The Credit Suisse Debacle and All the King’s Men
Are we doomed to always have a small group of very rich assholes getting by with murder, literally? As we gasp with righteous indignation and utter horror at the list of unsavory customers who had ferreted funds, often blood money, into accounts with Credit Suisse, are we really THAT surprised?
Have you ever thought that maybe this is as good as it gets?
Humans haven’t changed in centuries. In the end, no matter what evil deeds are exposed to the light of day, if given a chance, we always end up choosing to join the king, inside the castle walls where everyone lives in opulence. If we can’t be the king, then we want to at the very least sit at the king’s table, wining, dining and lording it over the rest of the people who scratch for a living outside the castle walls.
Sure, those of us destined to live outside the castle walls get angry, even threaten to storm the walls, scale the walls, or tear down the walls. After all, there’s more of us than them.
But alas! We can’t unite to save our own lives. We sell each other out over and over again whenever we think we have a chance to get a tiny share of the spoils.
We constantly vote against our own best interests.
We assist in maintaining a class system.
We adore despicable leaders.
We’re easily fooled into believing there’s a moral issue at stake, a necessary war, a reason to ignore everything else the king and his oligarchs are up to, you see. So we join the wrong side and fight for a moral cause that our leaders don’t actually give a shit about. We sanction another war that’s destined to never have a clear winner. Oh, there will be winners but it won’t be us. It’ll be the coffers of the king and his oligarchs.
We never learn.
We don’t learn because deep down inside if we had a chance we’d choose to be the king. Our culture is designed to make us ADORE the bad guys. Women can’t wait to marry the bad guys. Men are proud to associate with the bad guys.
The good guy always finishes last because who really wants to be the good guy.
Of course, money is at the crux of all of this. Money and power. Well, hell’s bells, money IS power. I finally learned that lesson when I chose to earn two degrees and build my own career. Like Scarlett O’Hara, I swore I’d never be hungry again. My life changed overnight because of that decision.
The more money, the more power.
That’s how the game is played. And, if you don’t think the game exists on all levels just take a closer look at the sacred family unit.
Even in my monetarily modest household, when my parents passed away, there were some serious allegations made about our meager inheritances. Oh, dear, I was suddenly very happy that I didn’t live close to any of my relatives. I could watch from afar as the battle over the details played out.
Kings do it. Oligarchs do it. Even mom and dad do it. Let’s do it. Let’s fuck each other over.
You’d think with the number of highly religious people across the globe that things like the Suisse debacle, dirty money, offshore accounts, money laundering, cartels, shysters like Madoff, Trump, Epstein, the Catholic church, charities that rip people off, time-share salesman, corrupt politicians, and on and on and on wouldn’t be able to survive for long. You’d think the moral outrage would be so immense that it would bring about such pressure and cultural shame as to make these people embarrassed to show their faces.
But you’d be wrong. Dead wrong. THIS is our culture. In fact, it’s the one thing that all cultures have in common.
We may speak different languages. Fight different wars. Have different traditions and religious practices, but we ALL have our kings and oligarchs and we all want to be the king or at least dine at his table.
This is what the world faces every time we seek justice, equality, and progress.
So, what’s the solution. In my opinion, there is nothing that will save us from ourselves except perhaps laws that guarantee a measure of protection.Of course, the king and his oligarchs will rarely be held to the same standard of these laws, but at least we have a smidgeon of protection. It’s better than nothing. That’s why I keep voting even when I feel hopeless. For the sake of my granddaughter, I have to keep trying.
The rest is up to me.
I need to separate myself from the frey. I need to make well-researched choices for my own protection. That means not buying into the American Dream. Staying out of debt rather than being a consumer. Protecting myself from organized religion, patriotism, and the desire to have a hero. Think, think, think. Ignore cultural expectations as much as possible. Think outside the box. Refuse to buy into wishful thinking. Look reality square in the eye and then proceed to identify my options.
It’s discouraging to realize that nothing is what it seems to be.
That our biggest obstacle to progress is US. Not THEM. US. But once you face the facts and begin to focus on your own survival. BUYER BEWARE, will save your ass more than any other slogan I can think of quite frankly.
We are humans.
Our big brain may be our greatest asset but it’s also our worst enemy. We need to strive to stop the big sabotage of great ideas that’s been holding us down since the first tribes came into existence. We need a new renaissance, a new enlightenment, a serious step forward in social evolution.
That alone will bring about the dawning of a new day.
Teresa Roberts is a retired educator, author, world traveler, and professional myth buster. You can buy her books on Amazon.
