Originally posted by Gab1159
Nah, sacrifice for what? You really think the banks want more regulation? And by the way, the CFTC is an organisation from the american government,
not from the Parliament of England. This is an international scandal, not an in-country one. How many times one has to repeat that?
I've been following this and I'm still not sure what to think. It seems like a good thing, outing corruption, etc., but there are a few things that
make me hesitate to believe this is the real deal and not a sacrifice or a staged show.
First off, the common dialogue seems to be that this manipulation of rates and the market are a result of a total lack of regulation; the answer being
that there needs to be a lot more government regulation and oversight and laws and restrictions to keep this from ever happening again.
In this case, I'm not sure as I haven't yet had time to attempt a review of the regulatory environments involved. I'm not even sure if that is
possible; these institutions are multinational and world wide and the regulatory jurisdictions can get fuzzy.
But I
do know that, at the height of the mortgage crisis here in the States, a lot of people were saying it was because big banking
institutions in the U.S. were totally unregulated, and we needed to fix that and let the government regulate their greedy asses.
Unregulated?? A complete reading of the United States Federal Banking Regulations would take months--at the very least--and a complete comprehension
of them may not be possible. Sort of like the U.S. Tax code, which is so massive and complex that no one, not even the IRS, really understands all of
it cohesively.
I don't know why everyone thought there were no regulations, but it sure was said often and loudly, even though a simple search will direct you to
loads and loads of government docs of Federal Banking Regulations. So naturally, I was suspicious, because it seemed like a classic
argumentum ad
infinitum propaganda campaign, or something to that effect.
I have also been confused as to why people seem to think the solution to financial corruption is government regulation. We all know and detest the
fact that huge corporations and billionaire tycoons have been spending billions manipulating political systems around the world to their own ends.
Buying government power, in other words. So why is it that everyone seems to think if we pass new laws that massively extend government
regulatory power, then all will be well? Because it seems to me like that's just increasing the amount of power that can--and will--be bought, then
twisted and used, by the very institutions we sought to control.
To sum: A financial or economic crisis occurs, an investigation into the cause and culprits is instigated. Layers of corruption and fraud, sometimes
going back for decades, are revealed. Lack of regulation cited as reason fraud was able to take place unchecked, even though there are in fact
regulations all over the place and the decades-old fraud continued unabated through many vast increases, decreases, and changes in the regulatory
environment. Nevertheless, public narrative results in a demand for more regulations and heavier oversight; laws are passed, here and there a CEO or
board of directors are indicted and imprisoned(in the U.S., they go to a minimum security Federal prison, which is like a freaking spa except that you
can't leave), everything quiets down...till the next crisis. Rinse and repeat.
Watching the video in the OP, I was struck by the comparison to the Mafia and "Wall Street" and how they seemed to have very similar tactics. In its
heyday, one of the things the mob was famous for--and what made it so dangerous and difficult to stop--was that the top guys, the ones in charge, the
ones that were the core and foundation of the organization and therefore the root cause of all the crime and violence, were 'untouchable.' They were
guilty and everyone knew it, but no one could prove it and the law couldn't stop them. When big crimes happened, investigation would out some big
names, but never the biggest. Never the Elite.
I feel like the same thing has been happening with government and finance, except that these bastards have taken it a step further. When one of their
houses of cards falls down and sends shock waves through the rest of society, they steer the resulting outrage into actually
increasing their
ability to engage in financial machinations and manipulations by giving them more government power to buy and control to their own ends.
I wish I could believe that this time is different.
