Pieces and a Smidgen More -- Jack Altschuler
I was struck by the juxtaposition of a couple of pieces I
reviewed this past week. Nick Kristoff wrote a disturbing piece in the Sunday
Times about a customer with a problem which U.S. Bank had created for him and
its shoddy treatment of an employee who helped that customer. Near the end of
the piece Kristoff wrote,
“I’ve often noted that companies have enormous capacity to
help their communities. But too often they act like American tobacco companies,
which killed more people than Stalin did [over 20 million], or pharma companies
peddling opioids, or McKinsey & Company advising a business to ‘get more
patients on higher doses of opioids,’ or Boeing mocking regulators.”
If you want to know why Millennials aren’t exactly in love
with capitalism, those are some good data points. Be clear, though, that this
post isn’t about advocating socialism. It is about advocating caring.
Before anyone starts vilifying Kristoff or me as tree
hugging, lily-liver, crocodile tears, whining liberals, consider that we all
care. Some care about their families.
Some care about people who have suffered, like Mothers
Against Drunk Driving, Never Again and more. Some care about our country. Some,
of course, care only about themselves, which brings us to the other
(juxtaposed) piece I reviewed this morning.
The local hospice organization publishes a monthly bulletin
and this month it included a couple of quotes.
“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do
know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have
sought and found how to serve.” Albert Schweitzer
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community,
and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want
to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.
Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have
got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible
before handing it on to future generations.” George Bernard Shaw
Each of us can be clear regarding what we care about by
doing a simple inventory of how we use our time. Where and how we invest our
time tells us what we care about.
Applying that reasoning to the political world I cover, it’s
clear that many thousands of staffers and volunteers and caucusers in Iowa care
deeply about the direction of our country and the nation they will be handing
off to their children and grandchildren. That’s true even in the face of the
counting mess that was made.
In contrast, with their votes to acquit our cheating,
criminal, Constitution flaunting President, our Republican senators made their
own statement. They made it plain for all to see that they care about
themselves and their short term political future far more than they do about
our country and the kind of place their grandchildren will inherit.
If our goal is to produce the most cynical citizens we can,
then the likes of U.S. Bank, the American tobacco companies, McKinsey and
Boeing are leading the way in exemplary fashion. Yet it’s far more ominous that
our own government is America’s best cynicism generator and the most flagrant
offender of what we care about.
Here’s the Smidgen More
Do you like horror films? Many do, so to get your freak-out
fix, you have to read McKay Coppins’ piece in the March edition of The
Atlantic. Actually, it’s a must-read even if you’re not a terror lover, because
you care – about democracy. The piece is entitled,
The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the
President How new technologies and techniques pioneered by dictators will shape
the 2020 election It is frightening in the extreme how easy it is for political
operatives and creeps with a laptop to manipulate people and elections. You
need to know about this, so settle in with your favorite mug o’ joe and dig
into Coppin’s reporting.
Note that I’m reading Rick Wilson’s new book
Running Against the Devil.
It’s tough love in the extreme for Democrats
and for all who want to evict the present occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Report to follow.