What's the difference?

Gato_Solo

Gato_Solo

Out-freaking-standing OTC member
In his WAREZ thread, Hex cites an example of insider trading that got my interest.

Enron, WorldComm, etc got big coverage in the media and, as a result, got everybody interested on what's wrong in some businesses. No IMO, no matter how you sugar-coat it, what happened was theft in general, grand larceny in particular, so why are the punishments so light? A person robbing a house can get 5 to 15 years, depending on circumstances, and their take could be as little as $50 USD. These folks who do insider trading, embezzelment, and other 'white collar' crimes get huge amounts in comparison, but they get off in a minimum security prison for a maximum of five years. Aren't they both thieves? Didn't they both cause undue financial hardship on others? Indeed, one could say that the insider trader, or embezzeler, caused more harm because more people were affected, so why the disparity in sentencing? Why the seperation and alternate descriptions? :shrug:
 
I don't know Gato, it seems like if you do something bad on a huge scale, you don't get punished as badly, doesn't it? By the way, don't forget that they ruined hundreds, maybe thousands of lives in the bargain.:mad:
 
i'd be a cynic and say look at the amount donated to political organisations. plus, money buys you justice now - the burglar can't afford whup-arse counsel so does down, the enron exec can afford the best counsel who knows exactly what strings to pull.
 
Jeslek said:
We really need to extend the capital punishment laws.
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Now, I don't think "capital" punishment, but we do need "corporal" punishment laws. Public flogging would do a lot towards making me fell better about it.
ris said:
money buys you justice now
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No doubt.
 
Well, if you are in a position to steal on such a grand scale, you are part of the establishment usually. And you look out for your own of course if you are part of that estabishment. Look at the Keating five and see above to the post by ris. How many billions did they steal? I forget, the number is mindboggling. I believe it was stated in one criminal justice class i took that the Keating five stole more money at one time than all the previous thefts combined since the beginning of recorded history!!! Yet what was the punishment for the crime? Need I say more? Maybe Enron, and Worldcom one upped the Keating Five even, I'm not sure on that, but it seems reasonable to assume so. 'Street crime' is punished severly because rarely does it affect the 'upper classes.' Actually, identity theft is one of the higher income yeilding crimes as well, and its almost completely unpunished. I guess we only punish 'violent' crimes, or crimes that could turn violent, crimes of the 'lower classes.' If you steal in a more refined manner you should be fine. Golfing and yachting with senators, and presidents, also seems to be useful in obtaining get out of jail free cards.
 
Like I said...theft is theft is theft. One crime...one punishment. Changing the name of the crime does not change the fact that a crime was committed.
 
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