Out of sight, out of mind?

How would we feel if we saw these four men in Wisbech, sitting on a bench in St Peter’s gardens?

John Varley, “... snapped up the US assets of the collapsed Lehman Brothers.” We must remember where Lehman Brothers got those assets from. The assets of Lehman Brothers came from the poor, the people who had been sold the dream of home ownership when they did not have the income to service the mortgage offered. All the money the poor paid for a deposit and the initial payments were lost to the Lehman Brothers, and the other financial institutions involved in packaging the deceptive financial products. The poor lost their homes when the banks foreclosed.

Roger Jenkins, “... was the driving force behind Barclays’ controversial tax advisory business, which was subsequently wound down.” This was a scam perpetrated on the working class, a scheme to enable the wealthy to avoid tax by exploiting every possible loophole. 

Thomas Kalaris “He quickly built the amount of wealth under management, catapulting the division into the global top league, but the unit’s culture in the US was criticised in an independent report in 2013.” The word criticised is used in such reports where there is an absence of hard evidence but everyone knows that fraud and corruption have occurred. 

Richard Boath “... claimed he was unfairly dismissed after the SFO shared with his employer a 900-page transcript of interviews he gave to criminal investigators probing the bank.” It is thought he was hoping to make a deal and avoid prosecution, by giving evidence to the SFO.

Over decades these four men have damaged the lives of more far more individuals than the alleged fight that occurred in St Peter’s garden recently. They have taken huge salaries and bonuses for their immoral and in some cases illegal behaviour and when a penalty is eventually imposed it will come from Barclays, the organisation not those individuals. 

A small skirmish became a catalyst for so many comments on the Wisbech discussion forum, but I’ve seen nothing in the discussion forum to indicate that Wisbech citizens are concerned about the actions of the corporate bullies, the men who can profit from deals that are totally abhorrent. 

 The culture of global corporations is a greater threat to our society than a few sad homeless alcoholics. The actions of global corporations have directly influenced the number of people who are now homeless. The stress related to financial pressures contributes to alcohol and drug dependency, marital and family breakdown. These men are responsible for the culture and morality of the organisations they lead. The corporate leaders have created a business environment within which the ordinary citizen now accepts that the needs of the economy and the corporation must be placed ahead of the needs of humanity. 

The concept of the corporation as a separate legal entity is a very recent innovation. It allows the wealthy to take risks with other people’s money and if the risk fails they can walk away from the loss, if the risk succeeds they can take huge gains. It was a clever idea, and while we had the moderating influence of the church and the desire to retain a good reputation, it served society well.

Today we have leaders who are unworthy. Men who are prepared to rob the pension funds of the working classes, to lie and cheat and who have no moral scruples. They believe in the survival of the fittest, and I’m afraid that Wisbech is displaying that same attitude by turning against the weakest and most vulnerable.

It seems the citizens of Wisbech have nothing to say about the behaviour of those people who are gaining wealth by stealth, those who have gained power over the working class. Many Wisbech residents are only prepared to attack those who are weaker, the underclass.

The same ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude applies to other problems arising from the disconnect we are experiencing throughout society. The recent problem with toxic eggs is no longer in the news, but do we understand the long term effects of the toxin Fipronil? 

Ought we be discussing the food security benefits of buying locally produced food from people we can trust? Should we be considering the costs we pay for all the checks and balances in the extremely long food chain? Costs that actually don’t provide the traceability that we need because the people involved engage in deception and fraud. 

If we saw the people responsible for toxic eggs in our food chain sitting in St Peter’s gardens would we welcome them to Wisbech?

These are people who lie about which products have been used on the crops or livestock involved. They are people who are prepared to risk babies, young children, vulnerable people being neurologically damaged purely so that they can gain more profits.

Will Wisbech ever be interested in discussing the real problems arising in our society? 

I don’t know, but I fear that maybe the people prefer to turn on those who are weaker than they are. Maybe they are just exhibiting the same behaviour that can be seen in battery hen units and intensive pig barns, where stress induced feather pecking and tail biting can result in horrible wounds and ultimately death. 

www.ft.com/content/109af244-55b2-11e7-80b6-9bfa4c1f83d2