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Neilson, president of the San Francisco–
based security consultant and investi–
gative firm, Neilson and Green, said
in 1966, "Theft prevention is big
business.
If
a firm with a $50 million
sales volume can reduce its losses by
ouly one-half a percentage point, it
would get the same profit result as if
sales were increased by an additional
$13 mil/ion
J»
Sadly, this type of crime is growing
worse at a time when American business
is finding it harder and harder to com–
pete with imports and in world markets.
Economically it poses a dangerous
problem. But there is still a greater con–
sideration. Executive crime
enco11rages
all kinds of crime by those not in such
positions.
The Greatest D amage
The U. S. National
Crime
Commis–
sion reported, "Aside from its dollar
cost, white-collar crime damages the
nation's
social
and economic ins6tutions
and affects the moral climate of our
society.
"When corporations and their man–
agers - often
leadet·s
in their commu–
nities - break the law, they set an
excnnple.
Their example tends to erode
the moral base of the law and gives
other kinds of offenders an opportunity
to rationalize their crimes."
It
is the most corrosive of all crimes.
It
wrecks our moral fiber as no other
crime does . The Joya! become disloyal.
The advantaged become lying cheats.
The higher in society the criminal, the
gieater the impact. A small-time crimi–
nal usually only affects a few people. A
oational political figure or a big corpo–
ration executive can Jiterally affect
millions!
Robert M. Morgenthau, United States
Attorney for the Southern District of
New York, warned in 1969 that if the
affiuent flagrantly violate the law, then
the poor and deprived will follow that
leadership.
We had our "robber barons" in the
latter part of the nineteenth century, but
never in our history has white-collar
crime been so common and widespread.
In the past, people were shocked by it.
Today it's so common it virtually goes
unnoticed.
The
PLAIN TRUTH
T he Big Change
Since World ·war II we have gotten
away from holding people strictly
accountable for
th.::ir
crimes. U. S. laws
have been bendmg more and more to
favor the criminal.
During the American colonial period
sorne thieves even had a letter "T"
sewed on their clothing. The "T" stood
for "thief." In those days and in most
of the nation's history the
whole society
zealously sought out violators of our
nation's laws. The same was true of
Great Britain. People were so enraged
that politicians had to enact and enforce
laws against the transgressors. Unless
the
people
fervently supported laws and
fought against crime, very little if any–
thing was ever done.
But where is the public outrage
against white-collar
e
rime today? Is this
type of crime no longer a
disgrace?
And
where is the concern of businessmen
and other Jeaders of the community?
White-collar crime flourishes in direct
proportion to irnmorality in any nation.
The atmosphere has to be right. The
soil has to be fertile. Just as ftsh must
have water in which to swim, so the
white-collar criminal can function effec–
tively only in an immoral climate.
If
the people and leaders were deeply
offended, they simply would not toler–
ate such crime. Instead of being of–
fended, more and more Americans are
manifesting an
open t·espect
for such
criminals - unless the ccime directly
victimizes them.
Anthropologist Ruth Benedict ob–
served two and one-half decades ago
that we were changing from a "guilt
culture," where our consciences re–
strained us, to a "shame culture," in
which the fear of getting caught is all
that deters us.
"Getting caught" is still feared, but
our laws aren't very successful in con–
trolling white-collar crime. We don't
have to look far to understand why.
Businessmen help to mold, shape, in–
fluence and even control the very laws
that are to police them. It is common
for laws to be instituted that
conceai
and
ignore
criminal behavior.
One cynical businessman said this
about the law: "Law is like a cobweb;
it's made for flies and the smaller kinds
July 1971
of insects, so to speak, but lets the big
bumblebees break through. When tech–
nicalities of the law stood in my way, I
have always been able to brush them
aside as easy as anything !"
A rather obscene and contemptuous
view of the law.
But lying and cheatiog is all consid–
ered part of the business game. A sur–
vey taken a few years ago asked
103
businessmen if a man could move up
through the ranks of management solely
by honest, decent methods. ÜNLY TWO
EXECUTtVES ANSWERED "YES," and one
of those said he knew he was being
na·ive.
"PEOPLE WHO DON'T GET DIRTY
DON'T
MAKE
JT," said one of the execu–
tives.
"l'm
not defending the practice,
l'm simply stating a fact."
A Fatal Disease
This kind of attitude toward crime is
the deadliest of diseases. And if a
deadly disease is not checked, death re–
sults - in this case, the death of a
nation. This same sickness contributed
to the death of the Roman Empire.
White-collar corruption was rampant.
The whole of Roman society was in–
fected with the same spirit!
"Everyone
stole. In the army, the clerks stole the
pay.... The postal administration ex–
ploited travelers. Public servants ...
took bribes for judicial audiences"
(The
End of the Ancient W orld and the
Beginnings of the Middle Ages,
by
Ferdinand Lot, p. 176).
Today it's no different. Bribery,
corruption, extortion, kickbacks, split
fees, and payola are almost standard
procedure in big-city politics and busi–
ness - and in little sleepy-eyed towns
too. Every local area has
its
sporadic
reports of corruption and unethical
practices - but usually only the tip of
the iceberg comes to light.
Can we learn the lesson? Can we
change our direction -
cure our
national sickoess before it's too late?
The old adage that "republics live by
virtue" is very true.
Modero nations must change their
moral, ethical and spiritual way of life
before white-collar crime can be
stopped. But will they
(
The chances are
slim and none. O