'Moneychangers in the Temple'

[col. writ. 3/7/09]
(c) '09 Mumia Abu-Jamal

For readers of the Bible's New Testament, few stories illustrate the anger of Jesus of Nazareth better than that of his expulsion of the moneychangers from the Temple, for they had, in his words, turned it into a "den of thieves." *

This event is memorable for it shows him not speaking in anger, but acting. Some artists have depicted him actually whipping moneychangers out of the Temple as they flee amidst chaos.

That imagery was borrowed several millennia later when American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt made his famous "Fear Itself" inaugural address. As the country fell under the deep freeze of depression, Roosevelt spoke words that were recognized by many of that age when he said, "....[T]he rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous moneychangers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men."

Roosevelt continued: "The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit."

Those words were spoken on Jan. 20, 1933.

That was 76 years ago, and once again, the 'rulers of the exchange of mankind's goods' have failed, and the nation is ripped by the icy chains of depression. Yeah -- I said depression, for just six months ago the president assured the country that the state of the economy was 'sound', even as the nation was locked in a recession for the better part of the year.

If it ain't a depression, it's a dime's distance away from it.

But this ain't '33.

The money changers who steered the economy onto the rocks haven't admitted defeat. They are making more money -- indeed, they are given taxpayer's money -- as they burn through more.

The more they lose, the more they want.

These moneychangers aren't being whipped out of the temple -- they're given bigger tables!

Look at AIG, Goldman-Sachs, Citigroup --not just mo' money, but mo', mo' and even mo' money!

Because, in the eyes of Washington and the Federal Reserve, they're 'too big to fail.'

Under that illogic, they will swallow the moon -- and get bigger, while the nation's economy worsens by the hour.

This ain't a 'den of thieves', it's a Temple of thieves, where the banks have stolen the wealth of millions on the front end, only to loot the treasury on the back end. They are getting paid for sacking the economy -- and the only thing these politicians can say is, "want more?"

--(c) '09 maj

[Sources: *Bible, New Testament chapters: St. Matt. 21:12-13; St. Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46 {KJV) ].