A Rich Man's World

There weren't that many orgies, apparently.  Well, according to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn, that is.  He recently claimed, in evidence to the French court where he is on trial for pimping, that he only attended twelve sex parties in three years.  Well, that's all right then. I mean, an average of four orgies a year isn't in any way excessive is it?  The stuff coming out of this trial is yet more evidence, if any were needed, that the excessively wealthy of this world live on another planet to the rest of us.  It also indicates that isn't just a disproportionate share of the world's wealth they've accumulated, but also a disproportionate amount of the globe's sexual activity.  I mean, it's clear that Strauss Kahn hasn't just had his share of sex, but mine too - along with the population of a small country's share on top of that. 

Of course, Strauss Kahn first hit the world's headlines a few years ago when he was accused of raping a maid in a New York hotel, whilst he was still with the IMF.  Whilst, ultimately, all charges against him were dropped, the concerted smear campaign mounted against the maid in the press was astounding, clearly designed to discredit her before any possible trial.  Although the maid apparently admitted lying in her evidence to the Grand Jury (she actually claimed that she had been mistranslated whilst giving evidence), it is notable that Strauss Kahn subsequently came to an out of court settlement with her in order to head off her civil action against him.  Not that doing so is evidence of his guilt.  But it is worth noting the number of subsequent claims of rape made against him - I can't help but feel that if was a 1970s British TV personality rather than a vastly wealthy businessman, he'd be the subject of a major police investigation by now.  That said, he is now on trial for pimping.  Anyway, the fact remains that he was accused of rape whilst in charge of the IMF, which surely completely undermines the 'austerity' economic policies it advocates and imposes on nations borrowing from it.  I mean, I'm damned if I'll be lectured to on economic policy by an organisation once headed by an alleged sex offender.