Success is Les Wexner's crime. Schadenfreude driven by envy, not evidence.
Originally published in the Columbus Dispatch, this is a slightly expanded version that goes into more detail. I truly appreciate the Dispatch for their willingness to include contrarian voices and headlines that help to sell newspapers.
In Central Ohio last week, the only news event to rival the Winter Olympics was the congressional deposition of fashion mogul and philanthropist Les Wexner related to his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Epstein’s crimes ought to disgust all decent people. His victims deserve justice, and anyone found to be criminally complicit should be prosecuted.
He was also a world class con man who weaseled his way into the lives and bank accounts of the rich and powerful. Barring new evidence, it is Epstein’s con rather than his crimes that seems to have ensnared Wexner, who said he was “duped” into entrusting Epstein with vast sums of money.
I’ll leave it to investigators — and any prosecutions and juries such investigations warrant — to determine if there’s anything more than that. What’s clear — as seen in the Bernie Madoff saga — is that people who are vigilant and successful in one area of their lives aren’t immune from being duped in another. In fact, inattentional blindness is a common psychological and perceptual phenomena that can catch any of us off guard — yes, even billionaires.
But there’s an equally important issue entwined in this web of deceit and depravity: Too many pols, pundits, and polarizers are less interested in evidence of lawbreaking than toppling successful people. And all too often, the smug smears are driven not by justice but by envy.
One of my favorite words in the English language, added to our lexicon directly from its German roots, is schadenfreude. Pronounced SHAH-den-froy-duh — it’s almost lyrical when said right — it means to take pleasure in the misfortune of another.
As much as I enjoy saying it, I avoid indulging the emotion. That’s particularly the case when there’s no good evidence that the person to whom it’s directed has done harm to me or others, and whose greatest offense appears to be achieving power, fame or fortune.
Presuming guilt just because someone lives in a mansion is no different from doing so toward someone from a trailer park —both are immoral perversions of justice.
My family moved to Columbus the same year Les Wexner opened his first store in Upper Arlington, and I watched it grow into the global brands that still stand today. I later settled in New Albany, a vibrant community northeast of Columbus largely developed by him.
Like most Ohioans, I’ve watched the Wexner name rise on buildings all across the area, including at Ohio State. I’m no fan of putting anyone’s name on public buildings and don’t believe any such honor should be given until at least ten years after the person’s death. But none of those projects and so many more likely wouldn’t exist if he hadn’t funded them.
The scale of Wexner’s Central Ohio community-centered philanthropy is similar to that of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie in the late 19th century. Central Ohio’s spectacular Columbus Metropolitan Library is but one example of Carnegie’s rich legacy.
None of those displays of generosity would excuse or even temper the punishment and ignominy that should rightly follow Wexner were he to be convicted of crimes committed alongside Epstein.
After failing to find evidence of Wexner’s guilt during his deposition, Democratic members of the U.S. House Oversight Committee instead turned to grandstanding for the cameras to suggest otherwise — by innuendo, if not outright deceit. Such is the typical behavior of pols who’ve built nothing, but lust for power by bringing down those who have.
Envy is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason. It leads to other, more destructive, behaviors that harm not just those who harbor such feelings, but also those around them and the community at large.
In the 6th Century, Pope Gregory I wrote: “From envy are born hatred, detraction, calumny [spreading false rumors], joy caused by the misfortune of a neighbor, and displeasure caused by his prosperity.” The word schadenfreude wasn’t coined until more than a thousand years later, but the definition is there, as are all of envy’s other harmful progeny.
You don’t have to be Catholic to recognize the eternal wisdom of that teaching as its roots are found two millennia before it.
In the story of Exodus, God freed the Jews from slavery in Egypt and drowned the Pharaoh’s soldiers in the waters of the Red Sea. When the Jews celebrated the death of their captors, God admonished them. The lesson is that it is good to feel joy at your own salvation or good fortune but that joy is lessened by the death or misfortune of others, even when it was necessary.
Jews retell that story every year during the celebration of Passover and will again this year starting on April 1.
I join the demand that Epstein’s accomplices and co-conspirators be brought to justice. But remember that justice also demands the presumption of innocence. Evidence — not envy — must govern the outcome. And the allure of schadenfreude is best left to our ears, not our actions.