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PREAMBLE TO ARTICLE - ROLE OF CHRISTIAN RIGHT WING AS A CAUSE OF THE BANKING CRISIS
Keep in mind that the most prevalent argument for financial institution freedom to wrong doing is Biblical and America is reliant on the Christian right wing, particularly fundamentalism, for support for financial free enterprise. It all stems from the persistent criticism of borrowing and lending in the Bible. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be", being at the core of that system. So finance is evil by definition within a fundamentalist Biblical context. So ethics and morality in finance are less the issue compared to the persistence of evil practices, supporting fundamentalist, bordering on fascist, Biblicism. Once you understand the power of that irrationality, you understand how it could go so very very wrong. With the rise of the right wing American fundamentalist spirituality, and its adoption by governance, globalization of the very damning and negative Biblical view of the finance industry becomes the normative, not the exceptional, affecting regulation and practice. You do not regulate evil if you want it to remain evil and to express that evil in support of the goal or pushing your religious views over on others. To globalization of untrustworthy, corrupt, finance becomes the covert globalization of a corrupt, irrational, false spirituality, American religion. For fundamentalist, right wing, religion, the finance industry is only a sacrificial goat, to slaughter, furthering their religious agenda.
BANKING CRISIS - WORSENING NOT IMPROVING - LOSING TRUST
The real solution to the growing, not yet diminishing, worldwide banking crisis is not yet in sight. Trust is slowly perishing, not growing, in regard to major financial institutions and investment.
The one solution possible, and practical, for restoring trust is simple and yet highly unpopular, exactly because it is so necessary and
so many fear for their financial lives within the finance community. It is largely America's fault and America should lead the way to the solution, rather than following in the painful wake of fiscal destruction that is sweeping around the planet.
Unless fully empowered government auditors are placed in private institutions, there is no more basis for trust.
American spiritual enforcement of piratical self interest, above all other values, has poisoned the world's financial system. Traditional ethics and morality in finance died under a fascist globalization of self serving greed and universal salesmanship. Fascism is when you are forced to look only at the ideological surface, told to believe, and told to not question or criticize. When that becomes the result of higher education, and no one blows the whistle, then education is fascist education.
Short of embedding government in finance, the only other alternative to restore rational sanity and trust, is to nationalize the banks.
That has an added advantage, because banks can generate reasonable, albeit small, profits which add up to very substantial amounts. Those profits from strictly regulated, nationalized activity, that cuts the costs consistent with the limitations on those profits, would still generate enough revenue to essentially do away with all income taxes for the largest part of the population. That is, that part of the population that is earning low to medium level incomes. Imagine, nationalized banks, and no income taxes. Honesty, trust, and rationality in banking, but with the advantage of doing away with income taxes. Alternatively that revenue could fund state and federal programs, cutting the deficit while providing better programs, but it amounts to much the same thing. It is a lot of money.
The other advantage of nationalized banking is that the rules are consistently applicable and understandable to all. That cuts the overhead costs. Added advantage is that the rules and methods for collection of debt gain much needed revision, serving financial and social justice in a way that private institutions cannot and never will do. More power to collect on debt, fairly, and more power to forgive debt in genuine hardship cases such as severe illness, natural disaster, victims of violence and crime, and other similar exceptions. The private sector knows little other than tactics of harassment and treachery, a bag of fiscal and psychological tricks of black mail, extortion and intimidation that government regulators and investigators have yet to properly delve into, because they are too busy chasing multi billion dollar fraud and have not yet had time to investigate the massive amount of institutional crime against the little person, where thousands or tens of thousands of dollars are being stolen, and where unfair or even what are or should be illegal practices are rampant, in a system gone too wrong for any real salvation.
Bob Ezergailis
Anyone may copy, reproduce, distribute, this article in any form by any means, anywhere, and in fact is encouraged to do so.
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