This article originally appeared in The Chicago Tribune
May 10, 2009
by Gregory Karp

When he was 28, J.D. Roth had a friend who offered him an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: They would take a five-month trip together to see Thailand, India, Israel, Egypt and other far-flung places.

Roth had to say no. He had spent all the money he earned since graduating college, and more. He had lots of stuff–and was $20,000 in debt. By contrast, Roth’s friend Paul lived frugally with few belongings and had significant savings.

Paul had the freedom to take the trip of a lifetime.

“I realized then, `Aha!’ Paul was making choices that gave him flexibility later on,” said Roth, who now blogs about his financial life at GetRichSlowly.org. “I didn’t have any flexibility. I couldn’t afford to take the time away from work. The world opens up to you if you can avoid debt.”

Roth, now 40, still regrets his poor money decisions as a young adult and not taking that trip.

In the coming weeks, many high school and college graduates will leave the classroom for the “real world.” Like Roth, many for the first time will make money decisions that will affect their financial freedom. They’ll spend on cell phones, apartments and dinners with friends. They will decide whether to use credit cards or contribute to a retirement plan.

Seemingly routine spending decisions matter greatly. Here are three tips that could make a difference:

— Learn about money.

“Part of problem is we’re not taught this, and when we are, we’re taught in a horrible, boring way,” said Ramit Sethi, 26, author of the book “I Will Teach You to be Rich,” and creator of the blog iwillteachyoutoberich.com, aimed at young adults. “Everything we hear about finance makes us feel overwhelmed and feel like we are somehow being scammed.”

But Sethi doesn’t let his fellow twentysomethings off the hook for their ignorance: “I also blame us. The information is out there, especially now online. There are great blogs and free columns. But we don’t take time to do it because we don’t see the immediate reward. We think short term.”

Blogs by Sethi and Roth are good resources, as are such books as “Your Money or Your Life” and “Personal Finance for Dummies.” Listening to podcasts of radio shows by Clark Howard and Dave Ramsey will get you up to speed on most money topics.

Or, if you prefer information by television, you can watch Howard, Ramsey or Suze Orman.

— Spend consciously.

“Personal finance has traditionally been about `no, no, no.’ No, you can’t buy that latte; no, you can’t buy those jeans; and no, you can’t go on vacation,” Sethi said.

The key isn’t deprivation but conscious spending, which refers to scrutinizing spending to ensure you’re spending on purpose, rather than accident and habit.

“It’s about saying yes,” Sethi said. “Yes, you can spend extravagantly on the things you love if you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t.” He suggests starting with just two large areas of spending, so you don’t become overwhelmed–and set yourself up for failure–by trying to cut spending across all areas.

— Build habits that last.

Money competence doesn’t come from completing a series of one-time tasks but from developing habits. Three examples suggested by Roth and Sethi are managing money regularly, being wary of subscriptions and learning to cook.

For managing money, look to sites such as Mint.com, Wesabe.com or Quicken.com, which aggregate your accounts and provide tools for examining your money life. And try to put your savings on autopilot, such as participating in an employer’s 401(k) retirement plan. “Personal finance is not about willpower,” Sethi said. “It’s about building a system so the right stuff happens automatically.”

Subscriptions–such as cell phone plans, video-by-mail clubs and gym memberships–can be insidious because you’re spending unconsciously. When possible, choose a pay-as-you-go plan until you’re certain about how much you’ll use a service.

Cooking at home is not a replacement for social dinners out, which can be important. Instead, it allows you to eat for less on routine days when you might otherwise be tempted by restaurant meals.

“This is something that especially young people can profit from,” Roth said. “It’s not difficult, and it can be fun.”

I have just completed my training at the Strozzi Institute in Petaluma, CA and am now a Certified Somatic Coach through the Strozzi Institute. What this means is that I am folding this learning and way of approaching the complexities of life into my work with clients. The somatic sensibility I have developed deepens my way of listening to, and seeing, my clients and assisting them to move forward into the life they create for themselves. Richard Strozzi’s article here gives you a taste of the somatic perspective.

Mr. Duffy’s Body – Somatics in the 21st Century
By Richard Strozzi-Heckler, Ph.D.

Recently skimming through my daughter’s books for her World Literature class I came across James Joyce’s epic novel, Ulysses. Remembering what is required to engage with Joyce’s dense prose I forged ahead anyway and came across a certain Mr. Duffy who “lived a short distance from his body.” I soon learned that Mr. Duffy is a one-dimensional bureaucrat who lives an unattractively plain, colorless life. He represents the post-modern everyman: cut off from his feelings, defined by rules and protocols, and lacking purpose and meaningful connections.

From a somatic point of view living any distance from our bodies is dodgy and the consequences harmful, even grave. Now we can scientifically ground, through technological advances in the emerging field of neuroscience, that distancing ourselves from our body places not only our physical health at risk, but our emotional health as well. Furthermore, being out of touch with our sensate life limits our capacity to learn and dramatically reduces the possibility of authentic, meaningful relationships, surely one of the foundations of exemplary leadership, and the good life.

Somatics – the unity of feeling, acting, and spiriting – has traditionally focused on the individuals’ physical and emotional health. Numerous forms of bodywork, movement therapies, and body-oriented psychotherapies have emerged under the broad heading of somatics. It’s good work, it’s growing, and many are helped by it. May it continue. May it thrive.

I propose that the central task of somatics now is to recognize and confront that the degradation to our planet, to our communities, to social justice, to our spiritual and moral health, and to the dignity of all people has its roots in the marginalization of our deep biological heritage to feel and sense.

At the beginning of the last century Joyce revealed through Mr. Duffy that when we live even a short distance from our body it could create an awkward, even calamitous life. As we begin the 21st century the disembodied life has been institutionalized. Instead of living in our body we now inhabit a world of symbols, ideology, an unexamined materialism, predigested information, and ten second sound bites. When we’re at this distance from our bodies we begin to move into the shadow of evil.

We can now arguably say that the reason we so effortlessly destroy our soil, the air we breathe, and the water we drink is because we live at a distance from our bodies. We can also say that it is because of this same disconnect that we allow conflict to escalate to violence instead of evolving to a creative resolution; and the same bodily estrangement creates a growing gap between those that have and those that don’t.

When we live at a distance from our body we live at a distance from our self, and this makes us unable to feel ourselves; conscience, self-reflection, imagination, intuition, energy, and a moral imperative are not accessible to us when we are disembodied. This leads to innumerable problems including difficulty in building trust, working effectively with others, being skillful in action, managing our moods and emotions, and accessing the intuitive part of our nature; as well as the physical, emotional, and mental problems which all add up to an isolated, fragmented life.

To the point of the matter: if we are unable to feel ourselves it’s very difficult to feel others, to feel their joy, their pain, their hopes and fears; or to feel our four-legged friends, or those that fly, swim or crawl; or to fully relate to the world of plants, grasses, and trees, or any living system for that matter. Unable to feel we lose our capacity for empathy and compassion and people become symbols and objects. From here it’s a short step to inflicting violence on others and objectifying the natural world until she is seen only as a means for profit.

The primary difference of living in our bodies or at a distance from our bodies lies in the heart’s purpose, in the intention of consciousness. It is following that thread of unity and oneness that we call love. To live from the inner impulse to love instead of being driven by the need to be loved is an evolutionary step.

This is now the task of somatics: To train leaders who embody the ethic of being in service to the planet, to social equity, and to building a new, generative interpretations of conflict.

Daisy Swan & Associates – May 2009 Newsletter

What’s Inside:

• Welcome & Introduction, by Daisy Swan, MA, CPCC: The Los Angeles Career Counselor & Coach
• How about some good news?
• The Truth. (Ready?)
• Where is Your ‘Third Place’ These Days?
• Books and Other Resources

Welcome & Introduction, by Daisy Swan, MA, CPCC: The Los Angeles Career Counselor & Coach

Hello Readers,

I want to thank the many of you who gave me feedback on my last newsletter. It makes me really happy to hear that people appreciate what I have to offer and that you find these newsletters helpful or inspiring. If you ever think of something that you’d like to hear more about, or have questions, I hope that you’ll let me know; I’ll do what I can to address these questions or topics in the future. I also want to thank all of the new subscribers to my blog – I’m happy to know that people are benefiting from my posts! I encourage everyone to visit my blog on a regular basis, and to actively comment and participate in the discussions surrounding my posts.

Many of you who receive this aren’t in L.A., and I love knowing that you’re reading this wherever you are and that I’m bringing you a little bit of the ocean breeze and the Southern California sunshine. Lately, I’ve been walking on the beach in the mornings as a way to re-energize my creativity and positivity. I’ve found that even a half-hour walk near the water helps to clear my mind and reinvigorate my spirit.

I’ve also been baking birthday cakes as of late, and exploring new ways of making them fun and surprising. This is all thanks to Chef Duff and his gang at Charm City Cakes, in Baltimore. (My son and I love to watch “Ace of Cakes” on the Food Network.) I may still get my business, Daisy Cakes, off the ground one of these days. 😉 I hope that you’re all finding ways to have fun and feel good, even when the news can be so unsettling.

I also want to share that I’ve recently completed my coursework at the Strozzi Institute, and am proud to be a Certified Somatic Coach in addition to my Coaches Training Institute Certification as a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach. While I share my somatic ‘noticings’ with clients, I have not specifically changed my approach to my work. I will, however, be adding more of this mindset to my work to help people ‘embody’ their authenticity to be more powerful and clear in their endeavors. I may even offer bodywork as a way to accelerate clients’ growth opportunities, but I’m not quite set up to do so, just yet – but I’ll keep you posted on this. Do check out the Strozzi Institute site for more information on what they do and what Somatics is all about.

“Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

How about some good news?

People who have lost their jobs are finding and securing new jobs. We know these people. And people are choosing to leave jobs, too. When the stress and strain of the wrong fit wreaks havoc on a life, sometimes it’s just not worth it to stay put – no matter what the economic climate. And there are wonderful stories of people making major changes to move into the work that really means something to them. The sun does continue to shine and new opportunities continue to appear. Seems like things don’t always happen as we expect them to, but then something else shows up that is just right.

The Truth. (Ready?)

The truth of our world is pretty hard right now. And geez, it has been for a while. It’s easy to feel a lot of fear and concern. And it’s just as easy not to feel it, and to go numb with denial or disbelief. Actually, I think there’s more of the latter going on than is truly healthy. While denial is a coping mechanism, I see how it’s doing – or has done – more harm than good in people’s bodies, relationships, finances, politics, careers. However, when we face the truth and move forward from there, we get more things accomplished and more progress is made – in all of these aspects of life and our world.

I want to share the truth about what I see around me. I am hearing through the news and firsthand, about ways in which people who have been laid off are dealing with their new situation. Some people are:

1. Choosing to take some time off to relax and recuperate after going through months (or years) of stressful work;
2. Living on savings and hoping for the best. Or, for the fortunate, living on the severance package that they received, with the belief that they’ll get to the job search when all of this craziness ‘blows over’ – they consider themselves to be ‘waiting out this downturn’;
3. Realizing that this is a great time to think about new options and possibilities for their life. They are embracing this time of change to reinvent, and to flesh out the paths that they’ve been thinking about, which may have seemed too far fetched just a short time ago. They are gearing up for what’s to come in this changing world;
4. Making pragmatic choices to handle the shifting financial obligations. They are doing what needs to be done – downsizing, or learning about finances and taking real steps to deal with pressing financial realities, even if it means changing their vision about what’s possible FOR NOW. They recognize that things will be different in the future;
5. Using their time to learn new things, reaching out to people to reconnect and to get a ‘read’ on what’s happening in worlds they haven’t had time to understand or explore. They’re being proactive to adapt to the changing landscape of business and technology, and finding new ways of creating and collaborating with others.

Do you see yourself here? How do you feel about this? If you’re ‘waiting’ and haven’t yet formulated a plan, I encourage you to do more. If you’re feeling confused and overwhelmed, but not doing anything to get focused and energized, I want you to know that there is a better way. Not being clear and proactive can create more stress and set you back in your game. There’s a phrase that I think of when I see I’m in a standstill:

“A confused mind says ‘no’.”

So if you see yourself saying ‘no’ and feeling confused, this can be a great indicator that you’re stuck and may need some help ‘unsticking’. And that’s what I – and my team – am here to help with. Whether it’s generating new ideas for approaching your job search, or coping with the family stress that results from changes, we will help you to shift your view in order to take new steps forward and find new solutions.

Being with others is a great way to ‘unstick’ yourself from fear, numbness, and the frustration of not knowing what to do next. You already know that we offer one-on-one coaching, but if you’d like to hear the truth from others and learn in more of a community setting, we have great group opportunities, too.

If you aren’t taking advantage of our groups or upcoming programs, I want to know: Why?! Please let me know what would help you to get going. Let me know what we could offer you and at what price. We have done what we can to make things more affordable. Do you want more panel discussions and if so, who do you want to hear from? Groups online, or over the phone? One-on-one coaching in different packages? Groups for you and a few friends? Programs or coaching at your office? ‘Likeminding’ or networking events? I am a very resourceful person and know a lot of great people who I can bring together to create interesting, informative and fun events that will help you to get where you want to go, even if you don’t know where that is or what it looks like. Please feel free to email us any comments or suggestions for future programs, at [email protected].

Where is Your ‘Third Place’ These Days?

I loved Catherine Bergart’s article that I’ve now posted on my blog. After being laid off from her job in an advertising agency, she’s spending more time at home and realizes that her ‘first place’ of home, ‘second place’ of work, and ‘third place’ of gathering with others when not at work, has been reduced to just the ‘first place’. And this isn’t turning out to be that great of a fit on a day in and day out basis.

I wrote about this issue of losing camaraderie on my blog, a while ago…especially in regards to men when they lose their workplace, because they lose their ‘team’ (even, by the way, if they weren’t so crazy about the team) and their place to communicate in ways that men do at work. Women, generally speaking, are so wired for communication that they often find a way or place to communicate with others. I know this is a major generalization, since men have been communing in places especially for men – men’s clubs, golf courses, bars, sports teams and the like – for centuries. And women have had their informal ways of meeting and talking since time began, right? But now, when so many have lost jobs or are working as consultants or freelancers – or coaches, like me – they lose that ‘face time’ with others.

Where is the structure in your life right now? And how do you feel about it? Have you created a new ‘third place’ for yourself? A coffee shop or a particular spot in a park or on a beach?

A good friend of mine has been in a walking group for years. This support team shows up on a regular basis, and as they walk, they process whatever the members bring into play. Love that. Do you have a regular meeting place with a networking group or casual group of friends?

We, at Daisy Swan & Associates, have been offering our supportive Job Search and Networking Groups to create a kind of ‘third place’ for people who want to be proactive as they move forward with their career transition and job search. This is a place where we expand our perspective and listen to others we wouldn’t have met under usual circumstances; we develop and share ideas and create new ways to think about things and take new actions. I, and my associates, love these groups because we get to offer more of what we know with more people, who also enjoy getting to know each other in the process. Our next group starts on May 27th at 7pm. If you want to join us, click here.

Books and Other Resources

“Ask and It Is Given”, by Esther and Jerry Hicks

Some of you might find this just a bit to out there, but I find it inspiring and a great reminder that our thoughts have tremendous power to affect what happens in our lives.

“The Parents We Mean To Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children’s Moral and Emotional Development”, by Richard Weissbourd

I love this book, and so do the others in my monthly book group. I think this is a very important read for parents of kids of all ages, because it really discusses the moral dilemmas in which we find ourselves everyday, as parents. When we look at the state of our world, I think it’s fair to say that we’re in the midst of a moral crisis. More candid discussion and questions about these moral issues will help all of us now and in the future.

“Happier: Can You Learn to be Happy?”, by Tal Ben-Shahar

This is my book group’s current read. There are a lot of books about happiness these days; read this or another one and strengthen your happiness muscles and spirit.

“The Martha Rules: 10 Essentials for Achieving Success as You Start, Grow, or Manage a Business”, by Martha Stewart

Fantastic book. It’s a great primer for those with an entrepreneurial spirit. No matter what you think of Martha, you have to admit she’s changed the world by adding more beauty to the lives of lots of people. And she’s an amazing business person. I enjoyed this as an audio book.

Debtors Anonymous, www.debtorsanonymous.org

This is not as scary as you may think, and can be more helpful than you can imagine. You can get terrific support and information to ease your weary mind if you are dealing with financial stress. Check this out for meetings and useful tools.

ReadyMade Magazine

I recently found this really cool magazine that has lots of information on reinvention and creative solutions.

For more suggested reads, links to helpful sites, a Q&A with me, newsletter archives and more, check out the Resources page on my website. And for those of you who are in the process of updating your résumé, you can sign up to receive a FREE résumé template from Daisy Swan & Associates; the signup box is located right on our home page. Please feel free to tell your friends and colleagues about our FREE résumé template!

One last note: In June, I will be attending the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, and shortly thereafter, I will be offering a program specifically for people in their Beginning LifeStage…so please be on the lookout for information about this and our other upcoming events!

Daisy Swan

This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal
April 25, 2009
by Robert A. Guth

For all of us parents out there…we just never know what will happen, right?

SEATTLE — Spend time with the family of Bill Gates, and eventually someone will mention the water incident.

The future software mogul was a headstrong 12-year-old and was having a particularly nasty argument with his mother at the dinner table. Fed up, his father threw a glass of cold water in the boy’s face.

“Thanks for the shower,” the young Mr. Gates snapped.

The incident lives in Gates family lore not just for its drama but also because it was a rare time that Bill Gates Sr., father of his famous namesake, lost his cool. The argument presaged a turning point in the life of a tempestuous boy that would set him on course to become the Bill Gates whom the public knows as co-founder of Microsoft Corp. and the world’s richest man.

Behind the Bill Gates success story is the other William Gates. The senior Mr. Gates balanced a family thrown off kilter by a boy who appeared to gain the intellect of an adult almost overnight. He served as a quiet counsel as his son jumped into and thrived in the cutthroat business world. When huge wealth put new pressure on the son, the elder Gates stepped in to start what is now the world’s largest private philanthropy.

For all of us parents out there…we just never know what will happen, right?

Mr. Gates Sr. left much of the day-to-day parenting to his wife while he was building his career at a Seattle law firm. Daughter of a Seattle banker, Ms. Gates had been an athlete and top student in high school and college, where she met Bill Sr. She became a full-time volunteer and served on corporate boards.

Ms. Gates encouraged her kids to study hard, play sports and take music lessons. (Bill Gates tried the trombone with little success.) And she imparted a discipline that reflected her upbringing in a well-to-do family. She expected her kids to dress neatly, be punctual and socialize with the many adults who visited their home. For the most part, young Bill dutifully abided.

“She was the most engaged parent and she had high expectations of all of us,” says Libby Armintrout, Bill’s younger sister. “Not just grades and that sort of thing, but how we behaved in public, how we would be socially.”

A Battle of Wills
Bill Gates at an early age became a diligent learner. He read the World Book Encyclopedia series start to finish. His parents encouraged his appetite for reading by paying for any book he wanted.

Still, they worried that he seemed to prefer books to people. They tried to temper that streak by forcing him to be a greeter at their parties and a waiter at his father’s professional functions.

Then, at age 11, Bill Sr. says, the son blossomed intellectually, peppering his parents with questions about international affairs, business and the nature of life.

“It was interesting and I thought it was great,” Mr. Gates Sr. says. “Now, I will say to you, his mother did not appreciate it. It bothered her.”

The son pushed against his mother’s instinct to control him, sparking a battle of wills. All those things that she had expected of him — a clean room, being at the dinner table on time, not biting his pencils — suddenly turned into a big source of friction. The two fell into explosive arguments.

“He was nasty,” Ms. Armintrout says of her brother.

Mr. Gates Sr. played the role of peacemaker. “He’d sort of break them apart and calm things down,” says Ms. Blake, the eldest sibling.

The battles reached a climax at dinner one night when Bill Gates was around 12. Over the table, he shouted at his mother, in what today he describes as “utter, total sarcastic, smart-ass kid rudeness.”

That’s when Mr. Gates Sr., in a rare blast of temper, threw the glass of water in his son’s face.

He and Mary brought their son to a therapist. “I’m at war with my parents over who is in control,” Bill Gates recalls telling the counselor. Reporting back, the counselor told his parents that their son would ultimately win the battle for independence, and their best course of action was to ease up on him.

Mr. Gates Sr. understood that counsel because of his own childhood, an hour’s ferry ride from Seattle in the working-class town of Bremerton. “There wasn’t a lot of structure to my growing up,” he says. “I had an awful lot of discretion about where I went, what I did, who I did it with.”

His mother was doting and easygoing. His sister, his only sibling, was seven years older. And his father was a workaholic who sacrificed child-rearing to work at a furniture store he owned with a partner. “His complete focus was on the store,” Bill Sr. says.

Mr. Gates Sr. early on built a life outside of his home. Next door, the Braman family had two boys for him to play with and a father who would become his most important role model.

That man, Dorm Braman, had built his business and would later become a Naval officer, mayor of Seattle and a U.S. assistant secretary of transportation. In the late 1930s, Mr. Braman brought Bill Sr. on family road trips across the country. He was scoutmaster of Bill Sr.’s Boy Scout troop, leading the boys on hikes through the Olympic Mountains and driving them in a beat-up bus to Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. The troop spent two years building a log house from Douglas firs they felled themselves. Mr. Braman had “no sense of personal limitations whatsoever,” says Mr. Gates Sr.

Bill Sr. and Mary ultimately took a page from that upbringing: They backed off. They enrolled their son in a school that they thought would give him more freedom. That was the private Lakeside School, now known as the place where Bill Gates discovered computers.

Mr. Gates says he began to realize, “‘Hey, I don’t have to prove my position relative to my parents. I just have to figure out what I’m doing relative to the world.'”

A Rare Independence
From age 13, he was given rare independence. He took off some nights to enjoy free use of the computers at the University of Washington. He spent chunks of time away from home — much as his dad had done as a kid. He lived for a time in Olympia, where he was a page in the state legislature, and in Washington, D.C. as a Congressional page. During his senior year, he took a break from school to work as a programmer at a power plant in southern Washington. And in what would become his first major collaboration with Paul Allen, his future Microsoft cofounder, Mr. Gates designed the “Traf-O-Data”, a device for counting cars traveling over a section of road.

His parents played supporting roles. They acquiesced when Bill quit Harvard and then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to start Microsoft. It was a tough decision to back.

“Mary and I were both concerned about it — I think she a bit more than I,” Bill Sr. says. “Her expectations and mine were very ordinary expectations of people who have kids in college — that they get a degree.”

The family support was one reason Mr. Gates decided to move Microsoft to Seattle, where he settled into a house not far from his parents. Ms. Gates arranged to have a maid clean her son’s house, and made sure he had clean shirts for his big meetings. She also insisted he kept observing the family traditions, including the weekly Sunday dinner at his parents’ house.

Mr. Gates Sr., drawing from his own experience as a lawyer guiding small companies, helped find Seattle businesspeople to serve on the Microsoft board. In 1980, Bill Gates brought his father along to dinner to help persuade college friend Steve Ballmer — now Microsoft’s chief executive — to quit graduate school and join Microsoft. The father’s law firm would also end up representing Microsoft, which became the firm’s biggest client.

Bill Sr. eased his son’s worries about taking Microsoft public when Bill fretted that it would be a distraction for employees. The offering would turn Bill Gates into a billionaire. It also spawned the next challenge for the family.

The Philanthropy Push
After the windfall, Ms. Gates pressed her son to get into philanthropy. At his father’s law office late one night, someone present recalls, Bill quarreled with his mother as she urged him to give money away.

“I’m just trying to run my company!” he snapped, says the person in the office at the time. Mr. Gates says that at the time he wasn’t opposed to philanthropic work, he just didn’t want to be distracted from his duties at Microsoft.

Eventually, she got her son to start a program at Microsoft to raise money for the United Way. He also followed his mother onto the national United Way board in the 1980s.

But as Bill Gates’s wealth grew, letters from Seattle-area nonprofits asking for donations piled up. He says he planned to get serious about philanthropy after retiring from Microsoft, or at about 60 years old.

That plan would be fast-tracked after Ms. Gates was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. As she battled the disease, she continued to urge her son to do more philanthropy. Ms. Gates passed away in June 1994.

The day of her funeral, the Gates family had dinner at home. Bill Sr. told his children not to worry about him, saying that he had about 10 good years left in him. He was 70 at the time. Still, after his wife died he was listless.

About six months later, standing in a line for a movie with his son and daughter-in-law, Melinda, the elder Mr. Gates again broached the idea of philanthropy. He suggested he could start sifting through the requests for money and give some out.

A week later, the software mogul set aside about $100 million to create a foundation that his father could run. Bill Gates Sr. later sat at his kitchen table and wrote the first check, $80,000 to a local cancer program.

In the early days, Mr. Gates Sr., who soon remarried, would scribble a few notes on the most-promising requests for donations. He would then put them in a cardboard wine box that he periodically sent to his son’s house. The box would come back with the younger Mr. Gates’s responses. Mr. Gates Sr. would then reply to all the grant seekers, sometimes including a $1 million check with little more than a single-page letter of congratulations.

Bill Sr. and a former Microsoft executive managed the foundation, doling out money, overseeing a staff of hundreds and expanding its purview to areas like education and vaccines.

Mr. Gates Sr. says he hasn’t lost sight of the fact that he was playing the role of caretaker until his son and daughter-in-law took the helm. And after 53 years, he knows to give his son space.

“He has very fixed ideas of some things,” says Mr. Gates Sr. “The dynamic of the family is that you don’t cross him on those things, because it’s a waste of time.”

This interview originally appeared in the University of Chicago
Magazine’s blog UChiBLOGo (http://uchiblogo.uchicago.edu).

Here’s another option if you’ve got some time!

In December 2007 Dan Pawson, JD’06, began a nine-game winning streak on Jeopardy! He returned in January to participate in the 2009 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which aired in March. Although Pawson was happy to discuss his new fame, we don’t recommend mentioning the articles of the Constitution. Especially you, Professor Helmholz.

How did you get on the show?

Pawson: “I got on the show by taking the online test in January 2007. If you pass and they pick you, you go to a regional in-person audition, which happened for me in May 2007. Then I got the call to come on in August.”

What kind of preparation did you do before a show?

Pawson: “I don’t have any great mental-stimulation techniques right before a game, but I did a lot of studying before the Tournament of Champions—world capitals, Shakespeare, opera, and a bunch of other categories that come up time and time again. A lot of them paid off.”

Any I’m-kicking-myself moments?

Pawson: “No question—the $2,000 question asking how many articles are in the Constitution. It is to my everlasting shame that I answered “six” instead of the correct answer [seven]. I just started counting them in my head—Congress, executive, judiciary, full faith and credit, supremacy, amendments—but the ratification article slipped my mind. I am never going to forgive myself for that.”

Do you have any behind-the-scenes secrets to share?

Pawson: “For the games we were allowed to watch from the audience (in the quarterfinals, contestants that haven’t played yet are sequestered), we’re all quietly playing along, and virtually every one of us is phantom-buzzing. It’s a disturbing compulsion.”

Do you have big plans for your earnings (more than $420,000 combined)?

Pawson: “The $170,000 I won in my first run is mostly accounted for now—a bunch to a house fund, a car, a trip to Vegas, some charitable contributions, and I paid off a bunch of my student loans. With the quarter million from the TOC, [my wife and I] are doubling the house fund, paying off almost all of the rest of my loans, charity again, and taking a trip to Europe.”

Which is more nerve-wracking: Final Jeopardy! or facing the Socratic Method at the Law School?

Pawson: “The worst thing that could happen on TV is that I embarrass myself in front of 12 million people. In law school, I could get a withering comment and stare from Professor Helmholz. I’m not sure there’s anything that compares to that.”

It’s staggering how much there is to learn these days, isn’t it? Are you overwhelmed from working so hard to stay on top of everything you do? While trying to wrap your mind around what’s happening in the world and with technology? Personally I go from overwhelm to excitement from hour to hour. One of the ways I get out of overwhelm is to attend an event or program where I get real information about some aspect of the changing landscape of commerce. Today I attended a National Association of Women Business Owners co-sponsored event featuring Bill Allen from the LA Economic Development Corporation. It was fascinating to hear about the misconceptions and lack of communication that has resulted in a lack of economic development for LA and it’s very diverse population. Did you know that the film industry is not the biggest industry here? Did you know that because it’s been so expensive to film here that there are only 3 movies that have been actually shot in LA in the past year? Did you know that LA is the only airport that has not recovered it’s rate travelers since 9/11? Because our airport is not up to the innovation of other airports airlines are not coming here with increase frequency. Which means that our tax base, and our working people, are not getting the influx of cash that we need to increase the City and County dollars to do what we need to become a 21st Century City. There’s so much to learn about and get involved in here. I’m all fired up after going to that meeting. So much we can do if we get involved and start collaborating business-to-business, public/private ventures, universities with businesses! We have so much to do. I hope this might pique your interest to take a look at some of the programs going on at LAEDC and LAVA to learn what’s going on in our city that could also be a way to hear what opportunities are out there that you won’t find unless you start listening and talking with people who are seeing first hand where expertise is needed. And if you don’t have the needed knowledge, but the interest, you may be motivated to learn something new. Work, learn, work. Be a part of the solution.

This article originally appeared in New Jersey News
April 19,2009
By CARRIE STETLER

There are some hidden benefits that adults and kids are reaping from this economic situation….

Last year, Dana Slomkowski fer ried her preschoolers to horseback riding lessons, gymnastics and dance class. On errands to the store, she routinely bought small toys. If her 4-year-old daughter decided to wear only dresses, Slom kowski bought more dresses.

But life for the Slomkowskis has changed since the recession. Now, the children have one activity each. Gone are pricey vacations and long day trips. And if daughter Rory wants a new dress, she raids her piggy bank.

At first, Slomkowski felt guilty about the cutbacks. But now, she believes, her family is better off.

“We have more time, we talk. We may not go anywhere, but at least we’re all home together. Now I’m big on, ‘go outside and play,'” says Slomkowski, 39, a Manahaw kin stay-at-home mom whose husband works at IBM, where there are pay freezes, including no cost of living adjustment this year.

Slomkowski has inadvertently become a “slow” parent, the term for a global child-rearing movement that touts slackening the pace of family life and scaling back on material items.

A backlash against “helicopter parenting,” Canadian journalist Carl Honoré named the “slow parenting” trend five years ago. But since the recession, it has become a new lifestyle for families like the Slomkowskis, who never heard of “slow parenting” but have embraced its values.

“Instead of parents loading so much on the kids, so many activities, so many things, they have to realize they can’t do it all. And the kids have to think about what they really want because they can’t have everything,” she said. “Even if things get better, I don’t see changing back to the way we were be fore.”

The frenetic, ultra-competitive mind-set of so many middle-class families — eager to buy the hottest toys and shell out for multiple activities — has become increasingly unaffordable.

“When parents have less money, the option of striving madly for their kids becomes less of an op tion,” says Honoré, author of “In Praise of Slow,” published in 2004, and “Under Pressure: Rescuing Children From the Culture of Hy perparenting,” which came out last year.

“The economic and social model that is falling apart — fast profits, fast growth, fast consumption — it was about doing more and more, faster and faster. And it even applied to parenting,” says Honoré, who lives in London, where there are slow parenting seminars and meetings. “People used to feel obligated to give their children the best of everything, so they can be the best at everything. But, around the world, they’re see ing that’s not the best policy. Parents are realizing that what really matters is how to make the best of what you’ve got.”

The “slow” label has yet to enter the public consciousness in the U.S., but the zeitgeist is definitely there, says Mary Hickey, deputy editor of Parents magazine.

“We’ve seen this thing for quite awhile and the recession is accelerating it,” says Hickey, of Montclair. “What we’ve heard from readers is that they’re looking inward to the family unit as a source of happi ness, and that’s not something you need to put a price on. Instead of enrolling their 2-year-old in the best preschool, they’re thinking, why not keep them at home a little longer?”

According to the NPD Group, which tracks consumer spending, there are several signs that families are spending less on children. In the U.S., toy sales dropped 5 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. Fewer families are taking their children to restaurants, where visits with kids dropped 3 percent. Two chains that catered to tween girls, such as Club Libby Lu, where girls were given glittery makeovers, and the pricey Limited Too clothing stores, have closed since November. The Limited Too switched over to the lower-priced Justice chain.

A climate like this is ripe for a “slow revolution,” predicts Honoré, who didn’t create a philosophy so much as name a trend. His catch phrase is a play on the “slow food” movement, which started in Italy in the late 1980s as a reaction against processed, inorganic foods, and then caught on in the U.S. A grassroots “slow parenting” movement is also gaining momentum in America.

Last year, two Austin-based moms founded the “Slow Family Living” blog. Their “manifesto” urges an end to parents’ obsessive quests to enrich children, no mat ter the expense.

“Instead of paying for tap lessons and hauling your little kid to classes, why not just get a board and have them tap outside? If your child wants to play soccer, does he have to join a league? Just get a ball and kick it around in the back yard,” asks Slow Family founder Carrie Contey, a clinical psychologist and West Milford native. Along with co-founder Bernadette Noll, an Austin mother of four who grew up in Denville, Contey hosts slow family retreats and classes. The two plan to hold some in New Jersey this summer, but haven’t cho sen a location.

The Grund family of Montclair has been living “slow” for awhile, although mom Grace Grund, a slow food advocate, was only dimly aware of the slow family phenomenon. But the economic downturn has prompted even more scaling back for Grund, who owns Terra Tea Salon in Montclair.

Although her four children — ages 10 to 17 — were already limited to one or two activities, she’s not as eager to chauffeur them around on demand. “We’re reducing the number of times we’re driving places,” she says. “Before, there would be a soccer game here and a play date there and we would try to accom modate them. Now, we’re thinking about time and gas. It’s very much about, ‘our family unit is what’s im portant.’ We sit together for din ner.”

Hickey says that tough times have had at least one payoff for families.

“They want very much to teach their kids some good lessons about money, about the differences between needs and wants,” she says. “They want to take something good out of all this.”

This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal
April 17,2009
By KELLY GREENE

Ted English, age 62, a restaurant owner in Rapid City, S.D., had been thinking about changing careers, perhaps taking a job in travel or tourism. Last winter, a local community college opened a door.

The school, Western Dakota Technical Institute, had developed a program to train older adults to work as interpretive rangers in national parks. The course included visits to Mount Rushmore and several other sites. Mr. English quickly signed up. “Being a history buff, this is great,” he says.

The humble community college is turning out to be one of the best resources for older adults seeking new directions — and new jobs — in later life. From coast to coast, two-year public institutions are streamlining existing training programs and designing new ones to help people approaching retirement or facing midlife layoffs. Among the programs created so far: vocational counseling, accelerated certification in health and education specialties, and help with small-business start-ups.

“People can be kind of snooty about community colleges, [but] they are flexible and ready to go,” says Judy Goggin, a vice president of Civic Ventures, a San Francisco nonprofit that works to redirect individuals age 50-plus into service-oriented careers. She directs the nonprofit’s Community College Encore Career Program, which is funded by the MetLife Foundation. “With traditional four-year colleges, it’s, ‘Come and do what we’ve got,’ ” Ms. Goggin says. “At community colleges, the tuition is lower, they’re more accessible, and they are adapting to where the jobs really are.”

Indeed, Civic Ventures and others — seeing the benefits in community colleges — are steering dollars in their direction. In 2007, Civic Ventures awarded 10 grants of $25,000 each to community colleges developing programs for older adults. (Roughly 10% of the nation’s 1,125 community colleges applied for the grants.) Civic Ventures plans to award eight additional grants in June.

Last year, the American Association of Community Colleges in Washington, D.C., started a three-year Plus 50 Initiative with 10 demonstration programs for older students, funded with $3.2 million from Atlantic Philanthropies, a New York foundation focused in part on civic engagement of older adults.

“Unfortunately, there are few ways for older adults to pursue ‘encore careers,’ through which they can share their knowledge and skill with others and find purpose and fulfillment for themselves,” says Laura Robbins, head of Atlantic Philanthropies’ U.S. Program on Aging. “Community colleges, which help young people fulfill their dreams, are the perfect places to help older adults achieve theirs.”

Park Service
In Rapid City, Kim Morey, an administrator at Western Dakota Technical, sought out a Plus 50 grant last year to work with the National Park Service, which has “trouble finding interpretive park rangers for the crush of tourists from Memorial Day through Labor Day,” he says. Mr. Morey also realized that many seasonal rangers “are boomers at the end of a career or in a second career.”

He and educational staff from four nearby national parks quickly put together a training course that started in January with a full-day class, followed by four site visits — to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The course ended in March with a class in which the 10 students made educational presentations as if they were interpretive rangers. The class cost $349. Financial aid is available, Mr. Morey says.

By starting the class in winter, the students could apply in time for summer jobs. Although the work is seasonal, it pays “in the low teens per hour,” Mr. Morey says.

In other programs, students get most of their instruction online. Older students who haven’t yet retired, or who are taking care of family, do much of the work at home. Jan Albert, 55, last year earned a gerontology certificate from Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley, Calif., mainly online, while caring for her parents, who have Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Ms. Albert, who lost her job as an event planner at a real-estate company in 2007, says at first she was intimidated about taking online classes and posting answers to assignments in a public forum. But as she started reading her classmates’ answers, “I realized, my gosh, I might occasionally miss a beat, but I have so much experience to draw on in my homework.” She finished her certificate last year, after 40 hours of field work at a small assisted-living home, with a 4.0 grade-point average.

In January, Ms. Albert and her sister started a business to provide the same type of nonmedical care they were giving their parents. They named their company 24 Hour Angels. Before launching the business, they took a five-day, on-campus seminar at Coastline designed to help older adults learn about careers in gerontology, such as social work and long-term care.

Buyout Fallout
Small-business development and technology centers, often housed at community colleges, are gearing up to work with increasing numbers of older entrepreneurs. The center affiliated with Washtenaw Community College in Ypsilanti, Mich., near Detroit and ground zero of the auto-industry layoffs, takes on “a regular flow of people getting a buyout who have $100,0000 burning a hole in their pocket who want to start a business,” says director Charles Penner. “Some of them can be very successful, and others less so, so we really wanted to reach out to that group,” Mr. Penner says.

Washtenaw’s center has started one-day workshops focused on older adults looking for new careers. What resonated most with 50 participants at the first daylong meeting last year were stories from individuals who decided to start businesses in later life, Mr. Penner says.

“We had a panel of people who [are now working] as nonprofit executives, social workers and health-care workers,” he says. “We take the approach that encore careers will be entrepreneurial whether or not you’re an entrepreneur,” because each requires that the job seeker seize the initiative.

Another program, fast-track teaching certification, is spreading quickly through community colleges around the country. For example, Collin College in suburban Dallas last year started enabling older students with math or science expertise to earn their classroom certificates in just two semesters. The program, which costs $2,600, now is adding other content areas.

The school already had a teacher-certification program on nights and weekends, but it used a grant to start a daytime program. In the fall, students take classes three days a week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; in the spring, they do their student teaching. Everyone in the class that ended last May got a job, says Sabrina Belt, director of Collin College’s teacher-certification program. “It’s so neat to work with this population because they come from different backgrounds, but they have the same goal in mind,” she says. “They want to have a purpose and feel like they’re making a difference.”

Math Wiz
Julie Greene, 49, quit working nine years ago, after having a child and moving to Dallas from New York, where she was a marketing executive. She has a master’s degree in business administration and already had taken several math classes at Collin College with the thought of eventually becoming a teacher. Then she learned about the daytime program.

“I pretty much have the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree in math already, if not a little more,” she says. “I didn’t need the peripheral classes. I just needed the real stuff. The alternative-certification program had no-nonsense, nuts-and-bolts learning how to be a good teacher. I feel like I got what I needed and didn’t get what I didn’t need.”

Ms. Greene became a student-teacher in January 2008 for 12 weeks, and finished out the school year as a substitute for a high-school math teacher on maternity leave. The same school hired her back in August. “It’s really great,” she says. “I like being around the teenagers. And when someone asks, ‘Why do I need to know this?’ I feel like I have enough experience behind me to be believable.”

This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal
April 15,2009
By SUE SHELLENBARGER

Lexie Oliver, 16, has been trying for weeks to get a summer job, to earn spending money and to feel productive. But the search has proven “really difficult,” says the Gainesville, Fla., high-school sophomore.

After applying at numerous retailers and getting turned down, Ms. Oliver has made a decision: If she wants a job this summer, she figures she’ll have to create her own. She’s already working on starting a handmade jewelry business, finding materials, tapping a friend to build a Web site and asking relatives for help marketing her wares.

Faced with the darkest summer-job market since the government began collecting data after World War II, a growing number of teens are turning to entrepreneurship. The government’s $1.2 billion youth jobs program is expected to make barely a dent in overall teen joblessness this summer. Employment among 16- to 19-year-olds is still likely to sink to a new low of 31% or 32% this summer, down from a previous nadir of 32.7% in 2008, says Andrew Sum, director of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston.

Thus “for many kids, starting a business may be the only option if they want to make some money,” says Jack Kosakowski, president of Junior Achievement in the U.S., part of JA Worldwide, Colorado Springs, Colo., which runs youth programs on work-force readiness and financial literacy through 585 offices in 124 countries.

Amid rising interest, enrollment in a Boston camp run by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship doubled this spring. Junior Achievement entrepreneurship programs in Texas and California report a 30% increase in inquiries. And at CampCEO, an entrepreneurship-training program at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, inquiries are running 30% ahead of a year ago, compared with a national pattern of flat enrollment in youth camps in general.

Of course, teen entrepreneurs face tall hurdles. Most need at least a little start-up money, for materials, flyers or tools. Running a business can crowd out other pursuits, such as sports and clubs. And teens aren’t immune to the sour economy. Angie Ocampo, 15, of White Plains, N.Y., had high hopes for the Spanish-language tutoring business she had been planning to pursue through this summer. But so far, “I haven’t gotten too many regular customers” because families are cutting costs, she says.

Others are finding a niche. Aaron Hunt, 16, Salt Lake City, has decided his job this summer will be selling his Web-page designs online. After creating designs for friends and studying related subjects in high school, Aaron recently sold a Web logo to a client for $60. Now, armed with a portfolio of colorful designs, he’s ready to expand.

And Marlo Adelle Greta, 17, will be running GirlyWhirls.com, a barrette-making business, from her Austin, Texas, home. She regards starting a business as “a lot easier than having to go find a job,” she says. “I make my own decisions, and the harder I work, the more money I can make. That’s a cool thought — it’s all up to me.”

A growing number of parents share that view. “Adults used to want their kids to go to work for big companies with 401(k)s and benefits,” says Brad Hancock, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. “Now parents are saying, ‘I’m not sure I want my child to walk that path. I want my child to be in charge of his or her own destiny.’ ”

At best, teens can be richly rewarded. Steven Crandall, an 18-year-old high-school senior in Grapevine, Texas, started a lawn-mowing business with his younger brother three years ago by offering to tend three neighbors’ lawns. Today, the Crandall boys have expanded to 35 clients. Steven is even creating jobs for his friends; he has signed on six of his buddies at $15 an hour to help out, and another six have applied. “One of the coolest things” about being an entrepreneur, Steven says, “is the satisfaction of being able to help out so many guys who do need money.”

The business earned Steven $14,000 last year, enabling him to make payments to his parents for the used truck they bought for him, “spoil my girlfriend, and tithe to my church,” he says. The downside: It has crowded out other activities, including wrestling and basketball.

For teens considering start-ups, and for their parents, adolescent entrepreneurs offer some tips:

Find and fill an unmet need. For example, the skills many teens use every day can be marketable. On Elance.com, a Web site where freelancers’ services are bought and sold, demand among business clients for help establishing a presence on Facebook or Twitter is rising fast, a spokeswoman says. The site requires providers to be at least 18 years old.

Look for a low-cost niche. After a vendor knocked at Loree Greta’s door last summer in Austin, Texas, offering to clean her windows for $150, she suggested her 14-year-old son, Max (the brother of jewelry maker Marlo Adelle), make the rounds offering to do the same for one-third as much. Brandishing a long-handled squeegee, vinegar, buckets and newspaper, Max earned about $300 washing windows.

Find something you love. Jessica Cervantes, a Miami 18-year-old who loves to bake, grew tired of cleaning up cupcake messes and smeary frosting spots after birthday parties for her young cousins. So she cooked up a fancy cupcake on an edible cookie stick and is now selling “Popsy Cakes” for $30 a dozen. Although it’s tough cramming in baking and delivering orders with her homework, she made $6,000 last year for her college fund.

Don’t be discouraged by your age, says Anshul Samar, 15, of Cupertino, Calif., who is marketing “Elementeo,” a chemistry game he created, on Amazon.com. “Your age can even be an advantage,” allowing a little risk-taking “without worrying about who’s going to put the dinner on the table.” And many adults are glad to lend a helping hand to enterprising teens, he says.

Expect setbacks. During Ms. Cervantes’s first few tries at making Popsy Cakes, “no one wanted to eat them,” she says. Mr. Hunt, the Web designer, says he tried at first to design an online game but failed. Even if you fail, he advises, “go for it. Don’t stop, because you will get somewhere if you try hard enough.”

One of the most common pitfalls faced by entrepreneurial teens, says Junior Achievement’s Mr. Kosakowski, is parents. Instead of providing encouragement, he says, many say, “Why do you want to take that risk? Go work for somebody else.” In fact, there’s no better time than adolescence to try out ideas, while children have the freedom to fail without overwhelming consequences.

GirlyWhirls.com was born when Ms. Greta, Marlo Adelle’s mother, picked up on a remark her daughter made while they were shopping together. Eyeing some barrettes, Marlo said, “I can make that at home,” Loree says. “So she did.” With Loree providing feathers, shells, beads and felt, the barrettes began selling well in several boutiques. Today, GirlyWhirls.com employs four occasional part-time “hairclip helpers” and pays Marlo about $200 to $300 a month after expenses. Marlo says she wants to continue the business through college, where she will probably major in design; her mother’s encouragement, she adds, has made all the difference.

This article originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal
April 9,2009
By Elizabeth Wurtzel

The credit crisis has cost us a dozen years’ wealth in a matter of months.

Anyone who toils in the legal-industrial complex — better known as Big Law — should be able to tell you how we got here. Corporate attorneys like me, even those with the eyesight and insight of Mr. Magoo, all should have been able to see this financial collapse coming.

The market has lost a dozen years worth of wealth in a matter of months. Millions of hours of manpower put in by investment bankers on Wall Street and the lawyers who enabled them — the kind that brought home those bright shiny bonuses that are now causing a populist uprising in the hinterlands — have been wasted away by what is kindly called the credit crisis. And whatever lessons the powers that be might learn from this adjustment — that salary structure should change, or that the billable hour is an anachronism — it seems no one has stated the obvious: The whole system is warped.

These days, deals are down. It’s so quiet that even at mergers-and-acquisitions hothouses like Cleary Gottlieb and Skadden Arps, junior associates have been known to sneak out of the office and head home by six o’clock. Exposed to the sunshine that exists outside of corporate skyscrapers for the first time, these people now know what we’ve all been telling them for years: The sky is actually blue.

But daylight savings time notwithstanding, the traditional life of a law lackey — even, or especially, a graduate of a fancy law school like Harvard or Yale — has meant virtual residence at the firm. Meals were delivered by Seamless Web and the roll-top desk was used for catnaps, because whatever it is that had to happen had to happen immediately, or yesterday. The emergency-room atmosphere that permeated the processing of derivatives deals, corporate takeovers, and whatever else has been going on at Goldman, Bear, Citi and Merrill for the past decade, could rival that of an operating room during open-heart surgery. Only, of course, it was a matter of money — not life or death.

Perhaps money and mortality are all the same to some. But as a way of making the former, this hysterical ER-approach has proved futile. All those lost nights of sleep are now lost 401(k)s. So what was the point? Corporate lawyers could have been sunning in St. Bart’s and ended up with the exact same result, plus a tan.

Money made the mad hours worth it. This is why the insanity of working as if the very fate of nations were at stake when it was actually just about whether or not to do a leveraged buyout of, say, a company in Decatur, Ill., went unnoticed by an entire industry.

Anyone in a position to criticize this inhuman work ethic — meaning, anyone who liked sleeping, or dating, or occasionally walking his own golden retriever — opted out instead. These are the people who are now attorneys in the public sector, who run nonprofit organizations, or who simply made what money they could and are now painting landscapes in Taos, or skiing full-time in Sun Valley.

The Wall Street atmosphere — in both law offices and investment banks — is not open to dissenting opinion. If you blow the whistle, it’s only to hail a taxi to take you away, because complaining is just not tolerated. So anyone sharp enough to say that these deals were a bad idea in the first place didn’t stay on long enough to make the point. And we all know that organizations that don’t retain thoughtful opposing views are doomed by hubris. Hello, Lehman Brothers!

Still, I don’t believe any of the major players are re-evaluating their ethos — only their decision to invest in subprime mortgages. And this is foolish, since the problem is not just that the financial instruments were bad bets, but that the corporate structure and the feverish rush of it all are fundamentally flawed.

I would love to call the system despicable or detestable or something evil-sounding, but that would be giving it too much credit. It’s really just the march of dunces.

A dozen years worth of sleepless nights down the drain like dirty bathwater. Pity these people.