Many business leaders today are very well trained to generate huge profits but lack the wider social responsibility that comes with that kind of power. The collapse of Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Adelphia, Tyco et al are harbingers of what can happen if our leaders lack high ethical standards and accountability to the employees, investors, and the general public for more than just profits.
The trial, guilty verdict, and subsequent death of Kenneth Lay illuminate the negative undercurrent that power can spawn: Greed. This negative undercurrent does not confine its self to the business sector. It flows through all positions of power.
Before we take a deeper look at the underlying issues of this kind of corporate irresponsibility we should send our sincerest respects to the Mr. Lay’s family. The flames thrown toward the deceased and family are not healthy, for anybody. Statements like, “I hope he burns in hell!" or “Dying was too good for him!" do nothing but add to the excesses of animosity, hostility, and hatred that exist in the world today.
Yes it can be difficult to forgive a man that made his way to the top and then lied to and cheated many people out of their jobs, pensions, livelihoods. Even while trapped under mounds of evidence at his trial Kenneth Lay was unwilling to assume responsibility. Yes, that can produce anger. But forgiveness is not only for the forgiven, it’s a healthy release for the forgiver. Carrying hatred in the mind will cause dis-ease in the body. How does that help, anybody?
Kenneth Lay Epitomized an Unhealthy Undercurrent that Runs Through All Powerful Structures
Kenneth Lay rose from a preacher's son to become a multi-millionaire in control of many livelihoods. And when Mr. Lay—through incompetence, fraud, conspiracy, and wilful disregard and avoidance—lost control he let go of the business but not the lifestyle it had afforded him.
That fact alone is incomprehensible to those that lost everything due to his actions. Certainly, people would have sympathized more with him had he gone down with the ship. That would not have made what he did right, however, just more palatable.
Aspirations to Power
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi says in “Good Business" that we should reflect on the patterns of history to understand organizations that “…emerged because [they] promised to improve the life of the majority." He points to Christianity’s origin of helping the downtrodden to its rise to power that increasingly, “…withdrew its energies from the community and used it instead for its own profit."
Of course we know all-to-well the political double-speak of those that compassionately espouse “for the good of the people" slogans while lying and cheating their way to the top of political structures simply to serve the ego’s craving for power and control.
More recently (over the last two hundred years) capitalism has given more people the opportunity to rise to power and it, too, claims to have made the masses lives more comfortable and secure. From a Western point-of-view that can be hard to argue against. Most of us live today with more entertainment, better food, mobility, faster and cheaper communications etc. than kings and queens of only a couple of centuries ago.
Capitalism is responsible for the explosion of material wealth over the last two centuries. It has changed the playing field. We are now largely a culture of self-determination. We don’t have to be what our parents and grandparents were. Like Kenneth Lay we can rise out from under humble beginnings and aspire to great wealth. This offers a great deal of optimism to those of us that want more out of life.
But We Need to Move Forward Carefully
There was more change in the last century than in all previous centuries, combined. The growth of information has changed from linear to exponential. It is estimated that we will see more change in the next 14 years than we did in the entire last century.
This accelerated and unstoppable pace of knowledge will have a profound influence on the shape our world takes from politics to warfare to medicine to health to education to the arts and beyond. One thing for sure is that the future will look much different than anything we have seen in the past.
Industrialization has brought many comforts and securities. But there are also problems. Industrialized nations are plagued with violence, diseases, drug, alcohol, and food abuses… The few checks and balances of this kind of open market system leave us susceptible to fraudulent leaders, like Kenneth Lay, that live very expensive lifestyles while rolling the dice with the hard earned life-savings entrusted to them.
Politics, religion, and business are no different when they claim to provide systems, morals, and guidance for the betterment of society. Of course there are many honest people in all of those areas that are highly responsible and add great value to the global community.
But the temptations while in power are so great that one must be of strong moral character to assume the deep sense of responsibility, ethics, and self-control that are necessary.
But we, too, the benefactors of capitalism must develop better self control, responsibility, and balance in our lives.
Capitalism and the Instant Gratification Society
Another problem in the industrialized countries is that many people are caught-up in an instant gratification society. The emergence of television, fast food, and an increasingly hectic life-style where both parents work long hours have drawn many into here-and-now, short-lived gratification. When that instant pleasure is gone, another desire surfaces, then another until their lives revolve around the next quick fix. And the growing surplus of companies are happy to inexpensively please our every whim.
This can be seen by the obesity epidemic many North American’s have fallen into, sadly affecting many children. More to point, it also rears its face with the plethora of “get rich quick" schemes that people buy into.
We buy lottery tickets in hope to cash in big! But are we responsible enough to be millionaires? Many people believe that being a millionaire will end their troubles. If anything troubles magnify as wealth grows. The allure of big money unfortunately does not carry with it the sense of responsibility needed to make the world a better place. Responsibility comes before riches.
Responsibility must be embraced by all of us. We should learn at least the basics of national and personal economics so we can invest wisely and not get fooled by the wave of fraudulent smooth-talkers that prey on our temptations of easy money. Building a solid wealth portfolio takes discipline, study, focus, and time.
"Economics deals with society's fundamental problems it concerns everyone and belongs to all. It is the main and proper study of every citizen."– Ludwig von Mises
The undercurrent of greed created a criminal out of a once honest kid of a Baptist preacher in Missouri who delivered newspapers and mowed lawns. Kenneth Lay studied and worked hard to enjoy the privileges of the elite but he, like many others, did not embrace the responsibility such a position carried.
We Sit on the Edge of a New Era
The ascendancy of global capitalism has the ability to widen the gap between rich and poor, create a situation of personal and national insecurity, and wreak havoc on the environment.
Or we can learn from our past and as individuals bestow useful, life-saving knowledge to help free countries from hunger, child labour, human trafficking, and early mortality rates.
We should use the benefits of capitalism to extend the wealth of information available and educate people how to create personal wealth to further extend and protect our most treasured gift: Life. We need to first be responsible ourselves by learning how money works and then hold those in power accountable for their actions.
Mr. Lay’s legacy will not be a romanticized “Rages to Riches" story but the embodiment of what’s wrong with Corporate America. What more punishment could be bestowed?
Kenneth Lay Taught Us a Great Deal about the Nature of Greed and Power
With honesty of purpose with should learn from the past and pioneer new pathways to human welfare and prosperity for the future. Let’s not add fuel to the flames of hatred and revenge burning through the world. Our health is too important to harbour ill feelings. Kenneth Lay is no longer with us on this planet. Let him go. Start anew.
Finally...
As investors we should expect more from our business leaders than just quarterly returns. They should be held to a standard of ethics, morals, and accountability in direct relation to their power over people and the environment.
When they don’t live up to those standards we must hold them accountable through the law. Not from hatred or malevolence but from a deep desire to affect positive change in the world.
Brad Hutchinson has been studying health and wellness for over 12 years. He is a black sash martial artist from the Shaolin Kung Fu tradition, a teacher, writer of fiction and personal development books, and runs two websites: www.chapter-books-for-children.com www.highercreativity.com
» left by Mark Hunter from Toronto (2 years 124 days ago.)
A great incite into our challenging times. If more people thought this way much of our troubles, in society, might magically disappear. Respond to this comment
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