Winner of a Tony award in 1972, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1973, Jason Miller’s powerful and poignant play has application for, and and synergy with, G Times philosophy. The play’s setting is the twentieth anniversary celebration and reunion of a Catholic high school championship basketball team at their coach’s home in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The coach and four of the five starting players have returned every year since the 1952 Big Win. The playwright highlights the lives of the players and coach: their achievements, their pain, their failures, their anguish, their guilt, their suffering, betrayal, self abuse, racism, deception, shame, revelation, and confession. As the play unfolds we discover that the championship season was built on a a false premise, and that the coach was a bully, a racist, and a fraud. Martin, the lone player who never returned to the scene of the crime. He apparently could not fathom being with his coach and teammates ever again. He followed his coach’s orders and savagely crushed a black opponent which resulted in the tournament victory.
The point being that the championship was not earned honorably, and that the team sacrificed and surrendered their dignity and integrity to obtain a coveted goal. Their lives over the next twenty years were symbolized by a lack of virtue, and a lack of direction.
Leadership is critical for successful corporations. Too many companies have suffered as a function of inadequate, and even toxic, leadership. Unfortunately several glaring recent examples are reflected in E. Stan O’Neil’s management of Merrill Lynch and Richard Fuld’s management of Lehman Brothers, and of course Ken Lay of Enron.
What is fascinating is how one person can have so much negative power, control, and influence in corporations who employ so many good, dedicated, capable, hard working people. Virtue is clearly compromised in these situations, and as a result the emotional balance of the company is corrupted from the top down, and doomed to fail.
Recently (May 26, Bloomberg News), the Huffington Post reported that “…federal reserve lending revelations intensify criticism of the central bank’s secretary.” Apparently, in 2008 the Fed lent RBS, Goldman, and Credit Suisse $30 billion each at alarmingly low rates (0.01%) without public disclosure. Issues of accountability, transparency, integrity, and virtue abound here. What is one to believe, yet alone comprehend? Who does the Fed work for, and who do they report to? What is their mission, and what is their liability? Surrealism rears its intriguing head yet again. Shades of Jekyll Island, circa 1910.
Human nature wants us to believe what we are told, and what we read. But the not so subtle juxtaposition of reality and fantasy continues to haunt us. Is Bernanke’s demeanor one of arrogance, wisdom, or infinite confidence? This question will challenge us for a long time. Trust and money are two of the most important 5 letter words in the English language, or any other language for that matter.