Swimming with Sharks and Equality Vigilantes

By Justin Poythress - Posted at Reformation21:

Thieves are typically pegged under one of two caricatures. The first is the burglar ruffian who picks your pocket, breaks into your car, or steals your Amazon package. The second is the white-collar fat cat, embezzling from his employees and clients or pulling the strings of a Ponzi scheme. Both are met with public condemnation, and both are hunted by the emblems of justice (i.e. the local police and the FBI).

But what about the systemic, institutionally protected forms of robbery? These are forms of legal theft which break no laws, yet distort principles of just ownership. The motives and methods behind such thefts vary. Some prey upon the “haves,” others upon the “have-nots”—yet both are committing nothing short of swindling, depriving others to build themselves up.

Sharks and Minnows

We can see theft happening in the ecosystem of “Economic Sharks.” In true Darwinian style, these sharks prey upon the weak and poor — those who have few resources and little recourse. Often the sharks pose as those who wish to help and lend a hand — but the hand they offer holds a handcuff. They let the little fish swim right up to them, and then swallow them whole.

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