Little sympathy for Madoff victims
Bernie Madoff had the book thrown at him -- 150 years for the ponzi scheme that bankrupted families and non-profits. I suspect that I should be rejoicing and in fact I did when I heard. He did something so despicable that he does deserve to die in prison.
Yet I have little sympathy for his victims and their quest for the government to get them some of their money back:
[S]houldn't the Madoff victims have to bear at least some responsibility for their own gullibility? Mr. Madoff's supposed results -- those steady, positive returns quarter after blessed quarter -- is a classic example of the old saw, "when something looks too good to be true, it probably is." What's more, most of the people investing with Mr. Madoff thought they had gotten in on something really special; there was a certain smugness that came with thinking they had a special, secret deal not available to everyone else. Of course, it turned they were right -- they did have a special deal. It just wasn't what they expected.
As PunditMom says, greed will trump any sort of regulation the government does craft. Greed from the Madoffs of the world as well as greed from those doing the investing.
I'm not an economist nor do I feel like I have a firm hand on my own retirement funds, but even I would balk at a deal that is just too good to be true. I don't even go hirer than the quarter slots in Vegas. I just don't gamble with money nor do I think that get rich schemes win out in the end.
[Image: Kathy Willens/AP via The Guardian]
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You apparently have no sympathy for grammar and spelling, let alone your ignorant disdain for Madoff's victims. VICTIMS. Equating the thousands of lives that were destroyed by Madoff's criminal greed to people gambling in Las Vegas is offensive and simplistic. What Madoff offered throughout the past few decades was a far cry from a "get rich quick" scheme. Charities trusted him with their funds. Families trusted him with their futures. By the way, is "hirer" an actual, physical place or a state of mind? What does it feel like when you go there? Remove your head from your ass and do some real research on a story before you "blog" about it. Otherwise, keep your error laden opinions to yourself. "Bear." Jesus.
wow...thanks Anon! I guess that'll teach me to write the night before I leave for vacation. thanks to everyone who read it and understood what I meant.
Anywho, as for your more important point: victims. Yes, they lost money, yes some very worthy charities lost money. From what I heard, Planned Parenthood NYC lost so much money they had to lay people off. As the feminist I am, that made me very sad.
But I also heard that Madoff was peddling "investments" that had far larger returns than anything else on the market. Not just a few dollars more, but waaay more. So much more that it did have the smell of "too good to be true." And when it smells like it is, it usually is.