Congressional hearings grilling the heads of Lehman Brothers and AIG have focused on the huge payouts to executives while the losers have been their employees and taxpayers. What has come to the attention of the public is how much money someone like Lehman CEO Dick Fuld made over the past few years (estimated to be $490 million of which none is recoupable) while tens of thousands of his employees have now lost their jobs and with the worthless stock price, their savings and retirement plans. How he sleeps at night is beyond me. There was a time where the average executive earned about 20 times the average salary of their workforce. Now, a CEO can earns hundreds of times the average salary of their employees. How much money is enough? It's one thing to be like Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates who have donated the bulk of their fortune to charitable work, but another thing to behave like former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski who spent $6,000 of company money on a shower curtain. Really, how much greed can one have? I hate the phrase "Whoever dies with the most toys, wins" - it is shallow and narcissistic. I prefer the Talmudic principle which states "there are no pockets in the burial shroud" or in other words, "you can't take it with you".
Even worse is the milk crisis in China where melamine has been mixed into milk-based products such as baby formula and popular beverages. Not only have an estimated 50,000 Chinese babies been affected, but babies have died from kidney failure arising from the tainted baby formula. Again, greed has trumped basic morals. It is unconscionable that someone would knowingly risk another human life, and that of infants no less, to gain financially.
These examples are a blight on the capitalist system. I am a supporter of the basic concept of capitalism, but I believe in social capitalism which takes into consideration society as a whole and not just that of an individual. No, not socialism, but some balance where it is not dog-eat-dog, where rules and regulation are in place to safeguard society from rampant greed. If these were in place, the current economic crisis may not have happened or nay not have been as severe. While the days when society placed a greater emphasis on performing noble acts on behalf of their community and country may have been absent during this most recent baby boomer generation, there are signs that this may be changing.
The younger generation has become a force of change regarding the environment, more young people are shying away from being workaholics to focus on more time with family, there is a resurgence of people working and volunteering for non-profits, as they search for greater meaning in life. A terrific book to read is "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World" by John Wood which chronicles his journey from employee at Microsoft to starting a charity called Room to Read which has built thousands of schools in developing countries, and provided scholarships to thousands of girls in countries where providing education to females in not considered a priority. Before you say that here's a guy that had millions of dollars to do this, you will be surprised that he was not a wealthy man when he left Microsoft to do this - he only had enough stocks and savings to last a few years without drawing a salary. What is interesting about John Wood's story, is that he did struggle between the need to make good money, buy a nice house and attain status, versus the need to do something meaningful and fulfilling. He gave away many comforts and perks to make a meaningful difference in the lives of tens of thousands of children. What have you done for your community lately? As I see younger voters starting to take an interest in politics, and claim their right to determine how their vote will impact the direction of their lives, I take comfort that, at last, we are moving in the right direction.
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