Turns out I was wrong, and commmies were too polite

At the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies‚ that war of words, nuclear weapons escalation and one-upmanship that lasted from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s, I remember how amused I was when the communist countries would refer to western business and politicians as “filthy capitalist pig-dogs”.

That was at a time when I still believed that the United States was the protector of good and the Eastern bloc the archetypal purveyor of evil. I would shake my head and think to myself:  “You silly, twisted communist clowns; ‘filthy capitalist pig-dogs’ indeed; how childish!”

Turns out I was wrong and the communists were right. The bankers and Wall Street high-fliers whose diabolical greed has led to one of the worst economic disasters in the history of mankind are a lot more than just filthy capitalist pig-dogs. In hindsight, I think the communists were being overly polite.

I was so disturbed about this economic cataclysm and the venom with which the US presidential hopefuls, John McCain and Barrack Obama, have been tearing each other apart — not to mention our own politicians’ childish bickering — that I decided to try to seek some answers from my parish priest, to see if he could see some good in the structure of Western business.

Fr Bram Martijn, of the Simon’s Town parish of Ss Simon and Jude, is a man of good intellect and reason. As military chaplain to United Nations forces in Berlin and the first Gulf War, he has been in the thick of the most heinous of follies committed by politicians in the name of justice. I was sure he would provide some sort of solace by pointing out to me the benefits of big business and the silver lining on the dark cloud of global politics.

He did not mince his words. “They are all criminals,” he said with passion. “All of them criminals. Now you go and write about that in The Southern Cross and tell everyone that Bram Martijn said so.”

It was refreshing to hear that a man of God was having as much trouble as I was, trying to find some good in all this evil greed. And the more I have researched this subject, the more I have to agree with Fr Martijn. When you think about it, the only people in this country who seem to be making sense are clerics such as Fr Bram, Archbishop Buti Tlhagale and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, all of whom I admire enormously and from whom I take guidance and direction when I am trying to distinguish right from wrong.

Getting back to the global economic crisis, it is quite beyond me why none of those greedy American and European Union bankers, with their sweet enticements to people who couldn’t actually afford the kind of credit they were being offered, have not yet been charged with anything. Not one of them is in jail; none of them have even been smacked on the wrist. All that has happened is that they have been given roughly R56 trillion to help them over their troubles. Yet, some poor fellow who steals a loaf of bread from a café to feed his starving family gets hauled up in front of a magistrate and is jailed as an example to other poor people who might think of shoplifting to prevent their children from starving.

But it is not only bankers who appear to be greedy. Business in general is just as guilty in my opinion. According to the World Trade Organisation, global business spends in the region of R65 trillion a year on backhanders, bribery and corruption in an effort to get more business and make more profits. That is about R10 trillion more than the recent bailout package approved by US legislators. And business spends that amount every single year! Who pays for it? The consumer — you and I.

Let’s hope this economic catastrophe will have some sort of positive outcome. When world leaders meet to make sure this will not happen again, let’s pray that they put in place sufficient checks and balances to ensure that the banks will not get into so deep a quagmire and that at the same time find some way of preventing business from spending so much time, effort and money on bribery and corruption.

Banks, business in general as well as politicians have an enormous challenge in terms of regaining the trust of the consumer and voter. Right now, I don’t trust any of them further than I can throw the fattest of the fatcats among them.