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Guest Post: Corporate Entities As Modern-Day Street Gangs
Submitted by Gonzalo Lira
This past Monday, June 14, 2010, the Unites States Supreme Court let
stand without comment or dissent the Second Circuit Appeals Court
decision to dismiss Maher Arar's suit against the U.S. Government.
(Arar v. Ashcroft, No. 09-923)
Mr. Arar was
illegally detained by U.S. officials while in transit back to his home
in Canada, and then handed over to Syrian intelligence officials using
“extraordinary rendition”. The Syrians kept Arar for ten months,
interrogating him using torture, and finally releasing him when they
concluded that Mr. Arar was neither a terrorist, nor in possession of
any relevant intelligence.
illegally detained by U.S. officials while in transit back to his home
in Canada, and then handed over to Syrian intelligence officials using
“extraordinary rendition”. The Syrians kept Arar for ten months,
interrogating him using torture, and finally releasing him when they
concluded that Mr. Arar was neither a terrorist, nor in possession of
any relevant intelligence.
Once free, Mr. Arar
sued both the Canadian government (which peripherally assisted in his
kidnapping and torture) and the U.S. government. The Canadian
government issued him an unequivocal apology, and $10 million Canadian
in compensation.
sued both the Canadian government (which peripherally assisted in his
kidnapping and torture) and the U.S. government. The Canadian
government issued him an unequivocal apology, and $10 million Canadian
in compensation.
Mr. Arar did not get any
similar justice from the U.S. government, though. The Second Circuit
Appeals Court quashed his suit by stating that Congress had not
authorized such suits as Mr. Arar’s. (!)
similar justice from the U.S. government, though. The Second Circuit
Appeals Court quashed his suit by stating that Congress had not
authorized such suits as Mr. Arar’s. (!)
By
letting stand the Appeals Court decision to quash the suit Mr. Arar
brought against the U.S. Government, the Supreme Court effectively
ruled that the Government cannot be held accountable by private
citizens for its actions. The Government can do as it pleases to any
individual—including assassinating one of its own citizens—and there is
no legal remedy.
letting stand the Appeals Court decision to quash the suit Mr. Arar
brought against the U.S. Government, the Supreme Court effectively
ruled that the Government cannot be held accountable by private
citizens for its actions. The Government can do as it pleases to any
individual—including assassinating one of its own citizens—and there is
no legal remedy.
Now let's compare how
the U.S. Government dealt with BP, regarding the oil spill disaster in
the Gulf of Mexico: President Obama met with BP officials, and as a
product of that meeting, BP promised to set up a “compensation fund” of
$20 billion over the next two years.
the U.S. Government dealt with BP, regarding the oil spill disaster in
the Gulf of Mexico: President Obama met with BP officials, and as a
product of that meeting, BP promised to set up a “compensation fund” of
$20 billion over the next two years.
Note
how this was agreed to outside of the ordinary judicial process. There
was no suit. Neither did this agreement follow the law. It was simply a
deal the White House made with BP. A Republican politician is receiving
a lot of grief over having characterised the meeting and subsequent
deal as a “shake down” of BP by the Government. This politician is
being censured because apparently he sided with BP, the party
responsible for the oil spill disaster—clearly the guy is an idiot.
how this was agreed to outside of the ordinary judicial process. There
was no suit. Neither did this agreement follow the law. It was simply a
deal the White House made with BP. A Republican politician is receiving
a lot of grief over having characterised the meeting and subsequent
deal as a “shake down” of BP by the Government. This politician is
being censured because apparently he sided with BP, the party
responsible for the oil spill disaster—clearly the guy is an idiot.
Be that as it may, the politician’s characterization is in fact accurate: The Government did “shake down” BP for the money, in a manner no different from a street gang shaking down a neighborhood grocery store.
In
the Arar case, one of the Government’s arguments in favor of quashing
the case was that the suit would bring under scrutiny “the motives and
sincerity of the United States officials who concluded that petitioner
[Mr. Arar] could be removed to Syria.” In other words, the Government
was deploying its full weight and power to protect the individuals who
had actually ordered Mr. Arar’s detention and deportation to Syria.
the Arar case, one of the Government’s arguments in favor of quashing
the case was that the suit would bring under scrutiny “the motives and
sincerity of the United States officials who concluded that petitioner
[Mr. Arar] could be removed to Syria.” In other words, the Government
was deploying its full weight and power to protect the individuals who
had actually ordered Mr. Arar’s detention and deportation to Syria.
Similarly,
in the “compensation agreement” whereby BP acquiesced to pay $20
billion, the company as a whole was acting to protect the executives
and personnel responsible for the oil spill disaster. (I have yet to
read the actual deal memo, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that,
as part of the deal, the Government agrees not to prosecute any BP
executive or personnel, either in criminal or civil court. This is pure
supposition on my part—but it ought to be the first thing scrutinized
once the actual deal memo comes out.)
in the “compensation agreement” whereby BP acquiesced to pay $20
billion, the company as a whole was acting to protect the executives
and personnel responsible for the oil spill disaster. (I have yet to
read the actual deal memo, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn that,
as part of the deal, the Government agrees not to prosecute any BP
executive or personnel, either in criminal or civil court. This is pure
supposition on my part—but it ought to be the first thing scrutinized
once the actual deal memo comes out.)
As a
third example, during the financial crisis, when AIG, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac were all bailed out, none of the executives actually
responsible for the firms being in the position that they were in were
indicted or punished in any way. The corporations assumed the
responsibility of the individuals who had made the bad decisions.
third example, during the financial crisis, when AIG, Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac were all bailed out, none of the executives actually
responsible for the firms being in the position that they were in were
indicted or punished in any way. The corporations assumed the
responsibility of the individuals who had made the bad decisions.
As
a fourth example, the unions, in both the public sector and the
private. GM’s unions forced the company to assume pension and health
care liabilities which any actuarian would have realized would
eventually bring about GM’s bankruptcy—which of course is exactly what
happened. Teacher's unions across the U.S. refuse to implement basic
competency tests on their members, threatening to strike if such tests
are imposed, even going so far as to protect not merely incompetent
teachers, but pedophiles—and these are the people who are supposed to
be educating America’s youth.
a fourth example, the unions, in both the public sector and the
private. GM’s unions forced the company to assume pension and health
care liabilities which any actuarian would have realized would
eventually bring about GM’s bankruptcy—which of course is exactly what
happened. Teacher's unions across the U.S. refuse to implement basic
competency tests on their members, threatening to strike if such tests
are imposed, even going so far as to protect not merely incompetent
teachers, but pedophiles—and these are the people who are supposed to
be educating America’s youth.
A fifth
example: The U.S. military. Soldiers routinely violate human rights of
Iraqis and Afghans, in the most despicable, egregious manner
imaginable. Yet they get away with it, the military going out of its
way to protect its soldiers, under the rationale that to prosecute
gross human rights violations would “erode the morale of the troops”.
In the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, a half-dozen non-commissioned
officers were jailed—but apart from a lone Lieutenant Colonel being
tried and acquitted of a couple of minor charges, no officer was tried,
and none jailed.
example: The U.S. military. Soldiers routinely violate human rights of
Iraqis and Afghans, in the most despicable, egregious manner
imaginable. Yet they get away with it, the military going out of its
way to protect its soldiers, under the rationale that to prosecute
gross human rights violations would “erode the morale of the troops”.
In the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, a half-dozen non-commissioned
officers were jailed—but apart from a lone Lieutenant Colonel being
tried and acquitted of a couple of minor charges, no officer was tried,
and none jailed.
All of this underscores the
same problems we are having throughout our society in the
Industrialized West: Corporate entities, be they corporations, unions,
the military, or the government, act lawlessly—anarchically—trampling
the individual without hesitation, yet coming to accomodations between
one corporate entity and another.
same problems we are having throughout our society in the
Industrialized West: Corporate entities, be they corporations, unions,
the military, or the government, act lawlessly—anarchically—trampling
the individual without hesitation, yet coming to accomodations between
one corporate entity and another.
In other
words, our society has become a neighborhood where
street-gangs—corporate entitites—battle one another for position. Even
the Government is just another street gang.
words, our society has become a neighborhood where
street-gangs—corporate entitites—battle one another for position. Even
the Government is just another street gang.
People allied with a particular corporate entity have rights and the
full protection of the corporate entity to which they belong, much as
street gangs are fiercely loyal to their individual members. The higher
up in the corporate entities’ hierarchy—CEO, General, President—the
more untouchable he or she is.
full protection of the corporate entity to which they belong, much as
street gangs are fiercely loyal to their individual members. The higher
up in the corporate entities’ hierarchy—CEO, General, President—the
more untouchable he or she is.
However,
unaffiliated members—such as Mr. Arar, such as myself—have no such
protection. Neither do they have recourse to the courts, as the Arar
case proves. Courts and the so-called “justice system” are busy
policing individuals. Individuals’ rights are more curtailed and restricted than ever before. But corporate entities are freer than ever before.
unaffiliated members—such as Mr. Arar, such as myself—have no such
protection. Neither do they have recourse to the courts, as the Arar
case proves. Courts and the so-called “justice system” are busy
policing individuals. Individuals’ rights are more curtailed and restricted than ever before. But corporate entities are freer than ever before.
In
such a lawless neighborhood, what can an individual do? Obvious: Join a
gang—any gang. To remain unaffiliated is to be begging to be set upon
by members of one gang or another, be it the various gangs that make up
the government (TSA, IRS, ICE, Homeland Security, etc.), or the various
corporations who have made sure that unaffiliated individuals are
fleeced in health care, insurance, financial services, etc. (As an
individual, health insurance is prohibitive in the U.S.—but as a
corporate cog of a big corporation? That’s another story. How often do
we hear of corporate employees kowtowing to their corporate masters in
order to hang on to their health-care coverage?)
such a lawless neighborhood, what can an individual do? Obvious: Join a
gang—any gang. To remain unaffiliated is to be begging to be set upon
by members of one gang or another, be it the various gangs that make up
the government (TSA, IRS, ICE, Homeland Security, etc.), or the various
corporations who have made sure that unaffiliated individuals are
fleeced in health care, insurance, financial services, etc. (As an
individual, health insurance is prohibitive in the U.S.—but as a
corporate cog of a big corporation? That’s another story. How often do
we hear of corporate employees kowtowing to their corporate masters in
order to hang on to their health-care coverage?)
But
what happens to a neighborhood where gangs dominate? Why, that’s quite
simple: The neighborhood is destroyed. The gangs don’t disappear, as
the neighborhood is slowly ruined. The gangs stay put, feeding off the
corpse of the neighborhood, until it's nothing but a husk—kind of like
digger wasps.
what happens to a neighborhood where gangs dominate? Why, that’s quite
simple: The neighborhood is destroyed. The gangs don’t disappear, as
the neighborhood is slowly ruined. The gangs stay put, feeding off the
corpse of the neighborhood, until it's nothing but a husk—kind of like
digger wasps.
This is what's happening to the “Free World”—our world. Fun, ain’t it?
Update I: An article in the New York Times,
about a Cameroonian man married since 2005 to an American woman who was
about to be wrongly deported, gives another example of this street-gang
style of protection: The man would have been deported, had not the ICE
been pressed by the NY Times. The Times pressed the ICE because the woman happened to work for an advertising company which presumably did business with the Times. After being contacted by the Times, not only was the man not deported, he was released with promises to have his case “taken care of”.
»
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Amerika! It had to happen.
It always happens the same way throughout history. Humans are built to binge and starve. It's a survival characteristic for animals. We have to get over it or the complex, rich cultural existance we enjoy will be destroyed ... again.
I'm trying to decide if AZ or LA is the first to secced from the union. Eachh day brings to light the the failings of DC and those starting to take things into thier own hands may find it a good thing and want more. If the spill evacs the coastline, the refuges have to decide where to hunker down to fight for what they lost. Maybe the south will rise again. I find more pussies in the north after living in the south for quite a few years. Deffinetly more and bigger guns. Easier carry laws too.
It won't be LA. CA is a proxy for every liberal nutjob on earth.
To secceed would be too inconvenient for them.
AZ has always been an anti fed state, and non conformist.. I'd put my money
on AZ of the two.
AZ is an extension of Mexico, I'd put my money on Vermont and New Hampshire once this unholy alliance starts crumbling.
I am shocked ..shocked that this comes as some sort of "epiphany". What else is a military industrial complex supposed to do but commit the abuses you have accurately portrayed.
It is bred into us at birth that we must win or we lose. Its why religions attract people who think there is another way.
It is clear that issues such as the right to bear arms, plea bargaining, a pentagon whose take of all taxes dropped below 50% only because other spending was escalated so much, corrupt sitting senators taking lobby dollars for favors, the first trillion dollar man (Obama) who has about as much economics training and leadership skills as a travelling preacher, a CIA who's job it is to position foreign governments to suit US needs (not its own), a Fed that has as much chance of being right as a bag lady, , well i could go on these are the causes of the US led global malaise. We have trapped the world into US fuck-ups. Now we have no leaders and are the current economic, democratic and philosphical model only serves to lead us to bankruptcy.
What is needed here is something different. We need another ort of epiphany, with which we can get "baptized" in a modern day version of christianity (Christianity is as out of date as Keynes and Freidman).
I say we need a system that allocates scarce resources according to a system of logistics which is first optimised to 4 alternatives then voted on liek a jury system. This "democracy" is about as representative of peoples wishes as a bunch of bar flies in Homer Simpsons local dive. :)
Drug lords and Banks need to make a few points at the end of the day.
Analyst Fred Burton looks at the security effects of more internationally assertive Mexican drug cartels. http://www.youtube.com/user/STRATFORvideo
In a June 8 media interview in Ecuador that began circulating Thursday in the U.S., Clinton said President Barack Obama thinks the federal government should determine immigration policy and that the Justice Department "will be bringing a lawsuit against the act."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6oSQlrWUAM
You decide on the motives. I smell a Cui Bono up draft.
sure as hell wont benefit anyone other than Government employees who work for those drug cartels and banks. ugh
Seems as though you forgot that just about everyone works for the cartels... Not just those poor misguided folks at the local parks department summer pool program.
Hi Miles. I was thinking of you the other day. Are you observing the world from your front porch in FL? Got any on the scene, eyewitness accounts of anything going on there? (RE: spill). Was wondering if you took off to join Cossack in Iceland. :)
Actually I am paying a visit to the land of the bears by the bay on the other coast.. ;)
Look for Ruth, she is on the central Fl coast and can keep up. Good to see yaz!
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." ~ Frederic Bastiat.he is a smart bastiat! same as a democracy that gives beneficiaries the same rights as those who pay taxes, pretty soon everyone is a beneficiary!
That "group of men" to whom Bastiat rightly (but obliquely) refers are called "capitalists". They're the ones who will do anything to anyone, including murder anddestruction, in pursuit of monetary gain for the most important entity in the world - themselves.
The 'moral' code (i.e., propaganda) that justifies capitalism, today, in the United States, is accompanied by a legal system that protects property above all else.
And this all makes perfect sense, because government works of, by, and for the capitalist.
Don't confuse our current Mercantilist/Corporatist system with Capitalism. Without the State, the businessman has no more power than any other citizen. He cannot force anyone to buy his product or shop at his stores. He is at the mercy of his customers. Without the government's monopoly on coercive force, every corporation, capitalist, or entrepeneur would rise or fall based on the value they provided to society.
Almost every person in this country who is not in government will live their entire lives without pointing a gun at anybody and saying "Your money or your life." We work under voluntary agreements with employers and we engage in commerce voluntarily with others. We have perfectly fullfilling lives with 100% voluntary participation of all involved. Why should not the government be forced to do the same?
Capitalism is simply being able to buy or sell whatever you want.
What is your alternative?
Take the gun out of the room.
People need to quit the game. I think it is the only way. But how many are able? the matrix is very real. Try one day without government or cash...damned difficult. All the good things start with "G": guns, gold, groceries, gas, ground and there's a few more...
we are the game and we are being played for fools. The obvious answers are to walk away, become self sufficient, protect your own and opt out. But the better answer to restore the game to the place where Government does things better than we can do ourselves. What I am curious about with the BP case is that the Government is not competent to fix the leak (has to leave it to BP) so how come BP gets the fine or the Governments incompetence? Bear with me here...I am drawing parallels with the Fed regulating banks. If the Fed was a good manager it would be out in the private sector ..managing. If the Government is a good oil regulator it would be out being an oil company. Point is the Government is not good at anything these days, except taking other countries resources and enslaving the local populace (Iraq and Afghanistan, Colombia etc). Its no wonder that dickheads like Chavez get in power, they simply capture the "may as well have a local dickhead as a US dickhead" mantra.
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence -- it is FORCE"
-- George Washington
Government force is merely the application of state power. Without power,
there can be no force.
"So, vote for Dik Hedd for President, so you won't have a Dickhead for President!"
Faulty analogy. Obama would have to ask Great Britain to hand over the Rothschild family, the owners of BP. You need to check the regulations other countries, like Denmark, force onto oil companies before they allow drilling offshore. Of course, you don't want to ask about Denmark's tax structure to provide health care to citizens, or its low unemployment rate.
For everyone who wanted small government and no regulation, you got it, down in the Gulf.
the Rothschilds aren't British!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family
( I just edited it! kidding :) )
Gulf states aren't Governments or democracies they are kingdoms based on caste systems with people like you and I being somewhat dirty and people from India shipped in to clean toilets described as "untouchables". Still we can support them can't we because it suit us. Mugabe is less racist against whites than most middle eastern states (including Israel). They are are all racist.
The US leads the world in ideas and spirit. Just now..it leads it badly.
" Its a big club, and were not in it"
George Carlin
Nothing new here folks. This has been going on for a long time. I know how it is our government treats its citizens.... After all, I am Miles Kendig
I wouldn't go back now for any amount of money (or anything else) - Miles Kendig
This is rock solid reporting.
Thank you ZH.
If we could have 1/10 of 1% of this type of journalism in the MSM we might be able to move back from the edge of fascism.
I will continue to refer as many people as possible to this site.
Hello Wayne Madsen, and welcome to ZH. I really love your logic! There aren't many that can connect seemingly unrelated events and wove them into some concocted and convoluted story. Has Mr. Arar received any "shakedown" money from the Syrians?
I must congratulate you, though, you do write well for a propaganist. May I ask where you received your training? Iran, Venezuela, Gaza?
Ugh. What the fuck are you talking about?
This is about re-establishing the rule of law and peaceful dispute resolution.
No one fucking cares about Israel's retarded problems besides the merchants of death.
delete double post
It's worse than was described in the original article.
*Executives* of corporations use them as if the corporation is their own private Disneyland. The true OWNERS of corporations are the pension funds and mooch funds, yet executives have packed all the boards with their cronies; it's all one big gigantic interlocking directorate. Consequently, profits go to executives, not owners. Companies don't pay dividends. They pay bonuses. They buy shares to support EPS to make bigger bonuses. In the case of CSCO, it was shown that executives of that company paid an entire DECADE'S worth of profits to themselves.
And there's no accountability. The executive payscale keeps rising, because they have board members whose packages they will backscratch because executives ALL sit on each other's boards.
We need a forest fire in America, a true burn it all down situation to purge this deadwood. Outsourcing has destroyed the middle class, and the profits of that went into the pockets of executives. It wasn't even as if you could buy stock in the company and get a dividend off the destruction of your own career, because the "cost savings" went STRAIGHT into the pockets of execs.
We had a couple of guys laid off at my last project and I told them straight out, your paycheck is going into the bank account of one of the execs in this company as a bonus for "cutting costs."
these people do not give a SHIT about the company or its owners; they see EVERYthing in their lives as having one function - to aggrandize them. All revolves around their getting what they want, pay ME, fuck everybody else. They will run the company into the GROUND and bonus themselves all the way into the abyss. And they know a nice golden parachute awaits in the form of a pickup from one of their board member cronies who are execs in a company and if company A goes down, company A's execs are on company B's board like B's execs are on A's board and they will all scratch each other's backs.
Corporations AREN'T corporations; they are groups of executives. Ownership has no say. It's like the manager of the Yankees paying himself the entire profit of the ball club and he takes home the trophy too. Nobody who owns a business would allow their management to act as if mgmt OWNED that shit.
Fire them ALL, top to bottom. Hire our own board members, our own politicians. Get rid of everybody currently serving, let God sort them out.
Yes, the monetary revolution will force integrity.
Outsourcing is - very simply - an effect of the fiat gang-rape regime. And the taxes. And the brain-destroying education system. Etcetera.
Expecting CEOs to be angels is a fool's errand.
Subsidizing activity at home as the US is fond of is an option given by the USD.
Outsourcing is the result of the US getting richer and richer.
Within the US, outsourcing happened before 1913, you know.
Biden 4 President
Open the door of the house of cards that is called government - pick any level of government - and you are greeted with such a stench of corruption and body politic rot, that the entire putrefied system requires flushing out.
This is just government! Now turn your attention to corporate behavior? No morals, scruples, fairness, etc. How about the upper echelons of the military? For that matter look down through the chain of command, because the rot starts at the top and drips down.
Indeed, a group is only as strong as it's weakest member. When the weak and powerless are ignored, or worse have their rights as a human member of the group stepped on, then the entire group fails.
Does not matter if this group is as small as half a dozen, or as large as the U.S. of A. Guard every persons rights to their natural given freedoms - or suffer failure as each group through history has done who lets down their guard. Even though this man is Canadian, what happens when American citizens start 'disappearing'?
I am sorry that you do not recognize the original article as a propaganda puff piece. Maher Arar is a dual citizen of Syria and Canada. He was arrested post 9/11 in Sept 2002 when he was travelling from Tunisia. Even so he was exonerated in Canada, US government still suspects him of having links to terrorists. If this was not a propaganda piece, the writer would not have chosen to introduce this episode in order to draw us into the main body of the article. This is a trick, and we are supposed to fall for it.
If you want an unbiased portrayal of the state of American Capitalism, other than Michael Hudson, no one describes it better than James K, Galbraith in Predator State.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2006/05/predator-state
The US govermin still "suspect" Maher Arar for only one reason: to cover their sorry asses.
http://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/greenwald/~3/omtW9idLBJ4/index.html
http://feeds.salon.com/~r/salon/greenwald/~3/hlpD73cDot0/arar
If you only took the time to review the case in depth, you'd realize that what happned to this guy can happen to any American citizen.
The only "justice" Arar deserved was a bullet to the brain.
And for you, a metal fence post up the ass.
I am Chumbawamba.
High time to get out of Dodge.
The government only seeks to evoke national security in case when the information creates a potential criminal liability for those in power.
For instance, I could publish the plans for the stealth bomber on the internet tomorrow with a picture of me standing next to the plans, engaging in sex acts with the plans, and attempting to make my own stealth bomber using said plans and the government would deny that those where the plans up until the point I landed my homemade stealth bomber on the WH lawn and brought the president and first lady a cup of fresh brewed tea.
But, if I were to publish the plans for how the stealth bomber was financed, they would load a fleet of C130's with suicide lawyers and carpet bomb my neighborhood.
DOW chart update :
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-1
The whores of babylon spread far and wide for the highest bidders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVg4vA8mraA