Of course putting the mega thief Najib in jail is important to the people of Malaysia. To do it underpins the rule of law. To fail to do it validates the law of the jackal; scavenging where it can and from whom it can.

But there are larger issues in this 1MDB affair. Wherever one looks the past is murky with greed, crime, hate and selfishness. Leaders come and go, preaching their good intentions and, all too often, filling their pockets with other peoples’ money. Too numerous to list they are a stain on humanity and proof that mankind is not progressing towards a better life for all but rather perpetuating the law of the jungle.

As a new President takes office in the world’s most powerful country, put there by people who believe that he will break with the corrupt rule of the few, what better way to demonstrate the intention not just to better America but to bring order to a world stained by mega crime and ultra cynical dishonesty. Jailing one mega crook will not cure the ills of the world overnight. But it would make a start; a ready made start.

It would also show to the ruling elites everywhere that crime carries punishment and that it not just the street corner drug dealer who goes to jail but all criminals; irrespective of status. The mess that the world is now in did not happen by accident. It grew directly out of greed. Greed for money and greed for power, purchasable with money. So long as politicians, moguls, bankers and the like can do what they want with impunity they will go on doing so.

All too often the cry goes up “too big to fail” when mega banks are found with their hands in other pockets. No one and nothing is too big to fail. It may cause temporary hardship but the lesson is worth the pain. Financial crashes come and go but the moral imperative remains unchanged. We are civilised or we are nothing. We should remember that.