Comments on: Goodbye, Bernie. Maybe something good will come out of this http://trueslant.com/claudiadeutsch/2009/06/29/some-musings-as-we-await-madoffs-fate/ Interpreting business news from a psychological and societal perspective Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:04:17 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Claudia Deutsch http://trueslant.com/claudiadeutsch/2009/06/29/some-musings-as-we-await-madoffs-fate/comment-page-1/#comment-315 Claudia Deutsch Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:00:33 +0000 http://trueslant.com/claudiadeutsch/?p=988#comment-315 Amen on that. Sometimes it seems as if this society conspires to keep people poor. I know that's not the case, but on particularly gloomy days I almost feel that it is. And yes, I feel sorry for Bernie's victims. I want to see greater equality by bringing poor people up, not by pulling rich people down. But I can't fully agree with you on this one. Those who "Made good decisions about investments (most of the time)" almost by definition did not get wiped out by him. (The only way I forgive myself for never having sold my NYTimes stock is that I never put all my assets into it) Those who really believed that their money could keep doubling, through booms and busts, through terrorist attacks and hurricanes -- I still feel sorry for them, of course I do, but they have to take some responsibility for their loss. And if you saw BM (what wonderful initials for him!)at the sentencing hearing, he really did seem ashamed. Please, don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that should have impacted his sentence (okay, maybe the judge should have just given him 148 years). But fair is fair, he really seems totally abashed. Amen on that. Sometimes it seems as if this society conspires to keep people poor. I know that’s not the case, but on particularly gloomy days I almost feel that it is.
And yes, I feel sorry for Bernie’s victims. I want to see greater equality by bringing poor people up, not by pulling rich people down.
But I can’t fully agree with you on this one. Those who “Made good decisions about investments (most of the time)” almost by definition did not get wiped out by him. (The only way I forgive myself for never having sold my NYTimes stock is that I never put all my assets into it) Those who really believed that their money could keep doubling, through booms and busts, through terrorist attacks and hurricanes — I still feel sorry for them, of course I do, but they have to take some responsibility for their loss.
And if you saw BM (what wonderful initials for him!)at the sentencing hearing, he really did seem ashamed. Please, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that should have impacted his sentence (okay, maybe the judge should have just given him 148 years). But fair is fair, he really seems totally abashed.

]]> By: thereselang http://trueslant.com/claudiadeutsch/2009/06/29/some-musings-as-we-await-madoffs-fate/comment-page-1/#comment-314 thereselang Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:50:19 +0000 http://trueslant.com/claudiadeutsch/?p=988#comment-314 Claudia, you are so very right. Lower income people are preyed upon all the time. Mostly by the very system that is supposed to help them. If they have an appointment for food stamps, the office is way across town, they need childcare for their appt. and to take the bus, etc. Our society sets up all these roadblocks to the poor and we all look the other way. Being poor doesn't just include lack of resources, it also includes lack of access/ability to get to those resources. The biggest thing that bothers me about the BM case is the utter lack of shame from him. I know that most of his victims were wealthy, but how many of them worked really hard for that money? Made good decisions about investments (most of the time)? Are too old now to really go back to work? This is why I feel sorry for them. Claudia, you are so very right. Lower income people are preyed upon all the time. Mostly by the very system that is supposed to help them. If they have an appointment for food stamps, the office is way across town, they need childcare for their appt. and to take the bus, etc. Our society sets up all these roadblocks to the poor and we all look the other way. Being poor doesn’t just include lack of resources, it also includes lack of access/ability to get to those resources.

The biggest thing that bothers me about the BM case is the utter lack of shame from him. I know that most of his victims were wealthy, but how many of them worked really hard for that money? Made good decisions about investments (most of the time)? Are too old now to really go back to work? This is why I feel sorry for them.

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