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"It's
Still The Economy,
Stupid!"
by
Terrence Daryl
Shulman
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The
economy is still the topic most on the minds of
Americans and millions (if not billions)
of others around the globe. The AIG and
corporate bonus issue raised the populist rage
several notches. Bernard Madoff plead guilty to
multiple felony fraud charges and is facing 150
years in prison when he's sentenced in June.
Emotions range from anxiety to cynicism to
despair.
Somewhere,
however, we must remain hopeful. As F.D.R.
proclaimed: "The only thing to fear is fear
itself." It ain't easy but we'll get through this.
No matter what your income or station in life, in
some sense we are all "in it
together."
The
good news--if there is any--is that this
"bottoming out" is causing us to re-evaluate and
readjust. The days of conspicuous consumption have
come to a screech
if not a complete halt. We are being forced to
live within our means and find joy and gratitude
in simpler things and
experiences.
Something
good can come of
this.
Now,
the balance point, individually and collectively,
is to be more conscience and cautious about how we
spend money without totally clamping down and
refusing to spend anything. Money is energy. Money
is blood. And if the energy and blood of our
economy stops beating, well, this is already
happening. President Obama is walking a fine line
for sure. He has to present a message of
solemnity, surveying the harsh realities of the
economy and what got us here (in large part, too
much spending and too much risk) while also
providing a message of hope and encouragement to
trust and spend again--but more
wisely.
Each
of us has likely cut out something from our budget
(if we even had a budget) to help make ends meet.
We are having quiet and open conversations about
"want vs. need." Again, this is a good
thing.
As
the Chinese say in their language, "crisis" means
both danger and opportunity. What opportunities
does this financial crisis offer
you?
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HAPPY
PASSOVER and EASTER.
Spring is upon us and so, too, are two of our more
observed holidays: Passover (April 8-9) and Holy
Thursday/Good Friday/Easter (April 9-12). For
many, these holidays are truly religious or
spiritual events. For anyone, they can be
invitations and opportunities to reflect on the
universal themes of struggle and victory, death
and rebirth/renewal, miracles and, of course, the
importance of getting together with loved
ones.
With
the economy on our minds, these holidays may
assist us in slowing down, going within, reaching
out to others as well as reaching out for others.
The holidays offer us a chance to think about what
we are grateful for and while many of us may be
suffering today, we can remember how our ancestors
suffered in ways that are almost
unimaginable.
So,
how do you plan to observe the holidays? Their
richness is there
from which we may draw strength, hope, wisdom, and
reconnection.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
LAWSUIT
UPDATE:
At this point, we still have some work to do to
get back to some agreement. This has been a
frustrating and exhausting experience for me but I
remain as committed as ever to fighting for my
legal rights and to helping others who have
problems with shoplifting and/or stealing to
easily find me and the services and resources
offered on my websites. I ask again for your
positive thoughts and any form of support you feel
called to
give.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
WHY I
DO WHAT I
DO. I
got two e-mails in the past few days which caused
me to stop and let the impact of my efforts
to help others sink in deeply. Last Wednesday, I
had just come home from our local CASA
support group meeting where we had spent two hours
filming with the Canadian Broadcast Corporation
for a documentary on shoplifting and stealing in
Canada
and abroad. I checked my email before turning
in for the night and received a message from
the adult son of a former client of
mine-coincidentally, Canadian-who also
had been a member of our local CASA group as
well as our online support group. The message read
as follows:
"Hi
Terry... I have terrible news... my mom
passed away recently... it was sudden
(heart attack)... my kids and I saw her
earlier in the day and there was no
indication of any problems... and then I received
a call from her in the middle of the night... I
just want you to know that you helped change her
life... the last couple of years she was at peace
with herself... you must continue helping as many
people as you can... you have a
gift!"
This
email reminded me how fleeting and fragile life is
and how important recovery is. While her loss is
grave, it would have been much moreso--for herself
and her loved ones--had she still been active in
her addiction when she passed. I know that feeling
intimately as my father died 16 years ago on April
20, 1993 in a state, I believe, was anything other
than at peace.
The
second email I received was on March 30th. It was
short and reads as
follows:
"I
am about to send for your book. I feel better
already after reading the (testimonials) on your
site; I understand a little bit better why people
with our backgrounds steal. I would like to
sincerely thank you for having the COURAGE to step
out and offer all of us a helping hand out of the
emotional and lethal quicksand of stealing. My
heart feels a bit lighter and I know I am on the
right path to my true life via your loving help. A
little bit of the self-hatred has been slightly
released already... Thank you
again."
What
greater gift can we give ourselves than to find
our deepest meaning and purpose for living and
then to live that meaning and purpose. It was
largely due to my father's long-term alcoholism
that I became interested in helping others. In his
death, I saw the ultimate price one pays the
disease of addiction. I knew I didn't want to meet
that end from my own
disease.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
IS
FRAUD CONTAGIOUS? There
was an interesting article in Newsweek
magazine--posted online on March 12, 2009 by
writer Wray
Herbert.
New
research attempts to shed light on why people
cheat and why others can resist temptation. One of
the interesting questions in the article was that
if persons such as Bernard Madoff who already were
wealthy and successful can lie, cheat, steal and
commit fraud, what incentive is there for persons
with much less money and advantage not to do
so?
And
with all these CEOs getting bonuses, "It's enough
to make the average tax-paying citizen wonder
whether anyone actually plays by the rules
anymore."
The
article asks: "So why do some people cheat and
others don't? The classical explanation is that
it's a rationalized choice, a cold calculation of
cost and benefit. Can I get away with it, and how
much can I get away with before I risk getting
caught? But some scientist have begun questioning
this cynical view of human ethics and suggest that
the decision is much more complex than this simple
calculation."
Some test experiments
with groups were discussed in the article.
Part of what was revealed was that if cheating was
observed to have no consequences, that others were
more inclined to cheat, too. But what was
interesting was that if those cheating were
members of a group not affiliated with ones own
group, cheating decreased whereas if those
cheating belonged to an affiliated group, cheating
increased. So, it's not black and white based just
on whether there are perceived consequences or
not.
Also,
in one experiment, a student asked the proctor
directly: "Is it okay to cheat?" The proctor said
"no." Cheating decreased when the question was
brought to the
forefront.
The
article concluded: "So it appears our inner
moralist doesn't really want to
cheat.
Yet it also appears dishonesty can be
contagious--if we witness one of our own
committing the public act of dishonesty. These
findings point to a possible strategy for
preventing a wave of unethical contagion. If
cheating in general declines when cheaters are
perceived as outlaws, then it should help to
stigmatize public cheaters as just that--outlaws,
bad apples. Of course, Bernie Madoff and the rest
of Wall Street's alleged fraudsters have already
done a lot of that work for
us."
COMMENT:
While
I can see the logic in the argument that
stigmatizing cheaters, liars, thieves, etc. as
outlaws may reduce some people's temptations to
engage in similar behaviors, I believe it's more
complicated that this. First of all, the more
cheating that is exposed the more many people
begin to feel the world is an unfair and unruly
place and that the only sane reaction is to "join
the game." Also, as I've worked for nearly 15
years with people who steal (particularly
shoplifting and employee theft), I have come to
believe that "one size does not fit all." There is
a difference between a common thief or someone who
steals for greed/profit vs. someone who steals due
to emotional/psychological issues or who is a
kleptomaniac or compulsive shoplifter. I am not
saying there should not be penalties or
consequences but there should also be treatment. I
have seen cases where people in need of
treatment is belittled, stigmatized, yelled at by
a judge, a prosecutor, even their own family or
friends. It doesn't tend to help these people;
quite the contrary, it pushes them further into
shame and despair and almost certainly guarantees
these people with strike or lash out
again.
Ultimately,
in order to act in a way that is accordance with
the law, we must cultivate and call upon our own
conscience. I've been reading a book that was
recommended by a friend recently. It is called
"The Sociopath Next Door" by Martha Stout, PhD. It
asserts that roughly 4% of our population are
sociopaths who, in essence, don't have a
conscience about anything they do. They can be
quite charming and walk in our midst. How they
become this way is still somewhat of a
mystery--part genetics, part early childhood abuse
or trauma; in either event, they are hard, if not
impossible, to change. Some are mildly annoying
and some are dangerously lethal. Perhaps many more
than 4% have "sociopathic
tendencies."
The
author also discussed the interesting point
that sometimes it feels like a burden to have a
conscience but also suggests it is what makes us
human and that the benefits far outweigh the costs
both in our individual and collective
lives.
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DO
TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES LEAD TO MORE STEALING OR
LESS? Conventional
wisdom and research indicates that during tough
economic times, stealing increases--often
dramatically--as persons struggle to make
ends meet and morality takes a backseat to
survival. In addition, the pure emotional upheaval
people experience (especially due to loss and
feelings of unfairness and powerlessness) nudge us
toward behaviors we wouldn't normally engage in
during more settled
times.
A
recent figure (quoted in last month's
e-Newsletter) stated that
U.S.
crime stats reported a 40% increase in shoplifting
and employee theft during the last two months of
2008. Preliminary figures from the first quarter
of 2009--from retailers and police
blotters--indicate a steady rise in crime rates,
especially petty thefts.
Richard
Hollinger, a professor of Ciminology at The
University of Florida in Gainesville--a
friend and colleague of mine--has been tracking
this trend in his monthly column in Loss
Prevention magazine. He states: "Based upon
numerous research studies, an economic downturn is
precisely the time that loss prevention managers
need to be most vigilant for dishonesty. These
declining conditions foster an atmosphere in which
even those employees still working can be easily
tempted into dishonesty. The reason is based upon
the socio-psychological principles found in
"equity theory." This theory posits that when
inequitable situations arise, individuals take
immediate action to restore equity in their
lives.
"As
I have written elsewhere, when retail sales
associates feel unfairly treated and poorly
compensated, they will take action to rectify the
situation by working less productively, quitting,
or stealing from the workplace. In the current
economic environment, neither working less or
quitting are really viable options. People who
still have jobs need to preserve their employment,
and moreover, need every hour of paid work that
they can achieve. However, when they believve that
the inevitable "pink slip" is just around the
corner, they will often anticipate the loss of
their jobs and attempt to steal as much as they
can before being laid off. I would like to call
this phenomenon "anticipatory
employee theft and
dishonesty."
COMMENT:
Imagine
my surprise when on Friday March 27, 2009 I read a
lead article in The Detroit Free Press entitled:
"Fewer Sticky Fingers... Petty thefts are on the
decline in metro area." The overall drop was
reported at about 10% from September 2008 through
February 2009 compared with the same period the
year before. Now, assuming this is true, that's
pretty great and unexpected news. I do have my
suspicions, however, that the figures may mislead
the public to think that people are becoming more
honest during tough times and that we may be
lulled into a false sense of security. Also, the
article didn't attempt to state any theories about
why the crime rate had surprisingly
dropped.
I
wrote the following response to the editors of the
paper the day the article ran; however, to this
date it has not been
published:
I
was encouraged to read the article in about the
current decrease in petty thefts (notably,
property thefts and retail fraud/shoplifting) in
the Metro-Detroit area. In fact, a recent
U.S.
study--based on police reports and retailers
reports--indicated that theft crimes such as
shoplifting and employee theft had increased 40%
over the last two months of 2008 and this, as your
article explains, was related to the downturn
economy. From what I've been reading and hearing,
first quarter national stats should also reflect
an increase in theft crimes. Because our region
has been hit harder than most, perhaps some
possible exlpanations for the drop in local theft
can be attributed to more store and business
closings (fewer places to steal from); more people
avoiding stores (less discretionary income and
less temptation to steal once in stores); shifting
trends in organized crime rings; increased local
law enforcement; and increased diligence among the
public (watching purses, locking car and home
doors, etc.).
In
any event, stealing is still a major problem in
the Metro-Detroit area and across teh country and
research still shows that people tend to cross
ethical lines more when under financial stress,
not to mention the pure emotional response either:
when people suffer loss, anger, and increased
feelings of helplessness and lack of hope, it may
become all too easy to justify stealing as a
"fair" response to an "unfair" world. I hope your
article doesn't lull people into a false sense of
security. We need to be on guard for
theft--whether we're the victims or the potential
perpetrators.
_____________________________________________________________________
WE
APPRECIATE YOUR
SUPPORT!
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