Why is financial terrorism treated so differently than a terrorist bombing in America?

[Purrfessor]

While I in no way mean to diminish the impact that the Boston Marathon Bombing had on this country, it was and forever will remain a terribly tragic event, I have a few questions regarding what I believe could easily be considered an equally destructive terrorist attack on America, albeit in a different form.

Here are my questions:

When financial terrorists struck at America’s core and very nearly destroyed the economy, and did, in fact, drastically alter the lives of millions of Americans for the worse, where was Homeland Security, the CIA, the FBI, state and local police, elected officials proclaiming what a terrible tragedy it was and that we, as a nation, would not rest until those who perpetrated this tragic attack were hunted down and brought to justice?

Where was the proclamation that no amount of money was too much to spend in our search for these terrorists?

Why did the government turn to the public and, rather than ask us to shelter in place so that these criminals could be found, demanded that we must bail them out with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars, or watch as our entire economic and financial systems collapsed around us?

Why did we allow them to walk among us, completely out in the open without fear that it was simply a matter of time before they were handcuffed and jailed, and then dragged to court before an angry nation decimated by their disastrous attack?

Why did we let them return to their mansions at the end of every work day while their wealth grew exponentially at our expense?

Why did we fail to act when, rather than hiding beneath a tarp on their yachts in fear of arrest and prosecution, they spent weekends cruising our local waterways while toasting the success of their attack with expensive champagne and caviar?

Why did we praise these financial terrorists as “makers,” “job creators,” hard workers who deserved the hundreds of billions, if not trillions of dollars they stole from us, and then label as “takers” those Americans, the true hard workers of our society, who lost jobs and homes and were forced to rely on government assistance simply to pay necessary bills and to feed themselves and their children?

Rather than pass regulations so that we are never again susceptible to such an attack, why do we allow our elected officials to cower in the shadow of lobbyists who lie when they say any such regulations will only make it easier for a future financial terrorist attack on our economy?

In the aftermath of this financial attack, as the nation struggled to recover, why did we demonize teachers and firefighters and police officers and other government workers, calling them greedy and a threat to America only because of pension plans they negotiated in lieu of higher salaries, instead of applauding the hard and difficult work they continued to do day in and day out for the very people who were demonizing them?

We do not provide bombs to terrorist bombers, so why are so many of us willing to turn our Social Security and Medicare Systems over to financial terrorists in the form of privatization? How does this differ from providing bombs to terrorists?

And finally, why do we, the American public, allow ourselves to be treated as scapegoats, as the overriding drain on society, as the cause of our entire financial problems, while the military budget increases year after year, while corporations hide their income offshore, pay zero taxes yet still receive refunds and subsidies in the form of government handouts, while the super wealthy are awarded preferential tax treatment, are free to label their earnings as something other than income in order to further reduce their tax load, and are then given free rein to hide ever more of their money offshore so that in the end it is the declining middle class that has to make up for this tremendous loss of tax revenue?

Why indeed?

[YoungDemCA]

1. Concentrated corporate control over the media is a big reason

Massive corporations dominate the U.S. media landscape. Through a history of mergers and acquisitions, these companies have concentrated their control over what we see, hear and read. In many cases, these companies are vertically integrated, controlling everything from initial production to final distribution.

http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart

A small handful of mega-corporations, controlled by a small number of powerful people with extensive ties to Wall Street, control the vast majority of the media's flow of information. Is it any wonder that these corporations and the individuals who run them have every incentive to favor Wall Street's interests over those of the American people?

Also, look at who donates the most money to politicians' campaigns.

Why indeed.

[forestpath]

2. Because most politicians regardless of party are in their pockets.

[Purrfessor]

3. I think most, if not all of us on DU know the answers to these questions...

and I appreciate the replies. But there is a large segment of society who would rather avoid questions like these because they go against the grain of their political ideology. They are more than willing to praise those who rob them of their wealth because that is what they have been programmed over the years to do. These questions are meant for those folks, who, I have little doubt, will continue to ignore them. Here the questions are pretty much rhetorical.

[fleur-de-lisa]

10. I agree, Purr, and . . .

I believe 'a large segment of society' is too lazy and/or apathetic to bother raising those questions. Who has the time when 'American Idle' (misspelling intentional) beckons?

Great post, by the way.

[Purrfessor]

55. Thank you...eom

[byeya]

26. Corruption is a normal part of oligarchic capitalism and the capitalists pay to have the laws

that shield them just as they pay to have the tax laws benefit them.
Corporate welfare is thrown in as a happy extra for them.

There are only a few countries in the world now with a less equal distribution of wealth.

[jsr]

4. Great questions.

[Purrfessor]

56. Thanks...eom

[onenote]

5. why is bank robbery treated so differently from murder?

[Purrfessor]

6. I think it depends on who robs the bank...

If it's a bank robber with a gun or a knife or a bomb it is treated about the same as murder. If it's an inside job by top bank officials where no weapon is involved and more or less involves gambling with depositors money to enrich themselves at the expense of their clients, then the tendency is for the justice system to look the other way, or create some excuse as to why little can be done to prosecute these crooks.

[onenote]

18. If you think a string of murders is treated the same as a string of bank robberies

you are from somewhere different than anyplace I've ever lived.

[pampango]

31. Murder is indeed treated differently than stealing. Despite our frustration with those who get away

with stealing (financial terrorism) it always will be treated differently than killing people. If we make the penalties for stealing the same as for murder, we equate losing money and property with losing your life and promote the belief that thieves might as well kill people during a robbery. "The penalty is the same and I will eliminate some potential witnesses this way."

[Purrfessor]

51. The penalty for murder might be greater than bank robbery, but the response to the crime is not

necessarily the same. A high profile bank robbery often receives greater attention by the police than the murder of a homeless person for example.

[Zorra]

7. Yep. I'm perfectly willing to pay for the living accommodations of financial terrorists

for the rest of their lives, provide them with nice cozy bed in a nice cell complete with public health care three squares a day, and fervently hope that someday I may have many, many more opportunities to do so.

[just1voice]

8. because we live in an era of corruption, crimes are 100% approved

by the people who commit them and pay off politicians to ignore them.

It's that simple and the crimes will continue to get worse until someone starts holding the worst criminals accountable, namely torturers, WMD liars and banks. So far, all America has been told is "it's off the table" and "look forward".

[Purrfessor]

9. Yep!! eom

[Posteritatis]

11. "Terrorism" != "Bad thing I don't like." (nt)

[truedelphi]

12. The Inner Crowd of Persons responsible for the Collapse of

Our economy are the True Americans. They work such extremely long hours, and please don't suggest as Kucinich did, that it is scarey to think about whom they are actually working for. We all know what happened to Kucinich, who has been abandoned by his Party's leadership.

They are certainly productive, as one only needs to recognize their vast holdings, even as the rest of us have considerably less each passing days.

They count as Americans.

You and I don't. Even the people attending the Boston Marathon didn't count. And the brothers that were utilized by the FBI to help out in the bomb drill on Monday count least of all.

And please pay no attention to the notion that it would be important to consider at some point just which FBI agent(s) the brothers had as their FBI handlers. Your little dog Toto needs to ignore the workings of the people behind the curtain! Stop and think about the fact you haven't recently even filled out the forms to pay for re-licensing that little doggie!

There are punishments for that! You better be aware of those punishments and willing to take the judgements against you, just as the people of Iraq did. As people who question everything like you do, and as is obvious to the rest of us, totally willing to bring down our society, even as the brave men and women at the top labor so hard to keep it all perfectly controlled!

[GoneFishin]

15. ++

++

[Zax2me]

13. Isn't this the argument of Jihadists and terrorist bombers?

And why they aimed for the twin towers as a target?
Politics makes for strange bedfellows.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

14. 'Cuz "Those with the gold make the rules" or buy politicians to do it for them.

[sulphurdunn]

16. It's simple.They own the people

assigned to prosecute them.

[cantbeserious]

17. Castrating The Oligarchs Is Akin To Mentally Castrating The American Dream

See Morris Berman for elaboration on this insight.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017112420

[ancianita]

19. In the Capitalism Pyramid of property, power and socioeconomic snobbery,crimes perpetrated on those

below are okay, and justice is bought off by a class thought to be exempt and exceptional; while crimes committed toward those above are strictly monitored and severely punished. "Horizontal" violence within the same class is dealt with by authorities as little as possible. Thus, most domestic violence, rape and lower class-on-lower-class crime are never subject to the same rules of "law and order". Justice for profit is how lawyers are motivated, even though it is said that they know and love the law.

[BethanyQuartz]

20. Courts and politicians are useless

The politicians were in their pockets as always, the courts were on their leashes.

The agents working for those agencies that claim they exist to protect us? I have hope some of them were paying close attention and that more will soon realize how huge a threat corporate America and international corporations are to our freedom, our country, and even our very existence as a species. Because if they ever do figure it out, the bandits are in for a serious beat-down.

[scheming daemons]

21. because I can recover from going broke.. I can't recover from death.

.

[truedelphi]

25. Many people do not recover from being broke.

I have been wiped out by a medical bankruptcy. Before my spouse and I began to re-succeed at the American dream, i spent long nights looking at the ceiling, trying to think of an easy way to end it.

If we had a second medical emergency that attempted to do us in, it is possible we would possibly have succumbed to that emergency. Although MedicAid is available to poor people here in California, the ability to see specialists to help you is extremely rare. So yes, you can die from being poor.

I live in a County of only 89,000 people. yet in the last three years, I have known of three suicides. Three of 'em. I factor the collapse of the economy into the equation. Maybe us poor folks don't matter to you, and death to us by the economic inequities of a system meets with your approval. A system that now states it is too difficult to jail HSBC execs for laundering the violent drug cartel monies, while allowing the DOJ to go after state-approved folks running medical marijuana dispensaries, and doling out ten year sentences - I guess someone is helping you figure out that that is all A-okay. But things were not like this when I was growing up. Justice for all meant something. Now it means didley squat.

[byeya]

28. Going broke brings with it an entire constellation of unpleasant(or evil even) side effects and

those who control our political economy couldn't care less - we're disposable.

The - or A - classic example of this is the railroad tunnel built in West Virginia years ago. It was through ground with a high % of silica and miners were dying of silicosis. The engineering firm found it cheaper to hire a mortician than to institute safety precautions.

[truedelphi]

30. And few among us ever heard of this - i didn't until just now.

Let industry kill off dozens or hundreds or thousands, and no one in the media lets us know. Let a bomb kill three people, and we all hear of it. And we are carefully instructed on how to think about this: Put aside the petty feelings that Social Security needs to be preserved, or that the Keystone XL Pipeline should be stopped.

We are now at war from inside our own country! Unite and Praise Obama and USA! USA! USA!

Meanwhile the entire city of Boston has been under martial law for the last four days!

[byeya]

37. 4,609 workers were killed on the job in 2011 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

These are men and women who were employed at companies required to report injuries and fatalities. This figure may well be the very lowest you could glean because many who work are at establishments that don't have to report.
To me, that's a tragic and preventable loss of life.

[byeya]

38. It was the Hawks Nest tunnel. The murders, I'll call them murders, are well known in the part

of the Southern Appalachians where I lived for 30+ years.
Almost one-third of the workers died, many within a year.

[truedelphi]

53. But the only war we could gear up for as a result of those murders

Was a war by enacting safety legislation and regulation to curb the need for business owners to achieve maximum profits at the expense of the lives and health of their work force.

That ain't ever been very popular, here in 'Murka!.

[Moostache]

27. Wonder if the victims of West, Texas would agree...

The real story of the economic collapse and lack of any prosecution of the guilty is the same reason the owners in West, TX will never be held responsible for killing 6-7 times as many people as the Boston bomber brothers.

Financial crimes that pose no threat to the owners of this country or serve no purpose in controlling the population through fear and manipulation are simply not covered or talked about on the privately owned public airwaves. In many places, its actually illegal to address some topics that might harm profits - like labels on GMO tainted food.

In 21st century America, I would assert that you just might have more success recovering from death in some circumstances...

[strange7]

33. Indeed

You hit the nail on the head on that point.

[woo me with science]

35. People die every day as a result of financial terrorism. nt

[gejohnston]

22. to most people

what Wall Street does is in the abstract and they don't know it when they feel the effects. Seeing blood and dead bodies very concrete obvious.

[ellennelle]

23. i hear what you're saying, but....

my response would be:
for the same reason a monstrous murder is considered a more heinous crime than theft, even than grand theft.

i know, the criminals should be held accountable, but there is something of a kernel of perspective embedded there.

[woo me with science]

34. People die every day as a result of financial terrorism.

[athenasatanjesus]

24. Because the narrow minded only see evil when it's obvious.

Financial terrorism may do more damage to more people in the big picture,but knowing that requires an understanding of the big picture,and most people don't look that far.

[DeSwiss]

29. Why is financial terrorism treated differently, you ask?

Well because unlike ''regular'' terrorists, financial terrorists have friends in high places.

- K&R

[center]



[/center]





The Story of Your Enslavement

[strange7]

32. The Best

K&R
I think it's always a good thing to repeat these questions over and over again, until it sinks into the right minds to answer them.

[woo me with science]

36. Huge K&R. Thank you.

[Indiana]

39. .

"Financial terrorism"

[Bigmack]

42. Yup.... whether you like it or not...

.. the term "financial terrorist" fits what those people did.

Also, "financial traitors"... the people who offshore their money to dodge taxes.

Also, "financial murderers"... the people who screw other Americans so bad economically that it kills them.

[Indiana]

48. .

So demonizing teachers is the same as people killing with flying nails. The unappreciated worker is just like the guy who lost two legs. The OP says the bank robber is about the same as the murderer.

Your comparison is a mathematical inaccuracy. If you want to make an argument against big government and big business, then make it separately. Your current argument is mathematical fallacy based on nothing but emotion.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

40. Easy - because "Financial terrorism" is a made-up non-thing.

It's a phrase you've coined to try to tie your pet cause to the buzz-word of the hour, with no connection to the real world.

[Bigmack]

43. What do you want to call them... heroes? nt

[GoneFishin]

47. Depends on what world you live in. For 99% of us it has obvious connections.

When food, medicine, housing and heating oil are all driven well beyond the costs to produce by speculators, it creates severe hardship on some. Maybe you would prefer the word "extortion".
In any case, if they make money knowing someone will die for their profits, I don't see the difference.

[Orsino]

64. +1 n/t

[woo me with science]

41. kick

[Initech]

44. Financial terrorism is terrorism.

One of Osama bin Laden's goals was to bankrupt America. Well he didn't have to. Two billionaires with a treasonous agenda named Charles And David Koch beat him to it.

[Honeycombe8]

45. What financial terrorist? You didn't define the term or name anyone.

Financial terrorism...you mean like someone who intentionally destroys people's lives so that they can no longer walk or breathe?

[treestar]

46. Money is important but in the end it is just money

People who attack the persons of others, and not just their property, are far more dangerous.

[Indiana]

49. .

We do not provide bombs to terrorist bombers, so why are so many of us willing to turn our Social Security and Medicare Systems over to financial terrorists in the form of privatization? How does this differ from providing bombs to terrorists?

Because one uses exploding nails to kill people and the other one doesn't.

[Purrfessor]

50. Yes but stripping people of their ability to provide for themselves places them at risk

of dying by other means: hunger, lack of medical care, freezing to death. This can and does happen even now in this country. Death is still death.

[Indiana]

54. .

Your comparisons are mathematically inaccurate. "Stripping people of their ability" and placing them at "risk" (whatever those vague abstractions even mean anyway) is not the same as directly blowing up someone. If you are going to equate the two, then your logic says that the person stripping abilities receive the same penalty as those responsible for the bombing.

According to your logic and what you said earlier, bank robbing is just "about" the same as murder. The real logic is they are not the same, and they are treated differently in our legal system. It doesn't matter how you feel about it because they are two different things mathematically. Emotion can't overcome the math.

[Purrfessor]

57. It may not be the same to you...

but if the end result leads to death then the only difference is the cause. When people lose their life savings to the likes of Wall Street thieves, are thrown out on the streets and eventually die as a result, their deaths are no less tragic than someone who dies violently. If you think otherwise that's fine. But it doesn't change my view on the matter.

[Indiana]

58. .

Everybody dies. If you're saying the cause is different, then why post the two events in the same thread? You're saying the Wall Street guy "stripping" someone of their "ability" and putting them at "risk" is the same as the guy who put nails in a pot and blew up people because they both die.

[Purrfessor]

59. No I did not say that..,

Thank you for your comments. Good evening to you.

[Indiana]

60. .

The whole premise of your thread is comparing "financial terrorists" to bombing terrorists. Are they both murderers?

[Purrfessor]

61. Let me try this again...

Good evening to you. Or perhaps you prefer good bye. Either way I'm done here. Thank you and good night.

[mhatrw]

52. The Texas fertilizer bomb = financial terrorism

Where is the outrage? Where is the manhunt?

[Nye Bevan]

62. Because recklessly lending money to people who may not have the means to pay it back,

while a bad thing to do, is not as bad as detonating bombs in crowded locations to kill people and blow their limbs off.

[Ruby the Liberal]

63. Because it is their money that keeps Congress employed. nt