BERNIE MADOFF WAS A GOOD TEACHER

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Mr. Madoff taught us a memorable lesson about trust, to wit:
Don 't do it, if u don 't have to.

Like smoking, trust is a bad business and shoud be kept to a minimum.
We keep hearing repeated declarations from Mr. Madoff 's victims
of how thay TRUSTED him. He had their confidence.

In hindsight, we see that thay were not sufficiently skeptical.

When I was 11, against my better judgment,
I left some of my property exposed to the potential larceny
of some other kids, skeptically accepting that it woud not be stolen.
It was stolen.
Quod Est Demonstratum:
I was not skeptical ENUF, but I was too trustful.

I then adopted a (short-lived) filosofy that I woud trust no one.
That proved not to be viable.
I refined it so that it is now: trust no one with more than u r willing to lose
(and diversify investments).

Students in the public schools shoud be warned of the dangers of trusting
and strongly advised to spell foneticly.

Before I met him, Marvin, the most intelligent man I ever met in Mensa,
had evolved that point of vu further. It is his position, that given enuf time
everyone who u know WILL betray u one way or another.

That included Bernie Madoff.
Let us rejoice in his teaching by example.

David

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The Madoff case isn't about trust it's about greed. People let greed rule their better judgement. His clients say they trusted him, but it really comes down to fact that they were too happy to rake in the supposed profits than to study the reality of the situation. If you want a lesson from the Madoff fable, you should embroider on a sampler the tried and true philosophy:
"If Sounds to Good to Be True It Is." or perhaps
"Don't Put all Your Eggs into One Basket."
I'm proud to say I have people in my life I can trust and I will continue to do so.

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The problem with not trusting, I believe, is that it is good advice only part of the time. So, naturally, if one does not want to EVER be disappointed by misplaced trust, one would never trust. Sort of like staying home, so one never gets wet from rain, I believe. However, if one expects human nature to be fallible, one might gamble on trusting people, knowing in advance the gamble may not pay off. The saying comes to mind, "better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved."

But the problem with a Ponzi scheme, I believe, is people are lulled into "believing," as big dividends are received, and the big dividends are just other people's money. So, as already said, if it is too good to be true, one should start to question if it is true.

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@Green Witch,

Green Witch wrote:

Quote:

The Madoff case isn't about trust it's about greed.
People let greed rule their better judgement.

YES.
Thay certainly DID.

Green Witch wrote:

Quote:

His clients say they trusted him, but it really comes down to fact
that they were too happy to rake in the supposed profits than
to study the reality of the situation. If you want a lesson from
the Madoff fable, you should embroider on a sampler the tried
and true philosophy:
"If Sounds to Good to Be True It Is." or perhaps
"Don't Put all Your Eggs into One Basket."
I'm proud to say I have people in my life I can trust and I will continue to do so.

Your analyis is very good; admirable reasoning,
except insofar as it denies that this is about trust.

Some of the victims were emotional in their insistence that it IS.
Thay were at pains to point out that thay knew him personally.

Very clearly u r correct that it was about greed. It certainly was.
Does that tell us that love n greed r both blind ?

David

1 Reply

@OmSigDAVID,

Well, do you expect people to admit to overwhelming greed? No way!

Saying I trusted him puts the responsibility upon Madoff; saying I was too greedy places it on oneself. People very rarely put responsibility upon themselves.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Foofie,

Foofie wrote:

Quote:

The problem with not trusting, I believe, is that it is good advice only part of the time.
So, naturally, if one does not want to EVER be disappointed by misplaced trust,
one would never trust. Sort of like staying home, so one never
gets wet from rain, I believe.

Maybe u failed to read my entire post.
I acknowledged that not trusting is non-viable.
I AMENDED it to:
"don 't trust anyone with more
than u r willing to lose."

Foofie wrote:

Quote:

However, if one expects human nature to be fallible,
one might gamble on trusting people, knowing in advance
the gamble may not pay off.

I don 't oppose gambling.
I LOVE Las Vegas.

Foofie wrote:

Quote:

The saying comes to mind, "better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved."

I have been in the position to evaluate the wisdom of that.
In retrospect, I 'd have had a much, much happier life
with a great deal less emotional pain, if a certain young lady
of the Austrian Aristocracy had ignored me
instead of making sweet social advances toward me.
I 'd change that retroactively, if I coud.

Foofie wrote:

Quote:

But the problem with a Ponzi scheme, I believe, is people are lulled into "believing,"
as big dividends are received, and the big dividends are just
other people's money. So, as already said, if it is too good to be true,
one should start to question if it is true.

Yeah.
U better be CAREFUL about what u believe
or what u trust.

David

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@Cycloptichorn,

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Quote:

Well, do you expect people to admit to overwhelming greed? No way!

From that, I dissent.
I consider myself overwhelming greedy (tho not stingy, as Madoff also was not).
I have openly admitted that and counselled my fellow citizens
to do likewise all my life.

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Quote:

Saying I trusted him puts the responsibility upon Madoff;
saying I was too greedy places it on oneself.
People very rarely put responsibility upon themselves.

Cycloptichorn

I understand what u mean.
The victims CORRECTLY allege violation
of a fiduciary responsibility.

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If anyone has any intention to trust,
its a pretty good to TEST trustworthiness first,
and second and third and have fall back positions ready.

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My general rule is to trust everyone until I have reason not to, and to not trust anyone who has failed me unless I have reason to trust them. This works well. I would not trust any one guy with all of my money though, that is dumb.

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@hawkeye10,

Trust everyone, but always cut the cards.

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BERNIE MADOFF WAS A GOOD TEACHER

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