| This article was published before greed became the national motto, leading to the collapse of the American economy.
COMMENT By Bob Weaver 2002
"One Nation, Under Fraud."
I saw it on a T-shirt this weekend in Buckhannon.
Such logos prompted by out-of-control marriages between corporate and political
brokers.
Greed has a lot to do with god, where the greedy play god on those unable to defend
themselves.
Corporations are in the god business.
Corporate greed told West Virginian's "It was the will of God" that killed 125 men,
women and children on Buffalo Creek, not their poorly constructed dam which had
received numerous warnings. Some of them seemed to believe it when we visited
there 30 years later.
In our culture, we seem to have reached some kind of magnanimous acceptance of
corporate godlessness, the names and faces of hundreds of thousands of victims,
unnoticed.
No monuments here.
We frequently return to Ground Zero to remember the victims, as well we should, but
the War on Greed will quickly fade, no flashing logos on TV news channels or
constant scrolling under talking heads.
Enron, World-Com and nearly a dozen other giant corporations cooked the books,
stole your money, destroyed retirements, manipulated stocks, bailed out with insider
information, lined their pockets with cash, got tax breaks, caused tens of thousands
to lose their jobs, and crushed small businesses.
During the same time some salaries reached into the millions, with hefty golden
parachutes. Even the business "losers" win.
What a deal!
The level of cynicism must have broken the cynicism meter, with power brokers
hoping the law of forgetfulness will set in.
While the focus may be a Democrat vs. Republican problem, and some of it may be, it
is a government problem, politicians who cranked their heads around and changed
the rules.
Greed-mongering is an every American problem.
The current Washington bunch latch to the national conscious by ranting about a
court case, one of dozens that surface every year, about removing "Under God" from
the Pledge, or make new unconfirmed terrorist announcements when the heat gets
hot.
The War on Terror is serious business, but the war against greed may be far more
destructive in maintaining our capitalistic democracy.
While most of use want to believe President Bush, his history and cronies, reduce
"change" to mostly empty words.
If the American people detach and lay down on this $100 billion dollar raid of the
pocketbooks, it will confirm the prediction - we will destroy ourselves from
within.
Is our country worth it?
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