govern point

One of the the biggest losers in this financial crisis is Bernard Madoff.  I mean LOSER!  He even scammed multiple charities such as Steven Spielberg’s Wunderkinder Foundation & people like Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet, who committed suicide. In this scam, investors are provided with a consistently high percentage of returns for their money from the contributions of newly recruited investors. If the inflow of new investors falters, however, the scam ends.  Has kind of an investment banker feel in general in light of the latest financial crisis.

Madoff belongs to a religion that highly regards tzedakah – charity. Knowing this, Madoff he could easily approach Jewish charities, including Speilberg’s foundation, the Chais Family Foundation (which has now shut down completely), Yeshiva University, and the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. The immeasurable damage these charities felt when they lost so much was accentuated by the pain of betrayal in a close-knit community, in which Madoff had played the “I’m a member of the tribe” thing.

65-year-old Rene-Thierry Magon de la Villehuchet lost more than 1.4 billion dollars. Villehuchet was found dead in his office. He slashed his wrists & bled to death out his office. From his note: “I have to fight for my clients and myself. It’s a complete nightmare.”

Suicide, as historian of religion David Chidester reminds us in Salvation and Suicide, his seminal study of the People’s Temple, is frequently a religious act. The Jewish zealots at Masada, for instance, facing death at the hands of the Romans in 70 CE took their own lives as a way of escaping with their religious identity and dignity intact. More recently, well at list in the last 100 years, the community at Jonestown drank kool-aid in 1978, a ruling interpretation among those who participating willingly was that this act of suicide was in protest of “the conditions of an inhumane world.”

Suicide presents a means of remaining fully human in the face of a society defined by race, class, and gender divisions and, thus, intent on dehumanization. It is worth considering Villehuchet’s bloody end in the light of such examples of religious suicide like the Japanese Samurai. revenge suicide amongst the Yoruba, and Sati traditions amongst Hindu female widows.

Villehuchet’s death, has similarities with these acts, all of which are meant at least in part a final statement for the public. This act exemplifies the pain and fear that all of the Madoff investors felt when their money was ntaken. I guess there are victims in white collar crimes, so what is different with this than the overall financial crisis?

Banks vs. People.
Corporate buyouts vs. Suicide
Religion vs. Legal Systems
Integrity vs. Dishonesty

Related articles:

• Charities: the foundation of Madoff’s scheme?
• Slate’s field guide to financial scams.
• Some Fear Madoff Case Stirs Anti-Semitism
• Sunny Hostin: Ponzi Schemes and How to Spot Them