Gift Hub

The Gnosis of Leaders

Management and business administration without vision, wisdom, or culture is apparently Leadership, said the Happy Tutor to me yesterday, as we passed through the Wealth Bondage Corporate Training Center, where a course in Leadership by Leaders for Leaders was in progress. I had no idea what he meant. I joined him later, singing songs from The Beggar's Opera acapella around an empty oil drum stoked with the Classics that had once graced the world finest libraries before Austerity set in, and we all had to make ourselves useful. Let us meet in solemn conclave about this vital flame to pass a no confidence vote in Candidia by the entire Morals Tutorial Faculty, Tutor suggested to me. So creepy! Like Hitler in a bunker ranting about empire. Tutor's was once a fine mind, they say that long ago he had counseled Augustus and later Tennyson, John Dewey, Isaiah Berlin, and so many others. Now he is reduced by drink, hunger, exposure in all weather, to a shadow of what he once was. If we speak out against Leadership without Wisdom, we would be Fools indeed. The Wise in Trade who are now in charge of preferment would not even let us into the Leadership course without which we are condemend to be followers in subaltern fields like marketing, public relations, and Morals Tutoring for the Morbidly Affluent. Let us pass a motion expressing no confidence in ourselves, no confidence in Once High Culture; that would be wisdom indeed and would meet with the approval of the general public, and those who fund us. Or maybe we already did blow up the old urbane, civic-minded, and literate high culture, and that was postmoderism? Yes! said Tutor, more books to the flames! I for one will hold on to my copy of Omens of Millennium: The Gnosis of Angels, Dreams, and Resurrection. The tone alone is worth the price, particularly if you can get it second hand, or free from a Dumpter. Think of it! The Gnosis of Angels! The Sublime, even now. And all I have accomplished is Bathos, the art of sinking in life as in art. Come Dunces! Come at last the great uncreating hand of Chaos and Dark Night. That is the Gnosis of Leaders.

School of Philanthropy Coming to University of Indiana

School of Philanthropy One Step Closer at University of Indiana, per Deseret News:

The Indiana University board of trustees has approved the creation of a School of Philanthropy to be located on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus. The school could open as early as next year, pending further approval.

What We can Learn From the Bacchae about a Well Ordered Firm or City

The Post Proper by Phil Cubeta or his Duly Authorized Designee

For all the harms done to children, to so many species of innocent animals, to our legal system, to our polity, why is our outrage over the abuse of power for sexual pleasure so much greater than our outrage over the abuse of power for political ends, or financial ends? So many failed to take action on Sandusky. So many have failed to take action as our imperial Presidents have rained down death from the skies on orders without appeal or due process, and as our courts have reduced our liberties at behest of usura. In Plato's Cave, as he predicted, the citizens follow the evolving stories, as in the control room, the slaves carry the message dictated by the Guardians, to produce the play of shadows. Plato exiled the poets from The Republic, preferring the rule of reason, the rule of metrics and results, according to a businesslike plan. Yet, The Cave is a parable, and the Guardians subordinate art to reason at their own risk. When the poets return, led by Dionysus, we shall have Carnival, the last shall be first, and the first shall be last, as Jerry Sandusky reads the liturgy, the Pope, speaking Ex Cathedra, declares himself ignorant of any wrong doing, and the President dresses as a Temple Prostitute, serving his/her clients for Superpac money.

Note by Dr. Amrit Chadwallah, Assistant Professor in charge of Hidden Meaning in Wealth Bondage, The School of Premodern to Postmodern Cultural Studies.

In eliciting from this post its greatest riches, which lie well below the surface (deeps to which only a true scholar can go) it is perhaps worth noting that Phil was given a copy of The Bacchae by the admirering daughter of a South American Dictator last Christmas in return, it seems for Phil having gotten her into Princeton with the help of his connections at the CIA, in return for the Dictator's brutal suppression of civil liberties on behalf of economic Freedom and Reform. The spine of the book, a trade paperback, indicates that the book has not been opened. It is possible, however, that Phil may have been influenced in this post by the back cover, and/or the front cover, showing private actions in a public place, which he somehow associates with philanthropy.

Note on the Note by The Author Function

It should go without saying that both "Phil Cubeta," the unreliable and mystified narrator of the so-called Post Proper, and my esteemed colleague, Dr. Chadwallah, are characters in a play without footlights, as Bakhtin called it, speaking of life in Russia under Stalin, under guise of speaking about Rabelais and his tradition. Neither Phil nor Chadwallah speaks for me. (How can any character speak for an Omnisicient Author?) For purposes of authenticity, sincerity, and building a permanent file tied to a credit card and passport, Phil is the designated "owner" of all assets and liabilities related to this post. As Chadwallah points out, Dionysus, the god of Theater (particularly tragedy) was also the god of Satire and the goat plays, rooted in the rituals of blood sacrifice. To cure the body politic, how? The Bachhae suggests the King, Pentheus, standing for businesslike, managerial reason, and Executive Leadership, must be cross-dressed as a girl, and torn apart, his head presented by his mother to his father. The Oedipus cycle suggests that blinding the King and having him live out his days as a beggar may be sufficient for the crimes he has unknowinlgy committed, thereby curing the city of plague, which is a metaphor for injustice, fear and intimidation, as Camus noted, and built on in his novel by that name, about the German Occupation and the collaboration, active or passive, of the French people. Satire, however, suggests that "laughter may be the best cure," for what ails us. Laughter can be laughter at another, driving the miscreant out of the circle like a scapegoat, but laughter can also be inclusive, reforming and reintegrating the miscreant into the human circle. Of course, if the King does not laugh, the all licensed Dionysian Fool may become the sacrificial animal. Noting all this, I have established Phil as the speaker, owner, and potential fall guy. In Greece at one time they called these sacrificial figures Pharmakoi, and kept them in luxury at the public expense, pending their sacrifice by burning at the crossroads, sacred to Dionysus, where  even until recently Robert Johnson learned the blues fom the Devil, a Christianized version of Dionysus, the goat footed one. In a time of austerity, due to budget imbalances, and the leveraged buyout of the commwealth or commonwealth, we have dispensed with the luxury. Phil is kept on short rations for the highest possible cost/benefit ratio to our investors. Yet, many want the job which comes open regularly. Such is the wisdom, the power, and the glory of The Market.  Phil's request for a last meal to include rib eye steaks, a baked potato, aparagus,apple pie and ice cream has been denied as tending to make a mockery of his immolation. He will be fed marshmallows and weiners.

Erratum

To speak as Phil did above about some "duly authorized designee" is a transparent charade. Phil will not so easily deflect responsibility for his actions. I will deal with the others later. (The Voice of Unseen Authority.)

"Advice and Giving 2012" From Fidelity Charitable

New study by Fidelity Charitable shows that advisors are a bit out of touch with wealthy clients' giving patterns. Generally, clients are much more apt to give than advisors realize, and give more than advisors realize. The less our clients give the better, said, my boss, and generous patron, Mistress Candidia.  The more money we retain under management at Wealth Bondage, the better the world will be. I forget why, Phil, remind me! What am I paying you for? Give me a rationale. I want a triple bottom line, Sweetie, and I want it now. All the lines going straight up, like The Blue Angels, vapor trails scaling heaven itself.

Albert Ruesga on The Higher Moral Purpose of Philanthropy

Laughter, or cackling, from Mistress Candida's corner office. My God, if I laugh any harder I am going to pee my leather britches! Dear sweet Albert Ruesga is on again about whether to welcome Wealth Bondage into what he calls "organized philanthropy." He sees the benefits. He see the drawbacks. He loves his job, he loves his field, he loves the poor and all creatures big and small. Thump thump goes his bleeding heart. He feels anguish that foundations do not embody what he calls a higher - this cracks me up - moral consciousness! Yes, Albert is lecturing us, the world at large, about higher consciousness. Earth to Albert! Raising consciousness is so 1969. Albert you are trapped in some kind of a time warp. We want results, Sweetie. Get off your ass and save capitalism. And, by the way, what the hell kind of name is Ruesga? Sounds like some kind of Albanian vegetable. A moralist named Ruesga? The man has no sense of what he really is. They should put him on a float and pull him down Main Street. The last honest man! Wave to your imaginary admirers, Albert!

Making Sense of Economic Injustice with the help of my Superiors

Charts showing that America is not America anymore, from Business Insider. I asked my boss, Mistress Candidia, how I should feel about America's future. She said, "We need a change, Phil, vote Republican." That makes sense to me. Hope and change. We don't wantto go forward. We want to go backward to how it used to be.

Creating and Extracting Shared Value without Loss of Self Esteem

I get very few calls about my morals tutoring business, other than newspapers calling to ask for success stories in turning crooks and psychopaths in high places into good citizens. I have no data on that. The last morals tutor who blabbed about such things died a horrible death, though it was not torture per se, they just cut him into bits over an extended period of time, as an example to the rest of us, in defense of national security, since the person he had tried to reform was in charge of the not-torture program locally, nationally, and internationally, and had helped formulate the National Security Kill on Sight List. But I do get some calls about how to get ahead in philanthropy consulting and how to make good money at it. A brilliant young woman called yesterday, to this effect, "I have worked in financial services, rising rapidly. I have interfaced and liased and generally been in the mix with C-level execs of a Fortune 100 firm. I have also worked for a former Senator in his philanthropic intitiatives. All my friends from College are applying to business school. They rate Harvard as top choice and all see Tuck as a safety school. I could go too, but it will cost $200,000. I want to work in this field. The growing philanthropic consulting firms won't even look at my resume without an MBA. Maybe I should get into impact investing?"  I gave her worldy advice to the effect the MBAs have now successfully colononized the nonprofit sector. To  add value, or better yet extract value, and to move it up the value chain into her own pocket, while doing good, and getting on the front cover of Forbes as a social entrepreneur, she would need an MBA or connections with the Russian mafia, or the equivalent. To cover those bases, I set her up with an interview with my generous patron, Candidia Cruikshanks, MBA, she who rules us all. A recommendation from Candy, HBS class of 83, would get her into Harvard for sure, or into the mob, if that proves a better option. $200,000 is peanuts for a social entrepreneur to pay back from enhanced earnings consulting with struggling nonprofits, or from shaking them down. The top Shared Value Consultants in Wealth Bondage make that much in a week. And the good they do is totally out of control - in fact it is beyond measure. Metrics are not available to document it because it dwarfs all measurement tools known to mankind. Who can measure Infinite Value? The Sharing part is a work in progress. Looting is good. Sharing among MBAs is good. Beyond that, people get what they deserve. That I am broke at my age is a pretty good indication that I should have gotten a better education, when I had that chance, rather than studying The Beggars Opera, a work which has limited contemporary application, since it is about the Romance of Wealth and Power and the pleasures of abusing them, and the public trust as well, while also being beloved of the general public as well by our fellow knaves, rogues, doxies, judges and Prime Ministers. The Beggar who introduces that play is a good friend; we have often slept beneath a bridge together, and have shared a bottle of bum wine, and good stories about our betters in high places, subject of course to Confidentiality upon Pain which is not Torture, but hurts like hell short of organ failure, pending the Hellfire drone strike, to make the world safe for Freedom and the like.  First they send the drones, then the Seals, then Regular Army to absorb the IEDs, then the MBAs. Shared Value Creation Globally. Measure and Manage. Name, Claim, and Subjugate. You think I am kidding? Good!  I am joking. I am crazy. Don't hurt me, or at least let it be over quickly as a concession for my many years of loyal service to the Wardens who serve us. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to clean up the Dungeon before my next Moral Intervention. I am reforming an aged Nun sent here by the Pope for espousing social justice. It is a freebie, but I get to share in the collection plate next Sunday at the Homeless Shelter. My colleague, Father Brennan, is preaching one last Sermon on Chastity, before entering the Witness Protection Program, his reward for turning States Evidence against the Bishop. The dectectives are working up the chain of command. But it is all in good fun. No one goes to jail. No laws were broken. I can testify to that under oath, for my usual fee.

Charity and Business Exit Planning - A Local Wealth Wave

Wealth Channel Interview with John Brown on Charity and Exit Planning for Business Onwers.

One of the greatest and largely untapped charitable resources for our communities is business owners, particularly successful boomer business owners now exiting their enterprise. These capable people are asking, What will I do now with my time and talent? Where will I invest not only for myself and my family, but so that my heirs will inherit a community worth living in?John Brown, of Business Enterprise Institute trains and equips advisors to work with business owners as they prepare for this transition. On The Wealth Channel linked above, I interview John about exit planning and charity. The highlight is a story John tells of a workshop in which owners of businesses fill out a short questionnaire that begins with the question, in effect, "What will your life ideally look like when you have successfully exited the firm?"  John noticed that one participant, in his 60's, turned in his workbook blank. When John asked the business owner's children why, they replied, "Dad could not get past the first question." So, if you work for a charity, or for a community foundation, and you have boomer business owners on your board, or in your donor bank, consider teaming up with an advisor who specializes in exit planning to hold a workshop. Help successful business owners visualize just how good life will be after they have had their liquidity event. As John says, these owners today get their meaning in life from their firm. They have their name on their building and on the products and on the trucks. What will they get meaning from after the exit? What other than has-been will their identity be? Where will their name go then? And where will their time and energy go? Any ideas?

The Happy Tutor Receives a Great Honor

Gifthub is featured on The Wealth Channel as "blog of the week."  To reach The Happy Tutor, who was honored by name, I poked around in his Dumpster with a ten foot pole. "Tutor, The Wealth Channel says you are charming." His rude response from beneath the litter of old television sets, encyclopedias, Wall Street Journals, Vanity Fairs, National Enquirers, and histories of world literature was to reach up an empty hand, thrusting through the garbage bags, his grubby fingers rubbing as if to caresse his new-found wealth. "No, Tutor, but they did send their best wishes."