The case of one man who duped governments, banks and private investors to create another shock fraud of astronomical proportions makes our economic system look like an episode out of a comedy show. The only difference is that this is too real and biting – as seen in the fall of shares, in charities suffering and banks/private/investors losing billions – to be considered a joke.
How could such a scam go undetected? What kind of mind could have engineered this? Who are the people or groups of people who could have been duped into participating in such a fraud? Mr M’s hedge fund and advisory business tactics could not have succeeded had people, who ought to know better, used greater discernment to invest their and other people’s money. Yet, what this highlights is the extent to which greed and wanting to make huge sums of money quickly and with ease on the part of both the one who dupes and the duped have taken over our lives. Why some things and some people are above stringent regulatory measures is another matter that needs serious rethinking and action.
Faced with this fraud and then that of a dictator, another M, who robs a whole country killing its people in a variety of ways, I ask myself: what is the difference between one who defrauds by guile and through sophisticated ways (Mr M and his hedge funds) and the other M (a megalomania PM) who robs, defrauds and kills by force? For me both should be hauled before an international court and tried for crimes against humanity. One can even argue that all those responsible for our economic woes, because it has a world impact ,should be dragged before such a court. This, of course, will not happen, except for the megalomania PM who happens to hail from the wrong part of the world.
Perhaps in our impoverished, anxious, despondent and screwed up state, the story of Christmas may come as a significant interruption bringing hope to our spiral of decline and bad news. There are all the elements of our present predicament and signs of hope in the story: census, statistics, predictions, a dictator, people in need, wise pundits in need to direction but sensible in the end to change their route, parents and child displaced because of an evil king, and a child at the heart of something that will make a transforming difference.
Indeed, the Divine do find interesting and insignificant ways to point us beyond our imploding world of lies and frauds, if only we can discern with new eyes, ears and hearts. There is hope if we are willing to practice and live faith honestly and with integrity.
© copyright Jagessar December 24, 2008
