At The Hands Of The Robber Barons

A Short Film By Keith Dion, Jay Stokes

Pablo Vazquez

For 3:05 AM Films Ltd In Association With LHF Productions

Though a century has passed since the apparent heyday of the great industrialists and financiers, debate continues: were these men great captains of industry, or were they criminal robber barons?

Has Anything Changed ?

Where do we draw the line between unfair business practices and unscrupulous competition?

The Robber Barons: The Architects of Economic Collapse

The Robber Barons is a pejorative term used to describe the powerful 19th century American businessmen who fleeced the public and cut a wide and

destructive path of greed across North American and world society. By the 1890s the term was used to attack any businessman who used questionable practices to

become wealthy at the expense of others. It combines the sense of criminal “robber" and illegitimate aristocracy "baron".

By October of 2008 it was Déjà vu all over again, with corporations who were too

to fail and too big to jail bringing the world global financial system to the brink, and

then reaping the rewards with taxpayer bailouts and mega million dollar bonuses,

while record home foreclosures and unemployment rates rocked the nation

The October 2008 financial meltdown was not the result of a cyclical economic

phenomenon, but was premeditated and is the most serious economic crisis in World

history. The "bailout" proposed by the US Treasury does not constitute a "solution"

to the crisis. In fact quite the opposite: it is the cause of further collapse. It triggers an

unprecedented concentration of wealth, which in turn contributes to widening

economic and social inequalities both within and between nations.

Ironically, the Wall Street banks --which are the recipients of the bailout money - are also the

brokers and underwriters of the public debt, and in a bitter twist, the banks are the recipients of a

$700+ billion dollar handout at the same time they act as creditors to the US govt.

We are dealing with an absurd circular relationship: To finance the bailout, Washington must borrow from the banks, which are the recipients of the

taxpayer bailout. What an arrangement!

Federal, State and municipal governments are increasingly in a straightjacket, under the tight

control of the global financial conglomerates, with these creditors calling the shots on government

financial reform. This is known as conflict of interest and is outright criminal behavior. This is

the story of the modern era Robber Barons.