A Letter I'll Never Have To Write

I was interested and amazed to hear letters that were written to the judge presiding over Bernie Madoff's sentencing tonight on the news. People who had been scammed by Madoff wrote letters to the judge, describing their personal hardships as a result of being scammed by Madoff, in hopes that the judge would pass a stiff sentence.

I found the content of the letters to be incredible: some were full of cursing, name calling, and wishing doom and gloom (one woman said she hopes he burns in hell) to Madoff. It occurred to me that I'll never have to write a letter like that, hoping that someone who had scammed me will burn in hell, and for that I am thankful.

It goes without saying that the people who were scammed by Madoff have a legitimate reason to be angry, but I think their anger also exposes some things about what they truly love. They are out of a LOT of money, and as a result, their lives are devastated. I hope that I am never in a position where my life is so dependent upon my assets that the loss of said assets would destroy me as it destroyed many whom Madoff scammed. All they had was their money - at least their money was all that was important to them. And when that was gone, so was any enjoyment of life, hope for the future, and anything else they treasured.

I have little or no money, not much in the way of investments, and no desire to get rich quick, and I don't depend upon money for my self identity and enjoyment of life. So I don't have to worry about being scammed (let alone, entering into a ponzi scheme). I'm glad I don't have to write a letter to Bernie Madoff.