Really? Are those the most appropriate comparisons you could think of?

Yesterday I was read an article in the Globe and Mail about the Montreal-based financial planner Earl Jones and some of his alleged victims. What stood out in the article was not the content about the alleged scheme, or really anything directly related to Jones or his actions, but the public statements made by some of the alleged victims. The ferocity and extraordinary level of passion felt by some of these people really jumped out.

While I hopefully will never experience how it feels to learn that my retirement savings have been stolen, I do think that I understand that this must be an incredibly painful and frustrating experience. On the other hand, we must maintain an appropriate perspective on the matter. While many are suffering and in ruins financially, no lives have been lost or direct physical pain caused. This is bad, but this is not diabolical.

Though by reading some of these quotes one might be lead to believe otherwise. One alleged victim, who claims to have lost $20 000, suggested that “Some of the older people are just devastated, they’re on the streets, it’s like genocide.”

The New Oxford American Dictionary defines genocide as “the deliberate killing of a large group of people, esp. those of a particular ethnic group or nation.” Not surprisingly, the definition in the American Heritage Dictionary, “the systematic and widespread extermination or attempted extermination of an entire national, racial, religious, or ethnic group,” is not all that different in terms of overall effect. From these definitions we can paint a pretty clear picture of what genocide is and what Earl Jones has been accused is nothing like genocide. He wiped out retirement savings, he didn’t try to eliminate a religious or ethic group, nor does there appear to be any evidence that this was the eventual goal of his actions.

When talking about the significance of a planned demonstration one of the victims was quoted as saying that “It’s the first step, like Rosa Parks moving from the back of the bus and coming forward.” Really? Like Rosa Parks, a major player in the civil rights movement ? This statement makes it sound as though until now Canadian society was generally in support of fraudulent schemes perpetrated on unknowing senior citizens.

I realize several hundred people are suffering because of this situation, but I wonder if it is reasonable to compare this suffering to the suffering experienced by members of an entire race in the Southern United States. Furthermore, unlike individuals who lost retirement savings because of the failure of this firm, the Jim Crow south systematically oppressed a huge segment of society, exposing them to such things as lynch mobs, the KKK, capricious and arbitrary police action. Fortunately, none of Jones’s victims have had to fear for their lives because of his actions, and this distinction is incredibly important to remember.

Fortunately this series of events has not led to violence, committed either by the victim or the alleged perpetrator. I hope that things stay this way, though I worry because comments, such as “We have an epidemic of fraud in Canada, it’s time to bring out the exterminators,” sound a little like threats to me. If some of the victims aren’t careful (and having such things published in national newspapers is not careful) they could find themselves in legal trouble, just like the man they are so busy hating.

Moreover, by overstating the extent of the suffering and severity of the alleged crimes the victims risk obfuscating the real issues and bringing more attention to their own actions and opinions than those of Jones. In this case, as in some many others, bad metaphors really aren’t the shortest or best road to justice. The justice system seems to be doing its job, why don’t we let it just keep plugging away.