Monsters in Our Midst

            It doesn’t take much to find a case of corruption or greed nowadays. For how long this rock has been spinning, you’d think that these “Scrooge” characters would eventually be weeded out with the rest. However, this monster still thrives in modern society, it has just donned a new outer shell. They hide among the rest like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, appearing to be upstanding citizens. The true monster is the one that strikes you where you are most vulnerable and least expect it, and that is the mantra of the corrupt nowadays. These monsters seem to create themselves, fueled by their own corrupt, selfish desire. The two most blatant examples of this monstrous greed are the cases of Volkswagen and FIFA. By cheating emissions tests, Volkswagen executives proved that they would rather cheat their way into getting a higher margin and poison the environment, then simply abide by the regulations as given. Also, FIFA officials will take millions in “alleged” bribes, endanger their players by sending them to play in one of the hottest places on earth, and then oversee the borderline slave labor production of the stadiums that are to result in thousands of worker deaths. You cannot write this stuff nowadays without it seeming fake or contrived and that’s what makes this so discouraging. How can people like those at FIFA and Volkswagen exist to tear down their humanity for a little more money in their pocket? Money/currency is something we as a society created and it seems to have become a beast that infects the minds of everyone with ideas of excess. It is difficult to see which one is the true monster, the corrupt people or the money that corrupts them. We as a society would like to look back on the corruption and exploitation of labor from history with disdain and contempt, believing we are better now. However, we cannot deny that these same monsters are still in our midst, they just have a different appearance.