Word: socialist
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...charges came from George Koskotas, 34, imprisoned owner of the Bank of Crete and onetime crony of the ruling elite of the Socialist Party (PASOK). Koskotas, now a fugitive from Greece, is accused of looting his bank of more than $210 million. In jail in Massachusetts and facing extradition, Koskotas told TIME that much of the missing money was used to make regular payoffs to PASOK officials...
...Female," "person" and "human being" also fail as substitutes. While they each have their time and place, their repeated use belies the precision that supposedly characterizes articulate speech. It is virtually impossible to say, for example, "This human being was wearing a paisley dress and shouting socialist slogans" without sounding a wee bit awkward...
...Koskotas accusations are extraordinary, though difficult to verify. In six lengthy prison interviews with TIME, the banker describes a Socialist government riddled by extortion and criminality. Koskotas charges that millions of dollars missing from his bank were actually payoffs that went directly to the head of the government, Andreas Papandreou, and PASOK officials. The Prime Minister, says the banker, personally authorized the plan to loot the Bank of Crete. Koskotas describes as well his own illegal complicity in the huge swindle, one that involves enormous sums hard to account for adequately...
...maybe there are some things money just shouldn't be allowed to buy, sensibly or otherwise. Socialist philosopher Michael Walzer added flesh to this ancient skeleton of sentiment in his 1983 book, Spheres of Justice. Walzer argued that a just society is not necessarily one with complete financial equality -- a hopeless and even destructive goal -- but one in which the influence of money is not allowed to dominate all aspects of life. By outlawing organ sales, you are indeed keeping the insidious influence of money from leaching into a new sphere and are thereby reducing the power of the rich...
...grim trade in living people's kidneys would not be necessary if more people would voluntarily offer their kidneys (and other organs) when they die. Another socialist philosopher, Richard Titmuss, wrote a famous book two decades ago called The Gift Relationship, extolling the virtues of donated blood over purchased blood and, by extension, the superiority of sharing over commerce. Whatever you may think of Titmuss's larger point, the appeal of the blood-donor system as a small testament to our shared humanity is undeniable. Perhaps we should do more to encourage organ donation at death for the same reason...