I can understand the motivation behind Lance Armsstrong’s actions. Greed, fame, power, ambition, big profits…all of the above I’m sure, played a big part. The motivations or reasons behind his actions are rather obvious. The question remains, why would he undertake the risk? Of course in retrospect, his actions were stupid.
In a sense, he put his life on the line. Now I understand that he is being sued for close to ten million. Surely he made millions, but now that the lawsuits are beginning (and there will probably be more), he will be wiped out financially. Furthur, three major endorsements constituting “big bucks,” have been cancelled as recently announced. As Armstrong said on Oprah, he wasn’t worried about whether he had done right or wrong, he was only scared of being caught, and more scared as investigations narrowed. He was, in effect, admitting that he has no moral fiber.
If this is the case, then the reason he took the chance was that he thought he could maybe get away with it. After a while, he was “on a roll.” The big continuing momentum generated by his big lie, and the fact that he once had committed the big lie, led to his recognition that there was no turning back.
So he put his life on the line, and now at a relatively young age, he is disgraced for life and perhaps penniless forever. (Though since he is very cunning, he may have stashed millions in various accounts all over Asia and Europe, and may also have hidden abundant gold and silver bars, in case he did get caught eventually.) He lived the good life for most of his adult years, and now he has destroyed his life in my opinion, for his remaining adult years. I wonder about his friends; have they all abandoned him? And if not, why not?
Yet is this any different from Bernie Madoff’s defrauding of friends, family, clients, and other of this ilk, who flinched millions, and sometimes billions? Madoff is in the slammer. Is Lance Armstrong far behind?
“He rose to the top, has been toppled, and now has plummeted to the bottom.”
So be it!
-JS
Blogs by Jerry Sonenblick 