With friends like his....
Ken Lay, one of the bad guys from the whole Enron fiasco, died this week. There’s been a lot of commentary about his death. I don’t think I really need to pile onto it, but I don’t mind summarizing it. Basically, the reaction has been everything from:
“He’s getting off easy but more-so his family. The conviction will most likely be overturned. There will be very little the government will be able to do to retrieve assets now.”
To:
“He was the worst kind of villain: one that never recognized that what he did was egregiously wrong. He ruined millions of lives along the way and never took a shred of responsibility or did anything to rectify the situation, pleading innocence and displaying ignorance until the bitter end.”
For all the why’s and wherefore’s behind the later analysis, I HIGHLY recommend you rent the movie “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” It’s a documentary behind the downfall of Enron and it is by far the most shocking movie you will ever see. If your jaw manages to stay shut for more than 30 minutes into the movie, then it’s likely understanding basic business practices isn’t your thing (by the way: there is absolutely no shame in that. It is DEFINITELY a high-level business concept movie in some spots and I imagine it’s not the easiest thing to follow if that doesn’t float your boat.
To summarize: he was a bad dude.
But there’s one angle that I haven’t seen covered that I find most intriguing: where are his friends? Like the funerals of many villains, his will most likely be sparsely attended. But why? Most of his friends are still benefiting from an extremely corrupt energy concern (namely oil). He just happened to cross the line a little bit and didn’t have anyone to bail him out when he left his company in shambles. Of course, his sin wasn’t a faulty (actually, down right absurd) business plan and poor managerial skills. No, his was flying too close to the sun. He should have learned a little something from Iccarus, but instead he decided to run the fraudulently fastest growing company on Wall Street. That drew media attention, not a Saudi buy-out. But is that enough to warrant being abandoned by all your friends?
Of course, throughout that last paragraph, there was a thinly veiled theme: “Where’s the Village Idiot?” “President” Bush used to affectionately call Mr. Lay “Kenny Boy.” They were buddies. They hung out. Kenny Boy contributed heavily to Bush’s first Presidential campaign. If his daddy’s Supreme Court nominees weren’t enough to hand him his election, Kenny Boy’s money eventually would have. And yet the Village Idiot is no where to be found. Is Kenny Boy any different now than he was before. The only difference, really, is that at his death he was a CONVICTED felon, not just a regular felon. And he didn’t even kill anybody! I mean, I can see why OJ’s friends wouldn’t return too many tee-time invites.
So where’s the angle exploring what someone has to do to alienate all of his friends? What’s the non-rich guy equivalent? I mean, he didn’t do anything REMOTELY egregious as sleep with his buddy’s girlfriend/wife. Nothing he did was a personal affront to their friendship. So what does a regular guy have to do to alienate his friends? In some circles, I suspect coming out of the closet would do it, but that’s not really equivalent here. You’re not going to lose any friends if you file for bankruptcy, get laid off, or even if your Korner Kafe closes down because you made bad coffee. That’s a closer equivalent. Even better, I doubt your friends would run for the hills if you get caught embezzling from your company. They might show disappointment, but when you get out, you’re still the same person. I suspect they’d even check in on your wife while you’re locked up. They just might not pull out the fine silver when they have you over. That’s as close to the every-day guy equivalent. The every day guy isn’t going to rob a bank at gun point. I think that’s a good reason to drop a friend. But Kenny Boy didn’t use any guns. He didn’t make anyone buy into his feebly cooked books. All his friends, the higher ups, were in on the scam, so it’s not like he was stabbing the back of any of his close friends.
So here’s my lingering question: could the Village Idiot be as shitty a friend as he is a President?
JOB SEARCH PS: Things have REALLY picked up; to the point that I’ll have to do a completely separate posting with specifics. But I will say that I am very confident that I’ll have a couple offers within the next 2 weeks.
“He’s getting off easy but more-so his family. The conviction will most likely be overturned. There will be very little the government will be able to do to retrieve assets now.”
To:
“He was the worst kind of villain: one that never recognized that what he did was egregiously wrong. He ruined millions of lives along the way and never took a shred of responsibility or did anything to rectify the situation, pleading innocence and displaying ignorance until the bitter end.”
For all the why’s and wherefore’s behind the later analysis, I HIGHLY recommend you rent the movie “The Smartest Guys in the Room.” It’s a documentary behind the downfall of Enron and it is by far the most shocking movie you will ever see. If your jaw manages to stay shut for more than 30 minutes into the movie, then it’s likely understanding basic business practices isn’t your thing (by the way: there is absolutely no shame in that. It is DEFINITELY a high-level business concept movie in some spots and I imagine it’s not the easiest thing to follow if that doesn’t float your boat.
To summarize: he was a bad dude.
But there’s one angle that I haven’t seen covered that I find most intriguing: where are his friends? Like the funerals of many villains, his will most likely be sparsely attended. But why? Most of his friends are still benefiting from an extremely corrupt energy concern (namely oil). He just happened to cross the line a little bit and didn’t have anyone to bail him out when he left his company in shambles. Of course, his sin wasn’t a faulty (actually, down right absurd) business plan and poor managerial skills. No, his was flying too close to the sun. He should have learned a little something from Iccarus, but instead he decided to run the fraudulently fastest growing company on Wall Street. That drew media attention, not a Saudi buy-out. But is that enough to warrant being abandoned by all your friends?
Of course, throughout that last paragraph, there was a thinly veiled theme: “Where’s the Village Idiot?” “President” Bush used to affectionately call Mr. Lay “Kenny Boy.” They were buddies. They hung out. Kenny Boy contributed heavily to Bush’s first Presidential campaign. If his daddy’s Supreme Court nominees weren’t enough to hand him his election, Kenny Boy’s money eventually would have. And yet the Village Idiot is no where to be found. Is Kenny Boy any different now than he was before. The only difference, really, is that at his death he was a CONVICTED felon, not just a regular felon. And he didn’t even kill anybody! I mean, I can see why OJ’s friends wouldn’t return too many tee-time invites.
So where’s the angle exploring what someone has to do to alienate all of his friends? What’s the non-rich guy equivalent? I mean, he didn’t do anything REMOTELY egregious as sleep with his buddy’s girlfriend/wife. Nothing he did was a personal affront to their friendship. So what does a regular guy have to do to alienate his friends? In some circles, I suspect coming out of the closet would do it, but that’s not really equivalent here. You’re not going to lose any friends if you file for bankruptcy, get laid off, or even if your Korner Kafe closes down because you made bad coffee. That’s a closer equivalent. Even better, I doubt your friends would run for the hills if you get caught embezzling from your company. They might show disappointment, but when you get out, you’re still the same person. I suspect they’d even check in on your wife while you’re locked up. They just might not pull out the fine silver when they have you over. That’s as close to the every-day guy equivalent. The every day guy isn’t going to rob a bank at gun point. I think that’s a good reason to drop a friend. But Kenny Boy didn’t use any guns. He didn’t make anyone buy into his feebly cooked books. All his friends, the higher ups, were in on the scam, so it’s not like he was stabbing the back of any of his close friends.
So here’s my lingering question: could the Village Idiot be as shitty a friend as he is a President?
JOB SEARCH PS: Things have REALLY picked up; to the point that I’ll have to do a completely separate posting with specifics. But I will say that I am very confident that I’ll have a couple offers within the next 2 weeks.
posted by RauluaP at 11:53 AM
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