Ken Jarboe alerted me to this important point made by Alan Greenspan on Sunday during a commencement address at the Wharton School:
I do not deny that many appear to have succeeded in a material way by cutting corners and manipulating associates, both in their professional and in their personal lives. But material success is possible in this world, and far more satisfying, when it comes without exploiting others.
The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.
Our system works fundamentally on trust and individual fair dealing. We need only look around today’s world to realize how valuable these traits are and the consequences of their absence. While we have achieved much as a nation in this regard, more remains to be done.
One can’t imagine that the Chairman would be implicitly critical of abusive and reckless captains of industry and not of the same type of behavior among politicos.
On Bolton, I think it’s clear that Greenspan would also offer — in the cryptic way he does — his sense of ‘concern’.
— Steve Clemons
