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If we had a justice system, that $10.8 billion would be recoverable, and used to try to rehabilitate the victims. But we don't have a justice system. We have a legal system, and a financial system.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Much of the money is diffucult to recover by being tied up in byzantine arrangements of LLCs and overseas accounts. That's generally how the rich avoid paying taxes as well. We have due process for the privileged. Tell all of the poor defendants who have been held in Rikers for over a year without a trial that they have due process.
> Much of the money is diffucult to recover by being tied up in byzantine arrangements of LLCs and overseas accounts Yet this reporter was able to assemble the trail from court documents. For every person creating Byzantine structures there are several adept at untangling them. > Tell all of the poor defendants who have been held in Rikers for over a year without a trial Not arguing that they aren’t getting an advant…
If we had a justice system, that $10.8 billion would be recoverable, and used to try to rehabilitate the victims. But we don't have a justice system. We have a legal system, and a financial system.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. Frédéric Bastiat
Are you referring to the fact that the Sackler family is all Jewish? Please cool it with the anti-semitism.
This family made billions as opium dealers whose impact has been seen nationwide. But since it was 'just business' they get to turn a blind eye to the impact.
I understood the quote to be a comment on the idea that once morality free enrichment becomes codified into law what would seem to be morally 'wrong' is justified and even looks 'good' since what they are doing is legal.
If we had a justice system, that $10.8 billion would be recoverable, and used to try to rehabilitate the victims. But we don't have a justice system. We have a legal system, and a financial system.
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it. Frédéric Bastiat
Outside the pandemic, we see oil companies and other manufactures move their operations overseas to countries without power or understanding that the earth is being pillaged, or that the big company is there because they don't have modern labor laws or laws that protect their environment.
Hell, the amount of beer cans on the side of the road in my suburban neighborhood and surrounding parks areas indicates that there's a portion of the population that can't handle not drinking and driving.
I wonder if this is specific to America/capitalism, but I don't really have a frame of reference for other cultures that champion values like community over the individual, following the rules, etc.
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>> Why don’t doctors unions throw out members who would claim to have been hoodwinked by pharmaceutical companies? Because of the...money? There is/was plenty for everyone.
Do doctors get paid more for prescribing one brand of medication vs another?
What this family did was pure evil, they should all be in jail not negotiating a settlement that will leave them financially secure and amongst the richest Americans. Imagine if this scenario played out in China.
They'll take a plea, say "aww gee sorry", and ride off into the sunset with billions. It's the American way.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> People with that kind of money can pay to scrub the internet. I'm sorry but this is so naive. Maybe true if you've got a bit of money and a little bit of notoriety, but I don't think that it would be possible to dissociate the Sacklers' name from the opioid crisis anytime soon.
I think you vastly overestimate the attention span of the public on this. If you asked 100 random people on the street who was behind the opioid crisis, I’d be shocked if 10 knew. You also don’t acknowledge how easy it is for the wealthy to hide their money via intermediary organizations and shell companies. It’s not like they absolutely have to donate using the Sackler name.
Never argued against that, and I don't disagree with that at all. But if someone cares to do even the bare minimum of research, it's easy to come up with the Sacklers. What I am arguing against is that the Sacklers will somehow be able to use their wealth to scrub Google et al of their association with OxyContin.
> It’s not like they absolutely have to donate using the Sackler name.
For folks like them, though, then what's the point? After a certain level of Midas-like wealth, the only point is societal standing and legacy. The Sacklers don't seem like the type of folks who are going to get inner joy by donating anonymously.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Much of the money is diffucult to recover by being tied up in byzantine arrangements of LLCs and overseas accounts. That's generally how the rich avoid paying taxes as well. We have due process for the privileged. Tell all of the poor defendants who have been held in Rikers for over a year without a trial that they have due process.
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