Accounting and Economics LO27710

From: Don Dwiggins (dond@advancedmp.com)
Date: 01/23/02


Replying to LO27687 --

> I have a few questions. I have a few statements.

Andrew,

As they say in Texas, "sounds like you've got a burr under your saddle".
You've prompted some good responses, to which I'll add a bit:

> Who is accountable as a 'leader' -whether as CEO or supervisor?

For an irreverent perspective, check out
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Union/1669/Boss.html (warning: contents
include scatology).

> Is someone who drives ordinary and faithful followers to the brink of
> total ruin and maybe even suicide a terrorist by another name?

See some of the recent messages about Jack Welch and his system. It
sounds like some of his prescriptions could have those results. I've been
in somewhat similar situations, where the people were simply used hard
until they were used up. Of course, the smart ones typically wised up
before that point and bailed out. This may be the distinction between
this and terrorism: the victims of the latter usually don't get to opt
out.

> Why has no-one (so far as I know in the public domain here) 'picked up'
> the tab I offered on the Enron scandal posting I wrote? Is it not a worthy
> enough as an issue to have a dialogue on then;-) now, in the near
> future...;-)

I seem to have missed that one; however, I heard a recent PBS special on
the situation; it sounds again like an organization intentionally driven
frantically toward success, with a single measure for success, and little
tolerance for those with low, or even medium, scores. It also reminded me
of the old saying "What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to
deceive". The constant piling on of derivatives, partnerships, and
accounting shell games seems to indicate the mentality of the gambling
addict, trying to cover one bet with another, combined with the creativity
of an accounting genius ("reason comes running, eager to ratify...").
The rationale apparently is "I can keep this going until I win enough to
cover it all and make good on the losses".

> As life becomes more transparent a new form of democracy will arise. I can
> see it arising. All such emergences have lashing tails, vortices. There is
> pain in abundance at attending such birthings. It will be like a kind of
> madness. Can anyone here sense it upon the far horizon?

> Shall we keep on doing what is familiar and plentiful toward our 'limited
> case' mortgages, becoming 'clinically obese' to the point of epidemic
> proportions, our children going 'quietly mad' ( one in five children in
> 'developed countries' sic. show signs of clinical depression) while four
> fifths of the world lives on less than two dollars a day?

I've been reading chapters from Barry Carter's book "Infinite Wealth", at
http://winwinworld.net/book/ He goes into considerable depth on this
theme. Although there's a considerable overtone of hype and marketing,
there's also quite a bit of good stuff. (At, I think you'll find his
characterization of the coming bifurcation (which he calls "breakpoint")
quite interesting). I'd like to see him join the discussion here, bringing
a strong viewpoint and considerable energy.

Jeff Gates also comes to mind, and a number of sites devoted to
sustainability. One of the items on my list is to digest all these
resources enough to come up with a decent overview and reference list.

> Mmmmmmm

> Mr. Andrew Campbell MBA
> Oxford

Ahhhhh...

Dwig, JSPS
Podunk

-- 

Don Dwiggins <dond@advancedmp.com>

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