Thursday, October 05, 2006
Curbing Criminality
Two recent commentaries found here addressed the impact of institutionalized criminality on our society: one regarding an attempted takeover of the Washington Supreme Court by the Building Industry Association of Washington, the other regarding the U.S. Department of Interior collusion with oil and gas corporations in stealing over $200 billion from American Indian tribes and individuals. What these two stories had in common is a long-standing practice of symbiotic criminality between business and government involving racketeering, fraud, money-laundering, and bribery.
Much like the Enron and Bank of Commerce and Credit International cases of colossal concealment of assets, tax evasion, and pervasive deceptive practices to avoid regulation, the BIAW and Department of Interior criminal enterprises were consciously constructed to enable the frustration of our justice system. At bottom, what they all have in common is the theft of our health and well-being, our future, as well as our human spirit.
For those who seek truth, justice, reconciliation, and healing amongst our citizenry, the path is clear: accountability, not apathy, is the only way toward making amends to those harmed. In the case of industrial destruction of our environment and looting of natural resources, the harmed include all of us; only by a concerted effort to curb white-collar criminality in our country can we start down a new path to peace and prosperity for ourselves and those yet to come.
Much like the Enron and Bank of Commerce and Credit International cases of colossal concealment of assets, tax evasion, and pervasive deceptive practices to avoid regulation, the BIAW and Department of Interior criminal enterprises were consciously constructed to enable the frustration of our justice system. At bottom, what they all have in common is the theft of our health and well-being, our future, as well as our human spirit.
For those who seek truth, justice, reconciliation, and healing amongst our citizenry, the path is clear: accountability, not apathy, is the only way toward making amends to those harmed. In the case of industrial destruction of our environment and looting of natural resources, the harmed include all of us; only by a concerted effort to curb white-collar criminality in our country can we start down a new path to peace and prosperity for ourselves and those yet to come.
