Recipient: Cass Buscher Occupation: Attorney, Attorney Registration Disciplinary Commission Responded On: February 10, 2005 Bill Received At: Dunkin Donuts One Illinois Center 111 East Wacker Drive Chicago Originally Dropped At: Borders Books 4718 North Sheridan Road Chicago On: January 26, 2005

 

Cass Buscher's Comments

Does your generation view money differently than your parents’ generation, and if so, how?
I think one of the more noticeable differences is that, as each generation gets younger we’re much more comfortable with the idea of credit. I know my mother is very uncomfortable with the idea of credit cards and her parents, even less so. My grandfather’s attitude was, if you didn’t have the cash, you didn’t buy it, which is completely alien in today’s economy. Everybody understands the idea of mortgage or car loans, which almost everybody has these days.

What is your perception of teenagers’ attitude towards money? Do you think that generation has a view different than yours?
I think definitely so. I mean I don’t have a whole lot of exposure to teenagers right now. I used to have a lot more in a previous job where I represented juvenile delinquents. So it’s a much different view of teenagers than most people have.

With the advantages of technology and how communication is much faster, money is viewed much differently today. For instance the idea of ATM, when I was growing up, nobody had ATM cards whereas now everybody has that.

I’ve heard reports of how much allowances kids get. You’re talking about hundreds of dollars a week which is not something. I mean I was lucky to get $5 a week, so it’s a very different viewpoint on what kids can spend and buy than when I was growing up.

What’s your observation on the percentage of times that kids become “juvenile delinquents” linked to issues of money?
Well actually a lot of things that, when kids become juvenile delinquents, particularly when they get in the system, has a lot to do with money. Because it has a lot to do with your social-economic status.

Kids that come from wealthy families or live in wealthy communities are more likely to have resources and avenues to avoid that happening than a kid who grows up in the inner-city or grows up with a family that doesn’t have a lot of money … There aren’t the diversion programs or afternoon programs that are out there to keep the kids involved in things that aren’t going to get them in trouble with the law. The schools, a lot of time where they will turn in a kid to the police is much more likely to happen in a low-income neighborhood than a high-income neighborhood.

With a kid that comes from a wealthy family, they can get him into drug treatment, they can get them into the programs that would keep you from going into the delinquency system. If you have no money it’s really hard to get a kid into a treatment program unless you have a state institution willing to pay for it and that would be the juvenile delinquency system.

In the United States, if people start out in a very low-paying job, can they still become quite wealthy if they work hard enough?
I think they can. There are more factors than working hard enough. I mean part of it is opportunity and education. I think the difference between the United States and most of the world is the fact that somebody can with very little beginning money gets lots of money and become very wealthy. It’s not easy. It takes a lot of hard work. It also takes education and taking opportunities when you see them … not necessarily formal education. I mean there are inventors out there who have no formal education whatsoever and come up with amazing products.

Is money distributed in a fair way in the United States?
I think there are ways that it’s definitely not distributed in a fair way. The most prime example is: women almost universally get paid less than men for the same job. There’s no fairness equated with that. It is complete discrimination.

And there’s a certain aspect to the fact that if you come from money or have money, it’s much easier to make more money than it is, if you have none. I didn’t see the movie, but the Howard Hughes biopic—he came from money … I mean it’s amazing that he became a billioinaire. But it’s a lot less amazing that he became a billioinaire than say Bill Gates who developed his business and didn’t come from a wealthy oil family.

What will you splurge on?
We splurge on things where we think that it will make our lives easier. For example, every other week we have a maid come in to clean our place because we both work and we just don’t have the time. Yes, it would be cheaper if we did it ourselves but it’s a time issue and then it’s something we don’t have to worry about.

What is the worst thing you’ve ever done to earn money?
Right after I got out of law school I worked for Michigan Prison Legal Services reviewing last ditch criminal appeals to make sure that what happened at trial really happened. Part of that job meant every day I had to go into Jackson State prison which entailed being searched, carrying a “panic box” to push a button if I got scared, because the inmates were threatening—the paralegals we were working with were all inmates. In the three months I was there, there were at least two knifings and they’d lock everything down. You could be there for hours, sitting in a hallway with a guard watching you to make sure that everything was safe. That’s probably the worst thing I’ve ever had to do for money.

What is the best thing you’ve ever done to earn money?
What I’m doing now, is probably the best thing. I went to law school to make a difference and to help people. Where I work now is a state agency. What what we’re responsible for is investigating and potentially prosecuting attorneys for breaching a code of ethics, so I have a job that is out there to protect the public but also to try and keep the integrity of a profession at a level that it should be. So it’s something where I feel that the majority of the time, regardless of what happens within an investigation—whether there’s misconduct or not, I feel like I’m making a difference and I’m doing a good thing for people.