Shame on them

Posted on

Do the far right have no shame? This from Bob Bauman of the Sovereign Society:

[A]s the more observant well know, the bogeyman concept can be used metaphorically to demonize persons, whole groups, or things in a conscious effort to promote irrational fears in the minds of the less informed.

Thus the Jews became Hitler's bogeyman -- and in the world of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, the leftist media and big spending politicians such as U.S. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), "offshore" is a major bogeyman.

I have been pretty shocked by what I consider the callousness of some commentators on this blog of late, but Bauman's analogy is straightforwardly offensive to the Jews and those of us who campaign against tax havens. Perhaps though that supports my thesis that those from the Right are deliberately seeking to use language that excludes mainstream commentators from this debate.

The Jews were not Hitler's bogeymen. He pursued a psychopathic campaign to kill them. This was an irrational hatred. The world has rightly respected the Jews for their suffering, condemned Hitler and the fascist logic that permitted this and no one but a fool uses the analogy because of the sheer shocking terror of what happened.

Bauman has no such compunction. The leftish media (of which he has labelled this blog a part in his time) and others are doing four thing when we oppose the abuse perpetrated from tax havens:

1) We are seeking to uphold the rule of law because whilst some activity that takes place in secrecy jurisdictions is legal, much is not

2) We are opposing the deliberate undermining of the law of one state by the deliberate actions of another, actions only possible because of the existence of the official veil of secrecy those places also provide with the deliberate intent of facilitating these acts of economic aggression

3) In the process we are supporting the democratic process which is the best bastion we have for preventing fascist rule ever emerging again

4) We are opposing the financial instability to which tax havens have made such a significant contribution.

I am sickened that seeking to uphold the society we live in can be compared to genocide. And I'll be honest: it is my anger at comments such as this from Bauman that drives me to continue this campaign. Time and again supporters of tax havens offer far right opinion; opinion always aimed at creating division in society through exploitation. If being left wing means wishing to create the greatest possible opportunity for all, then I accept I'm left wing although I'd call that common decency. Either way, I know that the far right opposes it, that they do support tax havens, that many in tax havens welcome that support and see it as helpful to their cause, and as such it is an unfortunate fact that this thinking seems to fairly reflect the division in society that tax havens are used to promote. That is an increasing division between rich and poor, those with and those without which I think fundamentally harmful to human life and dignity. So, yes, I agree our opposition to tax havens is political as well.

But to compare our action in support of human dignity with Hitler's act of genocide is beyond the pale.

I hope Bauman has the decency to apologise.


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