cullar
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them losing their life's savings, a real sociopath. He was giving the money of new investors to the old investors with phony statements so they thought he was a miracle worker. There were suspicions about him 10 years ago, and no one did anything about it. If I were him, I'd watch my back. |
Praise
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Those who steal thousands are treated as we expect criminals to be treated. Those who steal millions are treated like minor nobility. Those who steal billions . . . are treated like captured enemy heads of state used to be treated, before the world traded aristocracies for various democratic and republican schemes.
The United States doesn’t have a formally recognized caste system. But anyone who thinks we don’t have an informal one hasn’t been paying attention. The more you have (in political power and/or monetary wealth), the better you’re treated. Or, in the case of those who get in trouble, the more you recently had, or were thought to have had.
In reality, when Madoff’s affairs are untangled, and the little funds remaining are divided among the investors, there will probably be several thousand deaths attributable to his scam. Not directly, but things like "If we had the money, he coulda had the operation/wouldn’t have been working the night shift at a gas station that’s robbed every other month/wouldn’t have been working that second job and skipping his meds." People who suddenly lose large sums of money are often forced into desperate actions that expose them to dangers they’re not competent to handle. Assuming he continues to cooperate with the government, he won’t be punished for any of that; other than the length of a sentence, he’ll be treated as if he was a serial jaywalker, rather than someone who swiped, and then lost, the equivalent of the life savings of everyone in California.
It’s not fair, but it’s how the system works. Those who steal with a gun or a knife are locked in cages like animals. Those who steal with a smile and a contract harm far more people, but are treated gently. |
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