Crossing Cultures

It appears that the outcry from their constituents has made Congress pause before passing a massive bailout for the Detroit big-three.  I still think some kind of bailout loan, I'm assuming they will be forthcoming, if only because of the political clout of the unions. There is something bizarre about the CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler driving to Washington in hybrid cars. When they say driving, I'm assuming the press means being driven by their minions because I ca't believe that these multi-millionaires have driven themselves in many years. The whle thing smacks of Hollywood, which is probably where their "media consultants" came from. These are the same guys who refused to change their policies in the 1980s and continued to make and heavily market SUVs - cars which because they can be made on a truck chassis, do not have to meet passenger car safety requirements, thus increasing their profits on each one sold. Its all in the marketing, and its interesting that the big 3 didn't realize that they needed to create a marketing plan for their current effort to squeeze money out of a Congress that is already in trouble for their inept (and corrupt0 handling of the banking system. They might have pretended to be more humble or to show that they really do care about their millions of workers who will lose their jobs unless they get this help from Congress. But no, their approach is all about them and how they have seen the light of green, energy efficient cars. No mention of cheap cars, because those have low profits per unit.

I do agree that unless these clowns are bailed out, the US automobile is history, so I think some kind of bridge loan or something similar is appropriate. But I think lots of union consessions and CEO/management agreements regarding their wages would be in order.

Barack Obama is our next president and I think most Americans hope that he can live up to his expectations. What we need now is honesty and integrity in government and while neither party has shown much in these categories, we expect Mr. Obama to deliver these qualities. Even if he himself is basically an honest man, he has to work with a party and a congress that has shown itself to be anything but. I'm not encouraged by the flood of US automakers visiting the democrats in congress to receive handouts. These are the same carmakers who have consistently resisted change, relied on their aging truck/suv fleets to bulk up their peofits and failed to improve gasoline milage until very recently. Despite their sagging sales and declining profits, the senior management of these companies continued to take home their bloated salaries and bonuses. Now that they are close to bankruptcy, they are concerned about their workers - at least that will be the reason that congress will give for bailing them out. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are already wringing their hands about the tens of thousands of jobs that would be lost if GM, Ford and Chrysler went bankrupt. The bailout is a near certainty. Hey, if we can spend $700 billion to help our bankers maintain their lifestyles, why not a few more hundred billion for our automakers? The problem is that these kinds of figures are so large as to be abstract. And besides, its federal money, right? Where do we think the money is coming from? We have been living outside of our means for several years now, thanks to federal policies abetted by a congress more concerned with bringing home the "pork" so that they get reelected than being fiscally responsible. Despite a mandate for change, I have my doubts about Mr. Obama's abilility to change human nature and the tendency of our elected officials to enrich themselves at the expense of they proport to represent.

The primaries in RI are on 4 March and for one of the first times in history, we have a (slight) chance to make a difference. I will not be voting in the democratic primary being of the republican persuasion, but I do have some thoughts on the two democratic candidates. Obama is a likeable and very charismatic person. His lack of experience is no doubt looked upon by the Democratic Party as a good thing - once in, they can control him easily. Thats the only reason I can think of that such party luminaries like Ted Kennedy has come out early for him. Ms. Clinton, on the other hand, acts like the perennial insider, currently bring all the dirty tricks she and her husband have used successfully in the past to bear on her opponent for the nomination - a preview of the kind of tactics she will use if she somehow, as seems increasingly unlikely, wins the nomination. In the meantime, the Democatic Party mouthpiece, the New York Times, has already started without her, printing a negative, non-issue about the likley Republican candidate that implies, but never actually claims an improper relationship with a lobbyist. My take on this is that the negative, down and dirty innuendos will continue, regardless of who the Democrartoc candidate is.

I personally like and respect John McCain, partly because of his military service - yes, we vets are biased towards our own - but also because he seems like his own man, who actually, gulp, has ideas of his own and convictions that he sticks to. What a concept! I like that he hasn't kissed the ring of the religious right or the radical conservatives - I think Rush Limbaugh is a jerk - and I like the idea that you can cross party lines to do something that is good for the country. The country is ready for change, but can someone who has been on the inside for years bring that change about? I don't know. I'm disgusted with both parties and think our political system is in danger of a meltdown, since there seems to be few people who believe anything any politician says. Instead of whats good for the country, our politicians seem only to focus on their own welfare.

So, as of now, I'll likely vote for McCain - not because he's a republican, but because he is John McCain.

More later on...

Long time, no blog. Now retired, I have plenty of time to think about things and I'm amazed at what a shallow society we have become. People are more interested in what happens to Paris Hilton than what is happening to people in their neighborhood. In this regard, I'm impressed with a book by Francis Fukuyama entitled "Trust". The book discusses the key role of culture in all aspects of our lives, including the economic side. His discussion is compelling and I recommend his book to anyone who wants to understand how and why our societies are changing. His basic thesis is that trust between people is the glue that keeps communities together. The technological revolution has changed this by destroying hierarchies and structure in our lives. With instant access to information via the web, everyman can stand on his own without the need for others. This is an oversimplification of his views, but the idea that we have lost our sense of trust of organizations (such as the church, our companies, and our government), leaders and politicians. We no longer believe in these or in the goodnesss of our fellow man. It seems like for every good samaritan there are two or more thieves, killers, perverts, sexual deviants and corrupt officials. Call it the "JFK" syndrome - in the 1960s, we wanted to believe in JFK's "Camelot" and the fact that JFK himself had feet of clay and was as morally challenged as Bill Clinton regarding women wasn't well known at the time. The information revolution has changed that - we now know more than we want to know about JFK. Our current rash of politicians are probably equally as "ethically challenged" as JFK but their foibles will likely not come pout until after the elections. Trust is very important to social cohesion and Fukuyama's explantion of how and why we have lost this vital element in our society are compelling. Please check out his book.

Two days ago, on December 7th, a major event occured in Rhode Island's history. No, not Pearl Harbor in 1941 (although that also had a major impact on the people of the state). I'm speaking of the landing of the British on Aquidneck Island on December 7th, 1776, thus beginning the occupation of Rhode Island by British forces during the Revolutionary War.

 

I retired from full time teaching last summer at age 65 and have now had several months to experience retirement, or "life in the slow lane." Its nice not having to be anywhere at a certain time and also not having to commute to work 30 miles each way. I miss being in my classrooms, however, and especially the interesting discussions with my students. I was lucky to be teaching in a MBA program at a school where 60-65% of our students were international and I learned a lot about their countries and cultures from them. I was constantly amazed to see young students in their 20's suddenly arriving in the US from places like Morroco, Nepal, Thailand, China, Turkey, and others, with all the issues and concerns that anyone has moving to and living in a foreign country, and then immediately starting to attend graduate school in a foreign language - English. I couldn't imagine doing that and have always been impressed by those that can. For me, the classroom was not just a job. It was my own post-post graduate education in cross-cultural relations. I learned as much from my students as they could ever learn from me. I am always delighted, therefore, when I hear from one of my former students now living and working elsewhere - perhaps back in their own country or somewhere else. I look forward to their greetings and stories and especially like to hear how they are doing in the business world - which was the point of our MBA program - but I also like to hear about their families, marriages and personal successes.

This blog is supposed to be about retirement, so I'll close with a provisional assessment. Retirement is great! My time is my own and I like being able to spend more time with my wife and dogs and do more volunteer work. I need a hobby, however, and since mine is sailing, the winter months really seem to be long in Rhode Island. It's now April already and the days are warming up. Now if summer would only get here soon....

 

Now that our elections are over, it is time to take a look at what we did. Essentially, In RI at least, the democrat incumbants who have shown themselves to be concerned only for themselves and their "patrons" were all voted back in. An Attorney General who denied making a plea agreement in the Station Nightclub fire case despite the fact that this agreement came from his own office and who failed to even consider charges against the fire and building inspoectors who were the real guilty parties in the case was voted back in! Congressman Patrick Kennedy, despite his known substance abuse and erratic behavior, was voted back in! Former Attorney General, now Senator-elect Sheldon Whitehouse defeated an independently minded republican incumbant despite last minute revelations from the former CEO of Roger Williams Hospital that indicate that Whitehouse was told about all the details of the scandal surrounding that institution and yet did nothing to prosecute a corrupt board of directors, which Whitehouse defensively denied. Basically, no one seems to care that these politicians have lied, been derelict in their duties and worse when in power. The power of the democratic party and their union members have shown their strength, ensuring a near democratic sweep in this state. Where is the outrage here? Are our memories really that short? Your comments invited.

Maybe this is a rant, but the more I think about certain things, the more I am concerned. Take cigarettes and smoking, for example. We know that smoking kills thousands of people a year and that the tobacco companies have added chemicals to their cigarettes that make them even more addictive than they are naturally. And yet we continue to provide annual federal subsidies to the tobacco industry amounting to several millions of dollars. Why isn't tobacco considered a drug and controlled by the FDA? Why isn't the government funding research into curing cigarette addiction? And why do we help to keep the billion dollar tobacco companies in business? What are are elected representatives doing about all this, besides taking money from the tobacco lobbyists to ensure that they are reelected? This system is corrupt.

 

What about medical care? Our doctors charge us inflated rates for their services to ensure that they get the maximum artifically low repayment rates provided by our medical coverage plans. such as Blue Cross or Medicare. This seems to me like and insurance scam, when a repair shop gives you a bill for more than the actual amount so that you can get more from your insurer. Can medical providers charge off their paper "losses" as tax write offs? Everyone seems to be lying to everyone else and thats just the way the system works. Why does this have to be the case? can't we, the wealthiest and best educated country in the world, come up with a system that doesn't require lies and deceit? This system is also corrupt.

 

What can we do about this kind of unethical and corrosive behavior?