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The greedy old man and the tragic star
BARBARA GLOUDON
Friday, July 03, 2009
WITH THE HYSTERIA over Michael Jackson's death monopolising the news at home and abroad, I wonder how many of us have taken note of another event, which, in my estimation, could have more serious repercussions than Jackson's passing.
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| BARBARA GLOUDON |
I refer to the Bernard Madoff case which came to a conclusion in a New York courthouse on Monday. The trial of a man for swindling hundreds, maybe thousands of fellow citizens, out of their life-savings and comfort for old age, has happened before (including Right Yah So), but this one was different in more ways than one. It was of note because Madoff ran a Ponzi scheme for over three decades during when he extracted billions from victims who had invested their money with him, in the belief that he would do right by them. In fact, they testified that he assured them so personally.
Madoff is of the Jewish faith and so are most of the people who have been left penniless. The matter of his religious heritage is of importance because it is this shared bond which drew so many people to trust in him. They could not believe that he would treat fellow children of Israel so cruelly. In the end, he was to them worse than Pharoah and the plague. When he eventually let the people go, they were broke, ashamed of being gullible, and in many cases, penniless, homeless and hopeless. Many had been rich and moved in the same social circles.
He had convinced them that he had their interest at heart. They were children of Israel together. They all felt that he was on their side, no harm could befall them. Meanwhile, he was robbing them blind. He lived at the peak of luxury - fine dwellings, holiday homes, private aircraft, luxury boats, great cars. His wife had the best of jewellery, his children the finest education. His bank account was in the billions.
Today, many of his victims, used to multi-course banquets, can hardly find a meal. But it had to stop some time and it did on Monday when his final trial came. Rejecting all pleas for clemency, the judge gave him the most maximum of sentences - 150 years in prison, a century and a half to contemplate, if he needed the time.
He is 71 years old. If he were to serve the full sentence, he would be coming out in the year 2159 at the age of 221. And you know something, I heard someone say, he just might make it. For such a bareface tief, who's to tell if he couldn't engineer something to beat the clock? After all, Pharoah did lay away stuff for the afterlife. Who knows what Madoff is thinking...?
His victims flocked to the court to applaud as the sentence was read and to rejoice in the certainty that they would never have to see his face again. They might be broke and scrambling for whatever lifeline can be thrown to them but for a short while at least, they took comfort in justice.
ALL OF THIS leads up to our homegrown situation as we contemplate the assorted investment schemes and schemers who have left an untold number of citizens poorer and sadder. There is a strange silence about the situation. Apart from suss and whispered innuendo, there is little or no public indication of what people are feeling. The Financial Services Commission recently advertised the names of some 58 "investment schemes" which are in breach by virtue of being unregistered. We are not aware if any of the enterprises listed have even responded to the FSC. Which ones are legal and which aren't?
Why are people silent? Unless they speak out, we will never know the full extent of the loss and how many are suffering. It must be that the silence is maintained by the pain of shame, that people who prided themselves on good sense are embarrassed to admit that they could have been so gullible.
We all get attacks of mindlessness every now and then, but it is hard to explain, however, what could make educated people do something as irrational as taking out second mortgages to invest in schemes which are too good to be true... and turn out to be exactly that. Yet, people who should know better, did just that, confident that they could win. It is said that some did win for a while. Others were not so fortunate. Some are hopeful that they will be able to retrieve even a portion of their investment, but for others hope is fading.
We still have court cases pending and outcomes awaited. If anyone hopes to see a Madoff-style sentence here, however, forget it. No Jamaican judge is going to deliver such an implausible sentence. Our legal system doesn't facilitate it but I suspect that the sentencing judge, whoever has to
pass judgement on fraudulent dealings, will feel emboldened to remind us all of the evil of "robbing neighbour to fatten thyself".
I GUESS there is validity to the saying that "a fool and his money are soon parted". How else but fool-fool can you describe people responding to callers who phone to advise that they will forward winnings from some competition or other, but first money must be sent to cover certain expenses. The problem is that the people receiving the calls have never entered a competition and have absolutely no idea who the caller is. This does not prevent the "prize winner" from sending money via a remittance service and then sitting back to await the prize.
The scam has caught people abroad as well as at home. Despite publicity, the swindle continues, for there will always be those stupid enough to believe they can reap where they did not sow. That is what gives impetus to people like the ilk of Madoff - and the others nearer home who know that there will always be people who are convinced they can get something for nothing.
The best comeback to the invitation to pay for a prize for which you didn't compete comes from a woman who, in response to a discussion we were having, said if she was called to pay the expenses before she got "the winnings" she'd tell them, "Take out what I'm to pay and send me the rest."
OVER-HYPE: Is it only me or is there anyone else who is just a little bit (maybe more) saturated with the Michael Jackson media hype? It is as if nothing else is happening in the world. Momentous matters like the situation in Iran, political crises in this and that corner, the global financial crisis, our continued crime rate, our impending return to the embrace of the IMF - all have been pushed aside while every detail of Jackson's sorry life is exploited. That he was a great artiste cannot be denied. That he was dysfunctional cannot be overlooked either. His untimely death is to be regretted, but the excessive media spotlight has assumed the proportions of a circus...
I think.
To tek liberty with a quote from Mr William Shakespeare, "The foolishness that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones, so let it be with the unfortunate King of Pop." The Michael Jackson soap opera will not end just now - but somehow I wish we could just ease off the muck-raking and the smarmy sentimentality.
PS: How many people here in JA saw him perform at the National Stadium while he was still a little black boy still unspoiled and electrifying the world, even at that young age, with an amazing capacity for showmanship and pure talent? Imagine if he could have ended that way. Hype apart, may he find the elusive peace which
he sought.
gloudonb@yahoo.com
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