Papiss Cissé and Wonga

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Image representing Wonga as depicted in CrunchBase
Image via CrunchBase
A few days ago a story broke around a Newcastle United football player called Papiss Cissé who refused to wear the Newcastle strip as it displayed their new sponsor's logo. The new sponsor being Wonga, the infamous scummy payday loan company.

Cissé's stand is apparently being taken on religious and ethical grounds. Religious in that his Islamic faith frowns upon usury (lending money at interest, and at at up to 5,835% Wonga needs frowning upon). And ethical/religious in that those who suffer at the hands of these companies and also fill the coffers of these parasites are the poor and unfortunate, classes of people who deserve protection in any faith worth it's salt.

So I applaud  Cissé's stand on this. If only our political masters had some backbone like him. But of course they haven't, all the leadership and backers of the main political parties are enmeshed with the parasitic capitalists and see nothing wrong with the poor being fleeced.

However it's sad to see the media trying to knock Cissé's stand on this by conflating his apparent attendance at a casino. Somehow this proves the hypocrisy of Cissé and nullifies the stance he's taken. I think it just shows how low the media will go to support their class backers.

Cissé going to a casino is in no way similar to endorsing a payday loan company. He will answer for what he does according to his faith, but he certainly isn't leading the poor up the garden path. Siding with a payday loan company is encouraging the poor to place themselves more and more in debt and heap extra misery upon their shoulders.

I know what's worse.

Cissé gets my vote and support.

Authored by Chris Hall

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