And every form of greediness...

C'mon, we've all heard the expressions and the ugly part about it is that they are true. Another expression or cliché heard quite often is this one: "Oh everybody does it...but he was the one who got caught (Nixon immediately comes to mind here).

Folks the reality of the matter is that if there exist human nature, and many argue that there is no such thing as 'human nature' however; if it does exist it would have to be greed.

We have a short, simple, to the point exposé illustrating just how the love of money can indeed collapse an empire.

Individual(s)--Bernard Madoff, the former NASDAQ Stock Market chairman faced charges of organizing a ponzi scheme that biked away $50 billion from the investors and consequently he was arrested.

Organizations--Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Lehman Bros, Goldman Sachs, and several major banks have been the recipients of enormous sums of money not belonging to them.

U.S. Government--"700 Billion Dollar Bailout Fund To Meet Financial Turmoil Urges Congress To Make Fast Decision" was the headline; and here's what followed: The government of the United States has proposed for a 700 billion dollar bailout fund to meet the financial turmoil in the country. The U.S. President had urged the Congress for endorsing the plan without making much delay.

There remains one industry whose sole mission is to perform internal control audits allegedly under the strictest of procedures referred to as 'trust is bust' and 'if you say it's there...go get it because I need to touch it..." and so goes the mantra for these auditing giants.

This leads us to the forth category: The Big Four--Formally known as the 'Big 8', then the 'Big 6' and now through mergers and acquisitions, ah that's too polite...in the wake of the Enron scandal one of the Big 8 was charged with obstruction of justice when federal agents caught members of this huge company literally shredding documents.

The Big 4 are auditors with one mission in life: Make sure that no one gets away with anything, especially money! If you've ever been privy to, or endured one of these audits as long as the pennies and nickels line up there's nothing whatsoever to worry about right? However, if it's a penny out of line, these firms could be on premises for as long as it takes to find that penny or in most cases months after everything gets disclosed. But who is watching the auditors?

The sums of money being tossed here and there these last 2 years are just about inconceivable as counting the sands on the beaches! Most people cannot comprehend what a million dollars really is, so now it's hundreds of millions, billions, and anywhere between 5 to 10 trillion dollars.

A long, very long time ago a guy was writing to his friend and above all else he stressed this point about understanding humankind stating,

" Hey, we came into the world butt naked and when we leave the world it will be with nothing; just remember that those who want to get rich fall into traps like hookers, lusts, greed, and trouble beyond imagination that will plunge men into ruin and destruction...

My friend as far as I'm concerned, the love of money is the root of all evil." (1Tim. 6: 9-10)


Just a little post script: Anyone connect with this true story? Think of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senator Smith, Senator Vitter, and their sexual appetites with boys and women prostitutes. Think of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch: The largest bank in America and the largest investment banking firm needing billions of dollars to stay afloat. Yet, this Bernard Madoff, absconding with 50 billion dollars of other peoples money (blatant theft) getting an ankle bracelet and house arrest is unthinkable!