Acrasia, I am Crazy About You

Tales of Wealth Bondage:

Once upon a time there was a lovely and well paid Enchantress, a marketer, skilled in the liberal arts, which she used for purposes of black magic. Acrasia was her name. She preyed profitably upon all who knew her by giving them whatever they wanted in accordance with the best principles of the Free Market System, which is actually the Right but Hidden Hand of God, according to her....

More here with an interesting picture too.

Comments

[Jon Husband]

As I've said before, the curation of pictures and words available on At The Crossroads belong in a Museum of Post-Modern Art.

[Phil Cubeta]

Jon, I appreciate the compliment. That way, too, I would have an alibi. Offensive and subversive? No, Sir, this is Art!

[Jon Husband]

Seems like alibis are the ordre de jour, non ?

Everyone's character is just fine, Goldman Sachs is doing God's work and Bill Clinto stating he was wrong about derivatives regulation is merely a fillip after having his way with the word "is".

It's all good.

[jr]

Whither the Ms. Is? Hither, thither and yon...

[Phil Cubeta]

Acrasia means knowing it is wrong and doing it anyway, beyond that is losing the capacity to know the difference or even to care.

[tm]

"beyond that is losing the capacity to know the difference or even to care."

The scale of the banality of the world banking community is rather daunting. Like lemmings, individually not much, but en masse, over the cliff, maybe something.

[Phil Cubeta]

As a salesman once said to me about the choice between selling product A with a high commission and produce B with a low commission, "The company must know that product A is better for the client otherwise they would not incentivize me to sell it."

[tm]

Such touching acts of faith float the Good Ship Enterprise.

[Phil Cubeta]

Assuming product B above is better for the client, who is responsible for the not quite appropriate recommendations made by the salesperson? Caveat Emptor, I guess.

[tm]

I was more wondering about the salesman's basic assumptions having to do with the nature of his company, his clients, and his relationship to both.

[Phil Cubeta]

His assumptions were that it was all bullshit and he would do the bullshit and take the money. He was a good God fearing man. He took me and my (then)small boy fishing with his own son. He has done well in the business. In business terms we were friends. I was his trainer. His remark was probably in response to some holier than thou suggestion I might have made about which product would be best for a client. Easy for me to say, since it was not my client, and my compensation did not depend on the sale. Best in business to glide over such matters. As one top salesman said to me, "Don't ask why there is air, just breathe."