I think Madoff got what he deserved and the murder/rapist only got a slight amount of time that he should have. Personally I think the murder/rapist should have gotten 200 years without parole. Like I said in another article not to long ago, Some small time dope dealers get more time in jail than murderers and rapists. I think it's a travesty that the justice system acts like taking a life doesn't amount to much. What a shame.

the things you think are precious I CAN'T understand

I hate Steely Dan, named after a sex toy, by the way.

Getting back to the point of the story here,

society does worship money too much.

Money is just paper you can trade for things.

How silly is money, really. Wouldn't

our ancestors that bartered and traded skills

wonder how the heck a piece of green paper is

worth anything?

This man got everything he deserved.

Need4speed is one of my favorites too.

They got the house on the corner
With the rug inside
They got the booze they need
All that money can buy
They got the shapely bods
They got the steely dan t-shirt
And for the coup-de-gras
Theyre outrageous
-Steely Dan "Show Biz Kids"

The justice system can hand out strange sentences. While the rapist/murderer probably deserved life without parole or worse, Madoff in the big scheme of things is not much better than the guy. Although he didn't exactly lay a hand on people by extension he did kill. There are many people who committed suicide because their lifes were ruined. There were some famous people who killed themselves right after the scandal came to light. I can imagine there are many more we didn't hear about. Also, there are people who might develop a life threatening condition where now they can't afford the treatment. Yes, it's just money, but for a lot of people it can't be recouped in their life, not even the initial investment they put in. Some are out on the street.

The judge was making an example out of this case. The punishment is high because they want to scare off people from doing the same thing. Many, many, many lifes were destroyed. In fact, any of us who has money in a mutual fund (who with a 401k or IRA doesn't?) might have suffered a loss due to Madoff. They will never know the extend of the damage because there were many feeder funds and funds feeding into those funds and so on. We all chalked off losses to the economy. Some of it might come from Madoff. We probably will never know. In fact, if it wouldn't have been for the economy and people pulling their money out so quickly, he might have gone on for several more years.

Madoff deserved what he got. In fact, it's probably not even a month for each life he somehow ruined.

That said, again, the rapist/murderer in the example definitely deserved more than what he got, too.

Sometimes it isn't the crime itself, but the amount of evidence proving/disproving it that determines the sentence.

I agree with the sentence he was given. It's not just about money. It goes way beyond money; he ruined many lives, some beyond repair. For example, the 91-year-old man who has to work at a supermarket in order to survive without being homeless. Or the woman whose mother is in a nursing home with Alzheimer's and now has to move to another home, less expensive and not as nice, because all she has left is Social Security, which doesn't cover the cost of her current nursing home. (By the way, Alzheimer's patients can get very upset about change.) It's not just about money for them or the others; it's about working and saving and having it all stolen: not just your money, but your home, your way of life, your security, your peace of mind...everything.

steely dan is one of my favorites