The Sentence

I s'pose it's good he got his due, that he presents as a warning to others who may be tempted to follow his lead.

He promised to turn wealth to riches, and fortunes into estates. He guarenteed a return that sounded fantastic and unbelievable, even in a boom... he let them down.

I can relate, because I once sent $2000usd to a bank in Nigeria to get the inheritance I so richly deserved. I wired that money because I felt I was among the priveleged few who was in position to take advantage of the situation.

I'm glad they nailed Bernie, but I'm sorry... until I hear of a serious inquiry into the legacies of "Lord Smethly-Whitston", I'm going to suspect that justice is only for the greedy idiots of endowment.

I hope they don't put Bernie in solitary confinement. He should have "friends" with names like Bubba, and eat in the prison mess hall where "shank" is as common as a fork. And on visitation days, his former clients get to take turns face to face.

And yet many people [fewer every day] fawn over another, more ambitious Madoff who creates Ponzi schemes called "nationalization" everyday.

Somehow they think the end result will come out differently.

Those people look for something for nothing; without them there would be no Madoffs.

TANSTAAFL. In finance and in government.

Madoff was found guilty and was duly sentenced to 'forever' behind bars. However, if you take a step or two back and look at the "Big Picture", it could take on a somewhat different perspective. Is what Madoff did so different from what the "Lottery" offers the not-so-well-off several times a week? Did he not take what some invested with him to pay dividends to others? Does the "Lottery" not payout much less than it takes in on a daily basis? Were his clients not willingly investing in what he offered? Does the line at the checkout lane not get increasingly longer, the higher the 'jackpot' grows? Well, I am sure you see what I am getting at, whether or not you agree. We are all the time hearing about how evil the lottery is because it takes such a toll on those who can least afford it, and yet as soon as some well-to-do individuals get taken by a 'world-class' conman in just another 'pie-in-the-sky' scheme it's "...string him up on the highest limb of the nearest tree time...." No, I am not pleading Madoff's case, I am merely trying to put a new 'spin' on one of the world's oldest stories. Everybody wants to 'hit the jackpot', no matter how much or little they already have. Thank you for your time and attention, Woody

Woody puts a spin on an old story alright, but it's a little flawed.

I think that even the poorest person on the planet who plops down a dollar for a shot at a big jackpot understands that win or lose, he or she will never see that dollar again.

It's a little different however for those who scrimp and save for their futures, who entrust their dollars for safekeeping, who expect those dollars to be invested wisely, and who are led to believe that their dollars are growing a nest egg, rather than to have squandered their dollars on a nearly impossible return on investment.

If there are people out there who think that playing the lottery is an alternative means to achieve responsible saving for retirement, well then they have some issues that will likely never be resolved anytime soon.

I've never seen a lottery marketed as a retirement plan and the horrible odds of winning are consistently published and publicized.

That's a far cry from what Madoff did. People were purposely misled into believing that their investment accounts existed, that they were solid, and that they had been growing each and every quarter.

Lotteries are clear about the fact that jackpots depend on the number of tickets sold. Lotteries disclose every dollar taken in, and every dollar that is distributed out. Without question, the purchasing of a lottery ticket is a very willful act and it is usually well known to most people that it will very likely return nothing in terms of a profit.

People who seek to invest do not willingly enter into losing propositions with scam artists. They usually find themselves very unwilling victims of them.

Woody: I'm changing your username to Mr. Fantastic, because that is a stretch my friend.

Like Alprova, I don't think Woody's analogy holds up. Madoff was convicted of fraud, which is based on deception. There is no deception with the lottery- it's a gamble. You know the chances of winning, you know how the game is played, and you take you chances anyway. Although there is an element of gambling with any investing, Bernie Madoff wasn't (as far as I have read) investing any of the money he was taking in. It was that deception that made his operation fraudulent.

That's also where Rolando's analogy falls apart. I don't exactly know how nationalizing something is a Ponzi scheme, but I'll use a common right-wing analogy.

Many claim that Social Security is a Ponzi scheme. I guess it would be if, A) It was a system that was simply paying older beneficiaries with the money of newer contributors, or, B) It was being operated in a fashion that was deceptive. Neither of these conditions apply, however. The money we pay into the system (minus what's needed to meet current obligations) is invested by the Social Security Administration in U.S. Treasury bonds. So, although the system may be troubled due to generational burdens, there is aspect of investment and there is no deception.

Clay, You didn't fail me!

Alprova, You've made me feel a lot less of a moron for investing, or rather,buying a lottery ticket, perhaps once or twice a year.

Johnny Ringo, They sound so believable! My daughter recently received one from Florida, giving names of possible close ties to relatives for an inheritance. I warned her, but I've been under the weather and pray she didn't follow through. (She graduated Summa Cum Laude, and is a Mensa member.) Me? I'm just her dumb old mother.

Not that I've once been taken by a driveway gravel dumptruck owner for $65, plus a $26 fee for stopping a check as quickly as I could. (I was alone and there were two of them.) Actually, where they cashed the check on a Saturday, got stung for the whole $65, because I went to the Sheriff's office as soon as they left, but my bank was closed late Saturday.

EaTn, I'd like to visit Madoff, even if I'm not a victim of his. I'll have to think about why I'm so curious.

Well, as I stated earlier, I am not (in any way shape, or form) pleading Mr. Madoff's case, and I really do like taking a step backward every so often to get a glimpse of the "Big Picture". However, my reading glasses have been a bit blurry lately, so maybe I need to clean them really well. And yet to those who thought my "Lottery" analogy was a bit of a stretch, I'll concede as much. That is if you all will also concede that those hard-working, scrimpers and savers (merely trying to see to it their "Golden Years" truly would be)were also 'taking a chance' with what Madoff was offering. And if there be anyone out there that doesn't believe or already know that investing (in the past I might have excluded savings accounts, IRAs and such, but who knows any more) is a gamble, I have some swamp land I'd like to get rid of........ Again, I thank you for your time and attention, Woody

Woody, of course investing in anything that does not have a guarantee of at least the principle return is a gamble. I have some money that I use for stock gambling- I call it my horse race money. No one should ever invest any more than they are willing or can afford to lose.

I'm probably nagging, but I posted a URL in the Republic Inn late last night, and there was no response because Madoff became a "star" of sorts.

The URL is definitly relevant to this cartoon as well, and I hope someone makes a comment on it. It speaks of "Moral Norms."

You'll probably have a very good laugh!

It probably says everything I would like to say if I were articulate. C:-)

http://www.xs4all.nl/~maartens/philosophy/Dictionary/M/Moral%20norms%20-%20features%20of.htm

I have little sympathy for those who, promised and expecting unrealistically huge returns on their money, willingly "invest" their life savings in an unknown and unvetted venture.

PT Barnum once said of fools, "There's a sucker born every minute."

Those looking for something paid for by someone else, be it the lottery, welfare, and most everything else today, will end up with nothing.

Meanwhile those in power chuckle all the way to their off-shore banks...