For the life of me, I cannot put into words what a shameful
disgrace it is that there is so much apathy in this country and on
this campus towards the fraudulent, illegal activity on Wall
Street. As new scandals surface about mutual funds, insider trading
and the SEC, we as a society should pause and reflect on why we
care more about the outcome in the Kobe Bryant case than in the
trials of the greedy crooked scum whom through deceitful,
unscrupulous means have destroyed companies and the lives of
millions of Americans which put their trust into them.
Prudential, Putnam, Enron, WorldCom...the formula is: some CEO steals x. The SEC probes y too late. Redundant and sickening, the list of companies goes on and on. So do the dangerous clichés associated with these stories of fraud on Casino Wall Street, where the current fad of idolizing Gordon Gekko undermines our values, ethics and morals in the democracy that guarantees our protection from threats.
What's presently happening at the New York Stock Exchange is disturbing. Former Chairman Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark of Tyco International are standing trial for stealing 600 million dollars from the company and its stockholders. Because of the money these two men stole, Tyco was forced to cut 7,200 jobs last week.
Thousands of innocent people are confined to desperately scavenging for a job to feed their children while the criminals who took their livelihood throw multi-million dollar parties at ski resorts.
Richard Scrushy, the former HealthSouth CEO, exploited public to make an illicit profit of $267 million by inflating his company's earnings a whopping $2.7 billion. With his illicit profits he bought exotic sports cars, yachts, airplanes, and of course jewelry to give to his assumed high-maintenance spouse.
USA Today reported November 7th that in a $7 trillion mutual fund industry, an appalling 25 percent of brokers break the rules given by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Richard Grasso formerly headed the Commission, and was paid a lavish $187.5 million compensation package for apparently not doing his job properly. What's sad is that these few are just the tip of an iceberg in a cesspool of snake oil.
Why is this happening? Where is the SEC? Where are the rest of these unethical monsters and where is the justice we need? Of course, the general public doesn't seem to care. People focus more on Howard Dean's statement about "southerners in their pick-up trucks" than on their hard-earned investment money being embezzled.
The mainstream media devotes far too much time covering conversationally glamorous and socially irrelevant topics like David Blaine and Laci Peterson, while humanitarians eagerly flip past the boring business section to read the more exciting news, such as Lebron James, "The Matrix," and Rosie O'Donnell.
Activists on campus who usually jump at the chance to correct societies' injustices and prejudices are apathetic towards billions of dollars being stolen from hard working people. Whether it is economic ignorance, disinterest or ambivalence, the lack of needed concern is disconcerting.
Why care? The consequences of the actions of these greedy elitists affect everything from the cost of your education to retirement pensions. 401(k)s disintegrate. Your parents' hard earned IRAs and stock options are destroyed. Americans from all walks of life work their entire lives trying to earn something - to achieve a level of success through investment - only to have it snatched away when the books are cooked by some selfish, hot shot executive.
The common misconception is this is a capitalist phenomenon. It's anti-capitalist! It's against the law! However ridden with crooks, our economic system in itself is good, right and decent. The stock market is the cornerstone of our well-endowed economic democracy. The fact of the matter is, there are unthinkable crimes being committed and the commission responsible for reprimanding the perpetrators is not enforcing the law, spawning myriad copycats. The legislation and regulation we demand means nothing without law enforcement. Unlike other forms of crime, blame must be placed on these individuals. Fully aware of the repercussions of their actions, they are plagued with the pursuit of instant gratification and short-term gains, sacrificing everyone and everything to achieve it.
On a more fundamental level, we should consider where vermin on Wall Street learn their trade. Are colleges and universities accentuating ethics in their curriculum? The latest edition of the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Graduate Schools" will reveal that only after the Enron disaster have these issues been put in the educational spotlight. Only recently have ethics been injected into cost-benefit analysis courses. Rutgers has a unique approach, being one of only two M.B.A. programs in the country requiring a class trip to prison to converse with white-collar criminals behind bars. However, as poignant educational experiences are reserved as moral lessons for future executives (who themselves won't suffer from the crime they will chose to commit in the future), they would serve a better purpose as eye-openers to the general population whose absent outrage is fuel to the fire.
There are crimes against humanity happening in the financial district, and no one seems to give a damn. Vague rhetoric about the economy's importance overwhelms industry reform. Why are people so nonchalant? Where is the demand for justice and the pressure on the SEC?
Where are the protests on campus? Are we perceptive and compassionate enough to see the most salient, pressing issues facing our way of life?
Rutgers, it behooves you to at least acknowledge what's going on. It doesn't matter if you aren't business savvy. You must educate yourselves to the severity of the injustices if the institutions of the society you're a part of don't do it for you. Your livelihood depends on it. As generations before us have tolerated corruption, are we too going to tolerate the gambling away of innocent lives on Casino Wall Street?
James O'Keefe is a Rutgers College sophomore majoring in philosophy. His column, "Feathers of Steel," appears on alternating Fridays.
NJO: Originally published in The Daily Targum.
Prudential, Putnam, Enron, WorldCom...the formula is: some CEO steals x. The SEC probes y too late. Redundant and sickening, the list of companies goes on and on. So do the dangerous clichés associated with these stories of fraud on Casino Wall Street, where the current fad of idolizing Gordon Gekko undermines our values, ethics and morals in the democracy that guarantees our protection from threats.
What's presently happening at the New York Stock Exchange is disturbing. Former Chairman Dennis Kozlowski and CFO Mark of Tyco International are standing trial for stealing 600 million dollars from the company and its stockholders. Because of the money these two men stole, Tyco was forced to cut 7,200 jobs last week.
Thousands of innocent people are confined to desperately scavenging for a job to feed their children while the criminals who took their livelihood throw multi-million dollar parties at ski resorts.
Richard Scrushy, the former HealthSouth CEO, exploited public to make an illicit profit of $267 million by inflating his company's earnings a whopping $2.7 billion. With his illicit profits he bought exotic sports cars, yachts, airplanes, and of course jewelry to give to his assumed high-maintenance spouse.
USA Today reported November 7th that in a $7 trillion mutual fund industry, an appalling 25 percent of brokers break the rules given by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Richard Grasso formerly headed the Commission, and was paid a lavish $187.5 million compensation package for apparently not doing his job properly. What's sad is that these few are just the tip of an iceberg in a cesspool of snake oil.
Why is this happening? Where is the SEC? Where are the rest of these unethical monsters and where is the justice we need? Of course, the general public doesn't seem to care. People focus more on Howard Dean's statement about "southerners in their pick-up trucks" than on their hard-earned investment money being embezzled.
The mainstream media devotes far too much time covering conversationally glamorous and socially irrelevant topics like David Blaine and Laci Peterson, while humanitarians eagerly flip past the boring business section to read the more exciting news, such as Lebron James, "The Matrix," and Rosie O'Donnell.
Activists on campus who usually jump at the chance to correct societies' injustices and prejudices are apathetic towards billions of dollars being stolen from hard working people. Whether it is economic ignorance, disinterest or ambivalence, the lack of needed concern is disconcerting.
Why care? The consequences of the actions of these greedy elitists affect everything from the cost of your education to retirement pensions. 401(k)s disintegrate. Your parents' hard earned IRAs and stock options are destroyed. Americans from all walks of life work their entire lives trying to earn something - to achieve a level of success through investment - only to have it snatched away when the books are cooked by some selfish, hot shot executive.
The common misconception is this is a capitalist phenomenon. It's anti-capitalist! It's against the law! However ridden with crooks, our economic system in itself is good, right and decent. The stock market is the cornerstone of our well-endowed economic democracy. The fact of the matter is, there are unthinkable crimes being committed and the commission responsible for reprimanding the perpetrators is not enforcing the law, spawning myriad copycats. The legislation and regulation we demand means nothing without law enforcement. Unlike other forms of crime, blame must be placed on these individuals. Fully aware of the repercussions of their actions, they are plagued with the pursuit of instant gratification and short-term gains, sacrificing everyone and everything to achieve it.
On a more fundamental level, we should consider where vermin on Wall Street learn their trade. Are colleges and universities accentuating ethics in their curriculum? The latest edition of the U.S. News & World Report's "Best Graduate Schools" will reveal that only after the Enron disaster have these issues been put in the educational spotlight. Only recently have ethics been injected into cost-benefit analysis courses. Rutgers has a unique approach, being one of only two M.B.A. programs in the country requiring a class trip to prison to converse with white-collar criminals behind bars. However, as poignant educational experiences are reserved as moral lessons for future executives (who themselves won't suffer from the crime they will chose to commit in the future), they would serve a better purpose as eye-openers to the general population whose absent outrage is fuel to the fire.
There are crimes against humanity happening in the financial district, and no one seems to give a damn. Vague rhetoric about the economy's importance overwhelms industry reform. Why are people so nonchalant? Where is the demand for justice and the pressure on the SEC?
Where are the protests on campus? Are we perceptive and compassionate enough to see the most salient, pressing issues facing our way of life?
Rutgers, it behooves you to at least acknowledge what's going on. It doesn't matter if you aren't business savvy. You must educate yourselves to the severity of the injustices if the institutions of the society you're a part of don't do it for you. Your livelihood depends on it. As generations before us have tolerated corruption, are we too going to tolerate the gambling away of innocent lives on Casino Wall Street?
James O'Keefe is a Rutgers College sophomore majoring in philosophy. His column, "Feathers of Steel," appears on alternating Fridays.
NJO: Originally published in The Daily Targum.
