Madoff With The Money

Raise your hand if you knew what a Ponzi scheme was before last year. If you think it's when you conspire with your friends to show off how cool you are by jumping on water skis over a shark in a tank, then put your hand down. If you answered "pyramid scheme," go ahead and pat yourself on the back and let us continue. If you knew that it was named for the infamous swindler, Charles Ponzi, feel free to skip to the end. It's not the same as selling Amway, at least Amway gives you all that great soap in the end. If you believe that you're going to make a ton of money in "hedge futures trading", "high-yield investment programs", or "offshore investments," chances are pretty good that you've been Ponzied.
What sort of people fall for this "get rich quick" scam? How about writer, professor, political activist, and Nobel Laureate, Elie Wiesel? Wouldn't you guess a man of his intellect would be able to smell a rat? “I remember that it was a myth that he created around him,” Mr. Wiesel said, “that everything was so special, so unique, that it had to be secret. It was like a mystical mythology that nobody could understand.” The "he" is in reference to imprisoned con man Bernie Madoff, and Mr. Wiesel was not the only victim. In order to make the manipulator of imagined wealth truly wealthy, it takes thousands of victims.
And this is when I thought of Tatum O'Neal. Tatum has had her own share of dust-ups with the law, but most of her bad investments have been limited to crack cocaine. No, the reason for me to remember the youngest winner of an Academy Award was the role that made her famous: Addie Pray. As young Addie begins to uncover the truth about her father the confidence man, they have this exchange:

Moses Pray: I got scruples too, you know. You know what that is? Scruples?
Addie Pray: No, I don't know what it is, but if you got 'em, it's a sure bet they belong to somebody else!

If the money in question belongs to somebody else, then it isn't yours. We've become used to thinking that some people deserve to be swindled. A fool and his money are soon parted, after all. But it's never the case when it's our money.
"I wish it grew on trees, but it takes hard work to make money." - Jim Cramer