Sustainablity is a word of many meanings that is not in common use. In it's modern meaning it has been around for 20 years, or more, but mostly in environmental circles. I prefer the definition that "sustainability is improving the quality of human life within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems" but that only hints at the complexity of the word. It should also be noted that sustainability can be seen as a "call to action, a task in progress or a journey." That makes it a "political process."
Sustainability is what the world needs now! In considering the mess in which we find ourselves today as Americans, there is no simple fix. There is no way that a man/woman on horseback could enter our political life, a la Ross Perot and try to lead us to the promised land of milk and honey. Nor is there any way, this side of unification to defeat an alien invasion, that I can see our nation, let alone the rest of our churning world, arriving anytime soon at a level of understanding and altruism that would bring about a better day for Americans and/or humanity.
Nor is this a time to bet the farm on "the brightest and best." Though I will always believe in the leadership superiority of service oriented graduates of America's great colleges and universities, their track record has been spotty. And the present political climate in Washington could defeat Alexander the Great. What we need is dedicated and competent leadership AND a voluntary, nationwide commitment to be much better citizens and to live up to our best, renouncing greed and selfishness. Such a momentous development could come to us as a cause and sustainability could well be it, especially if there were enough power behind it to get the attention it deserves.
I see this great new effort as a mass movement from the bottom up that rests on simple, sincere, sacrificial, personal action that is sustainable and self-rewarding. For some it could be as little as shorter showers, or not eating meat on Monday, a la Paul McCartney. For the more affluent, it could be publicly adopting the Buffet-Gates philanthropy and inheritance models, or just deliberately shuffling off some conspicuous consumption like extra residences or memberships and eschewing the million dollar birthday parties. These manifestations of conspicuous consumption would come to be seen as disgraceful and odious. Multiplied by millions of people, this could be big and transforming. One could affirm one's willingness to be part of the movement by awarding oneself a new wrist band to advertise the issue and promote solidarity, as well as accountability. We now have ways to reach billions of people and to help them get beyond mere personal greed. Putting it differently, we are able to discourage greed, to make it un-cool (and less profitable through taxes on bloated bonuses) and to increase the attractiveness of altruism. Our children and grand-children are ready for more than pure personal gain as the overriding goal in life. Are we? If not now, when?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Conspiracy Theories
No, this is not about that dreadful day in Dallas when Jack Kennedy was assasinated: it's bigger!
When I was just a boy, I discovered that if I had a question about something, several other people did also. I was never alone in ignorance. So, if a well educated, experienced, business oriented news junkie like me suddenly and grudgingly comes to the conclusion that he is, after all, a babe in the woods who has spent most of his seventy-five years as an unwitting victim, that's newsworthy. And that's where I am. Others are sure to be there with me, by the millions.
I'm writing now, not about paranoia, but about clear, hard facts that indicate a vast majority of the American public has been duped and victimized in business, politics and current issues for decades! No, I don't believe NASA staged the moon visits or that 9-11 was an Israeli plot. But I do believe that Wall Street is a giant fraud and that Congress has been largely bought and paid for so laws could be quietly passed that enrich just a tiny power elite. Wall Street owns D.C.
The proof of this seemingly cynical appraisal is everywhere today. The Great Recession has helped shine a bright light on many of the tricks and gimmicks practiced by banks, credit card companies, health insurance and drug companies, etc. Thousands of lobbyists have manipulated and dominated our government and our people. promoting myths like increasing the minimum wage would destroy businesses and indeed they helped to keep wages stagnant for 30 years! They turned regulators and circumvented regulations. The result has been nothing less than pillage of the public. And they do it with glee and disdain for their uninitiated victims. Remember those Enron guys laughing as they rigged energy markets? They were the "smartest guys in the room," right? But they got caught after enormous damage had been done. Usually, no one is held accountable or punished and often when they are they come back in a few years. Justice is inconvenient politically. The norm today is that execs of companies that fail receive bloated bonuses as if they had managed in triumph. Think Lehman, Goldman, Merrill, B of A, AIG! The list is endless. Hedge fund managers are raking in billions even now, as the Dow rebounds towards 11,000. The damage their managements have done is incalculable not only in the U. S. but in Britain, Ireland, Spain and Greece. Everywhere greed is worshipped.
Let me be more specific about this great disillusionment. When the average person invests, he looks for an undervalued, stock with bright prospects and competent management. He will surely check price performance charts and earnings per share relative to other similar securities. How 20th century! How uninitiated! The real players are counseled by mathematicians with formulas and indecies that have nothing to do with what used to be investment basics. But they're the ones that count today. These Wall Street whiz kids are catering to the big players and using tools and tactics even the likes of Robert Rubin don't understand. After decades of coaxing Joe Sixpack into the market, Wall Streeters today couldn't care less about him and his stupid friends, like me.
Let me go further. The average American has been deeply disappointed by virtually all of his interfaces with business and government. He may have been victimized by his realtor, his mortgage broker, and his contractors. The government agencies who are supposed to be watchdogging his interests have let him down egregiously: from the NYSE to the SEC which couldn't spot Bernie Maddoff, to the Fed under Alan Greenspan. Home appraisers can no longer be trusted and neither can the credit agencies like Moody or Standard & Poor. Balance sheets mean little, since debt can be hidden and postponed, not only for coorporations but sovereign nations as well! Accountants, even the biggest and best, are too subservient to their masters for whom they are also doing private, personal work. Today, we can't even have confidence that our food and toys are safe. Greed calls the shots in everything and corruption is everywhere from the Boy Scouts to sports heros. Even our cars may be unsafe. Where can anyone turn? Well, there's the church, isn't there? Isn't there? Be sure, however, to trust only the Lord, Jesus Christ. Too many tears have been shed over his wayward priests and bishops, grandiose evangelists and saintly hypocrites.
How is this different from ancient Rome? Not much, I would think. But I will never lose faith in America or hope for the future. These are very hard, very dangerous times, but all is not lost. What the world needs now follows and it is much more than "Love, Sweet Love."
When I was just a boy, I discovered that if I had a question about something, several other people did also. I was never alone in ignorance. So, if a well educated, experienced, business oriented news junkie like me suddenly and grudgingly comes to the conclusion that he is, after all, a babe in the woods who has spent most of his seventy-five years as an unwitting victim, that's newsworthy. And that's where I am. Others are sure to be there with me, by the millions.
I'm writing now, not about paranoia, but about clear, hard facts that indicate a vast majority of the American public has been duped and victimized in business, politics and current issues for decades! No, I don't believe NASA staged the moon visits or that 9-11 was an Israeli plot. But I do believe that Wall Street is a giant fraud and that Congress has been largely bought and paid for so laws could be quietly passed that enrich just a tiny power elite. Wall Street owns D.C.
The proof of this seemingly cynical appraisal is everywhere today. The Great Recession has helped shine a bright light on many of the tricks and gimmicks practiced by banks, credit card companies, health insurance and drug companies, etc. Thousands of lobbyists have manipulated and dominated our government and our people. promoting myths like increasing the minimum wage would destroy businesses and indeed they helped to keep wages stagnant for 30 years! They turned regulators and circumvented regulations. The result has been nothing less than pillage of the public. And they do it with glee and disdain for their uninitiated victims. Remember those Enron guys laughing as they rigged energy markets? They were the "smartest guys in the room," right? But they got caught after enormous damage had been done. Usually, no one is held accountable or punished and often when they are they come back in a few years. Justice is inconvenient politically. The norm today is that execs of companies that fail receive bloated bonuses as if they had managed in triumph. Think Lehman, Goldman, Merrill, B of A, AIG! The list is endless. Hedge fund managers are raking in billions even now, as the Dow rebounds towards 11,000. The damage their managements have done is incalculable not only in the U. S. but in Britain, Ireland, Spain and Greece. Everywhere greed is worshipped.
Let me be more specific about this great disillusionment. When the average person invests, he looks for an undervalued, stock with bright prospects and competent management. He will surely check price performance charts and earnings per share relative to other similar securities. How 20th century! How uninitiated! The real players are counseled by mathematicians with formulas and indecies that have nothing to do with what used to be investment basics. But they're the ones that count today. These Wall Street whiz kids are catering to the big players and using tools and tactics even the likes of Robert Rubin don't understand. After decades of coaxing Joe Sixpack into the market, Wall Streeters today couldn't care less about him and his stupid friends, like me.
Let me go further. The average American has been deeply disappointed by virtually all of his interfaces with business and government. He may have been victimized by his realtor, his mortgage broker, and his contractors. The government agencies who are supposed to be watchdogging his interests have let him down egregiously: from the NYSE to the SEC which couldn't spot Bernie Maddoff, to the Fed under Alan Greenspan. Home appraisers can no longer be trusted and neither can the credit agencies like Moody or Standard & Poor. Balance sheets mean little, since debt can be hidden and postponed, not only for coorporations but sovereign nations as well! Accountants, even the biggest and best, are too subservient to their masters for whom they are also doing private, personal work. Today, we can't even have confidence that our food and toys are safe. Greed calls the shots in everything and corruption is everywhere from the Boy Scouts to sports heros. Even our cars may be unsafe. Where can anyone turn? Well, there's the church, isn't there? Isn't there? Be sure, however, to trust only the Lord, Jesus Christ. Too many tears have been shed over his wayward priests and bishops, grandiose evangelists and saintly hypocrites.
How is this different from ancient Rome? Not much, I would think. But I will never lose faith in America or hope for the future. These are very hard, very dangerous times, but all is not lost. What the world needs now follows and it is much more than "Love, Sweet Love."
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