Degrees for sale

The plagiarism and fake-degree scandal at the Pilsen law school might seem like a new level of audacity, but it follows a familiar pattern. It's a feeling of untouchability on the part of the perpetrators and an atmosphere of willful official blindness that allows something so blatant and so wrong to go on for so long. In many respects, it's not so different from the entire history of Czech privatization. On a broader scale, it can claim the Madoff, UBS, Enron and subprime-mortgage scandals as distant relatives. In each of these cases, the powers that be tolerate or actively encourage criminal or morally unacceptable behavior and thereby contribute to a significant degradation of society. When the scandal finally erupts, everyone is appalled, and a few hapless souls are punished. Almost never, though, are those at the top who made it all possible held accountable for their nefarious action or inaction.