The photo of Bernard Madoff in this weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal may be one of the most revealing examples of the time-tested adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.” The picture shows a frontal face shot of Madoff who is alleged to have bilked hundreds, perhaps thousands of people and organizations out of $50 billion. You might think his photograph would look like a mug shot, but it doesn’t – that’s the surprising part.
Indeed, the veneer of Bernie Madoff’s face gives the impression of someone you might instinctively trust. His features are soft: the eyes deep, but not hard; the emergent smile, welcoming. He sports unpretentious spectacles and a round, almost jovial visage that emanates no sign of deceit. All those features are topped off by a blue baseball cap covering a head of silver. The photo gives off the air of an informal personality. The guy might just as well be your own grandfather, he looks so first-rate!
However, if the allegations brought against him prove to be true, no one would trust him any further than they would a recidivist, child-abusing relative nestled in the middle of a family get-together sprinkled with innocent children.
This phenomenon brings up the age-old question that comes up in such situations: Why? No one but Madoff can explain what happened. Even though his investors should have been wary of returns that were consistently too high in both up and down markets to be credible, there is something else: People want to trust other people. Despite all of the mendacity in the world, trust, properly applied, is still one of the essential oils that lubricate the operation of a viable society.
The fact that so many well-trained empty business suits, bureaucrats, and elected officials have taken advantage of that human attribute is the main reason why our economy is now in the tank.
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