Captain Jack Sparrow on the basic philosphies of the United States Government

Remember that post I made about 60 Minutes? Interestingly enough, the story continues...

Recently, (and by recently I mean within the last 6 months), the EPA and ICE teamed up to raid the recycling company here in Englewood. The government apparently either took notice of the 60 Minutes lead or had their own, and eventually found grounds for raiding his storehouse as "part of an ongoing investigation," according to an EPA spokeswoman. He promised to have the electronics recycled safely in the United States. But 1 of 8 tracked boxes ended up in Hong Kong - how many more may have been dumped there unrecorded? Because the investigation is ongoing, there isn't much information being released. But something is happening.

This leaves me sitting with a few emotions, one of which is confusion. I met the guy who owns Executive Recycling (the owner of the company in question) - he seemed nice enough. Like the kind of guy who is married to a beautiful woman and buys his little s the big lollipops at the store just because he loves them. Like the kind of guy who's honest in his business and his personal life, somebody who enjoys movie nights at home with his family as much as he enjoys watching football on his boy's night out. He spent the day at the site helping us load and unload, when he took a break he brought back water for everyone, he offered to help pay for the pizza we ordered for lunch. He was helpful, kind, and seemed like a good guy - not the kind of guy to go dumping toxic waste materials in Hong Kong intentionally.

But it's things like this that make me wonder - was it an honest mistake? A malicious and intentional business scheme to get ahead, with complete disregard for anyone else? By whom? Or is the government looking in the wrong place? In a large and complex chain such as this, who is to be held accountable, and to what defree? And, is that one mistake (malicious in intent or not) enough to condemn a man to a federal court? Enough to ruin his buisiness, tarnish his reputation, make his family wonder about his integrity and honesty?

In recently watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, a line that I'd never paid much attention to stuck out... It goes as follows:

(After Jack has rescued Elizabeth and been discovered as a pirate, and Norrington orders his arrest)

Norrington: One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness.

Jack : Though it seems enough to condemn him.

Why is it that the government seems to operate on the fundamental theory that humans are bad and are going to make mistakes? It seems that we have made so many provisions for the "bad" people, the ones who or abuse, who are dishonest and filthy, who degrade society either by their presence or their actions. Granted, there are people who are "bad" - pathological killers or repeat child abusers. People like the Nixon, who knowingly lied to get his way, people like Madoff who intentionally and knowingly lied to make more money than any one person could ever need. But it seems that much of our court system is overflowing with people who cannot be classified as "bad". It seems unfair that one poor choice, one poor association, even, is enough to condemn a man to a lifetime of unfair consequences. The government does not take into account all the wonderful things this man may have done over the course of his lifetime - perhaps bringing his neighbor food after he had knee surgery, putting his extra change in a donation bucket, smiling at the homeless man across the street and offering him the leftovers from the restaruant. Perhaps this man is a good man, a kind and gentle man, who simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. We expect people to do the hard thing, the good thing, without reward or notice. But when they take one misstep - just one - everything they know, everything they've worked for seems to fall apart. Is that really how we want our society to work - that for one wrong deed, we can conclude that the person is bad and they deserve to be punished?

There's an interesting quote I read in "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten", which reads as follows:

You will continue to read stories of crookedness and corruption - of policemen who lie and steal, doctors who reap where they do not sew, politicians on the take. Don't be misled. They are news because they are the exceptions.

I'd much rather think that people can make honest mistakes. I'd like to think that, just as Jack Sparrow ultimately proves to be a "good" man, so too, do most people in this world. I'd like to offer people second chances. I'd like to take faith that people are, indeed good, and they simply go unnoticed. But often, society will not let me.