GUEST BLOG: Bryan Bruce – Cue Bono – Who benefits?
80 years before the birth of Jesus there was a murder trial in Rome.
Sextus Roscius was accused of killing his father in order to gain control of his 13 farms.
He was defended by a brilliant 26 year old lawyer – Marcus Tullius Cicero -who argued it made no sense for Sextus to murder his father when, in time, he would inherit the farms anyway.
Cicero then pointed at the accusers who would gain control of the farms if Sextus was executed and the asked the judges “Cue Bono?.” Who benefited? “ from the murder ? And who would benefit if Sextus was executed?
The answer was crystal clear . Not Sextus but his greedy relatives.
“Who will benefit?” is a great question to ask i-especially in situations where wealth redistribution is at stake.
The government has just received a report from an advisory group it has set up on fair pay and it will soon receive one on taxation.
We will no doubt be told that the decision of what to do about addressing the yawning gap between the rich and the poor in our country is complicated. But if you ask Cicero’s question then I think it’s easy to see what needs to happen.
In 1984 Labour introduced neoliberal economics into our country which National put on steroids . Its an ideology that all subsequent government have supported.
So – who has benefited from the 1984 economic “reforms” and free market ideology?
Andwer? A few people- largely the already monied class -gained enormously from the cutting of tax rates , the attack on the unions and the creation of a low wage economy.
They have also benefitted hugely from the fact that consecutive governments over the last 30 years have given the rich permission to accumulate even more untaxed wealth by investing in land and other capital assets.
Meanwhile the great majority of us have been made poorer by the economics and politics of selfishness and so trial time is fast approaching.
But will it be a real trial in which the greedy will be finally brought to account for the misery they have caused ?
Or will it be a show trial design to appease the anger amongst New Zealanders who work hard all week and still cannot make ends meet?
Stay tuned.
Bryan Bruce is one of NZs most respected documentary makers and public intellectuals who has tirelessly exposed NZs neoliberal economic settings as the main cause for social issues.
History would indicate that all governance typically is addressed to the concerns of the entrepreneurial class and any nod to the needs of the rest is determined by their necessity and at the minimum required to avoid loss of control.
There is no reason to suppose anything has changed
LMBF
Not much ongoing entrepreneurial activity from banks except their power to silence all opposition.
Capturing the power to create money out of thin air happened a long time ago and has been transferred to NZ through adoption of English law.
The words “entrepreneurial class” needs to be described more honestly.
They are burglars protected by law.
97% of new money in NZ ( RBNZ figures ) is created by private banks for their own profit.
Every time a loan is created and repaid the potential profit is 900% plus the interest paid.
Start with a dollar deposit
loan $10 against that as banks as allowed to by NZ law
have it repaid plus interest.
Do that 10 times over using the profit as a deposit and you end up with over $3. BILLION.
The value behind that money comes from the pool of NZ assets, that is our personal and national nest eggs. Parasitic activity feeding off Kiwis.
Burglars and parasites need to be named for what they are.
It is naive to entertain the idea that roger douglas was not paid well for what he did.
Paid by the wealth gatherers who have so much money at their disposal allowing them to corrupt the system even further.
The system we have now will continue to make a few wealthy much wealthier and a growing number poor leading desolate lives. Much of the “profit” taken goes off shore other used to increase more of the ownership of NZ bu a few corporates sitting behind holding companies and hedge funds.
Capitalism is doing this globally.
We need a voice independent from Corporate owned news media and corruption.
A start may be to clean out of Corporate lackeys in RNZ. We have RNZ news heavily propagandised. from US sources.
There is no balance.
Look at the board, CEOs and chairmanship . Follow their history to see where they come from.