The business of murder is one of the biggest operations in the entire world, hiding not so discreetly behind the facades of so-called "legitimate"companies. Doubt me? Take a look at some of the rapper Jay-Z's lyrics that infamously brag about funneling his street drug money into, say, white music companies that exist safely overseas in Norway. Recently, a salacious story broke here that the film "Wolf of Wall Street" was actually financed by a criminal's capital (http://www.wsj.com/articles/malaysias-1mdb-the-secret-money-behind-the-wolf-of-wall-street-1459531987), which surprises business-savvy New Yorkers, like, not at all. Where do you think movies get millions of dollars to create big splashy films? The American Red Cross? Uh, hell, no. Not enough of a return on one's investment for curing cancer.
And so, when American actor Sean Penn found himself unwittingly caught in the middle of an international drug bust for the notorious drug cartel leader "El Chapo" (https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/01/13/the-drug-cartel-that-protected-sean-penn-also-terrorizes-mexican-journalists/), we were also rather nonplussed about the connection. I mean, actors are people famous for doing eyelash thickening ads for pharmaceutical companies in between precious t.v. and film gigs, like the movie "Lost in Translation" deftly explores (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Translation_%28film%29). Overseas, we're all just so much American capital to foreign investors, ya dig?
On this Friday, I want us all to think about changing the conversation and the way we think about business forever. My father always used to tell me about "the banality of evil" that was run by so many average white guys in rumpled business suits commuting to-and-from their Midtown offices every single day of the week. We like to pretend that the business behind killing is something glamorous and fun like the movies would have us believe, but when was the last time a murderous criminal fronting the money for such skewed films told you the truth? They may have their conduits to the public's imagination, but so do we. I have all of you.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/feb/18/worlds-top-firms-environmental-damage
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1662817/infographic-of-the-day-the-worlds-most-environmentally-damaging-industries
