Of Corporate Stewardship
Posted: Saturday, September 27, 2008
by Gregory Franklyn
GLFranklyn
I'm reasonably certain we are witnessing a defining event in the History of The United States. This feels like a moment that our grandchildren will need to memorize in order to pass on to the 10 th grade. I'm referring to what has the potential to become "The Wall Street Meltdown of 2008". I can already see it right up there along side things like "The Boston Tea Party", "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" or "The Battle of Gettysburg". All, events that changed the course of our shared history.
This is not a good thing, but it holds in its deeply disturbing folds, the potential to set us on an economic course toward a more open, more empowering and more user-friendly future. We have a unique opportunity right now to level the playing field of economic opportunity and growth that could strengthen our union and make it less dependent on a select few boardrooms in New York City.
While this history making drama unfolds I sincerely hope that we pay close attention to the dangers inherent in the concept of deregulation. I believe that Capitalism is our best hope for individual progress and the impetus of actualizing big dreams. That's a good thing. But without regulation, Capitalism by its very nature, becomes an amoral predatory monster! I think we're seeing that underbelly becoming visible right now.
I see a corporation as a being. Much like a child! A corporation must do certain things to preserve it's own survival. Like a person, it must consume to live. It must establish relationships for its comfort, security, productivity and advancement. It must compete with other corporations to maintain vitality, to learn new things and develop innovation to remain viable. Failure to thrive, like any human being, will necessarily result in illness, and eventual, death.
Much like any being, a corporation must also have something to do, be it creating something, teaching something, procuring something, providing something, protecting something, it must have work to survive! A corporation however, in and of itself, does not have a moral code. The only moral code a corporation can have is the one its stewards give it. Of, and to, it's own, a corporation's only mission is to thrive or perish. The larger that being becomes, the more it must consume for it's survival. The natural progression for such a being is that, without proper stewardship, it must eventually consume everything!
The danger in unregulated Capitalism, is lack of proper stewardship! Regulation of it's size, it's consumption, the nature of it's work, much like raising and educating a child, is necessary to provide it with a sustainable foundation from which to thrive without becoming predatory. In the same way a child needs guidance for it's own protection and consequences for rejecting that guidance, so does a corporation!
I hope that we are paying attention to what has happened to the stewards of the financial service corporations now threatening our stability. In a sense, they became drunk! Their inhibitions, their moral code, their judgment, became impaired in an environment of unfettered activity. Corporations have, largely, been left to their own devices for decades in an environment of deregulation and those unregulated devices have brought us to this juncture in our history. It's like we parents left town for the weekend and the kids had a big party that got out of hand.
"Letting the market decide!" clearly has its dangers and we are facing a worse case scenario of those dangers right now. The market is not competent to decide on its own. Only it's stewards are! What we do in response to this corporate behavior will decide whether we thrive or perish.
The sky, contrary to what George Bush would have you believe, is not falling! We're in a critical pinch, no question about it, but the sky is not falling! The urgency expressed by the White House has more to do with political will than any real resolution. Giving Seven Hundred Billion dollars to the same, drunk, stewards of these morbidly obese corporations, without regulation or guidance and without consequences for rejecting that guidance, we are perpetuating the very environment that fostered this behavior to begin with. That would be just fine with our current regime, but not so good for a Democratic Republic. Right now we need a competent parent to step in and take control. The parents who were in charge, were at the party getting drunk with their kids!
Right now, these institutions' attitude is not one of repentance, but rather boldness. They are not coming to us with hat in hand apologizing for, or accepting any accountability for, anything that happened at the party. They are challenging us with threats of certain doom. "Get us out of this mess', they seem to be saying, "or we'll have to make your life a living hell!"
Like a child, these corporations who have gotten themselves in trouble, need to lose some weight, exercise a bit more judgment, eat less junk food and learn some manners! Perhaps a good spanking might get their attention!
Like a good parent we must write a small check right now to prevent certain collapse and then take whatever time we need to guide these unruly institutions into sustainable, well mannered behavior patterns to prevent further recalcitrance and ensure their continued health and well being. These institutions have proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that they are in dire NEED of supervision and guidance. Our failure to provide it will say more about our stewardship than it will about their excesses!
Much Love,
Gregory
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