While listening to SiriusXM's Business Radio channel, I heard a really interesting program this morning…
Getting Away With Fraud – I’m Mad!
Nowadays, it seems that everywhere you turn, someone is trying to get away with something illegal. As a society, how did we get here?
I realize fraud has been around for centuries – and probably since the cave man. Lately, it seems fraud is everywhere. Just this morning, I saw a story on CBS Sunday Morning about this guy who plagiarized other people’s words for something like 15 years! The interviewer calmly interviewed this scumbag who claims it was a mix of “power” and “being bipolar” that made him do it. When asked whether he felt any remorse, he said he did – but I wasn’t entirely convinced.
Then there’s the tale of Lance Armstrong. I was reminded just this morning by Jody Padar about Lance – and, in fact, had just read a story about him in our local paper that focused on how the “Live Strong” Foundation must live on. Why must it survive? The story detailed how one of our local bike shops had built a shrine to Armstrong. I found that as disgusting as it was reprehensible that anyone would continue supporting a public face that defrauded the public, not to mention the millions of children and adults who, at one time, looked up to Armstrong as a heralded symbol of all-things good.
Of course, there are stories every day about accounting fraud – and lots of other types of fraud. I guess I’ve become used to those kinds of stories. There’s no doubt business fraud will continue occurring; after all, if someone thinks they will get away with something, they probably will try and do it time and time again.
I’ve written in my blog about how I am accused of being too Pollyanna, only seeing the glass as half-full ALL the time. Stories like the guy who stole other people’s words or athletes who lie to the public wear me down. To help, I try to focus on what’s “good,” and there’s a lot of that these days, certainly.
At least it helps a bit … until the next story appears on the evening news.