Corporate greed and the common man

CNBC's Laurence Kudlow recently rationalized Enron's recent collapse, marking the greatest bankruptcy the United States has ever seen, by stating that in a free market economy there will be winners and losers. By his logic we must generalize the 21,000 employees of the Houston-based energy commodity dealer as losers and the executives are winners. The existence of the free market economy never justifies ruining thousands of lives. The executives made off like bandits with hundreds of millions of dollars while the "losers" no longer have the funds they planned to retire with, pay mortgages, educate their children and eat.

These "losers" were duped--Ha! The fools listened to the analysts, their employers and themselves and let 60 percent of their $2.1 billion 401k plan consist of Enron stock. This retirement plan was designed, according to London's Financial Times, to maintain the money within the company and not work for individual financial security. Those fools had their eggs in a basket that just got run over by a semi-truck. The best part might be that the executives were able to sell their shares around $50--making off with millions in profit--while the common employee watched his meager fortune disappear.

What a roller coaster ride that must have been, watching your shares drop from over $80 to pennies. What a relief it must be for the former employees of the nation's seventh largest corporation that economists do not predict economic tremors following the bankruptcy because their corporation never really produced anything? What a relief it must be to the executives who were allowed to sell their stock before the crash to below one dollar that they most likely will not spend much time in jail or lose their money?

Something is rotten in any society where an Enron-esque debacle occurs. The executives must be held responsible for deceiving all involved parties. They have ruined the lives of thousands of people through faulty business practice. Joblessness from Enron's collapse--as with all massive unemployment incidents--will lead to increased divorces, fatal heart-attack incidence, suicide and depression.

Throughout last year, while Enron hid its financial troubles--nearly $55 million to some 500 employees--analysts touted it as a strong corporation. There were few signs pointing to financial troubles. While our nation's attention focused solely on Afghanistan, we ignored our own barbarity as a select few ran to the bank with vast fortunes while thousands became financially exhausted. We are fighting a war against terrorism, but we must not forget to fight the evil living within our own borders, the heartless actions powered by greed.

The past two decades witnessed massive governmental deregulation and oversight cutbacks. Maybe it is now time to increase corporate vigilance. The private sector does not act motivated by public interest, it is driven by the almighty dollar. The government must now restructure retirement financial planning and initiate new measures to audit corporations. Unfortunately, no matter how many safeguards the government implements to prevent more massive unemployment instances, there will be more because the current financial situation requires ever-increasing earnings to elevate stock prices. Therefore, executives with fortunes to be made through their own stock interests will lie, cheat and layoff as many people as needed to raise their corporation above the red line. Any executive can look competent by fueling his company into the black with pink slips, and at the end of the fiscal year collect more than adequate compensation to survive, meanwhile their former employees suffer day to day because they were not motivated enough to succeed.

The Enron catastrophe ruined the lives of many employees who saw their savings pilfered by a few heartless individuals who got caught in a web of their own lies. Most Americans will remember Enron as the original name of the Houston Astros' new stadium, hopefully they will eventually recall it as the corporation that catalyzed a change in business practice and ethics for the entire private sector.

Kevin Ogorzalek is a Trinity sophomore.