For no reason I was reading a bit on Bernie Madoff today and it inspired an interesting question to me: would it be worth it to spend the last quarter to a third of your life in prison in exchange for being filthy rich for the majority of your adult years?
The man is serving a 150 year sentence and will no doubt die in prison, but the man was 71 when he went in and spent the last 30 or so, if not longer, years being filthy stinking rich. 30 years is the better part, if not all, of most people’s adult lives.
Nevermind that he hurt hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. Despite my inspiration for the question, this is not about Bernie Madoff.
Your crime shall remain ambiguous. Whatever it is makes you tons of money and may or may not involve hurting people. Maybe the people you are defrauding are bad people, like drug cartels or Dr. Evil or something. The point is the you do the crime, you make the money and are basically scot-free for a solid 30 years, then you’re busted and sent to die in prison when you’re already only a decade or so from dying anyway. It’s going to happen. Call it a deal with the Devil. Would you make that deal?
Depends on how wealthy I get to be. Madoff was, as I understand it, a multi-billionaire. That’s not just wealth, although I understand that’s more or less all Madoff used it for. That’s power - more than enough to keep one’s favored political causes rolling in dough, to finance pro-democracy groups in dictatorships, to fund health programs, and so on. Wealth at Madoff’s level gives you the chance to change the world on nothing more than your own say-so.
This would be a very tempting deal. But it wouldn’t be worth it if I’d be merely wealthy without the mega-wealth required for real power. Ten or so million would set me up for life quite nicely, but I’d be hard-pressed to call that a world-shaking fortune.
So, in short: Yah, if I were convinced I could get real power and that I’d do worthwhile things with it, I’d mortgage my future, my soul, and the fortunes of my victims. Not without hesitation, but I think I’d do it.
Where’s the “I don’t have to be rich to be happy” button?
I don’t think that being filthy rich would necessarily make me happy. I work an honest job and live comfortably. No way would I trade that for living the rest of my life in prison - no matter if it were only a few years.
If I could spend a decade in and then spend the rest of my life filthy rich? Just maybe.
Here’s the rub: do I have to give the money back? Or can I pass it on to my heirs?
I would actually consider this if I could leave the fortune for my wife, kids, and grandkids. If on the other hand, the money just “disappeared” after thirty years, my answer is an unequivocal no.
this question implicitly borders the question of dying early in return for being rich beforehand. After all, Madoff could have committed suicide before being taken to prison. Or even had somebody else pay a prison gang to murder him, if he were tired of the accommodations.
I would imagine that some people would have a different take on “dying earlier for money” as opposed to “being mistreated in prison for money”.
I wouldn’t take the deal even if the crime I was going to be sentenced for was something completely harmless, like selling bongs. I’d rather be dirt-poor and able to choose where I live, take a walk outside whenever I want, pick my own food and not have to undergo strip searches.
I didn’t vote. I don’t really want to be a good person, but I never want to be in jail. There’s lots of things I actively avoid doing as a poor (compared to a flithy rich person) person to avoid jail. If you do choose this, I heard they’re easier on old people.
Mr. Excellent raises a good point: what if, with that money, you could impact the causes you care about for decades to come?
(Then again, that assumes that, as has happened IRL, those causes didn’t have to give back the money you give them. But still, I think it’s something to at least consider.)
The reason I thought about this is because I was reading about Madoff and it occurred to me that for the most part he got away with it. I mean, the man is 73 years old in a medium security federal prison. He’ll likely spend the majority of his remaining years in the prison infirmary. His family had to return the money that the government could find, but no doubt squirreled away a decent nest egg somewhere and even if they didn’t, they lived a life of extravagant luxury for most of their lives.
Yet, for all the harm he did he made a ludicrous amount of money and had a great deal of power, much of which he didn’t bother to wield but easily could have (and had much much more had he chosen) and he had all of this for the lion’s share of his adult life.
I’m not at all defending what he did; frankly I feel he deserves a much worse fate than he has drawn, involving an excruciatingly slow and painful, tortuous death. The results of the poll are not at all surprising, in fact pretty much exactly what I was expecting it to look like. I was just wondering how many of us would be able to make that choice, how many of use would be willing to sacrifice the sharp decline of our lives in the twilight years for, up until that point, a life unfathomable wealth and power.
For the record, my vote was “I’m not sure what I would do.” It would be tempting, but I’m just not that selfish.
30 years of being filthy rich: I’m 57.3 now, so I’d be filthy rich from now until I’m 87.3 years old. And I’d be in prison from the age of 87.3 until death.
Yeah, I’d make that bargain. Over the next 10-12 years, I’d get to spend a lot of time with my son when I’d otherwise be working. And in return, I’d give up time potentially spent with him when I’m really, really old. It’s a deal right there.
There’s other stuff too, but sure. Where do I sign?
Just how would one go about guaranteeing that only the last part of your life would be spent in prison, and that you would be sure to get your 30 good years in? Because, in addition to moral considerations, I’ve got to think there’s a difference between spending 30 years filthy rich before being hit by a bus, and spending 30 years filthy rich but always looking over your shoulder and wondering every day if today will be the day the guys with the guns and badges come to kick your door in.
I’m trying to do the math here. I’m already 65, so if I become filthy rich right now, I won’t go to prison until I’m 95 . . . which begins the last 25% of my life . . . meaning I’ll live to be over 126 years old. Now I’m thinking that those years, from 95 to 126, are so crappy anyway, I might as well be in prison where at least I’m guaranteed a roof over my head and three squares a day and lots of sex.
Unless you can be filthy rich while simultaneously be in prison? Bummer.
Dying in prison makes a poor final exit, folks. Death is rarely a picnic anywhere, but I’ve seen lots and lots of death, outside of prisons and inside prisons. Including the ‘good’ deaths in well-run prison hospices. No amount of money would make me choose the prison death option.
It’s not so much that I’d rather be a “good person” (which I would, but that’s not what’s keeping me out of prison) as that I would not be able to tolerate having my freedom taken away. That would be the worst.
