How To Steal A Trillion From The Public Purse? A Cynical Look At Britain
October 16, 2009
Anton Goryunov writes from Moscow: Well, well, well. Let me tell you, people, who live in a supposedly democratic Britain, that here in Russia there are jokes going around how your Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has managed to bankrupt your country for the next 1000 years - all to save your banker boys from going to jail. And we, in Moscow, thought that misusing public money was something that only our leaders in Russia did. Well, not only in Russia: in China, Ukraine, North Korea and Cuba as well.
Still, it was a bit of a cultural shock to find out that in Britain, in that cradle of Western democracy, it’s no big deal to steal a trillion, and get away with it. No one has said a word and no one has objected. Mr Brown has not only remained in power but is even telling everyone that he has actually ‘saved the British economy’ and is intent to carry on ‘doing his job’.
And there is nothing that anyopne can do until the next general election, which is still 8 months away. Go figure, as they say in Brooklyn. And in parts of Moscow.
It’s quite unusual to see a whole nation taken for a ride by a bunch of politicians who have absolutely no idea how to run a proper economy. In Russia we are used to seeing such people occupying top jobs, abusing their powers and enriching themselves. But in Britain, in the 21st century, on such a scale? It does look very odd. It actually looks bizarre. To be honest, we in Russia were shocked to see such abuse of power going unpunished in a Western democracy.
When a government in America showers bankers with public money, we are not surprised at all. Let us be brutally honest about America: the bankers rule there. And even before President Barack Obama came to power that weasel, George Bush, had managed to come up with the so-called ’stimulus package’ and pump enormous amounts of money into the banking sector. Bush sure left a ‘toxic legacy’ behind him. That guy should never have been there in the first place.
But that’s beside the point. And the point is that the United States have a short history, compared to Britain, and the money men called the shots there from the word go. American Presidents could not really stand up to the banks. John Kennedy tried, and look what happened to him. But in Britain, of all places, a country that had won the Second World War, against all odds, a nation that never had any respect for its politicians, a people, who have shown true spirit throughout the years - it just does not look right. It is absurd to see how a bunch of politicians and money men are ripping Britain apart.
The Russians, of course, feel sorry for the British people. The Russians have been robbed by their rulers for centuries so they are used to it, and they do not expect their politicians to do anything else. But they have always been under an impression that the British were not the sort of people who would allow their rulers to f..k them, so to speak. And now, it turns out, that the Brits are exactly like the Russians. Even worse.
Bizzare, very bizarre. The latest joke in Moscow goes like that: How do you steal a trillion of taxpayer’s money? You go to Britain. It is the best place in the world to do it. No one will notice. Might even thank you.
No offence, I hope.
– End –
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