The system is strong and respected. The system is tested and proves resilient. The system is taken for granted. The onerous parts of the system are modified for the ease of major players. The system is loaded up for failure by those who forget the whys and hows of why the system was set up in a particular way in the first place...
Quinn on the evil in the system.....
Evil Words & Actions
“False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.”
Socrates
CEO’s of banks and financial institutions going on TV and lying that their firms were strong and viable. (Angelo Mozilo, Jimmy Cayne, Ken Lewis, Robert Steele, Charles Prince, John Thain)
The President and Vice President of the United States lying to the American people that there were WMD in Iraq and proclaiming that Iraq was involved in the 9/11 attack.
The Secretary of the Treasury lying to the American people and Congress regarding the banking system in order to ram the TARP bill through Congress.
The Secretary of the Treasury and Federal Reserve Chairman threatening the CEO of Bank of America and forcing him to lie about the true losses of Merrill Lynch.
Mortgage brokers lying to their clients regarding the terms of the toxic mortgage products they were peddling.
Homebuyers who lied about their income and/or assets in order to qualify for a mortgage.
Alan Greenspan urging Americans to take out an adjustable rate mortgage when rates were at all time lows, while simultaneously saying that home prices on a national basis would never fall.
Treasury Secretaries and other high officials lying on their tax returns.
Financial advisors telling their clients to invest in a financial product because it makes the advisor more money, versus being in the best interest of the client.
Being politically correct in your speech rather than truthful because a constituent might be offended.
Politicians making promises to voters while trying to be elected which they never intend to keep.
When the President of the United States commits adultery in the Oval office and then lies to the American public.
Creative Evil
“Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.Knowledge becomes evil if the aim be not virtuous.”
Plato
When the highly educated use their knowledge to keep the ignorant from understanding the truth about the financial condition of the country.
When the Federal Reserve Chairman withholds the names of the banks that have received billions in taxpayer funds with no accountability.
The MBA genius or geniuses who created the stated income, no documentation mortgage loan in order to enrich themselves and their leaders.
The millions of Americans who accepted loans for homes, cars, and home furnishings that they knew they could never repay.
The bankers who made loans to people who they knew could never repay them, because they would earn all of their money upfront and would sell the loans to someone else.
The executives of AIG who silently allowed twenty employees in their Financial Products Group, led by Joseph Cassano, to gamble and lose $500 billion while paying Mr. Cassano $280 million in compensation.
Alan Greenspan for allowing moral hazard to grow to immense proportions due to the unspoken Greenspan Put. Every financial institution knew he would come to their rescue if their risky bets blew up. Therefore, they had no reason not to leverage 40 to 1.
The bank executives who allowed their trading desks to use derivatives to make huge bets on currencies, interest rates, default rates, and mortgages in order to generate obscene salaries, bonuses and stock option awards. The original purpose of derivatives was to hedge risks.
The rating agencies Moody’s and S&P who took blood money from banks and other financial institutions to rate packages of subprime mortgages, credit card debt, and car loans as AAA without ever examining the assets or real potential for default.
The Accounting Firms that will sell audit opinions based on the amount of fees they receive. This leads to the logical conclusion that no financial statements can be relied upon.
The bank executives who knowingly sold toxic worthless assets to pension funds, insurance companies, municipalities and senior citizens because of their desire for short-term profits and obscene bonuses.
Government Evil
“Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
Thomas Paine
When elected government officials secretly collude with bankers to create a non-governmental Federal Reserve Bank that controls the currency of the country and systematically generates inflation to allow government to spend at an ever increasing rate.
Taxing citizens to create bureaucratic government agencies and programs that fail to accomplish their mission while continuing to grow in size as politicians use them to reward the contributors to their re-election campaigns.
Congressmen allowing 40,000 highly paid corporate lobbyists in Washington DC to write laws and buy votes because it will keep them in power.
Putting thousands of earmarks into every Congressional spending bill to benefit your supporters to the detriment of the country.
When government employees leave government service and accept high paying jobs with the companies they previously regulated.
The SEC hierarchy ignoring the conclusive evidence provided by Harry Markopoulos about the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme because Madoff was respected, connected and had friends in high places at the SEC.
Low paid SEC investigators are purposely less stringent in their investigations because they want high paying jobs on Wall Street with the firms they are regulating.
The Federal Reserve has purposely taken worthless assets onto their balance sheet from insolvent banks in order to fraudulently portray the U.S. banking system as healthy. They have committed billions of taxpayer funds with no oversight or audit of their activities.
Taxing citizens to use the money to create offensive weapons of war and using them to preemptively invade a sovereign country with no Constitutionally required declaration of war.
Launching hundreds of cruise missiles from a thousand miles away into a city of six million people, knowing thousands of innocent people would be murdered.
Torturing human beings at Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo, thereby winning the fight, but losing the war. The U.S. will have no moral authority when American soldiers are captured and tortured.
Invading a country under false pretenses in order to enforce our world view on a sovereign nation to secure billions of barrels of oil.
Selling weapons of mass destruction to other nations.
Convincing the majority of the population through manipulative means to give up freedoms and liberties in the name of safety and security.
Monitoring the phone conversations, emails, and movements of American citizens without their knowledge.
Paying farmers to not grow food, while millions in the world starve to death every year.
Encouraging the poorest Americans to gamble what little they have at State sponsored casinos and in State run lotteries to pay for ever increasing State spending.
Politicians spend money today in order to bribe their constituents for votes, while passing the bill onto future unborn generations.
Politicians pass laws that reallocate wealth from producers to the takers in society and create a class of societal dependents who will continue to vote for more goodies and benefits.
The FASB allows financial firms to value “assets” at whatever price they choose in order to mislead investors.
Media Evil
“Young people are threatened... by the evil use of advertising techniques that stimulate the natural inclination to avoid hard work by promising the immediate satisfaction of every desire.”
Pope John Paul II
Advertising by the National Association of Realtors in 2005 and 2006 after home prices had doubled in five years telling all Americans it was the best time to buy and that buying a house is always a great investment.
Both liberal and conservative ideologue pundits skewing every issue in order to prove their pre-ordained position.
Corporate titans like GE own TV networks and slanting the reporting of the news in a way that aligns with their corporate interests.
Paid political consultants train politicians to not answer the questions they are asked. They are trained to repeat their talking points, not answer questions truthfully.
The mainstream media use their power and influence to mislead the public regarding the true state of the economy and the truth about the future finances of the country.
Companies like GMAC/Ditech used misleading TV commercials to lure the ignorant and poor into loans which they could never repay.
The negative ads run during political campaigns are made up of smears, innuendo, half truths, and bold faced lies intended to destroy the character of opponents.
Using polls in order to slant your message in a way that appeals to the most voters.
Using advertising techniques to convince people to buy products they can’t afford by appealing to their emotions and biases.
TV shows that glorify killers, immoral lifestyles, crime, drug use, etc. in order to push their agenda on children.
The media exaggerating risks of pandemics, terrorism, crime, and weather events in order to increase ratings.
http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/quinn/2009/0526.html
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