Some thoughts on… Love and a Time of Cholera
The Christmas and New Year period is a time of love and refection. We look back at the year and ponder on our journey. All expeditions have their ups and downs, and this year especially has marked some arcs with startling declines at the end. The stock market which started 2008 at one of the highest points it has ever achieved, has quickly tumbled by the end of the year to lows not seen since the mid-1980’s.
Another voyage which has been particularly precipitous at the end is that of George W. Bush’s presidency. Starting in 2000, the campaign began on a contentious foundation, with a narrow victory over Gore that required a decision by a split Supreme Court. It took the country over three weeks to “count” the votes in Florida; in the end, we looked as foolish as the nascent democracies we chide when they conduct flawed elections. September 11 brought the Presidency into sharp relevance. We looked to leadership for protection from terrorism. The formation of the NSA, the invasion of Iraq and the creation of color-coded security notifications skyrocketed the approval ratings of the White House. The love affair began to dim after re-election in 2004, pictures of Abu Ghraib, breaches of the Geneva Protocol at Guantanamo, and the extended toll on American soldiers on two war fronts shifted societal preference away from protection at any cost.
The final iconic picture of the W. presidency will be a reporter in Iraq throwing his shoes at the President and barely missing. The President demonstrated some quick reflexes and proper temperance afterwards indicating that this was how the reporter was expressing himself in a newly founded democracy. He could have spoken more harshly but in the end he showed presidential poise.
The video is emblematic and indelible in our minds. The reporter expresses the rage of an entire society that trusted the US to help restore a fallen country, but ended up with enormous casualties. A recent government report shows that the administration made large mistakes in the re-building process. The NY Times stated on December 14, that “An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure” The only form of outrage possible for such reckless action impacting the lives of millions is to throw shoes – literally the closest items to the ground of Iraq to the symbols highest echelons of power in the world.
But shouldn’t we be outraged at the Iraqi reporter’s actions? Shouldn’t we still respect our leaders even if they make mistakes?
Zimbabwe was a well-off African country. Located near South Africa, the country was formerly the English colony of Rhodesia named after Cecil Rhodes who also created the Oxford scholarship. Endowed with diamonds, platinum, and fertile soil the country was a source of riches for the British Empire. From 1961 to 1979, a white-led government declared independence from the UK. Through pressure from UN sanctions and internal rebellion, Robert Mugabe, a political prisoner and guerilla leader assumed control of the government in a landslide election in 1980. The gallant general Mugabe was the first leader of the newly-founded Zimbabwe and was heralded as a glorious African leader. His ascension was a source of pride for the African continent – a black leader to lead an indigenous populous.
Unfortunately, Mugabe has been the only leader of Zimbabwe. The country thrived for some years. Unlike the famines of East Africa and the rebellions in Central Africa, Mugabe maintained a period of relative peace and prosperity. But as the country grew richer, so did the pockets of the ruling class. Elections became one party contests where rivals were beaten and tortured into submission. The President is suspected of owning tens of millions stored in foreign back accounts free from repatriation. This year’s elections started with a semblance of respectability. One of the opponents, Morgan Tsvangirai was shown to have won a number of parliament seats and maybe the election officials, but Mugabe has refused to share power.
The results of a failed 200 land reform are economic turmoil and a sustained period of hyperinflation. The most striking indication of the countries decline is the December outbreak of Cholera with over 20,000 reported cases and greater than 1,000 deaths. A gastro-intestinal bacterium transmitted by contaminated water, Cholera typically can kill in 1 to 5 days from severe diarrheal symptoms. The WHO reports that it is no longer an issue in countries where minimum hygiene standards are met, but there has been a surprising increase in incidences since 2005 with outbreaks primarily in Sudan, Angola, West Africa and Iraq. The cure is relatively simple, access to clean water and oral rehydration therapy and potentially a regime of antibiotics. In Zimbabwe, despite these obvious displays of ineptitude in governance, Mugabe refuses to leave claiming that “only God” can remove him from office. Umh, no… you’re an elected official.
On the opposite side of the economic spectrum, in the hallowed halls of multi-billion dollar finance, some of the richest citizens of the world woke up to a harsh reality on Monday morning. The Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities Fund which required hundreds of thousands in minimum investment was discovered to be a Ponzi scheme - deals requiring an ever increasing number of people to buy in before the original investors can be paid out. The last individuals to buy-in are the one ones who lose.
These systems of investment have existed for some time (at least since 1920 when named after Charles Ponzi), and are quite easy to set-up. I promise to give people a 3x return on their buy-in. First I take $10 each from three people. In order for them to receive the return on their buy-in, they must now find nine people to get $10 each from. The system continues until no one wants to give $10. By then I am long gone.
Maddoff’s fund returned 9% continuously for over 15 years, and people fought to buy-in. The financial books were kept secret and separated from the rest of the funds under his name. His name cachet and consistent returns brought in the money, and no one probed too hard on how he was doing it. Caveat Emptor is the prevailing ethic here, we don’t need to feel bad for the investors being duped, they willingly engaged. But the self-interest of Madoff to siphon off billions is the breach in trust. Surprisingly, his downfall did not come from the diligence of investors, but because he admitted his scheme to his sons who reported him to the SEC in order to protect the family name.
Leaders should be doing what their name implies – leading the way in an ethical manner. We entrust them to make tough decisions and give them the benefit of the doubt that they have worked in the interest of the broader good when they make mistakes. In the case of these leaders, they have fallen so far in the esteem of the public, that they have lost any semblance of credibility. Even though they accomplished great things in their lives – freed a nation from imperialism, established the NASDAQ stock exchange – their current actions provide little redemption.
The truth is that our trust in leadership can’t be instilled, bought or required due solely to the reason that a person is in power. The ability to lead, like many things in life, must be proven everyday through intelligent and moral action. At a minimum, a leader deserves the same level of respect that we give to any other human being. If it is common behavior to throw a shoe at someone else you know, then why should George W. be any different? The reporter was not denigrating the Presidency, but the man holding the office. Any leader that demands to be respected for their position alone is the one that should be removed.
For Bush Jr, even before the incident in Iraq the administration seemed to be internalizing some lessons from their mistakes. They stated how they don’t want to be viewed as the Herbert Hoover administration – ineffectual and cronyistic – giving way to the grandeur of Roosevelt. Recently, the administration delivered talking points to their staff listing all the accomplishments over the past eight years. Projectile footwear are a pointed reminder how we all face the consequences of our choices.
Now that the people of Zimbabwe and the owners of Madoff Securities have fallen out of love with their leader, maybe they should start throwing their own proverbial shoes?
December 21, 2008
Thanks to Cephas Swamidoss for the idea of Mugabe and the epidemic
Another voyage which has been particularly precipitous at the end is that of George W. Bush’s presidency. Starting in 2000, the campaign began on a contentious foundation, with a narrow victory over Gore that required a decision by a split Supreme Court. It took the country over three weeks to “count” the votes in Florida; in the end, we looked as foolish as the nascent democracies we chide when they conduct flawed elections. September 11 brought the Presidency into sharp relevance. We looked to leadership for protection from terrorism. The formation of the NSA, the invasion of Iraq and the creation of color-coded security notifications skyrocketed the approval ratings of the White House. The love affair began to dim after re-election in 2004, pictures of Abu Ghraib, breaches of the Geneva Protocol at Guantanamo, and the extended toll on American soldiers on two war fronts shifted societal preference away from protection at any cost.
The final iconic picture of the W. presidency will be a reporter in Iraq throwing his shoes at the President and barely missing. The President demonstrated some quick reflexes and proper temperance afterwards indicating that this was how the reporter was expressing himself in a newly founded democracy. He could have spoken more harshly but in the end he showed presidential poise.
The video is emblematic and indelible in our minds. The reporter expresses the rage of an entire society that trusted the US to help restore a fallen country, but ended up with enormous casualties. A recent government report shows that the administration made large mistakes in the re-building process. The NY Times stated on December 14, that “An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure” The only form of outrage possible for such reckless action impacting the lives of millions is to throw shoes – literally the closest items to the ground of Iraq to the symbols highest echelons of power in the world.
But shouldn’t we be outraged at the Iraqi reporter’s actions? Shouldn’t we still respect our leaders even if they make mistakes?
Zimbabwe was a well-off African country. Located near South Africa, the country was formerly the English colony of Rhodesia named after Cecil Rhodes who also created the Oxford scholarship. Endowed with diamonds, platinum, and fertile soil the country was a source of riches for the British Empire. From 1961 to 1979, a white-led government declared independence from the UK. Through pressure from UN sanctions and internal rebellion, Robert Mugabe, a political prisoner and guerilla leader assumed control of the government in a landslide election in 1980. The gallant general Mugabe was the first leader of the newly-founded Zimbabwe and was heralded as a glorious African leader. His ascension was a source of pride for the African continent – a black leader to lead an indigenous populous.
Unfortunately, Mugabe has been the only leader of Zimbabwe. The country thrived for some years. Unlike the famines of East Africa and the rebellions in Central Africa, Mugabe maintained a period of relative peace and prosperity. But as the country grew richer, so did the pockets of the ruling class. Elections became one party contests where rivals were beaten and tortured into submission. The President is suspected of owning tens of millions stored in foreign back accounts free from repatriation. This year’s elections started with a semblance of respectability. One of the opponents, Morgan Tsvangirai was shown to have won a number of parliament seats and maybe the election officials, but Mugabe has refused to share power.
The results of a failed 200 land reform are economic turmoil and a sustained period of hyperinflation. The most striking indication of the countries decline is the December outbreak of Cholera with over 20,000 reported cases and greater than 1,000 deaths. A gastro-intestinal bacterium transmitted by contaminated water, Cholera typically can kill in 1 to 5 days from severe diarrheal symptoms. The WHO reports that it is no longer an issue in countries where minimum hygiene standards are met, but there has been a surprising increase in incidences since 2005 with outbreaks primarily in Sudan, Angola, West Africa and Iraq. The cure is relatively simple, access to clean water and oral rehydration therapy and potentially a regime of antibiotics. In Zimbabwe, despite these obvious displays of ineptitude in governance, Mugabe refuses to leave claiming that “only God” can remove him from office. Umh, no… you’re an elected official.
On the opposite side of the economic spectrum, in the hallowed halls of multi-billion dollar finance, some of the richest citizens of the world woke up to a harsh reality on Monday morning. The Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities Fund which required hundreds of thousands in minimum investment was discovered to be a Ponzi scheme - deals requiring an ever increasing number of people to buy in before the original investors can be paid out. The last individuals to buy-in are the one ones who lose.
These systems of investment have existed for some time (at least since 1920 when named after Charles Ponzi), and are quite easy to set-up. I promise to give people a 3x return on their buy-in. First I take $10 each from three people. In order for them to receive the return on their buy-in, they must now find nine people to get $10 each from. The system continues until no one wants to give $10. By then I am long gone.
Maddoff’s fund returned 9% continuously for over 15 years, and people fought to buy-in. The financial books were kept secret and separated from the rest of the funds under his name. His name cachet and consistent returns brought in the money, and no one probed too hard on how he was doing it. Caveat Emptor is the prevailing ethic here, we don’t need to feel bad for the investors being duped, they willingly engaged. But the self-interest of Madoff to siphon off billions is the breach in trust. Surprisingly, his downfall did not come from the diligence of investors, but because he admitted his scheme to his sons who reported him to the SEC in order to protect the family name.
Leaders should be doing what their name implies – leading the way in an ethical manner. We entrust them to make tough decisions and give them the benefit of the doubt that they have worked in the interest of the broader good when they make mistakes. In the case of these leaders, they have fallen so far in the esteem of the public, that they have lost any semblance of credibility. Even though they accomplished great things in their lives – freed a nation from imperialism, established the NASDAQ stock exchange – their current actions provide little redemption.
The truth is that our trust in leadership can’t be instilled, bought or required due solely to the reason that a person is in power. The ability to lead, like many things in life, must be proven everyday through intelligent and moral action. At a minimum, a leader deserves the same level of respect that we give to any other human being. If it is common behavior to throw a shoe at someone else you know, then why should George W. be any different? The reporter was not denigrating the Presidency, but the man holding the office. Any leader that demands to be respected for their position alone is the one that should be removed.
For Bush Jr, even before the incident in Iraq the administration seemed to be internalizing some lessons from their mistakes. They stated how they don’t want to be viewed as the Herbert Hoover administration – ineffectual and cronyistic – giving way to the grandeur of Roosevelt. Recently, the administration delivered talking points to their staff listing all the accomplishments over the past eight years. Projectile footwear are a pointed reminder how we all face the consequences of our choices.
Now that the people of Zimbabwe and the owners of Madoff Securities have fallen out of love with their leader, maybe they should start throwing their own proverbial shoes?
December 21, 2008
Thanks to Cephas Swamidoss for the idea of Mugabe and the epidemic