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HAS THE "INFECTION" SPREAD?

Kathy Lyons

Words matter. In recent weeks we’ve heard a lot of them being flung around in the wake of revelations of corporate fraud. Dozens of emails went out over the internet begging citizens to contact their congress critters and tell them to "jail the bastards." Members of congress, with one eye on their portfolios and the other on their campaign war chests, began beating their breasts and echoing those emails.

They called in Alan Greenspan to give his views of the current situation. At that point the words got strange. Greenspan told a congressional committee that the problems of today’s corporate world were caused by "infectious greed." Now take a moment to think about the implications of what Mr. Greenspan has said. By implying that greed is "infectious" he is lifting from corporate shoulders the burden of guilt for the results of the fraud perpetrated by these evil doers. For you see, if you are infected, it is beyond your power to resist. One cannot resist being infected by the germs of the common cold and, by inferring that corporate culture is infected, Mr. Greenspan is in effect, excusing their behavior as beyond their control.

But congress pressed on, passing what they grandly proclaimed the toughest corporate legislation in a century. But again, words matter. In those bills they managed to tack on the weasel words that would allow the culprits to slide right by any punishment. Weasel words like "knowingly and recklessly" were thrown into the bills to allow any corporate chief with an IQ above room temperature to disavow any misconduct by saying, "I didn’t know." Only the distressingly stupid write memos about committing fraud.

One word conspicuously absent from the bills is "forfeiture."  Never mentioned by any proponent of this groundbreaking legislation was any means of making the crooks give back their ill-gotten gains. Forfeiture of illegally obtained funds such as outrageous salaries and bonuses collected by the corporate outlaws while driving their companies into bankruptcy is not included in the bill. This seems exceedingly strange if you consider that no crime has to be committed in order for the federal government to institute forfeiture proceeding against human citizens suspected of drug law violations. Members of congress hailed forfeiture laws as a major deterrent in fighting drug crimes and yet they see no reason to use this tactic against the corporate world.

And so we see again the pitiful sight of the Washingtonian weasels attempting to distance themselves from the incestuous relationship they enjoy with the corporate world. We see quite clearly the divide between human citizens and corporate citizens. Much like the entwining of the Church and government of the Middle Ages, today’s government could not afford to bite the hand that so freely feeds it. Their words hang in the air. We must overlook these trespasses for there was an "infection" of the corporate culture. A government official, the head of Federal Reserve, no less, has told us so.  One is led to wonder if congress took this testimony so blithely, never stopping to question Mr. Greenspan’s characterization, because they are likewise "infected" with greed?

Related articles:

Why are some businessmen dishonest? http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/2002/july/el_hysteria.htm

Nearly four decades ago, an astute economist got it right when he observed that "it is precisely the 'greed' of the businessman or, more appropriately, his profit-seeking, which is the unexcelled protector of the consumer." That economist, writing in Ayn Rand's Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, was . . . Alan Greenspan.

 http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/2002/july/ej_crooks.htm

Killing Capitalism in order to save it by Donald Luskin

http://www.capitalismmagazine.com/2002/july/dl_kill_cap.htm

What is greed? http://www.jeffersonreview.com/articles/2002/071502/greed.htm

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