|
|
Recommended
Reading |
The Divine Right
of Capital -- Marjorie Kelly |
|
I had finished writing Santa, CEO
and had just published the work, when I
happened across Marjorie Kelly's no-holds-barred
book, The Divine Right of Capital
(Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2001 / 2003).
I can't say enough about Ms. Kelly's
terrific work. Everything that Santa
expressed in fiction, Ms. Kelly had clearly
articulated in Divine Right.
Perhaps Ms. Kelly's book will change
the way you think about business, privilege,
and corruption. Or perhaps, like me, you
will find yourself nodding, laughing (in
what can best be described as angry amusement),
or getting up and walking around because
the book has made you so damn mad.
Divine Right, like Arianna
Huffington's Pigs at the Trough,
exposes the excesses of a system gone to
privileged pot. But unlike Pigs,
which is a lively (and enraged) torpedo
at the various CEO's who've milked our system
even beyond indecency, Divine Right
explains the origins of this mess with this
simple argument:
- An aristocracy of wealth exists
in this country, and our economic system
is designed to support and enrich that
aristocracy
|
|
Pretty simple, when you get down to it--as
all great ideas are. You might be tempted
to say, "Of course!" and let it
go at that. Feudal America--heard
that before.
But Ms. Kelly takes the premise to its
limits. In page after page of precise argument,
she outlines the root causes of our current
corporate imbalance, and she makes it clear
that, without fundamental change--using
the democratic concepts that founded our
country-- we are unlikely to see changes
of the type required to restore balance.
|
|
Have
a "Divine" Experience
Order
Divine Right
Visit
Marjorie
Kelly's Website
and hook up with like-minded thinkers
Visit
Berrett-Koehler
Publishers
and browse their timely books
|
|
There are of course two paths to social
change: evolution and revolution.
Ms. Kelly makes a bold argument for evolution.
I fear, however, that one of two paths may
be more likely:
- We'll be "fed" just enough,
as a nation, to keep us comfortable
(read "docile") and unwilling
to challenge the status quo--especially
around elections
- Either the system, or we, will hit
"critical mass," and there'll
be a new "shot heard round the
world."
Oh, and don't think the Enron and Tyco
stuff is that shot -- or Sarbanes-Oxley,
for that matter. Liken that more to how
King George (ironic, isn't it?) tried to
stave off revolution.
Time will tell. But in the meantime,
get your hands on Ms. Kelly's book, either
through the links above or through your
favorite bookstore.
|
© 2004 David Soubly |
|
|
|
