The Erosion of Trust; Now You See it, Now You Don’t

Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum

With the Enron scandal heading the list, and the many others such as Global Crossing, Tyco International, and WorldCom that have followed in its wake, people have suddenly realized that what they say is not what it is. The promises of great wealth and easy money are illusory. Many stock analysts and tipsters are out to make a quick buck and are as trustworthy as Al Capone. Wall Street has turned into Fraud Street, as many of their claims are a mixture of bluff and deceit. Accounting sleight of hand has reached a new high, leaving people with no way to determine whom to believe. Big corporations have been found to cheat, manipulate, and fleece their shareholders blind and have caused massive losses for some of the biggest banks in the country, endangering billions of pension funds and individual investments. Financial shenanigans of unprecedented magnitude have become the order of the day. Tall and mighty companies come crashing down like the Twin Towers, leaving people impoverished and destitute, their life savings gone up in a puff of smoke. Rip-off artists proliferate and the angry public is beginning to believe that honest corporations are not easy to find and very difficult to identify.

Our trust in the American dream is slowly eroding as fear and terror fills the news. Wall Street enthusiasm is slowly slipping, as people realize that much of it is based on hot air and hype.

The only good advice is found on the front of every dollar bill which reads “In G-d we trust,” all others must pay cash! Yet with the recent decision to outlaw the mention of G-d’s Name even in the Pledge of Allegiance, one wonders if they will now have to recall the dollar as well?