Reaper demands sacrifices

IT seems that a cabal of rogue geniuses has cobbled together the master plan of ultimate international financial terrorism to wage modern global warfare.

They have lined up the international dominoes on the debt mountain range in ascending order, to pick them off and topple them one at a time.

They launched their first attack on poor old Greece. Then they took out the little guys, Ireland and Portugal.

Next in the queue for the shock tactics are the bigger fish of Italy and Spain.

Last week, it was the turn of Battlestar America to rattle their begging bowl.

Thirty years ago we sowed the whirlwind of rolling over deficit budgets. Everyone borrowed from everybody else and nobody could repay anyone.

The reaper is now at our door demanding his pound of flesh.

It was morally wrong that a few greedy people grew infinitely rich at the expense of seven billion decent people mired in various levels of poverty on this planet.

It was an obscene concept to use money to make more money. Bubbles always burst. The world now cries out for a brave new financial order.

The nations of the earth must unite to outlaw cynical financial speculation on the foreign exchanges and feckless tactical transactions on the stock markets. Such activities subvert the very foundations of human society.

They amount to white-collar skullduggery at its flagrant worst. Legislators must act to reclassify them as criminal offences and crimes against humanity.

Just do it.

Michael Mernagh

Carrigaline

Co Cork