Letters

We all lose when morality fails

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TBO.com
Published: November 12, 2011

This week a horrifying story from Penn State Collage came to light. The events of this story are so disturbing I won't even go into the detail's here.

The fact that all this happen many years ago makes this even worse. The whole incident sheds light on a major problem here in America and I would assume all over the world. Protecting ones assets at the expense of others.

First off, if you were walking down the street and came across a woman being assaulted in an alley, what would you do? Yell, call the police or maybe beat the attacker senseless.

I believe that in this situation most of us would do something. I also know that if I walked into a room and witnessed a boy being attacked, I wouldn't go home and call my father about what to do. I am not going to give this witness the benefit of the doubt because obviously the child wasn't afforded the same.

When after telling my boss what happened and he didn't call the police, I sure would have. What this incident screams to me is inaction on the part of the witness and his superiors to protect their jobs and standing — also inaction on the part of the university to protect its image and financial support.

I give no quarter to anyone involved in this incident. From the university leadership, through the head coach and on down to the witness. All are guilty of not reporting a crime.

To me this whole incident, and others similar to it, is the reason so many Americans are extremely upset with corporate America — trading people's lives for more money. Not just some wealth but mega wealth. I don't have a problem with a business entity making a profit. When the cost for that profit is the rape of a child, we all loose — period. To destroy a person life for no other reason than profit is wrong.

To hide an incident like this to protect the university's reputation is wrong. If they would have confronted this issue immediately, they would have come out of this a hero, but instead they sided with the money and everyone loses. How many more children have to be raped by a major institution in this country before we the people say enough is enough? How many more lives have to be ruined so corporate bigwigs can put more money in their pockets?

Our government and corporate America have been partners from day one. Where our government saw opportunity, corporate America made it happen and they split the profits.

A little over 140 years ago our government sponsored the decimation of the Native Americans. Why? So capitalists could move in, make a profit and share that profit with our government. Slavery was nothing more than a way to make higher profits without having to pay someone for their work. Not so different than outsourcing labor to a third-world sweatshop, where men, women and children labor long hours for sometimes pennies a day.

Slavery was legal in its day, as were the murders of Native Americans, all justified by classifying the victims as subhuman. The morality issue of the Civil War cost America more than 600,000 lives. Millions of Native Americans lost their lives because of money. How many Chinese and Irish were exploited during the building of the American railway system? How many innocent women and children died in the Middle East, causalities of a war most Americans want out of?

Several of the people involved in the Penn State incident were cleared legally. I'm sure the victims can take solace in that. It is obviously clear that here in America we have a major problem with what is legally right and what is morally right. Was it morally right to sell loans that you know the buyer can't afford to repay? To accept a loan that you know you can't afford?

I believe that the majority of Americans try to live their lives morally correct, which is why we are horrified by the Penn State tragedy. With all the information that is made available today, at the touch of a finger, we are better informed than ever before in history.

The immorality of corporate American is nothing new, just better coverage. The real question is what do we do with all this great information we cull from the Internet and other news sources? Do we turn a blind eye like they did to the Native Americans? Do we justify it legally like we did to the Africans? Do we clear our conscious by saying we met our legal obligation?

The Occupy Movement has hit the nail on the head on one very important issue — the immorality of not just corporate America but our government's role in enabling it and sharing in its blood money.

Eugene O'Reilly

Weeki Wachee