Given that the world of finance and many of its practitioners are being criticised without end at present, it is notable that the Christian community has squared up to these types.
Companies who use tax avoidance measures to cut their tax bills - and thus not pay legitimate taxes to governments caring for their country people - are the subject of a campaign by Christian Aid.
By tax dodging, society is adversely affected, made poorer - and if you read parts of this blog - you'll see how the lack of morality of such companies can be a causal reason for knife, gun and other violent crime.
To send the British Prime Minister your view that financial secrecy such as tax dodging is wrong, visit the Christian Aid website here: add your voice now to the anti-tax dodging campaign.
Just enter your email address on this site and you will be joining with thousands to help eliminate one of the causes of knife crime. Nothing to lose... with life and maybe much else to gain...
Showing posts with label financiers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label financiers. Show all posts
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Poverty and the young - search for knife crime solutions part 3
ANOTHER solution area worth exploring is the alleged severe and demonising way we treat young people in Britain. By punishing those who have yet to learn to be an effective part of the country, their community, we make them more dysfunctional - and we fear them more when they don't conform. And then (in the UK) we criminalise them, arresting them for, say, hanging out. In Finland they take a different approach by working in a proactive way, working a system of systematic care for their young... while the UK is pretty roundly condemned across the world for its attitudes to youth.
A final most noteworthy issue in my reflections on developing solutions to knife crime comes from, among others, the World Health Organisation. Apparently, obvious poverty is not linked to violence; in fact, it's relative deprivation that is the causal link. The WHO reports that rising income inequality in Europe has resulted in an increase in numbers of murders.
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has remarked on 'the general climate of intolerance and negative attitudes towards children, especially adolescents, which appears to exist in the UK, including in the media, and may be often the underlying cause of further infringements of their rights'. Interesting and thought provoking, possibly indicating poor government rule, poor childrens policies + politics, poor parenting across this nation, poor environments many have to live in, and clear prejudice + resentment among adults towards young people.
Adults seem to be afraid to look in the mirror, transferring their hidden psychological ills and failed lives and communities on to 'the young' for simply walking about. That said, maybe adults are merely a product of their difficult backgrounds as they grew up and this 'dog-eat-dog' work environment that many of us seem to bound up in. Sometimes I think some existence in this country - especially when caught up in drunken violence and street, gang + knife crime - is what is meant when life is described as 'hell on earth'!
And that, bearing in mind the current strong focus on tackling dodgy bankers, bullying businesses and the super-rich, makes one applaud the political and media drive to nail down those corrupt and flawed elements of capitalism that are making everyone's lives worse.
WHO reports: "Overall, good evidence indicates that violence among young people can be prevented through the organised efforts of society... And the evidence base is much stronger for interventions that adopt a public health rather than criminal justice approach, and for those that reduce risk factors and strengthen protective factors among young people early in life than for measures that seek to reduce violent behaviour once it has already emerged."
Interesting - have you noticed there are many medical conditions for young people these days? Maybe an unspoken drive by world medics to manage the murder / violence risk? Very speculative, I guess, but food for thought.
Anyway... starting to concluding this reflective mini 'essay', good progress has pretty obviously been made highlighting the issues of knife crime and other violence to the country. And there are clearly many individuals and groups (especially those directly affected by knife crime) who have worked in local communities - and are active now - to make a difference for the public good. It is relatively clear that some reductions in knife crime have been made, at least at times. Without doubt, many are motivated to solve the problems of violence.
And so, where to now...?
Real in-roads must be made to drive down the average violent deaths carried out daily on British streets... from two a day by, say, a third (that would be a reduction in killings of about four or five a week). Can we do that by 2020 or sooner?
That would be a real success measure of initiatives started around the start of this millennium. Don't know to be honest; feels like an ambitious goal - but no politician or government has shown the public courage, commitment or initiative to set it, as far as I have observed, so maybe it's left to the knife crime and anti-violence campaigners to do so. We can but try. Onwards...
Sunday, April 08, 2012
Super-rich arm the knife carriers when they avoid tax
IT is common for politicians to consider that the presence of wealthy individuals on UK soil is beneficial for the nation where they might create or expand businesses or employment.
However, when they pay little tax - usually by avoidance measures - their morally questionable behaviour (a more critical term might be 'thieves') contribute to the growth of poverty.
More importantly, resentment of such actions by the rich is clearly evident, as demonstrated by the recent British riots. Worse, it is a logical step to then realise that such resentment feeds into and fuels other crime including knife use for violent and other criminal purposes.
Many of the super-rich actually believe it is a duty for them to not pay tax; this is true - they regularly moan about paying any tax. You've probably come across people like them down the pub; you know the neanderthal beer-swilling businessman who tries to come across as an ordinary bloke by saying the taxman is always on his back, the government is taking too much money off them etc.
What is galling is that wealthy individuals are likely to have used state schools and hospitals when growing up - or their employees may still use them. The point is their ability to generate wealth today depends in large part on the stability of the state and an expensive physical infrastructure... all of which costs money.
So those rich individuals determined to make the least possible contribution to what underpins their ability to enrich themselves is grossly selfish. If they could get off their cushioned backsides and rarefied atmospheres they move in, they would do well to contribute to infrastructural improvements and many of us might have more time for them. Sad to say, very few it seems are known to be in this bracket.
Like Robert Peston, the BBC business editor (as stated in his book 'Who Runs Britain?'), I reckon that no-one should use this club's facilities (the UK) who is not prepared to pay the subscription fees.
When these non-payers wander about our club (nation), they are often taking as much as they can for free... thus they are as parasites, guzzling the financial, physical and intellectual output achieved by the hard work of the many.
And that's not politics - that's common sense. Maybe we do need some kind of global law courts and police-type officers to monitor and prosecute the immorality of these types.
What's worse of course is that the failure of these selfish, wealthy individuals to help invest in the UK infrastructure - or indeed other countries - leads many poorer people to consider crime and some to use knives and other weapons for criminal ends. A little simplistic perhaps (given that people have personal responsibility for their actions) but this is a natural and logical conclusion.
However, when they pay little tax - usually by avoidance measures - their morally questionable behaviour (a more critical term might be 'thieves') contribute to the growth of poverty.
More importantly, resentment of such actions by the rich is clearly evident, as demonstrated by the recent British riots. Worse, it is a logical step to then realise that such resentment feeds into and fuels other crime including knife use for violent and other criminal purposes.
Many of the super-rich actually believe it is a duty for them to not pay tax; this is true - they regularly moan about paying any tax. You've probably come across people like them down the pub; you know the neanderthal beer-swilling businessman who tries to come across as an ordinary bloke by saying the taxman is always on his back, the government is taking too much money off them etc.
What is galling is that wealthy individuals are likely to have used state schools and hospitals when growing up - or their employees may still use them. The point is their ability to generate wealth today depends in large part on the stability of the state and an expensive physical infrastructure... all of which costs money.
So those rich individuals determined to make the least possible contribution to what underpins their ability to enrich themselves is grossly selfish. If they could get off their cushioned backsides and rarefied atmospheres they move in, they would do well to contribute to infrastructural improvements and many of us might have more time for them. Sad to say, very few it seems are known to be in this bracket.
Like Robert Peston, the BBC business editor (as stated in his book 'Who Runs Britain?'), I reckon that no-one should use this club's facilities (the UK) who is not prepared to pay the subscription fees.
When these non-payers wander about our club (nation), they are often taking as much as they can for free... thus they are as parasites, guzzling the financial, physical and intellectual output achieved by the hard work of the many.
And that's not politics - that's common sense. Maybe we do need some kind of global law courts and police-type officers to monitor and prosecute the immorality of these types.
What's worse of course is that the failure of these selfish, wealthy individuals to help invest in the UK infrastructure - or indeed other countries - leads many poorer people to consider crime and some to use knives and other weapons for criminal ends. A little simplistic perhaps (given that people have personal responsibility for their actions) but this is a natural and logical conclusion.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Passionate anger in pursuit of peace in the knife crime business
As time goes on with knife crime campaigning, or indeed any kind of campaign, things can become less motivating where progress seems difficult to achieve. I just thought I'd write a short piece about giving up... or rather not giving up - it's worth keeping on.
It is quite isolating at time writing a blog; I've tried to contact some key people, kept focus on the key issues (and probably strayed off script at times), always invited comments, passed on Facebook details, tried to make time where there seems little to find. Staying motivated can be a struggle - one can get tired, weary etc and wonder if things will really change that much, especially as the killings and injury crime figures keep on piling in.
That said, when someone fatally stabbed dies in your arms, I don't think the motivation to change things can leave you.
And to campaign for peace does not mean being passive. In fact, a form of aggression is needed, determination, perseverance. Some aggression is not necessarily negative - combined with passion, it can drive an athlete on to achieve; it can drive on those campaigning for justice, truth, change in the knife and violent crime business.
To know criminally-minded people are killing and injuring others will always be wrong. Moderation in the face of such devastation must not be countenanced. It is necessary to become angry when people do not put down the knives, the guns.
Such anger is not 'out of control' - it is essential to try to restore proper order. We probably need our own house in order too, but a moderate reaction just won't do. Just as many are angered by corrupt bankers and greedy corporations and businessmen in recent economic times, so it is with knife carriers. Criminal, evil acts must not be tolerated.
An aggressive pursuit of justice and truth, of change for the better is required. It is essential - and it is a peaceful pursuit.
It is quite isolating at time writing a blog; I've tried to contact some key people, kept focus on the key issues (and probably strayed off script at times), always invited comments, passed on Facebook details, tried to make time where there seems little to find. Staying motivated can be a struggle - one can get tired, weary etc and wonder if things will really change that much, especially as the killings and injury crime figures keep on piling in.
That said, when someone fatally stabbed dies in your arms, I don't think the motivation to change things can leave you.
And to campaign for peace does not mean being passive. In fact, a form of aggression is needed, determination, perseverance. Some aggression is not necessarily negative - combined with passion, it can drive an athlete on to achieve; it can drive on those campaigning for justice, truth, change in the knife and violent crime business.
To know criminally-minded people are killing and injuring others will always be wrong. Moderation in the face of such devastation must not be countenanced. It is necessary to become angry when people do not put down the knives, the guns.
Such anger is not 'out of control' - it is essential to try to restore proper order. We probably need our own house in order too, but a moderate reaction just won't do. Just as many are angered by corrupt bankers and greedy corporations and businessmen in recent economic times, so it is with knife carriers. Criminal, evil acts must not be tolerated.
An aggressive pursuit of justice and truth, of change for the better is required. It is essential - and it is a peaceful pursuit.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Goldman Sachs Richard Sharp on BBC Newsnight
I just watched Richard Sharp, a former 'chief' at Goldman Sachs, on BBC Newsnight try to justify financial collapse and misery for millions (and a recent increase in knife crime), and thought I would make a comment...
He, and others like him, are greatly responsible for the current world financial mess. It's an unjustifiable position. Look at the dying. He needs to become a nurse and care for those who have been devastated by financial money men's ceaseless, slave-ish demands for 'return' and poor business decisions of the past.
Anyway, we all should look ahead, learn from the past, and then make positive plans for improvements in the future to reduce knife and violent crime
Not sure about this knife crime post. Maybe it should be deleted or added to... but I just watched Goldman Sachs' Richard Sharp and clearly saw a flawed, idiotic generation... People have died, been shot, knifed to death - and business, finance, the rich are at least partly responsible for not helping to build a better society.
He, and others like him, are greatly responsible for the current world financial mess. It's an unjustifiable position. Look at the dying. He needs to become a nurse and care for those who have been devastated by financial money men's ceaseless, slave-ish demands for 'return' and poor business decisions of the past.
Anyway, we all should look ahead, learn from the past, and then make positive plans for improvements in the future to reduce knife and violent crime
Not sure about this knife crime post. Maybe it should be deleted or added to... but I just watched Goldman Sachs' Richard Sharp and clearly saw a flawed, idiotic generation... People have died, been shot, knifed to death - and business, finance, the rich are at least partly responsible for not helping to build a better society.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Knife and violent crime rise in 2011 highlights blame 'game'
IT CAN'T be a coincidence knife and other violent crime is now rising as economies and poor past financial management in international trading cities such as the City (London) and across the UK + world continue to wreak havoc all around.
And, for the safety of the general public, today's news that a new law will be introduced to lock up knife-carriers seems most appropriate - see article in The Guardian - Knife crime teenagers to be jailed.
(For reference, this post is based on publication of some knife crime statistics showing more people are now facing blade attacks, apparently, an increase from 13,994 to 14,980 - and violent crime is up 10% to 1.15 million - although I can't see when these figures are compared to or a verifiable source for them on the web except this newspaper story in The Sun.)
Observing politicians and the rest of us as economic contagion spreads and some related societal breakdown and misery become evident, it is clear the issue is most serious.
Who (and what) is to blame for the contagion misery continuing to work its way out of the economic system? Opinions are most serious - they influence political and societal thinking - and who has done poor jobs, helped to make it happen?
Those with security jobs are charged with protecting us - but more people are likely to be injured or die at present - so they and their masters (or mistresses) want to point out "it's not our fault, it's the economy", so 'don't sack me from my job'.
Those looking after economic matters - from City business adviser types and senior bankers right down to the one-man businesses, and even those running household budgets - are thinking "it's not my fault, it's all sorts of other things" so 'don't sack me from my job'.
At a most simple level, people need to stop running scared, stop arguing and stop being in self-preservation mode. Calm down, support each other, eke out peaceful effective solutions... for the greater good. If only that would happen.
If not, more people will die or get injured from knife crime or other violence - and then all those arguing are likely to be at fault for wasting time shouting and not mapping out solutions. I get the feeling no-one knows what the important things are to do... (Tory MPs Theresa May and Kenneth Clarke take note). Maybe I'm wrong - what do you think?
And, for the safety of the general public, today's news that a new law will be introduced to lock up knife-carriers seems most appropriate - see article in The Guardian - Knife crime teenagers to be jailed.
(For reference, this post is based on publication of some knife crime statistics showing more people are now facing blade attacks, apparently, an increase from 13,994 to 14,980 - and violent crime is up 10% to 1.15 million - although I can't see when these figures are compared to or a verifiable source for them on the web except this newspaper story in The Sun.)
Observing politicians and the rest of us as economic contagion spreads and some related societal breakdown and misery become evident, it is clear the issue is most serious.
Who (and what) is to blame for the contagion misery continuing to work its way out of the economic system? Opinions are most serious - they influence political and societal thinking - and who has done poor jobs, helped to make it happen?
Those with security jobs are charged with protecting us - but more people are likely to be injured or die at present - so they and their masters (or mistresses) want to point out "it's not our fault, it's the economy", so 'don't sack me from my job'.
Those looking after economic matters - from City business adviser types and senior bankers right down to the one-man businesses, and even those running household budgets - are thinking "it's not my fault, it's all sorts of other things" so 'don't sack me from my job'.
At a most simple level, people need to stop running scared, stop arguing and stop being in self-preservation mode. Calm down, support each other, eke out peaceful effective solutions... for the greater good. If only that would happen.
If not, more people will die or get injured from knife crime or other violence - and then all those arguing are likely to be at fault for wasting time shouting and not mapping out solutions. I get the feeling no-one knows what the important things are to do... (Tory MPs Theresa May and Kenneth Clarke take note). Maybe I'm wrong - what do you think?
Monday, October 17, 2011
Anti-capitalists help anti-knife crime campaign
I FIND the Occupy protests a little surreal. After years highlighting the fact (through this blog) that defeating knife crime - and other violent crime - also requires corporate and societal greed to dissipate, it is almost bemusing to see ordinary people + anti-capitalists coming together to protest along the same lines.
Can such protests help give back aspiration and hope to young people and those dispossessed by the current economic mess? I don't really know - but it feels like a start. Anything that contributes to driving knife crime and violence out of society deserves support.
Here are the demands of the Occupy protesters in London - Guardian article: Occupy London protest issues demands forCity of London clean-up. And in Wall Street, here are the broadly described demands... more and better jobs, more equal income distribution, less profit (or no profit) for banks, lower compensation for bankers, and more strictures on banks on negotiating consumer services such as mortgages and debit cards, cut influence of corporations - financial firms in particular - especially in politics, and they want a more populist set of government priorities: bailouts for student debtors and mortgage holders, not just for banks.
In response, an anonymous poster to this blog sent me a link to an explanatory 'lesson in economics' video rebutting such demands:
PS: I was just thinking that the protesters are perhaps scared of the negative impact of capitalism... I know I am (no home, no money, no clothes, no food etc) - and not a little fed up, of course, with 'those people and businesses at the top of the tree' continuing to line their nests and hoovering money out of everyone below them like a huge cocaine snorting pipe (come to think of it, their addiction to money is pretty much like drug abuse). That said, it seems many of us ordinary people also exhibit signs of this addiction... at least at times.
So the protest at St Paul's Cathedral, London, is not, perhaps, about "occupying" the City... it's about seeking sanctuary from the awful consequences of failed capitalism - and also making a stand against the misery it has been creating. Fear and anger are great motivators to protest - and the Christian Church, as God and Christ's representative on earth - has a duty to help those who are afraid, are the powerless, are the dispossessed, are the poor...
Having said that, we can be reminded of 'capitalist' insight given once by Winston Churchill... "There never will be enough of everything while the world goes on. The more that is given, the more there will be needed. That is why life is so interesting." That said, there is much abundance in life - and it's not all about money and possessions. Think we just need to work out how everyone can enjoy 'abundance'.
"You are turning the world into a 'den of thieves' "
- Jesus Christ speaks out
Can such protests help give back aspiration and hope to young people and those dispossessed by the current economic mess? I don't really know - but it feels like a start. Anything that contributes to driving knife crime and violence out of society deserves support.
Here are the demands of the Occupy protesters in London - Guardian article: Occupy London protest issues demands forCity of London clean-up. And in Wall Street, here are the broadly described demands... more and better jobs, more equal income distribution, less profit (or no profit) for banks, lower compensation for bankers, and more strictures on banks on negotiating consumer services such as mortgages and debit cards, cut influence of corporations - financial firms in particular - especially in politics, and they want a more populist set of government priorities: bailouts for student debtors and mortgage holders, not just for banks.
In response, an anonymous poster to this blog sent me a link to an explanatory 'lesson in economics' video rebutting such demands:
PS: I was just thinking that the protesters are perhaps scared of the negative impact of capitalism... I know I am (no home, no money, no clothes, no food etc) - and not a little fed up, of course, with 'those people and businesses at the top of the tree' continuing to line their nests and hoovering money out of everyone below them like a huge cocaine snorting pipe (come to think of it, their addiction to money is pretty much like drug abuse). That said, it seems many of us ordinary people also exhibit signs of this addiction... at least at times.
So the protest at St Paul's Cathedral, London, is not, perhaps, about "occupying" the City... it's about seeking sanctuary from the awful consequences of failed capitalism - and also making a stand against the misery it has been creating. Fear and anger are great motivators to protest - and the Christian Church, as God and Christ's representative on earth - has a duty to help those who are afraid, are the powerless, are the dispossessed, are the poor...
Having said that, we can be reminded of 'capitalist' insight given once by Winston Churchill... "There never will be enough of everything while the world goes on. The more that is given, the more there will be needed. That is why life is so interesting." That said, there is much abundance in life - and it's not all about money and possessions. Think we just need to work out how everyone can enjoy 'abundance'.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Life as a knife / gun crime gangster or financier
A real life story of a financier who ended up as a criminal has caught my eye - Jordan Belfort. His life struck me as an accurate caricature of the current banking and economic greed that has dominated modern life in recent times.
Belfort also pursued riches and a luxury lifestyle that appeal to knife and gun gangsters (at least some of them).
With that in mind, interesting to cover his life story to serve as some kind of modern day parable for those thinking that crime and greed pays. It doesn't and you can see it clearly in Belfort's story. Sorry if it seems somewhat unfair on Jordan - I'm not sure how else to write it.
Belfort probably sums up a kind of insidious evil that can grip a selfish, self-centred human spirit - recklessness, greed, gambling, crime, power - a whole gamut of excess that is abhorrent to decent people.
When he started selling stocks, he once made 12.5m USD in a few minutes. He had mansions, luxury and sports cars. He flew in private jets and helicopters. Coco Chanel’s yacht was his. He married an attractive blonde model.
Sex, drugs and the love of money
Belfort had tens of brokers working for him, and then hundreds. He inspired his men who sold stock which often went up. Belfort encouraged his brokers to spend their own money wildly... to keep them champing at the bit for more. Prostitutes and drug dealers... you can just visualise it – cars, drugs, parties, short skirts (no skirts!), air-punching on the trading floor.
He had everything worth having, right?
Wrong. As money poured in from crime, Belfort started to lose perspective. He had 19 servants. He wore watches, shoes and clothes worth many thousands of pounds. But he started to break the law. He created a scam that made him multi millions. The FBI investigated him. He started on drugs – crack, cocaine, Ecstasy, cannabis, painkillers, sleeping tablets and anti-depressants. What's your poison...?
To quote Belfort: he was “stealing $100 million from thousands of investors and smuggling millions of dollars to Switzerland”.
He became paranoid. His life fell apart. His yacht sank. His jet crashed. He had a near-death experience in his helicopter.
It gets worse. Belfort started to crack up. He pushed his wife down the stairs at one of his mansions. Drugged out of his mind, he grabbed his three-year-old daughter, put her in his car and drove off. But he didn’t get far. He crashed through the garage door into a marble pillar. The girl was not wearing a seat-belt. She was unharmed. Jordan Belfort’s wife began divorce proceedings.
Investigated by law enforcement authorities
Belfort was told by the FBI he faced 30 years in jail. His option to escape jail was to grass on his 'pals' – in other words, talk to his co-conspirators about the frauds they had jointly committed, and secretly record the conversations.
He chose to be a grass. Yep - set up close chats with old 'friends' while wearing a wire to discuss crimes that were committed.
He served 22 months of a four year jail sentence. His whole life story is to become a Martin Scorsese film. Not sure if that doesn't glamourise crime - maybe not as it should show his life's spectacular failure and collapse.
He said: "I went off course. I had bankrupt values. Number one was money. Number two was power. Number three was sex, mostly with hookers. Number four was drugs.”
It is little wonder that young people and others who take up knife and gun crime - perhaps to escape poverty - have had little to aspire to when idiot, avaricious financiers (like Belfort) and businesses (that Belfort worked for) remain solely focused on their self-interest, their profits - and regulation and governments across the world are way too corrupt (perhaps also gullible) and let them get away with it.
Private hell as greed-ridden life starts to collapse
Here's a few of Belfort's reflections on his life being a pathetic criminal:
“The problem on Wall Street is you’re not creating anything. There’s no satisfaction. The only barometer you have is money. And money has no meaning. You try to attach meaning to money by buying possessions.”
If you want to make money, you have to train yourself to be obsessed with money. And then life starts to lose its meaning.
He started out as a criminal after a man who was bent taught him how to be bent too. (That'll be education, education, education). Interestingly Belfort had good intentions, thinking he'd only be bad occasionally and then go back to being nice.
But he lost his family, and then his freedom.
Before being locked up in prison, he said to his children: "I’ve made some serious mistakes and if you make mistakes there are consequences. I have to go away for a while… to jail."
And the upset among the family was huge. He mentions his wife and daughter in the interview I'm reporting on here. He has a son as well, the article said.
He says he's not spiritual and does not have integrity, unlike his new wife-to-be. Hopefully, things will change for the better for him now. Let's hope he's reformed - sounds like it.
Modern-day parable of gangster-ism. Learned anything?
Parable over. Suffice to say, if you're a knife and gun user - you can see what you can become in this post if you use criminal ways to try to get ahead. A complete tosser.
Belfort also pursued riches and a luxury lifestyle that appeal to knife and gun gangsters (at least some of them).
With that in mind, interesting to cover his life story to serve as some kind of modern day parable for those thinking that crime and greed pays. It doesn't and you can see it clearly in Belfort's story. Sorry if it seems somewhat unfair on Jordan - I'm not sure how else to write it.
Belfort probably sums up a kind of insidious evil that can grip a selfish, self-centred human spirit - recklessness, greed, gambling, crime, power - a whole gamut of excess that is abhorrent to decent people.
When he started selling stocks, he once made 12.5m USD in a few minutes. He had mansions, luxury and sports cars. He flew in private jets and helicopters. Coco Chanel’s yacht was his. He married an attractive blonde model.
Sex, drugs and the love of money
Belfort had tens of brokers working for him, and then hundreds. He inspired his men who sold stock which often went up. Belfort encouraged his brokers to spend their own money wildly... to keep them champing at the bit for more. Prostitutes and drug dealers... you can just visualise it – cars, drugs, parties, short skirts (no skirts!), air-punching on the trading floor.
He had everything worth having, right?
Wrong. As money poured in from crime, Belfort started to lose perspective. He had 19 servants. He wore watches, shoes and clothes worth many thousands of pounds. But he started to break the law. He created a scam that made him multi millions. The FBI investigated him. He started on drugs – crack, cocaine, Ecstasy, cannabis, painkillers, sleeping tablets and anti-depressants. What's your poison...?
To quote Belfort: he was “stealing $100 million from thousands of investors and smuggling millions of dollars to Switzerland”.
He became paranoid. His life fell apart. His yacht sank. His jet crashed. He had a near-death experience in his helicopter.
It gets worse. Belfort started to crack up. He pushed his wife down the stairs at one of his mansions. Drugged out of his mind, he grabbed his three-year-old daughter, put her in his car and drove off. But he didn’t get far. He crashed through the garage door into a marble pillar. The girl was not wearing a seat-belt. She was unharmed. Jordan Belfort’s wife began divorce proceedings.
Investigated by law enforcement authorities
Belfort was told by the FBI he faced 30 years in jail. His option to escape jail was to grass on his 'pals' – in other words, talk to his co-conspirators about the frauds they had jointly committed, and secretly record the conversations.
He chose to be a grass. Yep - set up close chats with old 'friends' while wearing a wire to discuss crimes that were committed.
He served 22 months of a four year jail sentence. His whole life story is to become a Martin Scorsese film. Not sure if that doesn't glamourise crime - maybe not as it should show his life's spectacular failure and collapse.
He said: "I went off course. I had bankrupt values. Number one was money. Number two was power. Number three was sex, mostly with hookers. Number four was drugs.”
It is little wonder that young people and others who take up knife and gun crime - perhaps to escape poverty - have had little to aspire to when idiot, avaricious financiers (like Belfort) and businesses (that Belfort worked for) remain solely focused on their self-interest, their profits - and regulation and governments across the world are way too corrupt (perhaps also gullible) and let them get away with it.
Private hell as greed-ridden life starts to collapse
Here's a few of Belfort's reflections on his life being a pathetic criminal:
“The problem on Wall Street is you’re not creating anything. There’s no satisfaction. The only barometer you have is money. And money has no meaning. You try to attach meaning to money by buying possessions.”
If you want to make money, you have to train yourself to be obsessed with money. And then life starts to lose its meaning.
He started out as a criminal after a man who was bent taught him how to be bent too. (That'll be education, education, education). Interestingly Belfort had good intentions, thinking he'd only be bad occasionally and then go back to being nice.
But he lost his family, and then his freedom.
Before being locked up in prison, he said to his children: "I’ve made some serious mistakes and if you make mistakes there are consequences. I have to go away for a while… to jail."
And the upset among the family was huge. He mentions his wife and daughter in the interview I'm reporting on here. He has a son as well, the article said.
He says he's not spiritual and does not have integrity, unlike his new wife-to-be. Hopefully, things will change for the better for him now. Let's hope he's reformed - sounds like it.
Modern-day parable of gangster-ism. Learned anything?
Parable over. Suffice to say, if you're a knife and gun user - you can see what you can become in this post if you use criminal ways to try to get ahead. A complete tosser.
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