Friday, June 29, 2012

Food for thought

Most soccer clubs in Columbia are millions of dollars in debt and the  national team failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. In the game's heyday, Columbian drug capitalists used teams to launder money, boost their image, and flaunt their wealth in a process called narco-soccer. That money helped the national team climb to fourth place in world rankings. Things changed after the US war on drugs cut the flow of millions of dollars from organized crime to soccer. Capitalism corrupts everything it touches, even an otherwise healthy and skillful sport like soccer.
Coral Gardens which is off the coast of Komodo, Indonesia, used to be one of the world's most spectacular undersea areas, teeming with damselfish, bassets and hawksbill turtles, but not any more. The area has been destroyed by illegal fishermen who use explosives and cyanide to kill their prey. The fact that it's illegal means nothing considering the objective is the same as any legal business -- making a profit.
On April 20, the G20 group of nations pledged $430 US billion to the International Monetary Fund to protect the world economy from the impact of the Eurozone's debt crisis. According to Craig Alexander, chief economist for the TD Bank, "The number one financial crisis is the European fiscal mess. I think that financial markets will be encouraged that the IMF has more firefighting capability. " What is interesting is what Mr. Alexander did not say, that the majority of the world's population will continue to live in poverty, and what will happen when no government committed to capitalism has the ability to bail out their partners in crime. John Ayers

No comments: