Most people don’t have victims; or they do and don’t realize it; or they choose not to realize it. Me, I have victims, over a hundred of them at least. Like I’ve said elsewhere, I’m an ex-con. I was convicted of an array of federal felony charges that I won’t bore you with here. Suffice it to say, I sold things that didn’t exist. People sent me money, and most of them got nothing.
	So, I got caught, fought my case, got convicted, did my time, and all of my probation. After getting out years ago, I swore off the crooked life and embraced law abiding citizenship. So, with the absence of voting rights, gun rights, or ever being able to get a good job, I’m back to being the same as anybody else.
	Now, I did what I did, and I took my lumps for it. I paid back every cent that I had cheated anyone out of too. But, what amazed me then, and still does to this day, is the level of hatred that I inspired in others. I “sold” items that were in no way necessary for anyone to live. They were what you might call a luxury purchase. Nobody lost their retirement money or anything like that. Nobody lost their rent or food money either. As example, although I did not offer to sell jewelry, I might have offered diamond rings for sale. Nobody buys diamond rings instead of paying their mortgage, or getting their kids braces. It’s a luxury purchase. One that isn’t particularly keenly felt as a loss if it doesn’t happen as many other things would have been. 
	In the statements made to the judge, many would state for example how I’d ruined their lives by delaying their vacation for a month...things like that. I’d think, okay, so you want me to go to prison over a month’s delay to your vacation. Seemed a bit extreme to me. I know that I didn’t want to go to prison and all...but damn, a delayed vacation brings a desire for a prison term.
	Of course, It went far, far beyond this. My victims would create websites dedicated to hating me. They’d form message boards where they could compare stories. They were stupid though, I joined those message boards of course to monitor what was going on. Anyhow, they would drone on and on about the abuses they hoped that I would suffer after getting behind bars. This was in very graphic detail. Aside...why is our society so preoccupied with a desire for someone to be subjected to sodomy? Geez, it’s like that’s all they thought about night and day. I got news for you...prison just isn’t like it shows in the movies, it’s probably safer there than on the outside. They wanted to come find me in my hometown and “hunt me down” and they went on and on about that. Of course, nobody ever showed up. Nobody even showed up to my sentencing hearing. Turned out it wasn’t worth their effort when it really came down to it.



	Point of all of this ? There’s two. First, my problem isn’t that I don’t understand that I did wrong and all that goes along with that. Frankly, what I don’t understand is why they didn’t have more of a sense of humor about it all. Sheesh, I’ve been ripped off dozens of times in my life, some for as much as $20,000. I didn’t go out and pursue felony charges against anyone. I chalked it up as experience and moved on. Second, why were they so attached to their anger? I had dozens of people who I had already refunded before I was charged. They’d get really upset when they got their money back! It’s like I pulled the rug out from under their anger and was making it difficult for them to throw a fit anymore.
	What I’ve gathered from all of this? Crime isn’t for me. People love their anger more than they love their money. People love their money more than they love anyone or anything else other than their anger. People want their enemies to suffer horrible punishments, far beyond what our justice system measures out. People don’t want to have to lift a finger, or come out of their comfort zone, to bring about those punishments in reality. It’s all very contradictory. There seems to be a disconnect between the hate in their souls and the will in their minds. Come on guys, if you’ve got hate in your heart...let it out….or shut the fuck up and go on with your lives. It’s like the worst of everything. They’ve got this seething hatred that still isn’t enough to overcome their sloth or cowardice. Isn’t that the very definition of a spineless worm?
