My Good Fortune

As with most people, I have had good times and bad times, however in one regard, I have been most fortunate. I am referring here to my marriage to my wife, Sandra. Lest one might think that the subject of which I write is her singular attribute, I would interject that she has many, not the least of which are her pleasant demeanor, her great compassion for all oppressed whether they be human or animal and her willingness to put up with my moody existence and solitary nature. The one which compels me to put pen to paper, so to speak, at this moment is one that has occupied my mind frequently over the last months and it is her marvelous and unceasing ability to put food on the table at every meal that is of the most delicious and satisfying composition. I have been in no hotel, nor five star restaurant, nor holiday buffet that can surpass her preparations and even when I have added the constraint of special request because of diet and weight loss considerations, she continues to get my five star award at every meal.

Gerald

Be The Crane

As technology driven robotics development consumes middle class jobs, the solution may be to adopt a human – have a human assigned to each replacing robot so that the worker is paid a portion of the savings attributed to the robot.

This seems only fair, after all the worker and her/his predecessors have been essentially place holding for the robot, and now that the robot is finally able to take over there should be some remuneration given to the human.

Elgut Dlareg

De-regulation - a Politician's Definition

Campaign rhetoric is designed to get votes by promoting very popular sounding platforms that conceal special interest agenda.  The populist notion of deregulation - “getting government off the backs of the people” has a very different meaning to investment bankers like Goldman Sachs.

A recent article from Reuters:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43931226/ns/business-us_business/

by Pratima Desai, Clare Baldwin, Susan Thomas and Melanie Burton, (July 31, 2011), describes how Goldman is purchasing and stockpiling aluminum in warehouses in Detroit.  Goldman operates the warehouses, owns the aluminum and controls the release of the metal into the world market. The result is a contrived shortage (think Enron in California) leading to real increases in the cost and delivery times of the metal to real users.

This is a clear situation in which regulation is needed but regulators cannot intervene either because the rules have been written to allow Goldman to legally do what they are doing or regulators are impeded by the influence of politicians on behalf of Goldman.

Goldman Sachs has a huge influence in the price of commodities – everything from gasoline to copper – because of their ability to control the front, back and middle of markets.  Goldman wins – average people lose. Does your back feel any better because regulations were eased for Goldman.

Elgut Dlareg

Myth #2 – Government should be run like a business - Revision 2.0

To begin with an example:  In a recent email that was forwarded to me there was a citation that the administration of George W. Bush had 55 percent of his cabinet members that worked in the private business sector prior to their appointment to the cabinet, this contrasted with 8 percent in the Obama Administration.  There was no citation as to the value of having had private business sector experience and so I thought I might help with that.

If we look at the case of Samuel Bodman, appointed by GW Bush in 2004 as Secretary of Energy, we find that he did indeed have private sector experience.  He began his work in the private sector as the technical director of a venture capital firm, later became Chief Operating Officer of Fidelity Investments and subsequently joined the Cabot Corporation as Chairman and CEO.  Under Bodman's leadership from 1987 until 2000, Cabot was one of the country’s largest polluters with 60,000 tons of airborne toxic emissions annually.

Bodman’s tenure was during the coltan boom (columbite/tantalite used in the manufacture of consumer electronics). Cabot was one of the companies listed in a United Nations report (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations) detailing illegal exploitation of resources from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  As with other resources (diamonds), the sale of coltan by militias to fund purchase of weapons and ammunition was a factor in the longevity of conflict in Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere.

Did Sam Bodman apply his private sector experience to his government service?  Did he apply any experience to his government service?  I think not.  He was largely an ineffective secretary.

The following is a quote taken from an ABC News release of November 1, 2005,

          “Bush will also look to Bodman to advance his second term energy agenda that includes weaning the United States from foreign oil by strengthening energy development at home.

          In describing this agenda in his Dec. 10, 2004, announcement of Bodman's nomination, Bush said: ‘We will continue improving pipelines and gas terminals and power lines, so that energy flow is reliable. We will develop and deploy the latest technology to provide a new generation of cleaner and more efficient energy sources.’ “

We know all too well that none of that happened.

The following link to a Huffington Post article sums up Bodman's tenure very well:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/raymond-j-learsy/our-forlorn-energy-secret_b_116029.html

If you read the entire huffpost article, it will become clear that Bodman was looking the other way while oil rose to $145 per barrel, at least he was looking the other way when he was not asleep.

In spite of the example of Samuel Bodman, there clearly are advantages that a cabinet person with private sector experience could bring to government.  Knowledge of the importance of profit and loss, brand loyalty, quality assurance, customer service and fidelity to shareholders can be of inestimable value in the operation of government.  These assets, however, seem to rarely survive beyond moving day.  The people of the United States are the shareholders to whom fidelity should be given in the case of government service, and yet it seems that all too often the allegiance of high level government officials (and yes elected representatives) remains with their previous corporate associates.  Customer service is reserved for high end campaign donors and quality assurance gets ground up in the pork barrel.  Friends and family (extended family) reap the profits and the average American sustains the loss.  In the private sector, the malfeasant would be thrown out by shareholders.  In the public sector, they are enabled to hide behind sham voting procedures and revised and extended recording practices until such time that they leave office. They are then rewarded with appointments to boards from which they seek favors from public officials who have not yet departed government.  

In summation I would argue that the issue of private sector experience is so minor as to be irrelevant.  Public sector managers (i.e. cabinet level appointees) can be highly effective if they possess the same assets that make any manager effective:  integrity, honesty, intelligence, life experience, education, ethics, passion, vision and a strong desire to be good at what you do.  Anything less will have disastrous consequences no matter what the previous job description.

Elgut Dlareg

Tradition, the Bubble

Each generation uniquely prepares itself to live with existing technology and the legacy of previous generations.  Most humans live in a bubble in which is collected the cognitive stimulations that have been most relevant to them.  For that reason they are unwilling or unable to accept as societally normal that which appears to them to challenge the contents of their bubble.  Elders condemn youth for departing from tradition.  Youth depart from tradition when it does not fit their needs.  A new tradition develops.

Elgut Dlareg

Point of View

“There are no new frontiers,” he said.

“The frontiers are within,” she said.

Media Method

I had a column to write,

My boss said, “Please don’t make it trite,

Give me some shame,

I can heap on a name,

And you can leave early tonight.