This is another post that has nothing to do with living on Bainbridge or the Kitsap Peninsula. It does have to do with who we (or our government) are in the 21st Century. Just something I want to get off my chest.
When the Titanic sank in 1912, its captain, Edward Smith, stayed with the ship until the last possible moment. Accounts differ slightly, but most agree that his life ended after he dived into the freezing waters just before the ship went under.
That's what a captain is supposed to do. A parachute, golden or otherwise, would have been useless, but a lifeboat might have saved him. He didn't have a lifeboat. He didn't ask for one. He didn't take command on condition that he would have one in the event of a disaster. Captains didn't do that.
Well, we've come a long way haven't we, babies?
Today metaphorical ships of commerce are sinking all over the world. Their Captain/CEOs are saving themselves. Not with golden lifeboats (parachutes are still useless on ships) but with golden helicopters. They're leaving with multimillion dollar packages whiles employees are cut loose, most not even with life preservers.
An argument was offered last week not to deny the CEOs of failing companies these golden helicopters. The reason? They might not take otherwise risky courses. Absurd! If a CEO knew that failure would mean that he had to stay with the company no matter what--until he would finally have to jump into the freezing waters of Real Life--he would be very careful to steer a course free of the icebergs of sub-prime mortgages (for instance). And the company would not fail.
Shouldn't we start requiring our leaders to spell and define "accountability?" Let us know what you think.
1 comment:
Great analogy, Paul; you have my complete agreement! It seems to me that "accountability" is a word that has almost been expunged from our lexicon -- perhaps, replaced by the word "fault." No one is responsible for their actions anymore; it is always the fault of someone (or, something) else. The "blame game" is the game played most often by CEOs of failing companies after they have flown off in their "golden helicopters,"
leaving millions of us to deal with the money that has "flown" out of our accounts.
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