The reason people like Fred do what they do when obviously they know it is ehthically fucked up (as opposed to illegal - which simply means that they can get away with it) rather than the 'right' thing is because they believe that they are utterly immune and protected from any consequences for their choices... Maybe if more people like him were to be even just a little concerned for the consequences that their actions caused, then less ordinary people would have got fucked over in the first place.

When people start beleiving that one should or shouldn't do something simply becasue it's either 'legal' or 'illegal' then they are abdicating their personal ethical responsibility. Just because there are no legal consequences for a wrongful action doesn't mean that there aught to be no consequences. This is a most appropriate and deserved consequence of his own knowingly wrongful action.

Recently learning 'The Diggers Song' (care of VTam), reminds me of some of the verses there: ''gainst Lawyers and 'gaint Priests, stand up now, for tyrants they are both even flat against their oath' ... 'the club is all their law, to keep poor men in awe', and so-on..

When has the law ever been anything other than a form of sanction and legitimisation for the wrongful acts of the rich and powerful, despite the best intentions of those lawyers who do attempt to use it for socially right ends?