by Brandon Jubar

Honesty: A Rare Policy

I saw a pretty cool banner ad the other day. Well, actually it was a page about "Banner Ads We'd Like To See". One reads, "WorldCom -- the Enron of Telecom!" And of course, the reverse was there too: "Enron -- the WorldCom of Energy!" <http://www.valleyofthegeeks.com/Features/BannerAds4.html>

Doesn't it seem like there's some new corporate scandal in the news every time you turn on your TV? In fact, it's gotten so bad that the President and his staff are looking at ways to address the problem. Terrorism, US troops in harm's way on foreign soil, people fighting and dying around the world, and our president has to take the time to tell business professionals -- grown men -- that they should be honest and trustworthy.

Is it just me, or is the "honest and trustworthy" thing sort of implied by the nature of the position? If a person is entrusted with the hard-earned money of countless people (a.k.a. stockholders), doesn't that lead you to believe that the person will do the right thing?

Apparently these people have found a "fix" for lying, cheating, and stealing. They simply call it something else.

[Sidebar: Isn't it interesting that when an educated person makes up a word, we call it jargon, industry lingo, or -- if we're feeling slightly negative -- a buzzword. Either way, the inventor is admired because he has "coined a word". On the other hand, when a less-educated person makes up a word, it's called slang -- and it's looked down upon. Hmmmm.]

Okay. Time to play a little game. All you have to do is answer a couple questions... and here is the first one:

What is the definition of "accelerated earnings"? Did I hear someone say "fraud"? Ding! Ding! Ding! That's absolutely correct!

Now for the second question:

What is the definition of "creative accounting practices"? Did I hear someone say "fudging the numbers"? Ding! Ding! Ding! Right again!

Okay... now for the third and final question: What do you call it when an executive takes massive bonuses, while laying-off thousands of employees from a company that is near bankruptcy? Did I hear someone say "all too common these days"? Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!!

The thing that really bothers me is that we truly live in one nation, under God, and we know better. Since when does the American Dream include lying to the masses in order to artificially inflate a stock price? And how do the offenders sleep at night knowing that they have literally decimated the life-savings of countless people?

The next time you talk with God, say a prayer for the leaders of corporate America. I think they could use a little help and guidance from the Spirit. We've seen what happens when they're left to their own designs!

Peace,
~Brandon

Sound off! Tell me what you think!
bjubar@ParishWebmaster.com

Copyright 2002 by Brandon Jubar
This article has been provided by ParishWebmaster.com