July 14, 2007 ... Even more dangerous than the guys who drove a Jeep Cherokee into Glasgow airport.

When Islamist extremists drove a Jeep Cherokee at the entry doors to Glasgow airport in an attempt to set off explosives in the terminal’s entrance and kill and mutilate as many as possible, they were acting on the basis of adherence to ideological dogma without the support of the state. Whilst their attack would have had catastrophic consequences for those it was directed towards, the effects would have been limited to the locale.

On the other hand, when Conrad Black was convicted of supposedly high crimes and misdemeanours, the conviction was based on an ideology with state support, broadly backed by the public. This ideology is that businesses are run for the benefit of Stakeholders and not the owners of the business. This is to diminish the distinction between what is public and what is private, a vital component in the politically motivated drive towards convincing the public that the false principle of human rights as a substitute for property rights, is valid. By comparison, we only have to consider the way that fiat-money has become accepted as a valid substitute for gold and the gold-standard as the basis for sound money, and the subsequent consequences.

Conrad Black’s crimes are essentially that, as the owner of Hollinger International, he did not put the shareholders-cum-Stakeholders’ interests ahead of his own interests, and was therefore guilty of obstructing political expediency supported by contrived laws with a basis in human rights, not property rights. Such law cannot be just, and if such unjust law is permitted to persist and flourish, we may as well save the Islamists the trouble, and introduce Shariah law, without delay.