Appropriate punishment

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The recent sentencing of Madoff to 150 years of punishment for the multiple misery he has caused seems to be indicative of several things. Primarily it indicates how much more crimes against property are rated as against crimes against individuals such as murder, rape, and other forms of unleashed brutality. President G.W.Bush is directly responsible for the useless deaths of well over 4000 young Americans by sending them into a conflict that had nothing to do with the less than 4000 deaths on 9/11 plus the hundreds of thousands of deaths of Iraqis whether or not they were nasty people. And he and his cohort remain, not only unpunished for these official murders but no one with official standing even conceives that punishment is reasonable.

But to get back to Madoff. Obviously the man will not live another 150 years and whatever sentence he does serve will not educate him to behave in a manner better than the financial executives who have scammed the US and other gullibles in other countries of far more than what Madoff managed and thrown the world into an economic downward spiral. So what is to be done with all that punishment time when old Madoff finally kicks the bucket? Shouldn't it somehow be applied to other people who violate the proprieties of property? There is a wealth of ire crying to be used against scammers, spammers, industries that sell useless products, gas guzzling cars, polluters that destroy the wonders of nature, companies that lop off the tops of mountains and dump them in valleys, whale killers, over-fishers, insurance companies that refuse to live up to their commitments, etc. This excess wealth of punishment should certainly not be permitted to go to waste. It should be saved as punishment capital and properly compounded with other punishment accumulations to wreak revenge on all the selfish bastards the destroy trusting human relationships and appropriately distributed to improve society.

Seems the punishment is a bit harsh and a double standard imo since it's obvious that he isn't the only one. But it all comes down to money with these rich corporate people.

I say a good hard spanking should do the trick...

Madoff is just a focal point for anger about various scams, in many ways a scapegoat.

Since Madoff made off with considerably more than the average bank robber I assume that that profession should also be punished with a bit of spanking. Interesting concept.

I find your idea of capitalizing puinishment "wealth" is an interesting idea Sand. ^.-

I think i heard on the radio this morning that they were also going after some of the other actors in this scam. =/

Madoff stole the financial resources from thousands of people - he vampirized thousands of years of other people's work, other people's energy and life. People who saved for 30 years so they could retire with a decent standard of living will now live close to poverty.

To sentence him to spend the rest of his life in jail is not too harsh - it isn't about education or rehabilitation ... this is about punishment, deterring others, and protecting society. Madoff is not merely a scapegoat - he really screwed a large group of people over, and deserves what he got.

I agree Madoff is a pretty nasty actor but the actions of society should provide some remedy for the ills of misbehavior. It may be emotionally satisfying to put the old bastard into detention for longer than he could live but the deterrent effect on like crooks is negligible. It certainly is no real benefit for the people he swindled.

No - its no direct or tangible benefit to the people he swindled - that might come through asset recovery, if it is possible.

Deterrence is a curious monkey - it doesn't always work, but the absence of deterrence is a good way to encourage bad behavior.

The fact that his sentence is 150 years merely means that he will die while imprisoned ... life without parole is equivalent, but lacks some of the emotional sting.

What do you mean by "the actions of society should provide some remedy for the ills of misbehavior" ?? I'm not clear on that.

The immensely larger scams of the financial sector which sold worthless "derivatives" to a gullible world have been backed up by Obama's policies of dumping multiple billions into the criminal financial sector with little or no compensation to millions of people who lost their money and their homes in the process. Some thought, at least, is being given to their tragic circumstances. But Madoff's activities were several times brought to the attention of the regulatory system and suspicions were offhandedly dismissed. There was guilt for the government in this neglect of proper oversight but the victims are dismissed as victims of their own greed for participation in what they were assured by the regulatory authorties was a legal activity.

But crime and punishment in general is almost Biblical in its archaic viewpoint and society deserves to be somewhat responsible for the honesty of conducting business. It is not simple or obvious problem but it should be at least approached.

Lock him up in supermax with some real criminals, and spread his wealth among the poorest of the poor - or at least give taxpayers a refund from the bailout packages.

Sand your point about the disparity in punishments is a good one. As a side note to that and as supporting evidence, if I go rob a bank the cops will be there in minutes, on the other hand if I call the cops because I have a house intruder who knows how long it will take. Friends had an employment agency last year a pissed off client repeatedly rammed the shop front with his car, they called the cops in fear of their lives and 45 minutes later got assistance.

Yes, he seems to be something of a scapegoat.
The whole global economy is something of a ponzi scheme after all ...