Embezzlement Blues
Well, this was originally going to be a take off on the classic Johnny Cash song "Cocaine Blues". (Okay, so it might not be his, but that's another story). But, that plan didn't work out real well, so here we all are. The main point is, Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay were convicted of multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy and making false statements. Each man faces a life in prison and multimillions of dollars worth of fines. They stole about $80 million and they are going to be fined at least $60 million dollars based on statutes alone, let alone punitive damages. Of course, will this be enough and is this really justice after all?
Well, odds are they are going to exotic Club Fed, or minimum security prison, to serve out their sentences. They will be housed in rooms that are six to a room, kind of like sleepaway camp for naughty grownups. They will have three square meals a day, be provided with opportunities for education and recreation and generally have a nothing life. It will be better life than many of the people who suffered because these two men decided to falsify earnings reports. They lived aaa good life, high on the hog on the earnings of investors. People lost their retirements and had to work more becuase of the avarice of these two men. And that's why this punishment is actually fitting.
Nothing scares wealthy people more than being poor. Especially if they have been brought up wealthy. They have no frame of reference of how to live on a tight budget, and people always fear what they don't understand. These two guys, in order to pay off all the possible fines and lawyers fees, will have to sell off everything they own, everything they put away and everything they valued. In exchange, they have to live a life like most of us: hand to mouth, not sure of the quality of their meals and generally having to think about how to pass thier lives since they have no idea what the future will really hold. After all, how well can you plan your next moves when people are totally in control of your environment? Hell, one bad aaltercation with a guard who say, lost money in Enron, aand they could be on their way to Maximum security prison. And if it's good enough for John Gotti, it'll be good enough for them. Maybe. Or they might be able to bribe someone into protecting them. Assuming someone doesn't hurt them just for the prestige.
Of course, that's fairly rare in their kind of prison. Odds are, they can look forward to about 30 years of controlled living in decent conditions, but far FAR below what they have convinced themselves they are worth. Skilling, in an early interview, declared himself "one of the good guys". He says he had good motives. He's why, to my mind, motives don't matter and actions do. No one ever REALLY says, I'm going to be the most evil I can be MWA HA HAA HA. No, they justify to themselves in terms they can live with about what they are doing is the right or justified thing and they go from there. Or, they honestly do have noble motives, but no qualms about what to do to achieve those goals. I'm sure each man convinced himself what he was doing was allright, then later got to the point where it was a good thing. A little charity work there, a little donation there, then all of a sudden they're good guys.
Except, the best measure of hero is what he DOESN'T do in pursit of goals and the best measure of a villain is what they are willing to do in pursuit of goals.
So it is written, so do I see it.
Well, odds are they are going to exotic Club Fed, or minimum security prison, to serve out their sentences. They will be housed in rooms that are six to a room, kind of like sleepaway camp for naughty grownups. They will have three square meals a day, be provided with opportunities for education and recreation and generally have a nothing life. It will be better life than many of the people who suffered because these two men decided to falsify earnings reports. They lived aaa good life, high on the hog on the earnings of investors. People lost their retirements and had to work more becuase of the avarice of these two men. And that's why this punishment is actually fitting.
Nothing scares wealthy people more than being poor. Especially if they have been brought up wealthy. They have no frame of reference of how to live on a tight budget, and people always fear what they don't understand. These two guys, in order to pay off all the possible fines and lawyers fees, will have to sell off everything they own, everything they put away and everything they valued. In exchange, they have to live a life like most of us: hand to mouth, not sure of the quality of their meals and generally having to think about how to pass thier lives since they have no idea what the future will really hold. After all, how well can you plan your next moves when people are totally in control of your environment? Hell, one bad aaltercation with a guard who say, lost money in Enron, aand they could be on their way to Maximum security prison. And if it's good enough for John Gotti, it'll be good enough for them. Maybe. Or they might be able to bribe someone into protecting them. Assuming someone doesn't hurt them just for the prestige.
Of course, that's fairly rare in their kind of prison. Odds are, they can look forward to about 30 years of controlled living in decent conditions, but far FAR below what they have convinced themselves they are worth. Skilling, in an early interview, declared himself "one of the good guys". He says he had good motives. He's why, to my mind, motives don't matter and actions do. No one ever REALLY says, I'm going to be the most evil I can be MWA HA HAA HA. No, they justify to themselves in terms they can live with about what they are doing is the right or justified thing and they go from there. Or, they honestly do have noble motives, but no qualms about what to do to achieve those goals. I'm sure each man convinced himself what he was doing was allright, then later got to the point where it was a good thing. A little charity work there, a little donation there, then all of a sudden they're good guys.
Except, the best measure of hero is what he DOESN'T do in pursit of goals and the best measure of a villain is what they are willing to do in pursuit of goals.
So it is written, so do I see it.