as Canada. It started in New York where 700 peaceful protesters were arrested for walking on the street not the sidewalk. A rather disturbing scene in a nation where the Constitution guaranteeing the right to lawful Assembly is the highest law of the land.
I heard news of them planning one for Vancouver and I said what sock exchange? Vancouver doesn't have a stock exchange any more. They disband it because of corruption. It was full of fake pump and dump stocks so they got rid of it. I understand they are planning to occupy the Vancouver Art Gallery instead. Since that occupation won't affect the financial district there's no doubt that occupation could very well last through winter.
There is one point I'd like to make. Although I most certainly don't speak for everyone showing up to protest, this isn't about poor people being jealous of rich people and wanting to share the wealth. This is about the various financial crisis' which has been the result of investment fraud that has required huge tax payer bailouts.
In England there have been massive protests because the money spent on wars of aggression and financial bailouts has created huge deficits just like it has in the United States. They are now on a slash and burn campaign to destroy all public services that took years to build as a result. The primary cause of this chaos is investment fraud. White Collar crime going unpunished. Al Martin discussed it at great lengths in his book the Conspirators.
Michael Moore recently discussed the control and conflict of interest the banking industry has in the government. Henry Paulson was the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and became the US treasury secretary under George W. Bush. Many felt issuing the bank bail out was a huge conflict of interest.
It is clear that the various financial crises are artificially created and are the result of investment fraud as well as money laundering, drug smuggling and arms dealing. That is what was behind the BCCI collapse. If a free market is free, it doesn't require tax payers bailouts. Investment fraud is a serious crime because it wipes out pensions, destabilizes the market and adversely affects the economy.
Protesting against Wall Street is like protesting against the tabacco companies. They don't care, nor should they. The problem lies in Government corruption and until the real issue is addressed these protests mean nothing. Just like the tabacco companies, Wall Street has tons of lobbyist's that put money in the polititians hats to look the other way. It IS the root of all the problems we face today. So instead of picketing Wall Street, it's time to picket Government and demand they stop stealing from us and handing the money to their buddies. In Canada, we could start by demanding the money back that Mulrooney stole from us!
ReplyDeleteGetting the money back Mulroney stole from us by committing perjury in that court settlement would be a good start indeed. You are very right about the tobacco company comparison. Except for the fact that the tobacco company hasn’t so far successfully demanded a huge bail out with tax dollars. Perhaps the Wall Street protests will point the direction of the concern and encourage the government to regulate the fraud. Everyone keeps talking about deregulation and how cutting red tape is a good thing for business when in practice all we see is deregulation open the door for fraud wide open.
ReplyDeleteThe bottom line is GREED! Humanity? We are a bunch of animals (acually worse as we not only kill when hungry, we will kill for money). Does anyone really think the government is looking out for us? These wars that are going on right now are a great example of government out of control. What are we doing in Afghanistan and Libya? What about Somolia, Sudan etc? Think of the money we are spending on special interests and buddies (halliburton etc.) of the powers that be because of these wars. It's all about taking money from the middle class and putting it in the hands of the few. Now the writing is on the wall for a new war against Iran. Dig in folks, we haven't seen nothing yet!
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