Is the Justice Department Finally Ready to Jail Corporate Criminals?
The single greatest travesty to afflict American society in the 21st century has been the abandonment of the rule of law and accountability. It’s worse than the attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent loss of privacy and civil liberties. It’s even worse than the economic devastation unleashed by the financial crisis.
The reason it’s worse is because dynamic, complex and diverse cultures such as these United States will always be flawed and some of its leaders, both corporate and political, will always fall to the temptation of corruption and criminality. The key to preventing such bad behavior from multiplying and ultimately destroying the entire civilization, is the rule of law.
Edward Snowden leaked the information he did in order to inform the American public of what its government was doing in cahoots with large tech companies. He saw Constitutional violations and he held up his oath to protect the founding document from “enemies foreign and domestic.” Nevertheless, no one in a position of power has been held accountable.
Similarly, the financial crisis came and went (for now), and what’s the biggest lesson learned? Crime pays. Tremendously. We learned that rich and powerful members of society are suddenly somehow above the law. That their corporations merely have to pay a slap on the wrist fine and the perpetrators get to keep their ill gotten gains. That oligarchs are untouchable, and a group of people Larry Summers called “insiders,” never go to jail.
Restoring the rule of law and accountability for the wealthiest and most powerful amongst us is of the upmost importance. It is far more important to hold the powerful accountable than the weak. The weak commit small scale crimes, while big players have the capacity to destroy entire nations with their unethical behavior. And they are well on their way to achieving that here in the U.S., earning billions along the way.
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