As we have all seen, many of the people most responsible for the US and world economic recession have not served a day in jail nor paid one penny in fines. This hasn't happened because hardly ANY of them have been charged with a crime! Consequently, they continue to play Russian Roulette with the financial and physical lives of others, while being paid astronomical sums.
Tim DeChristopher didn't lead the world toward financial ruin. He doesn't work on Wall Street nor in the boardrooms of Corporate America. He hasn't illegally foreclosed on anyone's home and he hasn't speculated on the commodities most of the poor in this world depend on. DeCristopher was merely a college student moved to perform an act of civil disobedience based on his belief that certain governmental and corporate acts are hastening our mad dash toward irrevocable climate change.
What vile act did he commit?
This case offers a clear indication of justice in America. Amoral corporations are allowed to rape and pillage the American people and landscape with impunity, yet few face ANY legal charges and, in those rare cases in which the government decides to come down on one here and there, they receive tepid wrist slaps and meager fines. On the other side of the ledger, a college student acting out of a sense of moral indignation is thrown in jail and hit with a significant fine.
And there is another aspect to this story that should make us proud of Tim DeChristopher. While corporate execs hide behind the rock of plausible deniability and rarely, if ever, admit to any degree of wrongdoing, DeChristopher never denied his actions. Whether you agree or disagree with what he did, he should be given his props for standing tall. More importantly, while others commit acts that injure or kill others, his act was symbolic and in no way injured anyone.
Tim DeChristopher makes me proud to call myself an American and a tree-hugger!
Tim DeChristopher didn't lead the world toward financial ruin. He doesn't work on Wall Street nor in the boardrooms of Corporate America. He hasn't illegally foreclosed on anyone's home and he hasn't speculated on the commodities most of the poor in this world depend on. DeCristopher was merely a college student moved to perform an act of civil disobedience based on his belief that certain governmental and corporate acts are hastening our mad dash toward irrevocable climate change.
What vile act did he commit?
As Bidder No 70 [at a government auction], DeChristopher disrupted what was seen as a last giveaway to the oil and gas industry by the Bush administration by bidding $1.8m (£1.1m) he did not have for the right to drill in remote areas of Utah.In an ironic twist, "The Obama administration later canceled most of the sales, because of doubts about Bush's leasing plan," but the cancellations certainly didn't stop the government from prosecuting him. Yesterday, he was found guilty of an attempt to defraud the government. He was sentenced to two years in prison plus he was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
This case offers a clear indication of justice in America. Amoral corporations are allowed to rape and pillage the American people and landscape with impunity, yet few face ANY legal charges and, in those rare cases in which the government decides to come down on one here and there, they receive tepid wrist slaps and meager fines. On the other side of the ledger, a college student acting out of a sense of moral indignation is thrown in jail and hit with a significant fine.
And there is another aspect to this story that should make us proud of Tim DeChristopher. While corporate execs hide behind the rock of plausible deniability and rarely, if ever, admit to any degree of wrongdoing, DeChristopher never denied his actions. Whether you agree or disagree with what he did, he should be given his props for standing tall. More importantly, while others commit acts that injure or kill others, his act was symbolic and in no way injured anyone.
Tim DeChristopher makes me proud to call myself an American and a tree-hugger!
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