Creative Deceivers

It takes a lot of creative thought and activity to be a crook - or a crook that doesn't get caught. This thought occurred to me as I've been obsessively watching the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (starring the delectable Jeremy Brett). In order to catch the criminal, Holmes has to open his mind to all the possibilities of the criminal's intents and actions. He has to think outside the box, just like the criminal mind. And the successful criminal has to stay two steps in front of "the law". You have to be quick on your feet and cool under pressure in order to deceive. To come up these criminal scams also takes creative thought and energy.

I don't know why criminals do what they do; why they feel the need to live life this way. I wonder what they could do with their clever minds for good... What if they created something positive? Rather than a scam, an actual business? These compentant criminals could be great managers, captains of Industry. Yet maybe they are already, tucked away in financial institutions, or someone skimming off their companies profits. Is it the rest of us as do-gooders that don't see the criminal before us - or does it reside in all of us? Haven't we all tried at one point to get 'away with something...' When do breaking the rules become a good thing? My answer to that is when it is done to serve the common good...