Filed under: College Classes., God, Living, Music, Relationships | Tags: Jane Eyre, Paul Simon
While listening to “Everything About It Is A Love Song,” I try to remember the reason for wanting to write this post. Memory is a funny game, and after a day like today, I am clearly on a losing streak.
Yesterday my Torrey group discussed Jane Eyre, concluding that Jane grew strong and mature. She subjected herself to poverty before giving in to depravity of affection. She saw all her situations as opportunities of providing her worth in life. Never satisfied with her own poor performance, she sought to best serve her companions in life. Her work, her love, and her relationships were top quality, outweighing the merit of Chuck Norris (as Dr. Reynolds so aptly tweeted).
So I’m praising God to feel so free from relational disillusionment, to find strength in virtue of Jane’s character. Satisfaction surrounds genuine patience, so here I wait, learning to know God more. During this crazy long week, I have again found satisfaction in knowing God and knowing that my home is in Him. I am not Sharon, without the things that I do, and I am not God’s without surrendering all those things to Him.
“Everything About It Is A Love Song”
Locked in a struggle for the right combination of words in a melody line
I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination
Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine
But if I ever get back to the twentieth century
Guess I’ll have to pay off some debts
Open the book of my vanishing memory
With its catalogue of regrets
Stand up for the deeds I did
And those I didn’t do
Sit down, shut up, think about God
And wait for the hour of my rescue
We don’t mean to mess things up
But mess them up we do
And then it’s “Oh, I’m sorry”
Here’s a smiling photograph of love it was new
At a birthday party
Make a wish and close your eyes: surprise, surprise, surprise
Early December, and brown as a sparrow
Frost creeping over the pond
I shoot a thought into the future
And it flies like an arrow
Through my lifetime, and beyond
If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow
Or even the wind-blown dust
Find me on the ancient road in the song when the wires are hushed
Hurry on and remember me, as I’ll remember you
Far above the the gold clouds, the darkness vibrates
The earth is blue
And everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
-Paul Simon
Since I led my Torrey session last week, it is now my turn to lead devotions today. Others have done it. I think that I will be fine. Some have things to say, some are meditative, some are complaints about life. I want to share song. I want to express our loyalty and togetherness in Christ, in the face of the unity of kingdoms, and dissolutions of families we experience during our Torrey session. I had just led a 3-hour discussion on 1&2 Samuel (so I really don’t feel a need to ramble about anything today), and this week a classmate will lead session on 1&2 Kings.
The Chasing Song
By Andrew Peterson
Now and then these feet just take to wandering
Now and then I prop them up at home
Sometimes I think about the consequences
Sometimes I don’tWell, I realize that falling down ain’t graceful
But I thank the Lord that falling’s full of grace
Sometimes I take my eyes off Jesus
And you know that’s all it takesWell, I wish that I could say that at the close of every day
I was happy with the way that I’m behaving‘Cause Job, he chased an answer
The wise men chased the Child
Jacob chased her fourteen years
And he captured Rachel’s smile
And Moses chased the Promised Land
Joseph chased a dream
David, he chased God’s own heart
All I ever seem to chase is meWell, they say a race can only have one winner
And you know you’ve got to pull out front to win
God knows the only time I’m winning
Is when I’m chasing HimSo, I wish that I could say that at the close of every day
I was happy with the way that I’m behaving‘Cause Samson chased a woman
And he chased the Phillistines
I’m not quite sure what Jonah chased
But I know he caught the sea
And Cain, he chased the harvest
While Abel chased the beasts
David, he chased God’s own heart
All I ever seem to chase is meAnd Jesus chased the money men
And He chased His Father’s will
He chased my sin to Calvary
And He caught it on that hill
And Saul, he chased the Christians
‘Til his blindness made him see
David, he chased God’s own heart
All I ever seem to chase is me
While there is much time to think about our short-comings, about the mistakes of great men (or those not so great), “all I ever seem to chase is me.” The race’s only winner is the one that pulls out front, and for each individual, the end mark is not our own perfection. It’s God’s own heart. The stories of old that we will discuss today each have some significance in light of the story of Jesus. Lest we chase after any other ultimate perspective, I pray that beginning our long discussion with this Andrew Peterson experience will set the tone.
Can I see another’s woe,
And not be in sorrow too?
Can I see another’s grief,
And not seek for kind relief?
Can I see a falling tear,
And not feel my sorrow’s share?
Can a father see his child
Weep, nor be with sorrow fill’d?
Can a mother sit and hear
An infant groan, and infant fear?
No no never can it be.
Never never can it be.
And can he who smiles on all
Hear the wren with sorrows small,
Hear the small bird’s grief & care
Hear the woes that infants bear-
And not sit beside the nest
Pouring pity in their breast,
And not sit the cradle near
Weeping tear on infant’s tear?
And not sit both night & day,
Wiping all our tears away?
O! no never can it be.
Never never can it be.
He doth give his joy to all.
He becomes an infant small.
He becomes a man of woe.
He doth feel the sorrow too.
Think not, thou canst sigh a sigh,
And they maker is not by.
Think not, thou cast weep a tear,
And thy maker is not near.
O! he gives to us his joy,
That our grief to us his joy,
That our grief he may destroy;
Till our grief is fled & gone
He doth sit by us and moan.
On Another’s Sorrow by William Blake
Filed under: College Classes., Family, God, Living, Music, Poetry, Relationships | Tags: Andrew Peterson, Bible, Billy Collins, Frank Lloyd Wright, Jonathan Edwards, Kant, Samuel Coleridge, Simon & Garfunkle
In an effort to write out some thoughts like a an artist of words, I typed out this choppy thought process. There was no intention to rhyme, and no intention for this to make sense to the common eye, but this is my poem to reflect my thoughts after a long, unaccomplished day of work, paperwork, homework, classes, conversations brutally cut short, frustrating volleyball games, spiritual introspection and reflection, and roommate meetings.
Midnight Affections in Partial Coherence
Restless eyes with big ideas
Search for an open eye to share the ideas
Sharing the laughter
Sharing affectionate conversation
Withholding insecurity for the sake of sanity
And naturally the sanity follows
The kind looks and words from friends
Legitimacy in relationship is better than the pain of introspection
Light of the Spirit to guide and to nourish
Friends of Christ in togetherness
When I find myself on the bridge over troubled waters
And say to myself that I am the silver girl
And say so long, and prepare to jump,
Who is to keep me there except the false light
Even over thinking the future will toss one over the edge
The troubled waters have enough to handle
Without one more body of intricacy and mess
And friends would become lonely also
As Frank Lloyd Wright is to the Fallingwater
So Sharon is to the CPA and to schedules
So experience is bred, but also distraction
Homework left undone
And friends neglected severely
The pithy phrases of the philosophers
And the affections of musicians
Can only give me something to hang a coat on
Wesley’s forced perfection
Edwards’s saving affection
Kant’s empirical madness
Coleridge’s feisty wording
Samuel’s peaceful sanctity
Education and friendship and home
Speaking implies tongues of understanding
Consideration allows communication
Poetry necessitates coherence
Like coffee beans need a filter
Like uphill biking needs strong legs
Time to let the man on the moon smile
To love the dark earth
To ride the night’s full horizon
To break into song and sing me to sleep
And here is a thorough tribute to Billy Collins for the sake of his quote:
The Man in the Moon
He used to frighten me in the nights of childhood,
The wide adult face, enormous, stern, aloft.
I could not imagine such loneliness, such coldness.
But tonight as I drive home over these hilly roads
I see him sinking behind stands of winter trees
And rising again to show his familiar face.
And when he comes into full view over open fields
He looks like a young man who has fallen in love
With the dark earth,
A pale bachelor, well-groomed and full of melancholy,
His round mouth open
As if he had just broken into song.
Preface: Don’t mind the misused block quotes or even the silliness of much of this paper. But appreciate the audacity of an inexperienced blogger.
Business Blogging, the Smart Choice:
The benefits of blogging for business Entities
In a world of cyber net cafes, online forums, and internet shopping, consumers have high expectations for producers. A quick Google search of Panera will result in blog pages for Panera customers to interact over the web. One blogger included in the web page headline: “Let’s blog the stupid/quirky/funny/mundane things people do at Panera. Please join me if you’re at Panera and bored or just need to tell someone how much you inexplicably love broccoli cheddar soup like me” (Panera Blog). This web site is an example of a business benefiting from an internet competitive advantage. New generations, immersed in the facebook genre, comfortably find most information by browsing through a search engine and easy links. In order for consumer needs to be met thoroughly, the producer must consider the effective mediums of internal and external communication, where information senders equip their message with the information that receivers are able to receive. As a promotional trend, blogging has become an effective strategic tool to stimulate product development and improve communication between producers and consumers. Therefore, by utilizing internet blogging, businesses create sustainable relationships by improving communication among employees and customers. Blogging benefits internal and external operations by sharing ideas, controlling quality, and disseminating information.
Sharing Ideas
Blogging is an effect method of sharing ideas, despite the seemingly unprofessional impression that internet discussions sometimes cause. Some businesses must filter through negative content from the bloggers’ comments to avoid any negative impressions. When a company experiences a large layoff rate, the employees quickly spread complaints and negative information to other users. However, the discouraging elements do not discredit the necessity of using Web 2.0 for communication. Anyone who is able to keep up with changing technologies may contribute to a business communication elite. Reynolds shares that “the changing technology will also create new elites. This is true because some old institutions… will not adapt quickly enough to the new way of doing things. Any institution that depends on a monopoly of information is doomed” (Reynolds 37). Some business entities are unable to properly cater to their blogging consumers when their web sites are not up to par, causing distrust and disrespect form their new media-junkie-customers.
Even the businesses whose customers are older, less technologically advanced groups must solidify their future by integrating new media into their communication methods for the benefit of future audiences. For internal purposes, businesses ought to have efficient methods of communication to hear employees’ feedback. If a corporation headquarters is making significant changes that will impact employees, blogs and live internet feeds are helpful to update the employees on such changes. Business Communication Quarterly quotes an Australian interviewee who shares, “I benefited tremendously from creating and contributing to my company blogs. I went to Malaysia for my Technology Consulting Training. I decided to share my learning with colleagues in my organization posting a summary of the knowledge in particular in the area of Services Oriented Architecture (SOA) which I learnt. My information has been well-shared in the organization and has also solicited new information such as industry examples of… technological solutions” (qtd. in Zhang, Zhu, and Hildebrandt 117). Thus, blogging can be informative for large numbers of people, while simultaneously allowing them to interact and respond to updates.
Although companies find problems with the information spreading to the wrong people, the internet is beneficial for quick clarification. Furthermore, the blog may provide quicker statistics for corporation elites to hear the needs of employees. Another benefit to constant, updated information through blogs is the ability for consumers to witness all the thoughts and interactions within the entity. Such widespread thought increases the company’s brand name and image, and they are allowed a personal, accessible source of information.
Controlling the Quality of Products and Services
Corporations who wish to measure the success of temporary initiatives find it difficult to gage consumer opinions. Xiaoli Nan and Kwangjun Heo explore the results of marketing strategies, disclosing the difficulties of corporate initiatives. Without any direct communication from consumers, the entities find it “hard to draw any conclusions with regard to the effects of [cause-related marketing] on consumer responses without a standard of comparison. For instance, it is not readily clear whether an ad with a [cause-related marketing] component could elicit significantly more positive consumer reactions relative to a similar ad without the [cause-related marketing] message” (64). If the corporation breeds blogging communities of their consumers, the corporation has the potential to find their customers’ input directly, responding to one another and to questions which the corporation may propose via blog.
Simplified internet communication is used as a means for controlling the quality of the business’s products and services. Online surveys have become a major source of feedback from customers who want to see any sort of change in the company. Other recent projects have improved the success of blogging to improve customer input and reviews to give customers opportunity to test products and services vicariously through the blogger. When companies send out messages, they must strategize to give users and customers the confidence to trust their product. Companies want to sustain their competitive advantage by supporting their own products by gaining positive reviews. By offering incentives such as internet access, companies should aim to achieve the greatest benefits of communication. If done well, they have the potential to collaborate a masterpiece of products and services. The most influential customers require that the company speak their internet language. Consumers who are familiar with competitive web aesthetics expect much from entities.
Often consumers look at blogs for consumer opinions on special products or services offered by companies. Josh Bernoff mentions Kmart, Sears, Panasonic and Ford in an article about blogging for believable reviews on products. When an active mother decided to blog about her experiences using a Ford vehicle, the readers’ responses showed that “transparency and disclosure are crucial- and that her posts are only believable because Ford doesn’t dictate or review editorial content” (qtd. in Bernoff 1). Ford used a customer’s blog to create trust among Ford’s customers.
Effective Internet Communication
In order for any communication medium to be effective, it must contain all the elements a mind can recognize and cognitively process. The thousands of classes of communication medium is altered when people begin to rely solely on impersonal internet contact. Without the physical presence of the person, or the vibrations of noise in the air, the communicator must be sure to support his/her ideas thoroughly. Thus, the first rule for an effective transaction of information, as Rudy Bretz states in the Taxonomy of Communication Media, “The system must be capable of conveying a complete message; it must be self-contained and self-supporting” (64). Therefore if a web site is going to feature a blog, they must provide all basic information about the company in order to avoid confusion from external users.
Bretz’s other rules describe the necessity for the communication media to be capable of reproducing the message in the same of another form simultaneously in a different place. It must provide information in a unique fashion and using technology that users know how to experience. One may infer from his advice that internet and web 2.0 add value to the cyber world as blog users navigate through widgets, blogreels, credit card payments, shopping bags, intricate commenting, and tags. Blogging is therefore a beneficial communication medium, and new generations of information sharers are becoming more familiar with the internet than any other medium.
In his evaluation of the use of computers for instructional communication, Bretz notes an interesting concern. He limit’s the function of computers by saying that they “never will be able to perform as well as a human. One of these [ways] is the evaluation of unanticipated learner responses, and another is personal attention. Here, humanists believe that the machine can have little effectiveness.” Good internet blogging, however, has mitigated most of this problem, since words can be transmitted almost as quickly as instant messages, and information sharers may discuss issues through comments and responses.
Theological Implications of Web Communication
Christian bloggers face many barriers when attempting to maintain ethical standards and meet customer needs through web site communication. Companies who share information with users, consumers, and investors through internet blogging must be aware of the potential misinformation that could ethically disturb the company’s integrity. As live performances may be altered by the performer to protect clarity of the message, blogging provides a balance between live performance and published text. Internet expert John Mark Reynolds describes with this illustration: “A teacher can leave out key material in a lecture if she suspects that it might be misused by a student in the class. Meanwhile, the manual sits waiting for the terrorists to find information on weapons of mass destruction, and inappropriate entertainment waits for children to find it. There is no way for a book to monitor who picks it up” (Reynolds 29). Conversely, a blog is monitored and updated to dialogue with readers’ and relieve their misunderstandings.
The company must maintain the qualities of face-to-face, or other personal interaction. Much of the power of spoken word is lost when the words are transmitted through a web page. Through overwhelming amounts of advertisements and spam, many people have come to misunderstand the meaning behind words on a web page. When bloggers have the potential to read and respond to company posts, whether they are employees of the company or merely consumers, the blogging controller must act as a intermediary, protecting readers from misinterpretation. While maintaining integrity of goodwill in the market, companies have the advantage of increased accountability with so m any people aware of the issues they are discussing.
Internet users who are ethically aware face boundaries of immorally impersonal implications. They must attempt to understand these methods of new media within the broader perspective of the human good. The future of useful business blogging is maintained by the honest businessmen who are capable of bringing consumers the information they need. Communication ought not to lose the power of words through a façade of falsity when transmitted through web sites, and it is the responsibility of blog controllers to maintain the astuteness of the company site by holding the standards of words. When the prophet Jeremiah is called by God to speak to the people of Israel, God tells him not to be afraid of their faces (King James Version, Jer. 1:8). The speaker dominates attention when he/she is physically present while speaking to the audience.
Internet users must also be aware of the communication boundaries between people and with God. Often through blogs or unprofessional internet environments, Christians find that those boundaries lack attention, and must be redefined. People easily lose depth or philosophical-theological priorities when dissuaded by the simplicity of internet communication. In Communication, Media, and Identity Robert Fortner explains the power of communication as a symbol, or a “vehicle for creating and sustaining intimacy. It is the means by which people care for one another, share one another’s sorrows, pains, joys, and accomplishments, the method for pointing one another to the creator and his care for the world…” (Fortner 65). However individuals choose to speak, whether business-like, in-person or through blogging, every word presents an opportunity to share experience with others.
Conclusion
When business entities attempt to maintain and restore communication standards with their customers and employees, they ought to follow elitist technological advancements. Producers and consumers interpret well-presented messages. The aesthetics of a web page will effectively communicate to users that the company understands their needs. When a company uses popular internet trends to communicate, people comfortably learn and respond to the presented information. When the ethical standards of the company are maintained, with no false advertisements or misdirection, the company has increased potential for effectively communicating the company’s moral standards. Whether business-oriented or theological, blogs offer immediate interaction among like-minded people and disseminate useful information to users.
Works Cited
Bernoff, Josh. “Be More Than An Ad, Get In The Conversation.” Marketing News 43.4 (15 Mar. 2009): 18-18. Business Source Elite. EBSCO. Biola University, La Mirada, CA, 17 Mar. 2009
Bretz, Rudy. A Taxonomy of Communication Media. Englewood Cliffs: Educational Technology Publications, 1971.
Fortner, Robert S. Communication, Media, and Identity : A Christian Theory of Communication. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, Incorporated, 2007.
King James Version. Bible.
Nan, Xiaoli, and Kwangjun Heo. “Consumer Responses to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiatives.” Journal of Advertising Summer 2007 36 (2007): 63-74.
Panera Blog. April 30, 2005. Google Blogspot. February 24, 2009.
Reynolds, John Mark, and Roger Overton. The New Media Frontier : Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ. New York: Crossway Books, 2008.
Zhang, Allee M; Yanxia Zhu; and Herbert Hildebrandt. “Enterprise Networking Web Sites and Organizational Communication in Australia.” Business Communication Quaterly March (2009): 114-119.
Introduction
A business’s bankruptcy destroys the opportunity for employees and investors to continue their pursuit of happiness, as there is no longer any hope for gains or investments in that entity. The stocks tumble, the employees scramble, and the executives are left with a giant mess of debt and discouragement. Unfortunately for the global finances industry, the business Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. Lehman had no resources to rescue them from overwhelming debt, so Chief Executive Richard Fuld filed for Chapter 11, that is, permission for reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Under the assumption that a bankruptcy ends despondently, one concludes that the employees, executives, and investors of Lehman Brothers have lost happiness. Their hard work in the company ended in shambles, leaving them to wallow in the vanity of their years, and begin to search for a well-paying job to recompense for the years of waste.
On the contrary, if the Roman and Aristotelian Philosopher Anicius Boethius were an employee of Lehman Brothers, his happiness would be intact when the company filed bankruptcy. In his Consolation of Philosophy, he teaches about the unpredictable outcomes of fortune and the proper pursuit of happiness, ideas which may be applied to anyone involved in a bankrupt business. Although being laid-off is not pleasurable, Boethius’ happiness would not decrease as a laid-off employee of Lehman Brothers because he acts well and makes decisions with an eternal perspective. According to Boethius, the happy person considers the purpose of all things, the self-subsistence of happiness, and the practical measures in the pursuit of happiness. Applying these concepts to the story of Lehman Brothers, one may see that Boethius accurately differentiates between the businessman who pursues temporal pleasure, and a truly happy businessman. Boethius further observes that an individual who desires temporal gain rather than the eternal good will begin to take wicked measures to achieve the goal. Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Richard Fuld took imprudent risks in pursuit of temporal gain instead of considering long-term implications and holistic repercussions. Therefore, Boethius would call Fuld an unhappy man in pursuit of the wrong thing, and he would say that his rash actions led to the downfall of the company.
The Story of Lehman Brothers
Henry, Emanuel, and Mayer Lehman founded the global finances entity Lehman Brothers in 1850. A business such as Lehman Brothers is responsible for money management in various forms. Lehman’s various responsibilities include investment banking and management, private equity and banking, research, and stock securities. The mission statement of the company reads: “Our mission is to build unrivaled partnerships with and value for our clients, through the knowledge, creativity, and dedication of our people, leading to superior returns for our shareholders.”[1] Established with high expectations and a promising niche, Lehman Brothers started a journey that would give them a key role in supporting the backbone of the investment economy.
After thirty-four years of being a private company, Lehman Brothers united with American Express in 1984. Richard Fuld became chief executive in 1993, and in 1994 the company separated from American Express to become a public company by selling shares of stock to investors. Over the years, Fuld attempted to gain on investments for the company through several risky short-term investments in mortgages[2], but the industry was unsuccessful, and his company lost a significant amount of money. Lehman Brothers and Tishman Speyer bought Archstone with $22.2 billion, but this investment proved unprofitable. By June, 2008, Lehman Brothers continued a dangerous downhill slide in finances; they had lost $2.8 billion. They were unable to gain enough support from the government’s Federal Reserve, and no other companies were willing to buy them out to survive their name. Therefore, on September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11. The congressional system has established “chapters” or codes for the rights of legal business entities. Chapter 11 is the code which allows reorganization proceedings in which the debtor maintains control of the business, unless the Court appoints a trustee.[3]
Some business analysts are beginning to speculate that before the company’s most drastic drops in profit, Fuld was guilty of making fraudulent recordings of the value of his assets. The FBI is currently investigating the company to bring closure to all the internal events of the company.[4] In the end, Fuld comes out of the company as an unhappy failure to his company and to the investment economy.
The Purpose of All Things
In Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius states through the voice of Wisdom, “The desire for true good is… in the minds of men, only error leads them astray toward false good.”[5] He assumes that “the supreme good is happiness;”[6] the motive of all actions, therefore, is to achieve happiness. Individuals often
measure the possession of the good by the amount of enjoyment and delight it brings, convinced that being abandoned to pleasure is the highest form of happiness. Others again confuse ends and means with regard to these things, such as people who desire riches for the sake of money or fame.[7]
However, Boethius rightly enlightens his readers that these goods are transitory in nature. Gains in wealth are temporal events that may achieve pleasure, but not happiness.
Boethius borrows the Aristotelian view of the eternal end. Aristotle discusses happiness as the eternal good unimpeded by temporal events,[8] which allows no excuse for rash decisions. When an individual makes a decision because of their desire for instantaneous gain, he pursues instant gratification rather than a long-term goal. Aristotle labels those who “seem to conceive happiness as pleasure, and hence they also like the life of gratification” as “vulgar.”[9] Momentary pleasures only gratify short-term desires.
In the context of a business situation, Aristotle explains that “the moneymaker’s life is in a way forced on him [not chosen for itself]; and clearly wealth is not the good we are seeking, since it is [merely] useful, [choiceworthy only] for some other end.”[10] Boethius agrees that if a goal is only a mean to gratify a greater desire, it is not the best good. Oftentimes a businessman solely pursues monetary gain. His motive is driven by the desire for the instantaneous gain of money or success. The gains that come from a successful business are a mean to support their lifestyle and obtain goods.
Furthermore, since wealth is subject to the ambiguity of fortune, it is not happiness. If temporal events do not impede happiness, and fortune holds control over temporal events, then happiness cannot be anything under the control of fortune. Wealth is a temporal good and a mean to greater goods, so a wise pursuer of happiness in the business world ought not make rash decisions in pursuit of wealth, without considering the eternal end of all events.
In the case of Lehman Brothers, Chief Executive Fuld made several rash decisions because of his desire for instantaneous gain for his company. He chose to invest in mortgaging through the company Monument Realty, which profits from people’s failure to continue making payments on their homes. As a global finance industry, they understand that in order to profit from investing in a mortgaging company, they are relying on people to take loans in order to purchase realty. If they are investing in mortgaging, they are hoping that people who take out loans to buy realty are unable to continue to make their payments, and therefore must mortgage the home. This way of doing business is a way to pursue wealth for the company, but it is a risky investment of time and money. Lehman has been accused of looking for “a quick turn on their buck.”[11] Taking advantage of financially unstable individuals leads to a greater risk in the whole economy. As the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Lehman, Fuld sought monetary gain for the company. He places his and the entire company’s success in the hands of risky investments when the company is already in need of more stable income. Boethius would reprove Fuld for his imprudent pursuit of goods that were not self-subsistent.
Self-Subsisting Happiness
Boethius argues that true happiness is not subject to circumstance, but that it directly corresponds to a person’s good behavior and eternal perspective. Individuals cannot pursue happiness through temporal events; thus the haphazard nature of wealth proves that monetary gain does not make an individual happy. Boethius explains that money, success, power, and respect are temporal in nature because they are not self-subsisting.[12] The occurrence of each of these is contingent upon other circumstances. The true nature of happiness, on the other hand, is self-subsistent.
Boethius argues:
Goodness itself is set as a kind of common reward of human activity. But goodness cannot be removed from those who are good; therefore, goodness never fails to receive its appropriate reward… The wise man’s laurels will never fall away from him or wither away.[13]
Happiness, to Boethius, is equated with the reward for right human behavior. A happy person pursues goodness in all things, and the result of such excellent behavior is self-subsistent happiness.
The events that are changeable through the ambiguity of fortune are not self-subsistent. Although power and wealth are pleasurable events, they are only controllable to a certain extent. In the business economy, one of the most common methods of obtaining wealth is stock or bond investments and real estate. Depending upon the consistency of profits of public companies, people determine whether the investment will be long-term or short-term. A long-term investment may include bonds, real estate, or a stock in a consistently profit-raising company. Short-term investments include stocks in inconsistent companies, or investments in any mortgaging industry. Whatever kind of wealth is being pursued, the pursuer is using investments to obtain wealth to obtain some other greater goods. Investments are high-risk methods of achieving wealth; consequently the investor’s wealth is not a self-subsistent good.
Fuld’s method of attaining wealth for Lehman Brothers consisted of partnerships with mortgaging companies like Archstone-Smith and Monument Realty. Upon acquisition of these organizations, they were not fortunate enough to pay off shareholders. Furthermore, Lehman had contributed approximately $620 million to Monument Realty since 2001, and because of their bankruptcy, they were unable to continue funding Monument’s portfolio of realty projects. [14] Boethian ideas echo what Aristotle says about happiness: “We regard something as self-sufficient when all by itself it makes a life choiceworthy and lacking nothing; and that is what we think happiness does,” implying that Fuld was not pursuing happiness. [15]
As investments began to decline sharply in March, 2008, Lehman’s shares in stock rose significantly. This appeared to begin a turnaround to the overall declining economy, but skeptical strategists claimed that the company was using inaccurate recordings to increase the value of their shares.[16] By June, only three months later, the company lost $2.8 billion dollars. Analysts discovered that Lehman Brothers traded assets for far less than the value that had been recording. Moreover, Fuld had cashed-in on close to $500 million of his investments in his company over the past eight years, even during the teetering times of financial distress for the company. [17] Although an investor is entitled to collect gains on investments, Fuld placed himself in a precarious position because of the high risk of his mortgage-related and other securities. If the CEO of the company decides to put big investments in high-risk companies, then cashes in for half a billion dollars in personal gain, one may infer that the good which the company solicited came from the earnings of short-term gains. The company is therefore not pursuing true happiness, since the ends which they desire are not self-subsistent.
True happiness is not impacted by the changes in fortunate events. While Fuld pursued happiness through the fortune of his mortgage investments and the company’s share prices, the hypothetical employee Boethius would pursue happiness through virtuous action. The goods which Boethius pursues are not measured by wealth, power, or status. Boethius maintains an eternal perspective for the end which he pursues. Although he would be willing to have position in a company and do well in his career, vocational success and wealth would not be the ends for him. He would not do everything merely for monetary return, and he would not take any imprudent risks to obtain such temporal goods. In Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius remembers that fortune events are haphazard, and that they ought not deter the pursuit of happiness. The consistency of Boethius’ search is not composed of monetary means; he learns through Wisdom that “happiness is a state made perfect by the presence of everything that is good, a state, which… all mortal men are striving to reach though by different paths.”[18] Rather than utilizing temporal resources such as investments and partnerships to gain access to happiness, Boethius views all events as a means to the eternal end, thus he maintains his eternitarian view of the purpose of all things.
Practical Measures in the Pursuit of Happiness
The Boethian pursuit of happiness requires consistently reasonable and virtuous actions. In a business environment, investors must diagnose situations logically and take risks prudently. The virtue of the individual pursuing happiness must remain intact, which necessitates prudent decision-making that investigates the long-term repercussions of each decision. If the individual makes rash decisions purely for short-term gain, meanwhile ruining opportunity to recover from future struggles, he is proved to be an irrational pleasure-seeker.
Fortunate success cannot predict the success of the future. Additionally, fortune cannot enlighten an investor to the eternal form of happiness. The truly happy man seeks after the intangible goods of eternity rather than the changeable successes that are subject to fortune. Boethius as the hypothetical employee of Lehman Brothers would need to weigh the benefits of remaining under an imprudent executive with the benefits of working somewhere else. After seeing Fuld’s greedy cashing-in, he would catch the scent of the mad rush for riches that would leave the company gasping for breath. Fuld did not try to hide the profit he gained from his investment in the company, but he cashed-out hundreds of millions of dollars during years that the entity was financially struggling and share prices were decreasing. By the end of 2007, Lehman earned more than the predicted amount, but as the mortgage market struggled, everyone could see that the company would be suffering in 2008. The gains made in 2007 would not predict continued fortune for the mortgage-investing, and no temporal end can be completely predicted by fortunate signs.
Boethius teaches that there is a transcendent providential plan that guides fortunate events and purposeful actions to one goal.[19] What hope have mortal men, subject to change and fortune, to find the eternal happiness? If one denies the necessity of eternal providence, there are no immediate repercussions. Boethius comments about the fickle mental abilities of humans who attempt to consider the eternal providence of God. Boethius reminds the reader that humans are free to make plans, as he explains at the end of his book:
You can alter your plan, but that since this is possible, and since whether you do so or in what way you change it is visible to Providence that ever present and true, you cannot escape divine foreknowledge, just as you cannot escape the sight of an eye that is present to watch, though of your own free will you may turn to a variety of actions.”[20]
Every human decision thus ought to be made with the presupposition that providence knows the best end. One may choose to resist the future, but the future is inevitable, and it will repay the individual according to the type of investment placed. When only short-term monetary investments are made, the benefits will be short-term, and the remainder of time would be left to fortune. Such recompense is the natural justice paid to all actions. Fuld, in all his short-term risk decision-making, should expect to crumble under the weight of justice. Boethius would see it coming. Boethius, the wise, eternally-minded employee, would do his job, and probably have started job-searching years earlier.
Conclusion
Fuld could have learned from Boethius’ saying, “A wise direction spares the man whom adversity might affect for the worse.”[21] This fact does not excuse unrighteous acts, but encourages all people of every personality and background to pursue the eternal good in a righteous manner. One may assume that the hypothetical employee Boethius would act virtuously in the workplace, and he would pursue happiness by maintaining his eternal perspective. Boethius’ happiness would remain intact, despite the nature of Fuld’s pursuit for temporal gain leading to the bankruptcy of the firm.
For Boethius, it is evident that one who pursues happiness ought to consider the intangible purpose of all things, the self-preserved nature of true happiness, and virtuous decision-making. If the businessman does not utilize these thoughts to act prudently, the long-term effects will be terminal to the quest for a happy life. The temptation of moneymakers overtook Richard Fuld’s mindset as he made imprudent decisions to achieve financial gain.
1. Lehman.com, http://www.lehman.com/who/mission/ (Accessed October 26, 2008).
2. Alejandro Lazo, “D.C. Deals Relied On Lehman Funding,” Washington Post, September 22, 2008.
3. BankruptcyData.Com, http://www.bankruptcydata.com/Glossary.htm (accessed October 26, 2008).
4. Annys Shin, “Capitol Grilling for Lehman CEO; Fuld Says Crisis ‘Overwhelmed’ Him,” Washington Post, October 7, 2008.
5. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 3:2.48.
7. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 3:2.49.
8. Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, 2nd ed. 7.13.1153b1-14.
11. Alejandro Lazo, “D.C. Deals Relied On Lehman Funding,” Washington Post, September 22, 2008.
12. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 3:9.63.
14. Alejandro Lazo, “D.C. Deals Relied On Lehman Funding,” Washington Post, September 22, 2008.
15. Aristotle Nicomachean Ethics, 2nd ed. 1.7.1097b15.
16. Alejandro Lazo and David Cho, “Financial Stocks Lead Wall Street Turnabout; Lehman, Goldman Sachs Earnings Top Expectations,” The Washington Post, March 19, 2008.
17. NYTimes.com, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/business/economy/07lehman.html?bl&ex=1223524800&en=6b2 e328b1376df03&ei=5087%0A (Accessed October 26, 2008).
18. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 3:2.48.
19. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 4:6.103.
20. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 5:6.136.
21. Boethius Consolation of Philosophy 4:6.107.
Filed under: College Classes. | Tags: class discussion, college student, Dante, Divine Comedy, John Chrysostom, Torrey Honors Institute
People may get angry or confused in class discussion session:
- I want to understand where the conversation is going, and understand the questions clearly so that I can give clear answers. I get frustrated when someone doesn’t clarify what they are thinking or how they came up with their conclusions. I get frustrated when I don’t know how to clarify those things for my own conclusions, in a believable way.
- I want to say what I am thinking. But sometimes my words get mixed up, and as my thoughts get translated into audible noises, I forget what I was thinking. I often grow aware of my lacking conversational skills in session, and I am not sure how confidently to make claims about what the author writes.
- Sometimes I misinterpret stories that I read.
- I forget what I had believed earlier, and I wish that I could hold my ground- if only I could remember what ground I was standing on before I had walked into session!
John Chrysostom is an interesting group to be in. In our Torrey discussion on Dante’s Davine Comedy, the Inferno:
At the beginning of class, the professor might ask, “Where is Dante at the beginning of Inferno?” And we would respond, “He is in the wilderness, in a state of confusion. He is traveling through a dark and dangerous wood, going through a pass of death. His mind is a fugitive, meaning that he is hiding in this dearkness, cowering because he has left the path of the straight and true. He is traveling toward the center of the universe, away from God.” The professor says that what we shared was barely the conclusion that we were supposed to come to, but it is time to move on.
Gee whiz.
I am now trying to decide the importance of descent in order to ascend. Why does Dante need to go to hell before he can have a more divine vision of heaven? Why do we need to go through firy trials and despair before we can truly share in the divine glory of God?
We Leave with Nothing but Love 