Final Word from Friday, February 25, 2011
Czechs who still think the corrupt environment they live in is somehow specialshould read Rolling Stones' "Why isn't Wall Street in jail?" or watch the recent documentary"Inside Job" from Charles Ferguson. They use slightly different languageto get their point across, but the message is the same, "Everything's fucked up, andnobody goes to jail." And the reason, they state, is that those who "tried to burn theworld economy to the ground" are protected by the very system supposedly meant topunish them. The other message is that this is a global phenomenon, or at least oneafflicting the Western world. The late 20th and early 21st centuries, as we've arguedbefore, are the era of the globalization of corruption. How else could Appian/Škodawin multibillion-crown no-bid contracts to provide faulty or overpriced rolling stockand receive the blessing of the EU in the form of hefty subsidies for the buyers?
Glossary of difficult words
inside job - a crime committed by or with the assistance of someone living or working on the premises where the crime took place;
fucked up - (vulgar, but very commonly used) messed up, perverted, distorted;
to afflict - to cause pain or suffering to; to affect or trouble;
no-bid - without a competitive bidding process;
faulty - working badly or unreliably because of imperfections;
rolling stock - locomotives, carriages, wagons, or other vehicles used on a railroad, including tram vehicles;
hefty - impressively large in size or number.