Of Miners and Lesser Men

By TAD BARTIMUS

"These guys ... they knew the risk when they went into the mine ... and they knew exactly what to do when the water came rushing in. They kept their cool and they saved themselves ... ."

-- Dr. Russell Dumire, trauma surgeon, Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown, Pa.

What a contrast in character the rescued men of the Quecreek mine present in comparison to the disgraced executives of Enron, WorldCom, Adelphia and other corporate giants.

When their walls caved in, nine miners facing death stayed focused, kept calm and used their training to help one another.

When their financial world collapsed, some of America's highest-flying CEOs panicked, ran for the exits and shamed themselves by foisting blame onto others.

Our character contributes to our success or failure, not just in the workplace, but in our lives. It's not a quality to be tailored like a well-cut suit. It's part and parcel of who we are, developed over decades as we face challenges and opportunities. It is not defined by education, economic status or genetic code, but nurtured by acquired beliefs and repetitive behavior.

When those blue-collar miners descended 240 feet into a dark, narrow coal shaft, they took with them an authentic tradition of hard work, personal courage and fellowship. Every workday leading up to that fateful Tuesday, they routinely risked their lives to put food on the table, pay the rent, send their kids to college and keep their health insurance.

Conversely, the fallen business icons who steered their companies to financial disaster brought with them into their boardrooms an inflated sense of entitlement built on preferential treatment, political influence and moral shortcuts. They lived like kings off of other people's money while apparently sanctioning cooked books.

As revelations of corporate greed and plunder continue to surface and an army of defense lawyers search for legal loopholes to save their clients from accountability, restitution and possible jail terms, consumer confidence and our economy suffer. No wonder.

As usual, Congress stammers and stutters as it tries to close the barn door long after the horses are gone. Like so many before them, these congressional dog-and-pony shows are rushing through legislation to slap hands, but little else. Because politicians need campaign contributions and businessmen expect good value for their money, sweetheart relationships between elected officials and corporate donors will always be with us.

If this fish doesn't exactly stink from the head, there's still a whiff of something foul hanging over the White House. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating Halliburton Co.'s accounting practices when Vice President Dick Cheney was its CEO.

Polls suggest Americans are split over whether President George W. Bush's sale of Harken Energy Corp. stock in 1990 was hastened by possible insider information, even though the SEC decided not to take any action following an investigation. The president -- a former CEO with an M.B.A -- also accepted a low-interest loan while an outside director of Harken. That practice would be prohibited under new legislation.

The president's belated pledge to the American people that "this government will investigate, will arrest and will prosecute corporate executives who break the law" eerily echoes an earlier promise to hunt down "the evil one." Let's hope catching our own white-collar wrongdoers proves more successful than finding Osama bin Laden.

Rogue officers from Enron, WorldCom, Inc., Global Crossing, Adelphia and other corporations have a constitutional right to invoke the fifth amendment against self-incrimination and enjoy all the protections afforded them under the law.
It's just a shame we can't send them 240 feet underground for three days to ponder the tragic human consequences of their nefarious acts.


© 2002 The Women Syndicate

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