Here's a classic example of what I've been saying all along - there are rules and laws for rich people, and there are rules and laws for the rest of us. The two sets of rules very seldom coincide, but the powers that be would have you believe in equal justice under the law, for rich and poor alike. Justice is only equal if you can hire attorneys of the same caliber O.J. Simpson did. May God have mercy on your soul if, for economic reasons, you find yourself stuck with a public defender. These leeches don't care whether you win or lose; they get their $230.00 either way.
LosingJeff and I have had this conversation many times. My position is that the United States Constitution isn't worth the parchment it's written on. It's only there to give you something to believe in, like the Easter Bunny, leprechauns or Eskimos (my apologies to Homer Simpson). That document, as well as the Judicial and Legislative branches of government, were created and adopted by rich landowners and merchants, most of whom were also involved in the lucrative slave trade to some degree. These are the parts that were conveniently left out of your high school history books.
During those first years, and for every subsequent year since, the federal treasury was looted time and again by entrepreneurial merchants, shipping magnates and manufacturers, who were admired and emulated by the common constituency. These thieves were held in the highest regard as examples of how "ingenuity, thrift and hard work" could transform the common man into a well-respected millionaire. Again, they left out the part about bribing entire legislatures (and, in one instance, an entire congress) to obtain laws and charters favorable to their various schemes. John Jacob Astor singlehandedly wiped the buffalo off the face of the earth with his American Fur Company, in spite of specific laws which regulated the fur trade back then. Federal law prohibited trading whiskey to Native American tribes, as it clouded their judgment and usually resulted in brutal retaliation when they sobered up and realized they had been screwed. If another man was found trapping on what Astor considered to be his territory (which encompassed the entire known United States), he was murdered on the spot, his body prominently displayed as a warning to future encroachers.
Phelps-Dodge Corporation, which is still in business today, was sued in 1872 by the U. S. Customs Office, after it was discovered that they were importing millions of tons of pewter, tin and copper shaped into crude statues. There was a high import tariff on these metals at the time, but works of art were exempted. Customs dventually settled for about six cents on the dollar, but could only collect on shortages from 1871. The records from previous years could not be found, and were "assumed destroyed." Sound familiar? It should. This is the same dodge used by WorldCom and Enron.
More recent illustrations include Ted Kennedy, who caused the death of a young girl while driving drunk (Chappaquiddick); he was exonerated of any wrongdoing. Michael Milkin was sent to federal prison for a few months over his junk bond scheme, but was allowed to keep the $500M he made in one year. John DeLorean was set up by the FBI in a sting operation when the company he founded threatened to cut into the market shares of the Big 3 automakers. He had actually committed no crime, so one was invented for his benefit. The list goes on and on. If you're not rich, you can join the police force and still enjoy exemption from the laws you're charged with enforcing. If you're a cop, you and your buddies can shoot an unarmed man FORTY-SEVEN TIMES, and walk away with medals instead of prison time. Cops can do things like this because, first, they're better people and, second, because they're hired to enforce the law, not to obey it.
Enough already with the history lesson. I only wanted to point out that the more things change, the more they stay the same. All things being equal, if there is a crime which should not be a crime in this country, it's theft. This entire nation was founded and built on theft in one form or another. We stole the land we build our homes on, and then complain that our shores should be closed to immigrants, because they take "our" jobs, even though you and I wouldn't do that type of work for so little compensation. The United States and Soviet Russia pilfered their respective jet and rocket technologies from Nazi Germany. We actually kidnapped some of their scientists and brought them back here to work for us. "Heavy water," an essential element in the manufacture of atomic weapons, was discovered and developed by Nazi scientists, even before Americans knew of the concept. An atomic bomb was one of Hitler's pet projects, and he devoted more resources to the program than he probably should have, and then we stole it and claimed it as our own. That's not mentioned our in history books either, for obvious reasons.
We have all been trained to believe in the illusion that hard work and thrift will ensure success. Squint your eyes a bit, and you'll discover that hard work gets you nothing more than an early grave in this country. Your heirs, more often than not, will toil in the same factory or corporation to which you dedicated your life in return for a meager pension and a gold (plated) watch. Having taught them well, you can die happy in the knowledge that, even though you didn't make it, you've instilled a solid work ethic in your offspring, thereby increasing their chances of becoming successful. In reality, though, what you've done is to provide a model for your children's graves.
I realize that many of you will be offended by the above revelations, and many more will simply refuse to believe or to even consider the truth. Well, that's what you're supposed to do; believe in the illusion, and reality will pretend not to intrude on your lives. Work hard, and you'll get rich (by lining your boss's pockets). Believe in the system, and it will work for you (provided you're never actually arrested for some imagined crime against property, in which case you'll have to prove you didn't do it). Put your faith in the old adage, "Money isn't everything," while you're unemployed and staring at a pile of unpaid bills.
Tg636 has hit it on the head; Mr. Whittaker can behave in any manner he chooses, without danger of significant consequence, because he's rich and you're not. His station in life is far above that of the common man, so he cannot be held to the same rigid standard as those who languish beneath him. He was a millionaire even before he won the largest PowerBall jackpot in history, but you didn't read about his antics back then because he didn't have the celebrity he now... uh... "enjoys." Whenever he's robbed, or his home burgled, he's not scolded for carrying obscene amounts of cash; the law says it's every American's right to walk around, unmolested, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, if he want to. If someone tries to steal it from him, the law states that the thief must go to jail, even if he's a millionaire himself. We'll have to wait and see if this holds up, because, so far, only poor people have tried to relieve Jack of part of his burden.
It's all done with smoke and mirrors, folks. Be a good little working-poor person; don't make waves, believe what you're told to believe, and you'll get along just fine, until you die, at which time your son or daughter will be hired to fill the vacancy, and life goes on, because the boss's pockets are still flush with cash so, see? everybody wins.
If anyone cares to discover how things really work in America, I recommend you read A History of the Great American Fortunes, by Gustavus Meyers (1936). It's currently out-of-print, but you can buy a decent used copy in good condition from Border's for about twenty bucks. I'm reading this book for the third time, and I don't mind telling you it has really opened my eyes. You can get an idea of what this book reveals by performing the following exercise: Take a blank sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle. Now, on the left side of the line, write, "The Way Things Are," and then on the right, "The Way Things Should Be." The line is what's important, because it separates reality (The Way Things Are) from illusion (The Way Things Should Be). Examples of what you'd list on the right include the myth of equal justice under the law, your perceived, supposedly inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, your perceived right to privacy (which by the way, is not guaranteed to you by any document of law), and the old stand-by, "innocent until proven guilty" (sorry; that one gets me every time). The reality, The Way Things Are, includes the fact that equal justice under the law exists only if you have the money to hire a top-gun attorney, that you only think you have a right to privacy because that's what you've been led to believe and, finally, that you're guilty until you prove your innocence, or post a surety bond, at which time the handcuffs will be removed and your liberty restored pending arraignment. That's the way things are; that's reality.
Jack Whittaker notwithstanding, you can't win the game (not without hitting a jackpot, anyway) unless you're playing by the same rules and laws as those who wrote them to benefit their own kind. I'm not saying they're not out there, but when was the last time you heard of an elected official who wasn't a millionaire? As I've pointed out in other posts, the bankruptcy laws were initially written to give rich people a way to keep their property when they went belly-up. When the middle and lower classes discovered that they could also discharge their debts, legislation was introduced to make it more difficult for these people to take advantage of the bankruptcy laws. It's okay for rich people to have their obligations dissolved, but when the poor and middle-class do it, that takes money out of the pockets of the magnates. They don't like that, because it levels the playing field a little too much, so they've taken steps to change the laws.
Sorry for the lengthy post. I've been itching for a chance to address this issue, and Jack Whittaker provided the perfect opportunity with his latest shenanigans. If Whittaker's behavior doesn't convince you that my take on this matter is a sound one, then please, do yourself a favor, and read the book referenced above.
Come, Pinky; we must prepare for tomorrow night...
Jim
