Power tends to Corrupt


Work is done by those who understand what they do not manage and dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.
-- Putt's Law



The American ethos is realistic about human corruptibility. The Constitution codifies a system of checks and balances based on the principle that unconstrained power tends to be abused. Puritan notions and the framers knowledge of history went into the separation of powers that is now considered to be integral to sound governance. Neglect of both the premises and the principle of constraint in corporate management has made business entities into hierarchies of self-serving ambition in an environment of intimidation and counterproductive, networked incompetence. Business has become the domain of an aristocracy. Nearly every working person contends with the resulting dysfunction on a daily basis. Working dangerously is to acknowledge the pervasiveness of bad management while trying to remain employed.

Turn the other cheek and read this blog for perspective. It's cheaper than a psychiatrist.


Monday, August 22, 2011

We've been warned: the system is ready to blow

Only a new way of managing the global economy can prevent more mayhem in the markets and on the streets.

For the past two centuries and more, life in Britain has been governed by a simple concept: tomorrow will be better than today. Black August has given us a glimpse of a dystopia, one in which the financial markets buckle and the cities burn. Like Scrooge, we have been shown what might be to come unless we change our ways.

There were glimmers of hope amid last week's despair. Neighbourhoods rallied round in the face of the looting. The Muslim community in Birmingham showed incredible dignity after three young men were mown down by a car and killed during the riots. It was chastening to see consumerism laid bare. We have seen the future and we know it sucks. All of which is cause for cautious optimism – provided the right lessons are drawn.

Lesson number one is that the financial and social causes are linked. Lesson number two is that what links the City banker and the looter is the lack of restraint, the absence of boundaries to bad behaviour. Lesson number three is that we ignore this at our peril.

Guardian News UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/14/larry-elliott-global-financial-system
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