Peggy Noonan writes in her usual moving prose in the April 11-12 WSJ about how all the big Wall Street firms got together after 9-11 to figure out how to get the New York Stock Exchange open again. They did it, and it opened again the following Monday, September 17, 2001. Noonan's point is someone in those firms needs to step up again and show some leadership to rstore confidence in capitalism.
Noonan quotes a book by Michael Novak entitled The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism. Novak notes that capitalism is the one economic system capable of lifting the greatest number of people out of poverty. He says capitalism "wants to grow and produce, bring more creativity, more opportunity, more ferment and movement - more life."
However, Noonan reminds that there still must be "an underlying moral edifice, a knowledge of right and wrong, a sense of sin." She asks, "When was the last time anyone thought of Wall Street as being noble, constructive, admirable? She answers her own question by giving details of the firms' work the week of 9-11 through 9-17, 2001, and asks if anyone is going to step forward to "look only to yourself and wind up with ashes. Know its bigger than you and wind up a hero."
2 comments:
Our government sadly now consists mainly of narcissists who serve at the pleasure of bankers. The two are threatened with the loss of supporting money and power. A sick body will sacrifice the well-being of it's extremities to conserve the core. We are the extremities.
I'm willing to have a miracle.
I'm not fond of Peggy but every once in awhile she gets it right. Where have all the leaders gone?
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