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I Will Never Understand This

By John Cole February 22nd, 2012

How do so many obviously unstable crazy people manage to get so filthy rich?

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Posted in Election 2012
This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Election 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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55 Responses to “I Will Never Understand This”



  1. 1 cathyx Says:

    Be careful you don’t get sued.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:37 pm



  2. 2 The Bearded Blogger Says:

    capitalism’s current form rewards assholishness.

    On the other hand, some of the causation goes the other way: having a zillion dollars can make people crazy.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:38 pm



  3. 3 Moesha Says:

    Sociopaths have no shame, no empathy and no core values. That’s how..


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:39 pm



  4. 4 ZaftigAmazon Says:

    Because when they chose their parents, wealth was a prerequisite.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:40 pm



  5. 5 TenguPhule Says:

    How do so many obviously unstable crazy people manage to get so filthy rich?

    Souls are cheaper then sanity.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:41 pm



  6. 6 Poopyman Says:

    @Moesha: That’s it. Period.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:42 pm



  7. 7 pat lewis Says:

    The copyright issue is a good reminder of how SOPA would allow abuse.

    And doesn’t the company name, Melaleuca, sound like something that had been santorumed?


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:43 pm



  8. 8 RD Says:

    VanderSloots are people, my friend.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:43 pm



  9. 9 Yutsano Says:

    Born on third base but told they hit a triple all their lives.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:45 pm



  10. 10 Chris Says:

    One: how many of them actually got rich? If Mitt Romney’s any example, a lot of them simply made their money the old fashioned way and inherited it.

    Two, maybe it’s not that assholes become rich. Maybe it’s just that extreme wealth allows you to liberate your petulant inner asshole without fear of the consequences.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:47 pm



  11. 11 gumbo Says:

    Moesha is spot on. Normal people don’t feel comfortable lying to others in order to steal their money – yet that seems to be SOP for this company and the claims they make about their dietary supplements. Normal people wouldn’t offshore tens of thousands of jobs just to increase the value of their stock options a couple of cents a share. But that’s the way Wall Street rolls these days. Other people and their needs, desires, dreams aren’t real in any sense at all to these “Masters of the Universe,” and that is the definition of sociopathy. Why we choose to reward these behaviors rather than lock these creeps up is the mystery.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:48 pm



  12. 12 Benjamin Franklin Says:

    Any relation to Jorhan? You know, of Natalie Holloway fame?


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:53 pm



  13. 13 David in NY Says:

    At the risk of sparking controversy, I’d say that’s a damned good Greenwald column. Sticking neck way out.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:54 pm



  14. 14 SST Says:

    @RD: Heh


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:54 pm



  15. 15 WaynersT Says:

    lack of conscience


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:55 pm



  16. 16 James Hulsey Says:

    @WaynersT: Agreed

    It’s much easier to become a billionaire when you don’t care who gets hurt along the way.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm



  17. 17 Holden Pattern Says:

    @Moesha: Agreed. Our current system is a perfect environment for sociopath success; they are rewarded for being completely without empathy, while the rest of us assume the system is fair and it’s our fault that they’re killing us.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm



  18. 18 WaynersT Says:

    I couldn’t resist the blog ad today

    “The 4 dangers destroying men”

    it’s apparently all about sperm.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:58 pm



  19. 19 BGinCHI Says:

    Getting rich is easy. Comedy is hard.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:59 pm



  20. 20 Benjamin Franklin Says:

    This guy gives the ‘White Salamander’ , a good name.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Hofmann

    “Pernicious” and quite litigious. Maybe RICO would exhaust his formidable resources.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 5:59 pm



  21. 21 Culture of Truth Says:

    Willard Mitt Romney earned his money the old fashioned way!

    Also he was named after Willard Marriott. I’m sure it’s a coincidence that when he grew up he helped the hotel chain cheat on their taxes.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:00 pm



  22. 22 cmorenc Says:

    Have Vandersloot’s fleet of lawyers threatened Glen Greenwald yet over the linked article? Might John Cole expect to hear from them threatening him for linking to Glen Greenwald’s article, ending with: “BTW: that’s a nice cat and cute couple of dogs you got there John, we hope nothing bad happens to any of them.”


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:01 pm



  23. 23 david mizner Says:

    This is a trick post right? Obviously it helps.

    In other news, Douthat thinks Sick Rantorum is an economic populist. kooky even for him.

    http://campaignstops.blogs.nyt.....-november/


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:01 pm



  24. 24 Arm The Homeless Says:

    Frank VanderSloot is an Idaho billionaire and the CEO of Melaleuca, Inc., a controversial billion-dollar-a-year company which peddles dietary supplements and cleaning products;

    New Romney is both a floor wax AND a dessert topping!


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:02 pm



  25. 25 GregB Says:

    No wonder this guys son killed Natalie Holloway.

    Snark off.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:04 pm



  26. 26 R-Jud Says:

    @WaynersT: I get a chat ad with a brunette kicking her feet on a bed. Her name is “Summercusp”.

    I’m the wrong audience for that ad for a number of reasons, but mostly because I’m trying to remember whether or not there was someone called “Summercusp” in a Dickens novel.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:07 pm



  27. 27 brettvk Says:

    Multi-level marketing schemes are legal Ponzis, unfortunately. The people who allow themselves to be victimized by them are the same reality-challenged types who vote GOP. A former partner of mine gave me an up-close study of the pathology.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:10 pm



  28. 28 AnotherBruce Says:

    When you pick the right parents, you tend to be spoiled rotten. These people need to be slapped down, figuratively of course.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:11 pm



  29. 29 Mouse Tolliver Says:

    He looks and sounds like he might be a character from a Cohen Brothers movie. I wonder if he has quintuplets or a wife that he paid somebody to kidnap.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:23 pm



  30. 30 BruceFromOhio Says:

    @Arm The Homeless: The first ‘graf of the linky spells it out – the guy is a sleazy fuck with no soul. That’s all you gotta do to get rich anymore!

    O/T the sperm chick is doing a nice Angelina Jolie channelling. I’m BruceFromOhio, and I approve of this ad.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:28 pm



  31. 31 opie_jeanne Says:

    @brettvk: The fact that most of his victims are Mormons should have come as no surprise to me, since MLMs seem to be particularly attractive to Mormons for some reason, and Mormons used to be pretty trusting, naive even.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:38 pm



  32. 32 Jay in Oregon Says:

    @david mizner:

    Sick Rantorum

    Where would you like your internets delivered?


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:39 pm



  33. 33 Tokyokie Says:

    @Moesha: I disagree inasmuch as they do have core values. Well, value. Sadly, it’s their buttholes.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:40 pm



  34. 34 grape_crush Says:

    Sociopaths are about 1% of the general population, 4% of top corporate execs/businessmen. Same lack of empathy present, only channeled into profitmaking rather than running around with a machete and a hockey mask.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 6:44 pm



  35. 35 red dog Says:

    Congressmen become rich because of pay-offs and those who pay them off become richer by influencing the laws that benefit them. Then they have kids so the cycle goes on and on.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:00 pm



  36. 36 poco Says:

    @R-Jud: Esther Summerson? Bleak House?


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:01 pm



  37. 37 Short Bus Bully Says:

    John, you’re still conflating PERSONAL WEALTH with SELF WORTH. It’s a common misconception and a cause of much of the world’s problems.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:11 pm



  38. 38 D0n Camillo Says:

    @grape_crush:

    Sociopaths are about 1% of the general population, 4% of top corporate execs/businessmen.

    I’d have guessed much higher than 4%. It seems like the present system of corporate management and compensation actually seeks out and rewards sociopathic behavior.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:12 pm



  39. 39 JGabriel Says:

    John Cole @ Top:

    How do so many obviously unstable crazy people manage to get so filthy rich?

    Because that’s what happens when you have unstable crazy incentives.

    Also, many crazy filthy rich people were born crazy and filthy rich. Cf., Koch Brothers.

    .


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:14 pm



  40. 40 Holden Pattern Says:

    @D0n Camillo:

    I’d have guessed much higher than 4%. It seems like the present system of corporate management and compensation actually seeks out and rewards sociopathic behavior.

    There’s a distinction between /being/ a sociopath, and /behaving/ like a sociopath. Sociopaths just aren’t wired to have any empathy, where people who are merely behaving like sociopaths have trained themselves to ignore it.

    So, yes, the proportions are much higher when you factor in people who merely behave like sociopaths professionally—the system is certainly structured to reward it.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:17 pm



  41. 41 Kyle Says:

    @D0n Camillo:

    I’d peg that proportion considerably higher than 4% in some of the corporations I’ve worked for.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:21 pm



  42. 42 Brachiator Says:

    How do so many obviously unstable crazy people manage to get so filthy rich?

    Lots of unstable crazy people up and down the income class ladder. Generally, it’s easier to ignore crazy poor people.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:25 pm



  43. 43 rikyrah Says:

    @Moesha:

    Sociopaths have no shame, no empathy and no core values. That’s how..

    yes yes and more yes


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:27 pm



  44. 44 jrg Says:

    How do so many obviously unstable crazy people manage to get so filthy rich?

    There are more risk takers in the crazy population. Since there are more of them flipping coins, more of them wind up with 10 heads in a row.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:27 pm



  45. 45 Gex Says:

    If you are decent and honest and care about others, assume that they are like you and they want more or less the same kinds of things, you will never have what it takes to get that rich. Only people with abnormal socialization patterns end up this wealthy. It always comes at the expense of someone else. Moreover, healthy people stop collecting money at a certain point and they move on to doing what they would really like to spend their lives doing: travel, hobbies, whatever. These people only care about money, they only want to make money, and there is always the possibility of having more money, so they are stuck on that path.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 7:42 pm



  46. 46 rea Says:

    It’s not so much that they’re crazy—it’s that there is nothing to restrain them.

    The strong do what they will and the weak do what they must, like Thucydides said.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 8:32 pm



  47. 47 Joey Giraud Says:

    Corporations absolutely require sociopathy at the top.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 8:42 pm



  48. 48 Fwiffo Says:

    Well, in Glenn Greenwald, I suspect he’s found his bigger bully.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 9:23 pm



  49. 49 DW Says:

    It’s what you might call the Caligula effect. A lot of the crazies were born to wealth and really have no clue how life is for normal people and no experience at being told “No!” It produces men who are used to always getting their way and freak out when they don’t. Remember Dubya’s continual state of resentment at having to compete with lesser born but more talented rivals. By contrast, note that Al Gore’s dad had him do farm chores so he’d have some sense what life was like for those not part of the lucky sperm club.

    In addition, remember it only takes a small percentage of the big rich to cause a lot of damage under Citizens United. You don’t hear from the sane billionaires because they aren’t so convinced they’re entitled to tell everyone else what to do.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 9:56 pm



  50. 50 AHH onna Droid Says:

    If you read the article this is a typical Mormon story, fleecing the good sheep who line up to be sheared, then using the proceeds on defending their sacred cows: BSA & marriage discrimination.

    Extremely authoritarian and patriarchal. The kiddy diddler coverup is Catholic bishops in parallel.

    Or Penn State. Love child molesters, hate f—-s. Yeah, that makes sense. Getting raped tuffins ya up, ya sissy.

    I wonder if MLM watch has a Melaleuca page.


    February 22nd, 2012 at 10:37 pm



  51. 51 300baud Says:

    I think there are two sorts of billionaire.

    There are those with some freakish talent and a lot of drive to achieve something. For them, wealth is a side effect and a working medium. E.g., Gates, Buffett, Zuckerberg.

    Then there are those who are insatiable. They want MOAR and they will to whatever it takes to get it. Their insanity isn’t the barrier to their success; it’s the motivation.

    I’m pretty sure this asshole is an example of the latter. Meleluca is a big old MLM scam. He’s worth comparing with the Herbalife MLM scammer:

    http://articles.latimes.com/pr.....e/tm-26780


    February 22nd, 2012 at 11:11 pm



  52. 52 moderateindy Says:

    @Moesha:
    Exactly. If you have no qualms about lying cheating stealing and screwing others and can justify anything you do by concluding “it’s just business” then it is much easier to get rich.


    February 23rd, 2012 at 2:48 am



  53. 53 bob h Says:

    How does a nutcase like Rick Santorum make $900k a year, for that matter?


    February 23rd, 2012 at 6:46 am



  54. 54 Paul in KY Says:

    @Fwiffo: I hope he sends a letter to Glenn. Glenn will make him regret that action.


    February 23rd, 2012 at 9:46 am



  55. 55 Berial Says:

    If you are crazy and poor, there are all sorts of restraints on your behavior. If you are crazy and well off, there are still, all sorts of restraints on your behavior. If you are crazy and filthy rich there are hardly any restraints on your behavior.

    Why do celebrity’s behave the way they do? It’s because there aren’t any other people around them, that are able or willing to tell them to cut that shit out. If everyone in your circle is dependent on your good will and money, then you can count on them to agree, that whatever crazy ass thing you do is perfectly rational, and all those other people saying bad things about you are just ‘haters’. Same thing with the mega-wealthy.


    February 23rd, 2012 at 10:48 am