I followed the case against you, and the subsequent conviction, with some interest, and now that you have been released from prison I thought I'd tell you a couple of things.
You can say that you were the victim of a mania for "fairness," in a couple of ways at least.
First, the law under which you were first investigated—the laws against insider trading—are born of the idea that for one person to know more than others about a given company's financial state is unfair, and that for the sake of fairness that person should not be allowed to make investment decisions for the duration of the unfairness. So a man knows the day before I do whether or not to dump a given stock. That is more likely an indicator that I am too ignorant to be dealing with that stock. The stock market is no place for somebody who wants to coast along without making an effort to learn everything possible about the company wherein he places his/her money, and the man who wants to have the same chances as everyone else, without putting for the same effort as everyone else, is expecting something for nothing.
But the hard facts of life aren't good enough for some people; they want other people held back so that they have a better shot at money they didn't work for. When I was a child I did my share of wailing about other people having things I didn't or couldn't have, but when I became a man I put away childish things. I bet that a great deal of your detractors owe their jobs (assuming that they have jobs) to an inside acquaintance, a circumstance even more unfair than insider trading, but they're pretty quiet about that.
Second, if you've taken the time to read or listen to what your detractors are saying, you will note a strong element of envy. The mania for fairness manifests itself in hatred for the fortunate, and your case brought out the haters in droves. They wanted you convicted and jailed for no reason other than your success. You've got the talent and ambition to make a gazillion dollars, your detractors don't, they hate your for reminding them of their own inadequacy, and a bunch of them were conveniently available for jury duty. I read a public statement from the jury foreman after the trial, and it was class envy from alpha to omega.
Needless to say, if I had been on that jury, the result would have been acquittal (if I could persuade the other jurors) or a hung jury (if I couldn't).
One final point. Your political persuasions are fairly well-known. One of the two major parties engages in both the mania for fairness and outright class envy that put you in prison, and although you have supported them in the past, I did not hear that party—or any prominent person adhering to that party—raise a word in your defense. You may want to reconsider your support.
Regards,
John VanSickle
Yell at John
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