I think the book is showing me how naïve I am, and how much I take for granted. Every time I read the dates of critical events leading to the genocide– 1963, 1973, 1992, 1994 – I’m stunned that they’re so recent. Didn’t crazy things like this happen a long time ago (meaning—how could they have happened so close to now)? Outspoken dissidents dying mysteriously? Leaders’ families filling the highest echelons of government? Propaganda baldly stating that an entire ethnic group should be exterminated? Illegitimate governments boasting 99% approval ratings and pretending to support multi-party systems? Didn’t that kind of thing happen when people weren’t so educated and culturally aware and tuned in and stuff?
Then yesterday morning I listened to a report on NPR about a settlement the Securities and Exchange Commission negotiated with Bank of America, which had misled its shareholders by neglecting to disclose the $5.8 billion in bonuses it approved to Merrill Lynch execs (after said company merged with BoA).
Usually federal judges who are called to review such cases end up approving the settlements. But this time, the judge who read the settlement rejected it. Further, he issued a statement calling the settlement “a contrivance, designed to provide the SEC with the façade of enforcement and the management of the bank with a quick resolution of an embarrassing inquiry, all at the expense of shareholders.”
So one man was able not only to reject but also to issue a stinging rebuke of a document issued by a government agency on behalf of one of the most prominent banks in the nation.
The only thing going through my head as I heard this story was, Wow. In Rwanda, and probably in maaaany other countries, the covert legal and economic power-holding networks of would have “silenced” a dissident voice like that with no regard to justice, either for the judge himself or for the misled shareholders. Things like that happen still...probably more often than we know. But we live in a country where one person is allowed to poll only himself, a network of one, and stand firmly for the ethical responses of his own heart and mind. With no fear of covert or fatal retribution.
How fortunate are we?
4 comments:
I hate to sound cynical, but it's only relatively recently that US political assassinations seem to have gone out of style. As for the government/corporations intimidating the population, there's usually a journalist or two that gets arrested while covering each major protest. Journalism in general is largely influenced by major corporations' profit considerations, rather than public interest. Industry has enormous influence on government via the Fed, lobbyists, and former executives in government advisory positions. There are numerous SLAPP suits being filed, and the court system is often a matter of who has the most money. There are voting machines with no paper trails, free speech zones, well organized propaganda, etc. Don't get me wrong - I am happy to be in the US, and I don't live in fear of any of this stuff. Indeed, fear has been argued to be the goal of some of these things. Conspiracy theories upon conspiracy theories. ;) I think there are plenty of things worth keeping an eye on here, is all.
I definitely agree -- none of that was to say that we live in a perfect system or have nothing to keep an eye out for (or try to change). But all things considered, I think we're pretty lucky. At least we have a judicial system that can address things like journalists getting arrested, rather than needing third parties to do it for us. And there's still respect (I think) for public outcry (anti-SLAPP statutes?). My understanding of a lot of these things is clouded by considerable naïveté (I'm still just learning about office politics, much less global politics) and just plain not being informed, but it seems to me that we still have it pretty good. And I don't think you're being cynical...just realistic.
Oh yeah...and even though I framed the story to contrast our legal system & rights with that of other countries, in my head I was also surprised that a ruling of this sort could stand against such a powerful corporation, even in the US.
It'll be interesting to see if his ruling is upheld on appeal, or if there are any other consequences (this is a general statement because I don't really know how judicial discipline works).
This would be a great time to use Google News Alerts! I'm sure I'll get a news alert email in February and wonder who this Jed Rakoff guy is.
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