cocu.la

Best description:

...north-beer-hockey place with the Barenaked Ladies, whattayacall, wait wait, damn it, okay, the opposite of Mexico, you know, with the Neil Young and the being-up-there thing, like Wisconsin except all the way across like a whole… from the… Geddy Lee, that band, three-piece with the good drummer, not Triumph, plus who was the bad poet, Ron McKuen? Because he, wait, Calgaria? Can-dinavia, Scanandia, Skasma-chawan…ta? French people up there, speaking French, ‘Wee-wee, zees ees ze Skatsawah,’ Canoo? Cahookawa? The upside-down Australia, up there with the thing. Northistan, Mark Steyn-stan, ha-ha, Eskimos, Mounties, I mean Rush, with the drummer. ‘To-day’s Tom Sawyer, mean mean pride, He gets high on you, mmm-hmm stride, Bum-bum-bum-BAH, diggida-diggida-doogada-doogada, Bum-bum-bum-BAH, boom-doom-doom-doom-cha-cha, Bum-bum-bum-BAH, tickita-tickita-tockita-psh! Bum-bum-bum-BAH, neer-neer-neer-wah-wah-ladies-and-gentlemen-the-blonde-guy-on-lead-guitar, beer-neer-neer,’ Rik Emmett was the guy in Triumph. ‘Take off, eh?’ Ha-ha, ‘Look out, it’s a blizzard, whsssh! A blizzard? No way, hoser!’ Cad, Cadabnia, ‘It’s sure cold up here in Cabana, eh?’ Canan-dia, William Shat-nia, caboose, penguins are from Antarctica; no penguins. Panda. Panadians? ‘A-lex Tre-bek, huh-huh, boobs,’ wait, Alex Lifeson guitarist in Rush, beer-neer-neer, awesome. No, okay, whatsis. Country. Andia, Bandia, Canada, Danada, Ee-ana, Fee-ana, Gambia, Hannastan, Weird-round-bacon-stan. Where’s-the-can, Stan? ha ha, Tim Horton’s, coffee, a can of the dry ginger ale. Wait, Banana-fanna-fo-fanna-the-dry-ia, ‘Hi, I’m from Acanna-DaSoda; I’m Acanna-sodan.’ Hi, no, hi, okay, I’m from Szechawa… Sketcha-watcha-wah. Hi, I’m from Sudbury. The it, the place, the on-the-map, the Alaska-whattayacall, the up-there-thing, Hi, I’m Bullwinkle, I’m Bachman-Turnover, ‘Taking Karen’s biscuits, every day…’ Heh, it really sounds like they’re singing that. The, uh, geese of certain geographic distinction. The Dudley Doright from you-know place with the first-pressing D.O.A. ‘Disco Sucks’ single on Sudden Death records. Vancouver and the Johnny Hart cartoon cavemen enlivening its civil life, or so rumor informs. ‘Beauty A,’ celebrated in great measure whilst her runners-up toil unmentioned. The Tragically Hip, best band ever in the history of the planet, or by God, MuchMusic is in on the con. Edmond Tenoilers, star athlete from the rural interior. Whatsis, thingy. Canasta. Heh. No, wait. Loonies, Oat in a Boat. No, wait.”

Digby recalled an article about the corporate culture at Enron and Worldcom in reflecting on AIGFP and other malignant financial entities today. It had a fascinating description of pathological narcissism, and how it exists and spreads in groups of people. Almost every sentence reminded me of some of my former associations. Here is an excerpt:

...how much of the recent wave of business scandals in the U.S. is attributable to a corporate "culture of narcissism," and how much to a number of very misguided—and possibly narcissistic—individuals?

The "few rotten apples" theory ignores the fact that affairs like Enron and WorldCom were not isolated incidents—nor were they conducted conspiratorially and surreptitiously. What is now conveniently labeled "misconduct" was an open secret. Information—albeit often relegated to footnotes—was available. The charismatic malignant narcissists who headed these corporations were cheered on by investors—small and institutional alike. Their grandiose fantasies were construed as visionary. Their sense of entitlement—never commensurate with their actual achievements—was tolerated forgivingly. Their blatant exploitation of co-workers and stakeholders was part of the ethos of the virile Anglo-Saxon, natural selection, can-do, dare-do version of capitalism. Everyone colluded in this mass psychosis. There are no victims here—only scapegoats.

...Do you have any thoughts on whether certain business cycles (like the Internet boom) actually create narcissists? Or do they simply attract preexisting narcissists looking for quick and easy wealth?

The latter. Pathological (or malignant) narcissism is the outcome of a confluence of an appropriate genetic predisposition and early childhood abuse by role models, caretakers or peers. It is ubiquitous, because every human being—regardless of the nature of his society and culture—develops healthy narcissism early in life. Healthy narcissism is rendered pathological by abuse—and abuse, alas, is a universal human behavior. By "abuse" I mean any refusal to acknowledge the emerging boundaries of the individual. Thus, smothering, doting and excessive expectations are as abusive as beating and incest.

Pathological narcissism, though, can be latent and induced to emerge by what I call "collective narcissism." The way pathological narcissism manifests and is experienced is dependent on the particulars of societies and cultures. In some cultures, it is encouraged. In others suppressed. In collectivist societies, it may be projected onto the collective; in individualistic societies, it is an individual’s trait.

Families, businesses, industries, organizations, ethnic groups, churches and even whole nations can be safely described as "narcissistic" or "pathologically self-absorbed."

The longer the association or affiliation of the members, the more cohesive and conformist the inner dynamics of the group, the more shared are its grandiose fantasies ("the vision thing"), the more persecutory or numerous its enemies, the more misunderstood and exclusionary it feels, the more intensive the physical and emotional experiences of its members—the stronger the bonding myth. The more rigorous the common pathology.

Such an all-pervasive and extensive malaise manifests itself in the behavior of each and every member. It is a defining—though often implicit or underlying—mental structure. It has explanatory and predictive powers. It is recurrent and invariable—a pattern of conduct melded with distorted cognition and stunted emotions. And it is often vehemently denied.

What steps might a corporation take to protect itself from being ruined by this kind of narcissistic contagion?

The first—and most obvious—step is screening. Mental health management is often considered a low organizational priority—frequently with calamitous outcomes. Employees on all levels—especially the upper echelons—should be tested periodically and regularly by professional diagnosticians for personality disorders. Those who test positive should be sacked.

There is no way of containing narcissism. It is contagious—weaker people tend to emulate narcissists, stronger ones tend to adopt narcissistic behaviors in order to fend off the narcissist’s unwelcome attentions and overweening demands.

...but it appears that there are plenty:

The company's actions "can only be described as reprehensible and criminal," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees Food and Drug Administration funding. "Not only did this company knowingly sell tainted products, it shopped for a laboratory that would provide the acceptable results they were seeking. This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system."

In Georgia, the state's top agriculture official joined DeLauro in asking the Justice Department to determine if the case warrants criminal prosecution.

"They tried to hide it so they could sell it," said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. "Now they've caused a mammoth problem that could destroy their company — and it could destroy the peanut industry."

There was no immediate response from Peanut Corp., which owns the Blakely, Ga., processing plant at the center of the investigation. The company has previously said it fully cooperated with the salmonella investigation.

Irvin, the Georgia agriculture official, said he was outraged by the company's actions and said a state criminal probe was possible. He would not, however, specify which Georgia laws the company may have violated for fear it would help the company start planning its defense.

^{Photo: Doug Mills/The New York Times}

Without realizing it, driftglass once again plays back to me what I witnessed in horror for a big chunk of my career:

The source of real value in every endeavor comes from the creative labor of capable men and women.

The source of real value is quality.

But quality is hard work. Quality costs. Quality comes from the professionals in the middle of the organization, which is why a quality-driven ideology is actively hostile to in-group, "Confederacy of Dunces" --

"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him." -- Jonathan Swift

Ponzi scheme-based corporate feudalism.

Which is why, everywhere you look across the burning wasteland of the American economy you find industries and enterprises being run by people who don’t give much of a shit about the quality of what they make; instead they are run by the lavishly compensated marketing managers, circle-jerk boards of directors and ribbon clerk-CEOs who operate the Profit Maximization Uber Alles machinery.

People who look at the bottom line and see the skilled labor necessary to create real quality and real wealth as nothing more than dead-weight overhead to be slashed as brutally as possible to amp up next quarter’s profit projections.

On Planet WalMart, the ruling caste believes as an article of faith that using stoop labor to make cheap crap out of toxic waste and then renting a celebrity to sell it is the ticket to million-dollar bonuses, while hiring competent people to create something well-made and artfully-crafted is just pissing away cash that could otherwise be used to buy them private jets.

People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, People may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone
could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway

-- Author unknown