We cannot turn on a newscast or day time talk show without having to listen to Blagojevitch proclaim his innocence and victimization, droning on and on.

Citigroup seems to have no shame.

The Bush Administration continues to believe that, despite finally acknowledging mistakes were made, they truly were doing the right thing.

My fellow consultants continue to moan that they are less able to charge exorbitant fees for their expertise. While not questioning our contribution and competence, and while I have over a quarter century experience learning that independent consultants must charge significantly more to accommodate the additional personal and business expenses, I do believe that some consulting firms have joined the ranks of some highly paid executives who have lost sight of the financial divide between the lowest paid and highest paid contributors in the organization.

Does anyone see a pattern here?

It is easier to believe proclamations of no wrong doing when the accused truly believes no rules, ethics, morals, or laws were violated.  Culturally, the very air we breathe may be so toxic that we are lost in the rules of the game to the point that we truly are doing what we must to retain the “right” to offer our competence.

Mark Maguire and Barry Bonds are exceptional athletes. If no steroid abuse were happening in baseball at all, they would still be exceptional athletes. Just perhaps with lesser stats. If the virtual physical enhancement playing field were equal, they would still excel. If they took the “high road” and refused to use any asset available to them while others did, perhaps they would have simply blended into the pack.

What’s a star athlete to do?

I grew up in Illinois, and have watched Illinois and Chicago politics my whole life. Blagojevich is a travesty, whether he is blinded to his own culpability or not. What may be the bigger travesty, though, is that he was just arrogant or narcissistic enough to think he didn’t need to cover his tracks. Was he operating at a level worse than most in his practices, or does he simply have a potty mouth and a temper and bad judgment? We ALL know political corruption is rampant. What is the old saying that Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? Isn’t that why our Founding Fathers built a constitution of checks and balances? (Which is a story for another day….)

Yet here we are. A governor waging a PR campaign second to none, likely convinced he was only practicing politics as usual. And perhaps he was. If he is the poster child for change, I’m all for it. I’m ready for clean air.

The money people have been greedy and corrupt at many levels, but I venture that many top earners are simply riding the wave of their peers. One must make a certain amount of money and bandy a certain amount of power and money around to be considered “successful” in today’s marketplace. Some just plain want all they can grab. Many are simply playing by the current rules. Some have been probably quite unaware of how out of whack it all really is.

If ambitious professionals want to rise above the masses, they must compete against prevailing norms. Our society’s prevailing norms are toxic, and create choices for many – politicians, athletes, executives , consultants – that verge on the line of narcisisstic lack of other-awareness, and many fall on the common practices side of that line. It’s easy to become unconscious sheep, following blindly what is normal and losing sight of what is right.

Common practices suggest that you have to woo and win and barter and trade and wield money and status sometimes in order to rise in your respective profession. You have to garner and horde power wherever you can so you have the ammunition you need.

Frankly, I want clean societal air. Much is falling around us – beliefs, hopes, dreams, salaries, jobs, housing prices. Believe me, I’m affected directly. I would rather be without a house than steal from someone in the name of “This is the way it’s done around here.” I would rather lose my status in the community than  take a job where I know I can’t have a positive impact. It just doesn’t feel right to me. And besides, while I like cash flow and nice things, I’m not driven by them.

I, despite watching my retirement disintegrate around me, breathe the air and make choices. I choose clean air as much as I can find. And yes, I am willing to sacrifice to do that.

Aren’t you?
Shouldn’t our financial institutions? Our professional athletes? Our financial and industry top executives?

And shouldn’t we – as the people of this great society – call them out and support the ones who choose to rid themselves of toxicity they may not have been aware they were breathing in?

We cannot participate in strategic thinking and America’s renewal if we are breathing unconsciously.

We have many choices in front of us. The first is to open our eyes, breathe clean air, expect exceptional humanity from the best of the best, and stop worshiping superstars that cannot sustain super human elitism without great cost to their bodies, all our ethical consciousness, and us.

Fantasy Headlines November, 2012:

Obama Wins! New FDR Slides into Repeat Victory in Record Landslide!

Even Big Business Supports New Deal Redux!

America Again the Land of Opportunity!

We Did It!

America Leads the Way Back to the World of Opportunity!

Obama Leads the Mayan Calendar Countdown to Transformational 12-12-2012

“Anyone who might long wistfully for a return to the New Deal,” he remarked bluntly not long ago, “should consider that America today is as far from the time of FDR as the New Deal was from Abe Lincoln and the Civil War.” Andy Stern, leader of the Service Employees International Union, America’s fastest-growing and second-largest public services union, put the cabosh to my dream headlines recently.

Is he accurate? Why? I’d like to know. Not that Roosevelt was perfect; rather, he interred Asian-American citizens and largely ignored racist violence. He likely contributed to the decline of the gold standard and control of our country’s wealth through privatization (The Federal Reserve Bank). A Sophie’s Choice, perhaps. Perhaps he agonized over the need to form broad alliances to address huge economic challenges instead of tackling all American citizens’ human rights or protecting the American citizens’ gold. History tells the story through many lens, and we can each form our own conclusion about the benefits and cost of FDR’s New Deal.

I, frankly, don’t want to debate the efficacy or accuracy of FDR’s record. I am not even sure I want to take a strong position on what is the “right” thing for the United States now. [I’m tired and haven’t the energy to “step up” beyond simply posting a thought today. And my thinking continues to evolve. ]

So with that disclaimer to ward off the accusations, I’m simply thinking and dreaming. I’m certainly not the first blogger or pundit to compare Obama to FDR, or to be strongly supportive or opposed to Obama as a result. I am a proponent of the comparison, and I encourage its serious consideration by anyone looking for synergy in solution. [I’m a consultant. I use words like synergy. LOL]

For example, why wouldn’t it be consideration-worthy to revisit the Tennessee Valley Authority? Our country’s infrastructure – especially our bridges – could certainly use some boosting. Beyond infrastructure, we have other needs. We need to revamp our emphasis and support learning, for example. Our economy, to be overly simple and avoid a launch down a different path, is in crisis.

Of course, I am opining based on the assumptions that

- The American people are able to step up and take responsibility for governing again,

- Big Business (and I’ve spent a good part of my career working on building bigger businesses) does have some moral commitment to being a good Global Citizen, and

- When Change hits Washington there is a modicum of hope that it could be real and is not absolutely corrupted. Whether it’s McCain’s or Obama’s version of change.

These are assumptions that I cannot verify or even wholeheartedly believe. Yet when we pull away the mob mentality, the compliant swallowing of the media spin, and remember who we are as American and world citizens…. I still find people who have hearts and minds. My heart and mind wants to believe that we can solve our own challenges. I know I am making dramatic changes in my own life in order to do, to the best of my ability, my part to be the Change I want to see.

For example, rather than taxing wealth and work, could the feds give corporations and wealthy individuals the choice to not pay additional taxes? Instead, they could partner to redeploy a percentage of corporate / capital gains taxes into clean energy R&D, and a commitment to worker retraining and redeployment in ways that serves big goals, like the sustainability of our planet and energy independence for the U.S.

I am not running for office. I am not Paris Hilton.

I am a motivated student of history and current events. I, for example, would gladly take my 25+ years of experience as an organizational psychologist and change manager and redeploy my own skills in helping to build and launch a New Deal that rebuilds for a sustainable future. And I’d like to get paid to do that while putting supper on the table in a home with a low, fixed rate mortgage (or better yet, paid in full. Remember those days?), worry free that my home and IRA will not lose paper value in the thousands through no fault of mine.

Corporations heavily influence Washington today. How far that goes, I don’t know. Wealthy individuals heavily impact world health and other social causes today, ala The Gates Foundation and others like them. Privatization is happening far more and has been for far longer than many U.S. citizens realize. A natural next step could be a broad partnership, a more transparent relationship, a new “New Deal.” Create jobs and recreate skills but moving in a direction that gives the country a shot at becoming once again the place with the audacity to declare Hope as a viable fuel for Change.

I’m feeling brave enough to be publicly hopeful today. Not Democrtically loyal. Not Republican business. Not progressively resilient. Just wishing and hoping. And if wishes were horses, we’d all be ranchers. I guess I’m a wish wrangler. No matter my dreams, history will unfold. I would rather be part of FDR’s future than Nero’s. And so, that is the space I will hold. At least for today.

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