The Staff at wowOwow.com
wowOwowFri, 27 Feb 2009 12:25 UTC
Elie Wiesel's comments, while understandable, show how little is commonly known about psychopaths.
Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel - who knows all too well the evils of mankind - thinks "psychopath is too nice a word " to describe the Ponzi-schemer Bernie Madoff.
Madoff wiped out more than $15 million from the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity - a loss that simply rips apart Wiesel's heart.
"It's the inhumanity of this man - that he can go around, depriving people of their livelihoods ..." said the 80-year-old Nobel Peace Prize-winning author while speaking at an event called "Madoff and the Meltdown," which was hosted by Portfolio magazine. "It breaks my heart."
Wiesel went on to say that Madoff deserves a unique sentence for the injustices he inflicted on more than 4,000 people:
He should go before a group of judges who would imagine a punishment for him. He should be put in a solitary cell with a screen, and on the screen, for at least five years of his life, [would be] pictures of his victims.
Look what you have done to this old lady, look what you have done to that child.
The author and philanthropist also shared the story of how he initially invested with Madoff. They first met 20 years ago and Wiesel said he was immediately impressed by the former Nasdaq chief's persona.
"He presented himself as a philanthropist. He gave so much to institutions ... There was a myth he created around him."
The man once hailed as investment wunderkind remains under house arrest in his multimillion-dollar Manhattan abode
And while Wiesel said "psychopath" is not the word to describe the weasel because "he knew what he was doing," the venerable author did refer to Madoff variously as "a crook, a thief, a scoundrel," as well as "swindler" and "evil."
Comment: Many people share Mr. Wiesel's sentiment. They also share his lack of understanding of psychopathy. This lack of understanding ensures that the Madoffs of the world will continue in their evil ways relatively unabated.
Wiesel stated that Madoff, "presented himself as a philanthropist." This is precisely how a psychopath would approach a man like Wiesel. Psychopaths maintain a mask of sanity. That mask changes based on who is it being put up for.
Wiesel goes on to say, '"psychopath" is not the word to describe the weasel because "he knew what he was doing." Apparently, Mr. Wiesel is confusing the psychopath and psychotic. They are not the same. Psychopaths are well aware of what they are doing. The fact that they can knowingly commit acts that are rightfully called "inhuman" stems from the fact that they really are not human. While they may appear human on the surface, they lack the emotions and empathy that are a part of being human.
The punishment Mr. Wiesel proposes, that he be placed in a cell and forced to face what he has done, "Look what you have done to this old lady, look what you have done to that child," would be meaningless to a psychopath. A psychopath knows full well what he is doing when he does it. Such a punishment would be as meaningful to a psychopath as it would be to a lion forced to look at pictures of its gazelle victims.
The truth of psychopaths is, unfortunately, lost to Mr. Wiesel and the vast majority of the population of the planet. Our ignorance of psychopathy allows them to work in anonymity.
Comment: Many people share Mr. Wiesel's sentiment. They also share his lack of understanding of psychopathy. This lack of understanding ensures that the Madoffs of the world will continue in their evil ways relatively unabated.
Wiesel stated that Madoff, "presented himself as a philanthropist." This is precisely how a psychopath would approach a man like Wiesel. Psychopaths maintain a mask of sanity. That mask changes based on who is it being put up for.
Wiesel goes on to say, '"psychopath" is not the word to describe the weasel because "he knew what he was doing." Apparently, Mr. Wiesel is confusing the psychopath and psychotic. They are not the same. Psychopaths are well aware of what they are doing. The fact that they can knowingly commit acts that are rightfully called "inhuman" stems from the fact that they really are not human. While they may appear human on the surface, they lack the emotions and empathy that are a part of being human.
The punishment Mr. Wiesel proposes, that he be placed in a cell and forced to face what he has done, "Look what you have done to this old lady, look what you have done to that child," would be meaningless to a psychopath. A psychopath knows full well what he is doing when he does it. Such a punishment would be as meaningful to a psychopath as it would be to a lion forced to look at pictures of its gazelle victims.
The truth of psychopaths is, unfortunately, lost to Mr. Wiesel and the vast majority of the population of the planet. Our ignorance of psychopathy allows them to work in anonymity.