Ruminating on Mark Madoff's suicide

NYT columnist David Brooks is reminded of classical Greece. Here he trades thoughts with NYT columnist Gail Collins.

David Brooks: Am a I rotten person for thinking some proper retribution has been inflicted upon the old man?

Gail Collins: Wow, David. Didn't think you were going there. But continue.

David Brooks: Bernie Madoff endangered his family and his friendships for money. He inflicted untold pain on thousands of people. Somehow there is cruel justice in the fact that the shocks of his crimes should reverberate back on him in this way. He has to live with the knowledge that he caused his son's death.

Gail Collins: O.K., I can see where you're going now -- back to the Greeks, right?

David Brooks: Yes, this too is Greek, because in those old tragedies, pain would course through families; and the sons, as the unavoidable saying goes, would pay for the sins of their fathers. Those old plays presumed that the universe is essentially just, and that there are moral laws and filaments so that evil eventually leads to evil.

Gail Collins: It sounded very profound when Sophocles wrote about it. But I have the terrible feeling that in our era, it's been boiled down to "Everything happens for a reason." I would love to see a statistic on how many times people in reality show competitions say that. Is it really possible to believe there's a cosmic purpose behind getting kicked off the island in "Survivor"?

David Brooks: I'm not so sure we can be so confident of that. But crimes do tend to impose rippling waves of pain.



More by Mark Lacter:
American-US Air settlement with DOJ includes small tweak at LAX
Socal housing market going nowhere fast
Amazon keeps pushing for faster L.A. delivery
Another rugged quarter for Tribune Co. papers
How does Stanford compete with the big boys?
Those awful infographics that promise to explain and only distort
Best to low-ball today's employment report
Further fallout from airport shootings
Crazy opening for Twitter*
Should Twitter be valued at $18 billion?
Recent stories:
Letter from Down Under: Welcome to the Homogenocene
One last Florida photo
Signs of Saturday: No refund
'I Am Woman,' hear them roar
Bobcat crossing

New at LA Observed
On the Media Page
Go to Media

On the Politics Page
Go to Politics
Arts and culture

Sign up for daily email from LA Observed

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Advertisement
Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
LA Observed on Twitter and Facebook