Metaphor

One of my favorite scenes in movies is from the Godfather. It's the one in the Corleone driveway where Sal Tessio asks Tom Hagen to spare his life. Tom turns him down and Sally, perhaps in an attempt at reconciliation, asks Tom to tell Michael that, "it was only business". Under similar circumstances albeit, not so final, I had a boss, as he was showing me the door, use the same line. I mention this, because much of what has gone wrong in this country in the last several years can trace its roots to the attitude expressed in that line - it's only business.

A little background - I was on the express bus down to Wall Street. In those days (early eighties), I subscribed to both the Wall Street Journal and the NY Times. I enjoyed reading the editorial pages of the Journal, it's good to see just how delusional the right can be. Anyhow, the following headline caught my eye, "Business Schools Require Ethics Course". I have to admit to a certain confusion caused by the story, e.g., in my mind, one is either ethical or not and taking a course in ethics will never change that fact. Further, it will only make it easier for the unethical to exploit the ethical. The deans at Harvard and Warton however, detected a shift away from traditional morality in the attitudes of their aspiring MBA students. However, reading this article really cemented the difference in the way that I approached business and the way almost everyone else in the Street did. It also forced a debate between myself and those to whom I was close, wife, friends and some colleagues, the result of which was the realization that I was a square peg in the round hole of Wall Street. What I never quite got however, was the fact that, everyone in the Street is convinced that the "here's to your buddy - tried and true - screw him before he screws you" attitude. Armed with this rationale, the MBA's are freed to go on offense. I think, that this is the root of business ethics and also the reason why your writer finds himself among the working poor.

I have alluded to the profit centric nature of all of the players in the mortgage debacle in previous posts. Really though, it pervades all of big business. Advertising is propaganda and caveat emptor is the Holy Grail of merchandising. Take a look at the chart of any commodity index for the last year, you'll quickly discover that supply and demand had nothing to do with the run-up in the prices of food and energy - it was all about trading profits for which consumers pay. In an environment where bank cost-of-funds is below 1%, is the fact that they charge upwards of 25% on credit cards justified? Look at the attitude of the "big three" auto makers before Congress - were they contrite? Do they feel entitled to the amount of money they make? Do they care about energy consumption? This IS the attitude of the majority of American business and consumers are going to continue to pay ... or are they?

So, is it only business? Who is to blame, we who pay or they who charge? THINK!