By Sean Hayes
Batman has his Joker and Penguin, Superman has his Lex Luther and Doomsday, and we have our Blagojevich and Madoff.
As many superhero aficionados consider which villain is the most ``dastardly'' I was left considering at a recent social gathering of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors, which of our two villains, if the charges are proven, is more morally culpable.
The heart of the discussion came down to whether someone who violates the ``public trust'' is more culpable than someone who violates ``private trust.'' However, because of the nature and scope of Madoff's alleged crimes, it is difficult to call his actions a mere deception of a private trust.
Rod Blagojevich, an Illinois governor, is charged with violating U.S. Federal law for acts the governor was alleged to commit that were intended to increase the governors power and wealth ― the old pay to play game.
Blagojevich, was caught on tape, discussing his power to appoint a replacement to Barrack Obama's U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich noted that he ``got this thing and it's (expletive) golden. And I'm just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing.''
Maybe even worse, it is alleged that he threatened to withhold money from a children's hospital unless the hospital contributed money to his campaign.
The governor has, among other things, alleged to have threatened not to assist the Chicago Cubs with its new stadium plan unless the paper that owns the Cubs fired an editorial board member who was very critical of the governor.
Bernie Madoff, a high flying ``God of Wall Street,'' is accused by a number of government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), of operating a Ponzi scheme that lost investors over $50 billion.
Some of the investors were charitable organizations and one investor, who was duped out of most of his fortune, committed suicide.
Considering which of these alleged villains is more morally culpable is difficult. Blagojevich's alleged acts are of deceiving the public trust, while Madoff, a private citizen, is alleged to have deceived private investors.
Usually acts of deceiving the public trust are considered more serious than private deception, since the former acts may contribute to the destruction of the integrity of the government, while private acts, normally, only lead to the destruction of the integrity of the deceiver.
However, because of the scale of Madoff's alleged deception, allegations that Madoff even deceived charitable enterprises, the nature of his business and the effect it is having on society, the alleged crimes can't be considered ``mere private'' deceptions.
Madoff's acts are so serious to our system that he may have contributed to destroying the trust in the SEC, our once respected financial institutions, and possibly even trust in each other. Modern society has evolved from a manufacturing economy to a services economy. The heart of a services society is trust.
We need to trust that when we put money into a Fidelity money market account that we will get the money back. We need to trust that when we go to Wal-Mart that they will honor their in-store warranty. We need to trust that when we buy an item from Amazon that the item will arrive as stated.
If we don't trust, Anne Applebaum's prediction may come true. She predicted that because of the lack of trust ― ``in the coming years, American capitalism will become slower, more cautious, less productive, and less entrepreneurial.''
If Madoff contributed to less trust in our society, his alleged acts are gravely more serious than those of Blagojevich.
Sean Hayes is a New York attorney working with the Seoul office of LOGOS Law LLC, one of Korea's largest international law firms with offices in Beijing, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Incheon, Moscow, Phnom Penh, Seoul and Songdo. He formerly worked as a law faculty member and for the Constitutional Court of Korea. He can be reached at SeanHayes@LawLogos.com and www.thekoreanlawblog.com