Our Wicked Cheating Hearts (standard:Editorials, 1852 words)
Author: J P St. Jullian	Added: Feb 25 2003	Views/Reads: 3752/2392	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Is mutual cheating the foundation of our social future?

Our Wicked, Cheating Hearts 

by 

St. Jullian 

What are some of the possible reasons that people cheat, in general? I
don't mean cheat men and women cheating on their spouses, I mean the 
gainful kind of cheating that's done by trickery and swindling, with 
the end result designed to deprive others of their wealth.  With mutual 
cheating being so rampant, will it be the foundation of our future 
society? 

When we stop, take a breath and look at the world around us, the REAL
world I mean, the picture many of us see in the reality of our society 
is an unclear one.  Of course, we all won't see the same picture.  
Exactly what you see will depend on many factors-----factors that 
include economics, ethnicity, morality (or not),  how you think, your 
philosophy on life in general, and a hundred others. 

This country is always experiencing some kind of social upheaval.  In
the past few years Americans have experienced the Enron scandal, price 
fixing in the art world by a former Sotherby's employee, the suspension 
of  a Pulitzer Prize winner from his job at a prestigious College over 
a fabrication charge, plagiarism by two imminent American Historians, 
Martha Stewart is implicated in unfair trading practices, the problem 
priest scandal in the church, corporate America's “dead peasant” 
scandal, a would be Notre Dame coach whose coaching career was halted 
for a while because he lied on a resume and you can take your pick of 
all the others.  These are just a few cases of dishonesty and cheating 
that came to light and made national and international news.  I shudder 
when I think that these are not even the tip of the iceberg in reality, 
for greed is not limited to just a few.  And if we venture into the 
hallowed halls of government what hidden corruptions will we find? 

Corruption, deceit and fraud are unveiled in the Social Security
Administration's contractual state agencies, the Disability 
Determination Services (DDS), which make all initial and 
Reconsideration Social Security disability benefits decisions.  I 
learned that an average of 85% of the medical "facts" named in the 
denial letters issued by DDS are false.  Is this merely a simple matter 
of incompetence?  Or is it done by design in order to discourage as 
many claimants as possible from appealing their denials?  Could it be 
that some DDS Directors have their own personal agendas and political 
goals which they use their offices to further?  Are they really 
interested in than giving quality service to the Americans who pay 
their salaries, or just being politically correct? 

The Fall of Enron and its subsequent bankruptcy may well be the largest
scandal in the history of American business and politics. The whole 
moral of this sad story is plain and simple.  It's greed. Everything 
that happened took place because executives, accountants, investment 
bankers, lawyers and what have you, wanted to make as much money as 
possible as fast as possible.  They didn't care who got sacrificed on 
the altar of greed as long as they profited. 

Let's not forget the pharmaceutical industry.  Most grassroots,
stay-at-home solid citizens of America have no idea that many of the 
drugs sold in this country by American drug companies are sold overseas 
at a fraction of the price we pay. The exact same drugs, but at far 
lower prices!  Many of the same drugs sold in America by prescription 
only, can be purchased over the counter in many European countries for 
pennies on the dollar while the American people continue to pay what is 
by far, the highest prescription drug prices in the world! 

How about corporate America and the “dead peasant” or “dead janitor”
insurance policies?  Wal-Mart, Winn Dixie, and Procter and Gamble, to 
name a few, have taken out lucrative insurance policies on their rank 
and file employees for years, many without the knowledge of the insured 
person.  Many of these policies stayed in force even after the insured 
person changed jobs and left the company! When the insured died, these 
corporate giants collected the premiums, not the insured person's 
family.  Congress and the federal government has now stepped in and is 
attempting to fix the problem, but it never should have been allowed in 
the first place. 


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