Enron And Benevolence
I'm a variant of objectivist (whether that means post or paleo objectivist is open to debate). I'm a capitalist. I believe in free enterprise. I don't believe that need creates moral obligation.
All of that being said, I think this article that has been cited by any number of prominent e-journalists (pro and semi-pro journalists who have blogs get this title from me now) is needlessly mean-spirited. In it, Michael Lewis basically tells Enron employees -- hey, you were a part of fraud, most of you even helped it, so you deserve your lot; shup up and go away!
I agree with Lewis that talk of a government bailout for Enron employees is silly, but that has more to do with my idea of the function (and constitutional duty) of government than the employees of Enron. And, as critics have pointed out well before Lewis, former Enron employees who "lost everything" because they didn't diversify gambled and lost, which is unfortunate but is also what can happen in market trading. No objections to any of that.
But the Enron employees that I've known, aside from being a bit arrogant, were hard-working people just trying to make a living like the rest of us. And many of them honestly believed they were paving a new way, as did much of Houston. I've pitched a product to their now-defunct international E&P group, and those guys seemed a lot sharper than quite a few people in more "established" international E&P firms that I've seen -- at least I thought so at the time, but I guess that was just part of a great fraud also, if Lewis is to be believed?
I'm sorry, but Lewis is off base in suggesting the vast majority of Enron employees should somehow be shamed by society and treated as accomplices in fraud. Most of them are out of jobs, in a tough market, with the stain of Enron on their resumes. That would seem to be enough "punishment" -- especially for those (most, I would argue) who were just trying to make a living and get ahead at one of Houston's hottest firms. Why kick them (as Lewis does) when they're down? Those who committed actual criminal offenses, of course, will get their well-deserved "punishment" in due time.
[Posted at 20:28 CST on 02/27/02] [Link]
