The Book of Thieves

The Book of Thieves

Stephanie C. Fox, J.D.

Bloomfield, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Copyright © November 2011 by Stephanie Carole Fox

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by QueenBeeBooks, Connecticut.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Name: Fox, Stephanie C., author.

Title: The Book of Thieves / Stephanie C. Fox.

Description: Connecticut: QueenBeeEdit Books, [2011].

Identifiers: ISBN 978-0-9996395-5-9 (paperback)

Subjects: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Banks & Banking. TRUE CRIME / General. LAW / Government / Federal.

www.queenbeeedit.com

Cover design by Stephanie C. Fox

Cover art by Stephanie C. Fox

Printed in the United States of America

Also by Stephanie C. Fox

The Bear Guarding the Beehive

Nae-Née

Birth Control: Infallible, with

Nanites and Convenience for All

Vaccine: The Cull

Nae-Née Wasn’t Enough

New World Order Underwater

The Nae-Née Inventors Strike Back

What the Small Gray Visitor Said

Elephant’s Kitchen

– An Aspergirl’s Study in Difference

Almost a Meal –

A True Tale of Horror

Scheherazade Cat:

The Story of a War Hero

An American Woman in Kuwait

Hawaiʻi – Stolen Paradise:

A Travelogue

Hawaiʻi – Stolen Paradise:

A Brief History

This story is dedicated to the next generation of citizens

in the hope that they will take their country back, and keep it.

I wish that the previous generations had thought ahead more on their behalf.

Table of Contents

The Tale of the Thieves

The Land of Oblivion

The Loophole

The Tools of Thievery

The Trustee

The National Casino

The Banksters

The Codification

The Key Holder

The Dealers

The Obliterated

The Observers

The Sudden Flushing Sound

The People Who Wouldn’t Pay Attention

The Moral without Morale

Appendix: The Menu

Appendix A: The Want Ad

Appendix B: The Flash Cure

Appendix C: The Bedtime Story Ending

The Tale of the Thieves

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I will tell you the story of how a great country lost its security.

There once was a great country with people, leaders...and thieves.

The people did not notice the thieves, and the leaders did not see that the thieves were thieves, because the thieves were called by other names.

The thieves had labels that made them seem benign and respectable, such as bankers, brokers, investors, corporate attorneys, and other such titles. The thieves handled money, and most of it belonged not to them, but to the people.

The thieves knew that it wasn’t their own money, but they did their best to control as much of it as they could, and to keep as much of it as they could for as long as they could. The thieves also worked hard to find ways to take money away from people and to never, ever give it back to them. After all, that is what makes them thieves.

The people did not notice what was happening until it was too late, because they had a great system of laws that applied to the thieves and to themselves. They thought that this would be enough. But it wasn’t enough, because laws need honest people to make sure that they are followed and not eroded with lots of little conflicting rules and regulations.

No system sits on its own, taking care of itself, no matter how well written it is.

It took a while for the people to realize this.

Meanwhile, the thieves had a wonderful time.

The name of the country is Oblivion, and its people are the Oblivious.

The characters in this tale are: The Banksters, the Dealers, the Trustee, the Key Holder, the Obliterated, the Observers, the Assembly, the High Court Judges, and the Chief.

Together, their actions and inactions, their crimes and carelessness, ruined Oblivion.

None of this is new; it has happened to other nations in the past, and will happen again.

It happens because some people are greedy criminals, and others don’t pay attention.

This is an alarming tale, perhaps too frightening for children. Then again, perhaps not...

It is a cautionary tale, and cautionary tales are exactly what children should be told.

The Land of Oblivion

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The Land of Oblivion was a huge, beautiful country. It stretched across an entire continent, and had many different climates, landscapes, species of plants and animals, and fish. It had mountains and plains, forests and deserts, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and waterfalls.

Many of these beautiful places were set aside, not to be built upon, and called parks. The people of Oblivion went to the parks when they wanted to see and hear and smell nature, and to enjoy the quiet, away from the ambient light of buildings,