By in Rhode Island’s Future
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| Raimondo at a Tea Party rally fist-pumping her plan to cut pensions |
The future of democracy is being
threatened and will be determined by our response to the problem of ever
increasing wealth inequality. As a very few generate exceptional profits from
capital investments, the rest of us recede ever further into relative poverty.
Democracy and the open society are under serious threat from snowballing
capitalism, which buys elections and access to the political system at prices
the average citizen cannot compete with. It is not science fiction to suggest
that our children may be slaves in all but name to uncaring oligarchs in some
dystopian future.
Everyone who has seen a movie is familiar with the idea of
“shell corporations” and “offshore accounts” as a way of hiding financial
assets for nefarious purposes, but few of us are aware of how pervasive these
and similar practices are in reality.
If we seek to put an end to ever
increasing economic and political inequality and prevent future economic crises
similar to or worse than our recent recession, then economic transparency is of
the utmost importance. As Thomas Piketty says in his landmark (but far from
perfect) Capital in the
Twenty-First Century, “there should be clarity about who
owns what assets around the world.” (page 518)
Piketty argues that the debate around
growing inequality and the management of global capitalism is operating in the
dark. We have no reliable data about who owns what and how much money they are
making. A significant portion of the world’s wealth seems to be squirreled away
into secret black market accounts. Without accurate data, we are flying blind
and suggesting solutions to problems we don’t fully understand.
It is in this light that I see the
actions of Treasurer Gina Raimondo as contrary to the public good. Raimondo,
far from fighting for the rights and economic prosperity of all Rhode
Islanders, seems more interested in veiling herself and her allies from
financial scrutiny. For instance, Raimondo’s use of a blind trust,
to hide her investments and income from scrutiny during her gubernatorial
campaign, flaunts economic clarity and openness.
More problematic is the outrageous
letter Raimondo sent to the RI Attorney General’s office, in which the
treasurer maintains that revealing the amount of money Rhode Island pays to its
hedge fund managers might put hedge fund managers at risk of kidnapping!
From David Sirota at the International Business Times:
Citing the case of Eddie Lampert, an investor who was abducted in 2003 by ransom-seeking kidnappers, the letter to Assistant Rhode Island Attorney General Michael Field from Raimondo’s office further argued that disclosing too much information about financial fees and compensation could endanger the lives of hedge fund managers.
The amount of money people like
Treasurer Raimondo make from their jobs as elected officials pales to
insignificance when compared to the amount of money they generate from their
capital investments. If people were given a true picture of how wealth is
distributed, there would be outrage.
This is why financial transactions and the
ownership of assets is hidden, and why a new era of financial transparency is
mandatory if we wish to preserve our democracy.
Otherwise, the only viable financial
plan for those wishing to avoid economic serfdom may be the realization of
Treasurer Raimondo’s worst fears: the kidnapping and ransoming of the 1%.
Steve Ahlquist
is a writer, artist and current president of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a
non-profit group dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism and action. He also
maintains the blog SteveAhlquist.com where almost all his writing can be found.
The views expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization
of which he is a member.
His
photos and video are usable under the Creative Commons license. Free to share
with credit.
Email:
atomicsteve@gmail.com. Twitter: @SteveAhlquist