Post 13 - Does Corruption & Collusion Really Equal Crime?

To follow on from Posts 11 and 12 the theme of corruption/collusion was very much the topical thread running through most of the media streams globally as a result of the expose regarding Panama and the leaking of 11.4m (2.6 terabytes of data) files regarding the activities of clients from the Law firm Mossack Fonseca, the stabbing in the back of Boris Johnston by Michael Gove and then the Labour Party in complete disarray and rebellion all in my view evidence of the corrupt and collusive world of the powerful where many simply seek to further their own ambitions at whatever cost to their integrity and character. 

The root of all evil?

What struck me about the furore those events created is that generally we can be quite a vindictive and unpleasant bunch when we choose to be, and especially when it comes to criticising the rich and powerful.  Yet which of us would not employ lawyers and accountants to exploit legal loopholes in tax law if we were in a position to have so much money that we needed to protect it from economic factors influenced by others, who may or may not be as astute as us?

So we get all hot and bothered about the tax obligations that may or may not be deliberately avoided, yet at the same time in my view we can appear indifferent to the plight of anyone who in our twisted thinking "deserves all he gets". Consider for a moment someone who is disenfranchised, ostracised or stigmatised such as an ex-offender or someone suffering a mental health illness, or even worse some poor soul who is marked out with both, who then becomes a 'victim'. Do you think you would be inclined to highlight a wrong done against them, to pursue it, or even beyond and actually go to any lengths within the law to right that wrong on their behalf, regardless of the personal cost to you?  The answer if you are totally honest with yourself is likely to be no. Why?

Well for many reasons not withstanding the fact that depending on your standing/vocation it may be professional suicide (hence very few high profile people or politicians take up any cause which is unpalatable to the general public) as it is a high risk/low reward scenario, a thankless task with no reward or recognition for helping someone within that sector of society and certainly not from the establishment. If anything you would probably end up on a watch list of some sort or another. Have we come to the point where in fact not that many people in power seek to know of wrongdoings against those perceived to be outside society, even if temporarily, do we prefer out of sight out of mind, if we don't know then we can't be roped in?

Is it in fact that we are all criminals?

President Obama is now openly talking about the prison industrial complex, he is discussing prison reform and laying out his plans for the future of incarceration within America to the extent that it is now something to be found in most daily papers in the United States and some brave souls promote change on a daily basis. Will it have time to be implemented before either Donald Trump dumps it as he seems likely to do, or before Hillary Clinton screws it up as she has done with so many other initiatives she has been tasked with, who knows? One thing I think we can pretty much count on is as I predicted in my blog of 11th February 2016, UK Prison Reform is one trend where we appear to be completely reluctant to follow our American cousins from across the big pond.

I genuinely fear for those who live and work inside all institutions within our governments control, because they are now crime zones as bad as any inner city in this country. I know it, you know it, the media know it, and those working there know it, but the worst thing is those responsible for managing and reporting on the management of it, they also know it and yet nothing changes.

My greatest fear is it never will and hundreds of men women and children will continue to die either because they see no other choice but kill themselves through suicide, or they have diminished access to adequate health care.  It appears to be because many of those in the sector are ego driven, making money from it at various levels and in the end they simply talk or write about it. Apart from myself and Mark Johnson the founder of User Voice I am unaware of anyone who has put their own money into a reform initiative on any meaningful scale, very few actually do anything tangible which may truly change it for the better.  They do not have an original viable idea between them, they squabble and plagiarise each other claiming Kudos here and credit there, and in fact if someone does actually take action, then the acceptable critics join ranks in fear and outrage, with campaigns of instrumental poison and aggression against the entity or person who dared to stand apart, lest they be exposed for what they are...parasites who simply feed of the misery and suffering of others and the conscious neglect of those with the power to influence real tangible positive reform.