On 4/19/2010 8:54 AM, John R. Carroll wrote:
Winston wrote:
On 4/17/2010 4:11 PM, F. George McDuffee wrote:

(...)

FWIW -- it appears that even if Goldman Sachs is put out of
business, their executives sentenced long prison terms, with
massive disgorgement of personal wealth, nothing will change
because the system that allowed/encouraged Goldman Sachs and many
other financial firms to flourish at the expense of the people
was not changed.

If those three things were to happen, it would signal a
fundamental and earthshaking change in the system, yes?

It would signal that America had taken another step down the road to
becoming become just another banana republic.

Let's say that I sell you a product that I know is worthless
and will almost certainly cause you to lose a large amount
of time and money. Let's say that I game the system
so that the product appears to be well regarded and a good
value; I use that to convince you to buy.

Is that not fraud and theft in their purest form?
Why would that not be investigated and punished within
a financial system propped up by the appearance (if not the
actual presence) of honorable commerce?

Prosecution would be a step towards the 'rule of law', yes?

The financial system we have now is "ruled by a small, self-elected,
wealthy, and corrupt clique", is that not so?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_republic


--Winston