Ashley Kirilow made big news a few days ago when it was revealed that the 23-year old Burlington woman had been faking cancer the past two years in order to acquire cash, gifts, and maybe saddest of all, people’s sympathy. Kirilow, who plucked her eyebrows and shaved her head in order to emulate the look of a chemotherapy patient, has lived a transient life since she was in her mid-teens. After telling friends she was diagnosed with terminal cancer she started a charity, gathering as much as $20 000 in donations from benefit concerts and change jars distributed throughout the city. In addition to money, Kirilow scored herself a free trip to Disney World from a legitimate Cancer charity, as well as free rent from sympathetic friends.
But what may be the most troubling part of this story was that if it wasn’t for Kirilow’s sloppiness she would never have gotten caught. In the end, her parents, suspicious of their daughter after years of habitual lying, stumbled upon their daughter’s charity Facebook page. In other words, if she took the extra time to do her scam under an assumed and thus unsearchable name, Ms. Kirilow would still be living off the generosity of her dupes.
While Kirilow blames her behaviour on a traumatic childhood and a borderline personality disorder, her actions aren’t that different from the behaviour of your typical successful captain of industry. A study in Freakonomics for example showed that the higher floors of an office building (in other words, upper management) were less likely to pay for items under an honour system.
Whether the results are because someone of such questionable ethics is more likely to move up the corporate ladder or upper-management breeds such characteristics is still to be determined, although I’m more inclined to believe it’s the former. Sociopaths, as they’re often described, are people who have no conscience, no guilt or remorse, and possibly most importantly, no ability to feel shame. It’s no wonder that people who are willing to tell people anything in order to gain their trust without fear of social repercussions do so well, they’re playing outside the rules the rest of us live by.
Just look at another example in the news recently, Nazim Gillani, a business associate of former MP Rahim Jaffer and his wife, MP Helena Gurgeis. Gillani, a businessman who lives in a million dollar home, drives several luxury cars, including a Porsche Turbo, two BMWs, an Infiniti and Mercedes, doesn’t do much of anything, other than make big empty promises in exchange for huge sums of cash. When clients call him out for his lies, Gillani threatens to release compromising photos of them taken at strip clubs. According to investigations by the Toronto Star, Gillani`s acquired millions with no skill other than being able to tell bold faced lies with a straight face.
Of course the hall of fame example everyone knows is Mr. Bernie Madoff. For over thirty years, everyone whom invested with Madoff, including friends and family (!) thought they were investing their life savings in reliable stocks and bonds, only to later discover that Madoff was doing nothing more than running the largest pyramid scheme in financial history. Madoff, who confessed to his children at age 70, could have easily ran out the clock having lived the life of a billionaire.
So what does this mean for you?
Well, obviously those morals are getting in the way of your success. There's something oddly reassuring about the fact that anyone can just will themselves to fortune; all it takes is a complete and utter lack of scruples.
Timely article man. Me and my buddy DJ'd/bartended a private party in the Hamptons on Sat. Dude was super wealthy as were all of his friends, yet we got no tips and the scumbag ripped us off for 100 bucks at the end of night too...
I've never been a big fan of the rich but that shit takes the cake. It gives me comfort to know that someone's probably spit in that asshole's food a hundred times