I don't have kids, but I have gotten an eviction notice due to non-payment because I was broke and unemployed for a month a few years ago (with a maxed-out credit card, no less). Even then, when I was at my most desperate, it never occurred to me to try and swindle anyone, or mug anyone, or (as far as I know) anything obviously immoral.

I seriously doubt I'm a saint; I think most people don't want to hurt other people.

(If anyone is interested in the conclusion of that story, I was able to eventually find a job and after a million calls to the landlord I got him to let me pay a bit later and keep my apartment).

Most people see themselves as good. The thing is, most people don’t start out with a plan to defraud tens of thousands of people for millions. Even towards the end Ponzi believed he’d pay it back.

It starts off with a small lie to yourself - I’ll just use this money to pay him and when the investment pays off it’ll all work out... and then it grows from there.

Cognitive dissonance is an amazing quality of the human brain. I recommend reading Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me - fascinating stories of how and why it happens.

I do not doubt there are people for whom it works like that. There are also people who do not start like gamblers, but end up with an out of control addiction.

I've known people with "get rich schemes" who ended up lying and stealing from their loved ones.

But the self-serving excuse of "I'm only human" is always a lie. That's not being human; that's being a particular, untrustworthy kind of human. Not all of us, or even the majority, are like that. "But it's just my nature" is such a cowardly excuse for lying and cheating.

Fair enough; I certainly wouldn't purposefully hurt anyone (at least not nowadays), and I don't know that I'm willing to extend the benefit of the doubt to Ponzi, but I have certainly done things that have hurt people transitively, or done things that are somewhat self-serving that I convince myself are good for the other person.

I'd like to think I haven't really done anything like that since I was a teenager, but as you said, cognitive dissonance is amazing. It's entirely possible that I do things all the time that are horrible.

I know I haven't and won't. Of course Mr. Ponzi wasn't the first and won't be the last scumbag out there. And scumbags always make excuses for themselves.

This is completely different to stealing because you or your kids are hungry, let's not delude ourselves.

It reminds me of the lyrics of Pink Floyd's "Dogs":

    You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need
    You gotta sleep on your toes, and when you're on the street
    You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed
    And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight
    You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking

    And after a while, you can work on points for style
    Like the club tie, and the firm handshake
    A certain look in the eye and an easy smile
    You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to
    So that when they turn their backs on you,
    You'll get the chance to put the knife in