For the past six years, data has been leaked to the world, about how the world actually works. In 2010 it was Cablegate, for 2013 it was the NSA leaks and the Offshore Leaks, 2014 there were the Luxemburg Leaks, 2015 we had the Swiss Leaks, and in 2016 it is the Panama Papers.
Each of these leaks have been attempts to show the underbelly of our betters in society. Including the most recent, many have been about the banking/financial world, and two have been about problems with our governments.
Before any of these leaks happened, most laymen knew that there was corruption and surveillance beyond the scope of true understanding. Throughout human history, people have known that many of the wealthy got that way through crooked means. At the same time, people, well, at least Americans, have always been concerned with government surveillance (aka spying), and this can be seen with our protections against search and seizure.
Before Snowden leaked his data, everyone knew that the government was watching and listening. Anytime bin Laden was joked about, the NSA would be there listening. Mention al Qaeda, and you will start being listened to. My friends and family would crack jokes about either, and then we would say that the G-man was listening. This was the normal routine, and hasn’t changed with the Snowden revelations.
The examples of corruption are too numerous to pin any one down, and what’s the point, since we all know about corrupt politicians and business moguls. The only surprise is when you don’t see a suspected name in the new leaks, because we suspect that everyone is corrupt.
Given all of this, it is interesting to see the new names on the corrupt pile mentioned in the Panama Papers. Some have close ties to Putin, while another is the President of Ukraine, whom we are supporting against Putin.
All that the big names in the Panama Papers illustrate is that corruption can be found everywhere, and for any one government to point fingers is pure hypocrisy, because you either are friends with the corrupt, or are corrupt yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, these revelations will affect the Panamanian banking system, and they have a good chance of landing others in prison, but as with the drug war…another financial scheme will fill the vacuum of Panama, and may have already.
Photo by Daniel – Licensed under CC by 2.0 – No changes made.