3 Comments

  • There is a “what came first, the chicken or the egg” aspect to Mr. Tobin’s well written and thoughtful essay. I have been upset by the fact that my country believes that it can incarcerate someone (Mrs. Hemlsley and Mrs. Stewart) for some fault of personality. The charges against these women came from a feeding frenzy of the media, opportunism by former employees, and the acceptance of witch trials. I think Mr. Tobin fails to properly discount charges against Mrs. Helmsley, and he underestimates the meanness of Americans.

    I wish that Mrs. Helmsley’s later years would have been happier for her. Perhaps if the public had had a little more empathy, Mrs. Helmsely would have had more concern with their opinion of her.

  • William, I thought she was charged with, and convicted for, tax evasion. This is a wonderfully egalitarian thing to get caught over (there are lots of tax cheats throughout the whole economic spectrum), and do some prison time. Indeed, for the super rich, no fine can suffice as sufficient deterrent, so a few months in the cooler is the most efficient equalizer for incentivising following legal behaviors.
    It would be nice indeed if her later years were happier, but alas it was not society that made her unhappy, as this sprung from deep within her spirit. She chose paths that had the effect of maximizing unhappiness (at least outcomes that would seem to make most people unhappy; perhaps she found utter isolation to her liking)

    Once animals have firmly acquired the right to have a trust made on their behalf, it will soon enough come that the pet (animal companion) of the wealthy will sue for their cut if left out of a will.

  • Nevins, the tax evasion was a dispute over whether her house was a business property. It became a big deal because the dispute exceeded a million dollars. Her trial and imprisonment came from a defect in the law that allowed the prosecutors to unload on her. When the Helmsley’s taxes were recomputed, it seems that they paid more than required. It just happens that recalculation is not allowed as a defense.

    I don’t understand how you can say that her unhappiness sprung from deep within her spirit. The media reports about her were biased by frenzy and opportunism. Those same forces were applied to Ms. Stewart. You could be right about Mrs. Helmsley, although I doubt it, but that only confirms my point that Americans are too willing to burn at the stake anyone they deem to be a witch.