04-Jul-2012 22:40
Gekko rules ...ok?
Read the reports of Bob Diamond resigning (although in his arrogance Diamond calls it "stepping down"…) and further read that he earned £20million last year…
Am thus surprised to read (and I quote from BBC report): "It is not yet known what severance payments Bob Diamond will receive"
Am I living in a parallel universe to these Gordon Gekko chaps?
Comments
Contributed by John Paul on 04-Jul-2012 22:42
...There is no distinction in criminality between the incumbant and the aggressor. Gecko was a model for sanctioned criminality, judge the man, not the model. 'Gecko' is now blaming his employees - seems unlikely, unless you believe in upside down.
Contributed by Jeff Mowatt on 04-Jul-2012 22:42
Norm,
A paragraph from the business plan I co-produced in 2004:
"Capitalism is the most powerful economic engine ever devised, yet it came up short with its classical, inherent profit-motive as being presumed to be the driving force. Under that presumption, all is good in the name of profit became the prevailing winds of international economies — thereby giving carte blanche to the notion that greed is good because it is what has driven capitalism. The 1996 paper merely took exception with the assumption that personal profit, greed, and the desire to amass as much money and property on a personal level as possible are inherent and therefore necessary aspects of any capitalist endeavour. While it is in fact very normal for that to be the case, it simply does not follow that it must be the case."
As you may have seen since, we've seen the same kind of thing come out of Harvard as 'Creating Shared Value".
One of the influence for this work was a sociologist by the name of Erich Fromm, a Jew whose work was in turn influenced by the Talmud, which we have spoken of before.
A paragraph from the business plan I co-produced in 2004:
"Capitalism is the most powerful economic engine ever devised, yet it came up short with its classical, inherent profit-motive as being presumed to be the driving force. Under that presumption, all is good in the name of profit became the prevailing winds of international economies — thereby giving carte blanche to the notion that greed is good because it is what has driven capitalism. The 1996 paper merely took exception with the assumption that personal profit, greed, and the desire to amass as much money and property on a personal level as possible are inherent and therefore necessary aspects of any capitalist endeavour. While it is in fact very normal for that to be the case, it simply does not follow that it must be the case."
As you may have seen since, we've seen the same kind of thing come out of Harvard as 'Creating Shared Value".
One of the influence for this work was a sociologist by the name of Erich Fromm, a Jew whose work was in turn influenced by the Talmud, which we have spoken of before.
Contributed by Norman Feiner on 04-Jul-2012 22:42
Reminds of the great tale I heard some years ago when an extremely wealthy, yet pious, incredibly charitable man and ultra-orthodox Jew name Edward Reichman (of Canary Wharf family fame…), and a rather good friend of my family, passed away in Jerusalem.
The story goes:
Some years ago, Edward Reichman - real estate billionaire - passed away in Jerusalem after a debilitating illness at the age of 80 years old.
With his passing, he left a vast fortune worth many billions of dollars.
He left two wills with the family solicitors, directing that one be opened immediately and that the other one to be opened 30 days later (Orthodox Jews observe 7 days of mourning at home called Shiva] & up to 30 days of further mourning [called the Shloishim]..
Among the instructions left in his first will was his heartfelt request that he be buried with a very specific 'pair of socks' he owned.
The Reichman children immediately brought the socks to the Jewish burial society [Chevra Kadisha] requesting that their father be buried in his favourite socks according to the (rather strange request & the) terms of his will.
The Chevra Kadisha refused, reminding the family that it is against orthodox Jewish law [Halacha] to do so…
They pleaded, explaining that their father was a very pious and learned man, and
he obviously had a very good reason to make this request even though he definitely knew this was forbidden.
The Chevra Kadisha remained firm in their refusal & denial of his last wishes.
The family frantically summoned the Chevra Kadisha to the Orthodox Legal Courts of Rabbis [the Beth Din] where the leading Rabbis explained to them that; "Although your father left that request when he was in this world, now that he is in the world of truth, he surely understands that it is in his best interests to be buried without the socks."
Mr. Reichman was thus buried without his socks in accordance with Orthodox Jewish Law.
Thirty days later, the second will was opened and it read something like this:
"My dear children, by now you must have buried me - as is indeed correct - without my socks. I simply wanted you to truly understand that a man can have many, many billions of dollars in this world, but in the end, he can't even take along one pair of socks!"
A truly honest man teaching his children & grandchildren a lesson for posterity..
The story goes:
Some years ago, Edward Reichman - real estate billionaire - passed away in Jerusalem after a debilitating illness at the age of 80 years old.
With his passing, he left a vast fortune worth many billions of dollars.
He left two wills with the family solicitors, directing that one be opened immediately and that the other one to be opened 30 days later (Orthodox Jews observe 7 days of mourning at home called Shiva] & up to 30 days of further mourning [called the Shloishim]..
Among the instructions left in his first will was his heartfelt request that he be buried with a very specific 'pair of socks' he owned.
The Reichman children immediately brought the socks to the Jewish burial society [Chevra Kadisha] requesting that their father be buried in his favourite socks according to the (rather strange request & the) terms of his will.
The Chevra Kadisha refused, reminding the family that it is against orthodox Jewish law [Halacha] to do so…
They pleaded, explaining that their father was a very pious and learned man, and
he obviously had a very good reason to make this request even though he definitely knew this was forbidden.
The Chevra Kadisha remained firm in their refusal & denial of his last wishes.
The family frantically summoned the Chevra Kadisha to the Orthodox Legal Courts of Rabbis [the Beth Din] where the leading Rabbis explained to them that; "Although your father left that request when he was in this world, now that he is in the world of truth, he surely understands that it is in his best interests to be buried without the socks."
Mr. Reichman was thus buried without his socks in accordance with Orthodox Jewish Law.
Thirty days later, the second will was opened and it read something like this:
"My dear children, by now you must have buried me - as is indeed correct - without my socks. I simply wanted you to truly understand that a man can have many, many billions of dollars in this world, but in the end, he can't even take along one pair of socks!"
A truly honest man teaching his children & grandchildren a lesson for posterity..
Contributed by RealSteveHolmes on 04-Jul-2012 22:41
I told you all so but you would insist that capitalism is the only way.
Contributed by Martin Dewhurst on 04-Jul-2012 22:41
I'd say we're all of us entrapped within the exact same scenario.
The only real difference is the amount of cash that won't fit in our coffins.
The only real difference is the amount of cash that won't fit in our coffins.
The title to your blog caught my eye earlier when I posted a blog "lies, damn lies and banks" as I felt it was rather apt in light of the contents of mine!
Only just had time to check in again and wanted to find and read your blog and pleased I did!
Agree whole-heartedly with all that you've wiritten and the comments made by others.
Best wishes
Emily