We need to stop corporate crime so that we can control street crime

Dec 13, 2009 Letters

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Dear Editor,
We in Guyana need to reassess our understanding of crime. Why is it that corporate crime advances virtually unhindered, while street crime has become such an obsession for so many? When asked what is the biggest problem facing Guyana today, most Guyanese answer – crime.
Do they mean corporate crime that steals and exploits the wealth and resources of so many nations, including Guyana, and leave our children to run barefoot and hungry in the streets? Are they referring to criminal international institutions whose policies condemn millions of innocent people to death everyday on this earth? Do they mean corrupt government and their officials and those involved in procurement fraud, financial fraud and contract fraud which inflicts such misery and chaos on thousands of Guyanese everyday?
Sadly, they are referring to none of the above. They are simply referring to the street crime and banditry that we see all around us and which is, in 95% of cases, simply a symptom of a society which is completely polluted by the kind of white collar and corporate crime which is at the root of Guyana’s crisis.
Greed, corruption and the concentration of wealth and resources in the hands of a few, while 80% live below the poverty line are major contributors to the current crisis. This is not to excuse the vicious robberies and murders that plague our society daily, but rather to look at the root causes of the situation in order to find solutions.
The street crime and banditry that plagues Guyana presently, is in fact a direct result of the complete breakdown of the current political, social, economic and moral order. Chaos and anarchy are the role of the day.
Injustice and corruption are rife. Brutal poverty is endemic. It is destroying family life and the very fabric that holds society together. Nienty-five per cent of street criminals and bandits were yesterday the very children who were born into homes that could not even feed them properly due to unemployment. Where work existed, so did exploitative conditions that plunged workers into a perpetual poverty trap.
The majority of these same bandits were yesterday running round the ghettos, barefoot and dirty, hungry and without proper schooling. There is no criminologist, even the most backward, that would attempt to deny the correlation between poverty and crime. They were chased out of ‘nice’ neighbourhoods like stray dogs.
Are we surprised today that they are hunting us down like a pack of marauding animals? Isn’t that what society turned them into? Did we give these sons of Guyana any hope? And if our sons have no hope then what can become of our daughters? The question we must ask ourselves is how did we allow the situation to deteriorate to this extent?
What Happened to this Land of Ours?
The answer lies in our selfishness and don’t care attitude. The answer lies in our hidden fears and sense of powerlessness in the face of the real crime and injustice that takes place in the highest echelons of our society, and our failure to dismantle the old colonial structures and to redistribute wealth and land in a fair and equitable manner. The answer lies in our collective failure to correct the situation.
The colonial state, which was authoritarian and anti-democratic, had no room for transparency and accountability. Institutions that lack accountability and transparency give rise to corruption, nepotism, and cronyism. With the end of colonial rule, the local political elites simply took over the running of the old structures. The same corruption that existed during the colonial era simply continued, and has escalated ever since, irrespective of which political party has been in power. You can hardly imagine how endemic corruption has become. In Guyana it is now a way of life.
The ‘get rich quick’ syndrome, which has its roots in materialism and crass consumerism, has become the order of the day, especially for the powers that be. It has had devastating effects on our way of life. It reaches into virtually every aspect of our lives, and is so widespread that we are often unaware of its presence and influence.
And yet, it was not always with us – there was a time in Guyana when other values were deeply held. No longer is this the case. Greed, selfishness and a ‘get rich quick’ by whatever means you can is an imported value system or should we say ‘lack of value’ system. It is Americana at its worst – capitalist commodity culture.
The effects of this destructive way of life hits us in every way imaginable – when we are shopping in the supermarkets or stores, taking a taxi, the pollutants in the air we breathe, the pesticides and poisons on the food we eat, the water we drink, the cost of our electricity bill, the banking, insurance and financial systems, the cost of medicine for illness – these silent thieves simply further enrich those at the top.
The tentacles of this heartless octopus reach into every sphere of our lives and yet corporate crime remains untouched. We speak of it, we read of it, we hear of it and we do nothing about it.
We find ourselves in a coma in the face of white collar crime (corporate crime) but when it comes to blue collar and street crime, we become totally preoccupied and spend hours discussing futile ways of ending it without ever really addressing its root cause – the political, social, economic and moral collapse of our society due to white collar crime. It is this type of crime that inflicts far more damage upon us collectively at both a global and national level than all the street crime combined. Just one example among so many is the manufacture of alcohol and tobacco that arguably kills and injuries more people than all street thugs put together are satisfied. Crime reflects our blindness to the fundamental interconnectedness of the people.
The solution does not lie with our current criminal justice system which is so unjust and corrupt, focusing primarily on punishment rather than redemption. We must understand that just as you cannot cure alcoholism in a brewery, so you cannot reform inmates in a prison. You cannot punish and reconcile at the same time. Our prisons are simply concentration camps for poor youths – they are criminal training camps. The system is not working. The solution of crime requires us to look deep into its causes – Guyana needs to stop corporate crime so that we can control street crime.
Talib Bilaal Rutherford

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