Who deserves Justice?

posted in: Life and things | 6
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You might recall a few blogs ago I wrote a review for ‘They all love Jack: Busting the Ripper by Bruce Robinson.

It’s a dense book, packed with names and details, and I’ve read it again to pick up the details I inevitably missed the first time. I’ve also dwelt on its themes and what I think it’s REALLY about. For me, that comes down to one word: JUSTICE. The fact that the book is about the Jack the Ripper murders is almost incidental. They are graphic, horrific, revolting events, but they almost pale in comparison with the way the killings were treated by the Establishment. Whether or not you accept Mister Robinson’s argument that Michael Maybrick, much-lauded icon of the Victorian musical world, was the Ripper, the author has in my opinion proved the case that the Ripper murders were parodies (if that is an appropriate word) of Freemasonic ritual. Jack was either a Freemason, or someone who knew more than he should about Freemasonry. Robinson argues that the identity of the murderer was deliberately covered up by the Metropolitan Police, and through its leadership (Sir Charles Warren), the political system to which it answered.

I could not help but feel that our current Establishment is not very different.

My mind kept returning to the cover-up of child abuse in institutions set up to care for children. Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals covered up for paedophile clerics, moving these predatory monsters from parish to parish to PROTECT THE CHURCH. Never mind the kids. I can imagine one of these bastards rubbing his hands with glee as he took up his post in a new parish. Ahahahaha new blood. The hypocrisy of the leadership of these organisations beggars belief. Never mind the men whose lives were ruined because, as eight-year-old boys, they were routinely buggered by a pervert. If they  complained to the hierarchy (as some did) they were  called liars, making things up. We must protect the good name of the Church. In 1888, it was never mind the disgusting low-born whores, (there are plenty more where they came from), we must protect the secret rituals of the Freemasons.

It’s not just the church. In our day, in Western society anyway, the church is not the mighty edifice it was in Victorian times. Now, large institutions rule the roost. Remember the deaths of thousands of poor Indians in the Bhopal gassing? The owners were convicted of negligence and effectively slapped on the wrist with a minimal fine and a few paltry criminal convictions. Or the tragic story of men working with asbestos who contracted mesothelioma. The dangers of asbestos and its link to cancer were well known, yet even now sufferers have to fight a company for a share of inadequate compensation. These days, of course, we have the other side of such cases of industrial mismanagement, as lawyers offer to make claims against offending companies.

Coming closer to home, what about the Global Financial Crisis? It happened because of the greed of moguls in Wall Street and other financial hubs. Governments paid billions (and more) to prop up teetering banks. The cascading effect ruined the aspirations of millions of people: ordinary people trying to buy a house, or small companies trying to earn a buck were bankrupted. Jobs disappeared, rents skyrocketed, superannuation funds lost money. Many, many people took their own lives. The losers were, inevitably, the little people. The people who created this debacle might have spent a sleepless night or two. Maybe. But their wealth and position in society remained unaffected. There are plenty of programs dissecting what happened in 2009. I need hardly add that nobody went to jail. Oh- I tell a lie. One person was charged with insider trading, I think. Only the Iceland Government had the balls to cancel the debts and charge the bankers.

Okay, I’d better get off the soapbox.

I’ll finish with one more aspect of Robinson’s book. He claims that Michael Maybrick murdered his brother, James, and framed James’s American wife, Florence, with the murder. Be that as it may, reading the details of this travesty of a trial is gut-wrenching. Once again, Robinson argues that it was in the interests of the establishment that Florence should be effectively silenced by being convicted of a murder that she did not commit. This perhaps foolish woman was lucky to escape the death penalty, but was sentenced to life in prison. She was released after fifteen years. Here’s a Wikipedia article about the case.

It’s not hard to find modern examples of where justice was meted out to the wrong person. The case of Darryl Beamish is just one. Another case more pertinent to the Establishment is that of the Birmingham Six, convicted of planting IRA bombings during the Irish terrorism of the seventies.

I guess in such cases as Beamish and the Irishmen, justice has finally prevailed. Unfortunately, the greedy bastards who caused the GFC won’t get their come-uppance.  Such a pity. And certain cardinals and bishops will escape justice, too – let alone the disgusting perverts whose deeds they covered up. Many of them have died, and presumably Rest in Peace. It’s one of the few times I regret my lack of religion. I’d like to imagine one of those priests fronting up at the Pearly Gates and getting his ticket for the elevator downstairs, where I hope he rots for all eternity.

Pretty pictures. I’m sure I’ve got some.

6 Responses

  1. Meredith Gurr

    I missed this, until now. I constantly find myself teetering on the edges of my much-used soap box, in grave danger of plummeting back to the real world, in fits of incandescent rage at this thing called justice. Who deserves justice? Well, everyone, of course. But I wouldn’t wish many of the current interpretations of justice on my worst enemy. What alarms me even more than miscarriages of justice — and I mean where the RIGHT thing has NOT been done — is the complacency and apathy of the masses in response to such outrages. Sure, some of us sign petitions or share stories on social media but collectively, we’re idle, unmotivated and NOT united. What was initially a positive sign of “we’re not gonna take this anymore” in the Occupy Wall Street movement, quickly fizzled out and became business as usual. I was astonished at the lack of support for a petition calling for the government to stop treating pensioners like shit and instead provide them with more reasonable means to comfortably support themselves through retirement. Having just turned 60, this whole targetting of the little people thing is getting even more scary. I’m left wondering what the rules will be when I reach the, at the moment, eligible retirement age of 67. It’s so depressing that although so many words have been written and spoken about society’s considerable shortcomings, we can’t or won’t unite, mobilise and make a sustained stand.

    Is love all you need? “It’s nice to have, as is peace, but it is not…Justice is all you need.” ~ Abbie Hoffman, 1987

    • Greta

      I understand what you’re saying. Honestly? I don’t think it will ever change. Every time we take a step in the right direction the people at the top of the pile get used to be up there and do what they can to keep it that way. And they have the power to make sure the status quo remains. This post listed a few, but there are many more.

      As for retirement – yes, ‘THEY’ are making it harder all the time. And it’s hard for older people to get jobs, so you’re caught between whichever two nasty options you care to name. Wish I had an answer.

  2. MonaKarel

    Throughout history too many have been considered irrelevant. When you read of old battles with ‘only’ ten dead, that number is for the knights and nobles since the foot soldiers and peasants were not considered important enough to count. The so-called ‘important’ people, whether clergy or nobility or just more wealthy, have expected and all too often received special treatment. They fought to retain their ‘special’ status no matter who was trampled beneath their feet. The problems with the church, and recycled clergy, have been particularly awful here.

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