When there is rampant confusion the wise engage in discussion. Through discussion and the ensuing debates that typically follow an exploration of issues, some guiding principles emerge.
When guiding principles are articulated our deeply rooted values surface.
Today, sadly, staying on message has replaced debate on most of the talk shows that purport to surface the counsel of our elites and academic wise men.
What we appear to value by these televised theatrical demonstrations contradicts the foundations supporting what they are designed to maintain and build. I think we used to call that democracy.
Most guest/interview communication is nothing more than a monologue with a witness. Why these ‘interviews’ rate being called interviews at all is pure nonsense; they are a fiction.
The values, attitudes, and beliefs most of us share are universal. Finding agreement on these (which is far easier than agreeing on policy) is a practical starting point to resolve confusion over the course of our actions.
The principles that we cherish offer good guidance on what we ought to do.
Many of these come from the long tradition of a country’s fight for existence, independence, freedom, and other human rights.
Once there is agreement on what we value, through discussion and debate,
then the specific mission and goals for what we now want to achieve can be examined.
It is within this crucible, defined by our values, that all fire and brimstone should now erupt, driven by a passion for the protection and survival of our universal values through the policy initiatives being proposed and legislated.
Now that would make for great television.
Copyright 2009 William M. MacKay
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( 3 / 159 )I suspect the trillion dollar+ stimulus plan for America is the financial equivalent of an English multi-roast.
As Cook-In-Chief, Obama chose a goose, a predictable approach favored by Lord Keynes, a connoisseur noted for his blue-plate economy, not Sunday dinner.
On the outside it has the features that look like what our Chef says it is. Seems a reasonable conclusion…must be a goose.
Then, as the many vested voices negotiate the ingredients for the sauce, the goose gets stuffed with a duck. Obama promises a fine meal.
Yet who will feast on this canard with the executive financiers at the banking table is somewhat sketchy. And to finish the evening will it be another round of that clever game of Snakes and Ladders?
Further stuffing is a matter of taste. Even courage. Will it be a guinea hen, partridge or a quail? Naturally, great chefs protect their secrets so we are barred from the kitchen.
In rapid succession the goose is plumped up behind closed doors and stuffed quickly with all three. Fortunately, no other sous-chefs have lobbied for their favorite bird in the hand.
But wait. There’s more. Unknown quantities of fruits and nuts fill the remaining spaces.
Is there a recipe, you say? Management regrets … but they will look into it.
With the production complete, this goose is now ready for its public dressing. And what a magnificent goose it is, we are told, as it squats proudly for all to witness.
Did I miss the miniature American flag adorning the tiny skewer holding everything together?
Surely this will be a veritable feast. Anticipation of the end result outweighs the prospect of over-eating.
But no need to curb our excess. This goose will last long enough for the next generation to savor.
Copyright 2009 William M. MacKay
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( 3 / 150 )I met in Texas this week with a group of managers from the convenience store industry across the country to discuss the challenges of leadership.
They are men and women at the mid level of an industry not known for paying high wages (and none of the obscene bonuses getting attention this week in the press). In fact many store level employees are paid at or only slightly above minimum wage.
So here is an industry at the grass roots with its finger on the cash registers of America. It’s a fact…137 million customers visit C-stores every day. Wal-Mart boasts a meager 127 million.
Happily for their employees, this group of supervisors reflects a new generation of leaders who fit the needs of the times. Should I have been surprised to learn that integrity was one of their top values?
My first thought was that the financial turmoil of the past 6 months had some influence in that choice. But probably not given that their other priorities included work-life balance, and a focus on their family.
Surely this is more than a lucky coincidence. Here is an industry that is maturing and increasingly providing training to those responsible for the management of their largest resource, the people that greet you 24/7/365 across the country and the world.
What is worthy of celebration is that more and more supervisors have the values and commitment to developing their employees and helping them find greater enjoyment in their work life.
Copyright 2009 William M. MacKay
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( 3 / 129 )The crazy-making over who gets bonuses and who deserves them is worthy of analysis. But to have it dominate the debate of government as it has been is surely as excessive as the greed behind the practice. Such is the raw state, however, of our collective anger.
‘Bonus rage’ is surely a response to our lack of control over our destiny as well as the fallout from our reduced circumstances. Many, if they get to keep their jobs, expect to be working for the rest of their lives. The others, well…those layoffs look permanent. Who will save us from this mess?
Certainly there is too much greed for our own good. But add to that the hubris about the quality of the talent who expect the bonus and brought about the demise of our financial system and you have pure theater, not to mention injustice on a grand scale.
Not to bonus the talent, according to AIG’s CEO, might mean they leave for another firm which is more generous.
Huh? How can you be more generous than letting them keep their jobs? The injustice is giving them a bonus to try and do better next time.
Traders (derivatives, pork bellies, stocks) are mechanics with good tools. They work for the right organization, have surplus capital resources behind them, quality software systems, and quantitative models (some lucky) at their disposal. And, it might be said, very lax supervision. Add a solid I.Q., hard work, a focused dedication to getting personally rich, and you may produce a few good players.
Here’s the rub about bonuses. What management employs them to engage in is incomprehensible to many who pay them. The bonus issue arises when all the stars are perfectly aligned (as they may be several times each work day) and such activities produce expected profits.
By most outsider accounts these profits would be considered monumental. The morality of it is another dimension.
We know profits are manufactured when credit entries from the use of other people’s money appear on the organization’s books as proof. These trading activities occur many times in comparable offices around the world as money rides the global time zones 24 hours a day.
This good fortune is thus considered worthy of being shared with “the talent” who produced it in the form of a bonus for a job well done.
No profit. No bonus. Now that’s justice. What’s so difficult about that?
Copyright 2009 William M. MacKay
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( 2.9 / 159 )If anything is apparent to the poor and middle class these past few months it is simply these 3 truths;
1.AMERICA IS NOT THE HEARTLAND OF CAPITALISM.
If it were true the financial failure of AIG, General Motors, and others in the same predicament would be resolved by the laws of bankruptcy. They apply to everyone else.
Arguments against doing so (the ‘too big to fail’ excuse) prove that there is a lack of competition in the marketplace, a cornerstone of the “American” way, and a linchpin of capitalism.
2.THE FABULOUSLY WEALTHY PROSPER ON THE BACKS OF THE PUBLIC.
This comes at a time when that same public are being asked to save the ‘system’ the rich promote as the salvation of the poor. (“You, too, can get rich.”)
The bailouts and the non-stop printing of money to reward THE RICH who failed are setting all of us up for another parasite known as inflation.
In this case Saving is for Suckers becomes a reality, not just the title of a book.
3.TAX THE POOR AND MIDDLE CLASS AND GIVE TO THE RICH
The redistribution of income is continuing on a massive scale begun during the Reagan years. The income inequality gap between rich and poor has been widening for years and economic mobility has been declining.
Executives with Wall Street and Fortune 500 experience move seamlessly between senior government positions and their private enterprise management thrones and directorships. They rule with the support of the 42,000 lobbyists registered in Washington.
The corporate/industrial/military complex is in control of the budget. The business of America is Corporate Socialism.
CONCLUSION
The rich should be getting worried. America is the most heavily armed nation on the planet and I’m sensing that the natives are getting restless.
Copyright 2009 William M. MacKay
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