首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Every political period has its characteristic form of scandal. During the Reagan defense buildup of the mid-1980s, the scandal o
Every political period has its characteristic form of scandal. During the Reagan defense buildup of the mid-1980s, the scandal o
admin
2011-06-24
48
问题
Every political period has its characteristic form of scandal. During the Reagan defense buildup of the mid-1980s, the scandal of the day was "waste, fraud and mismanagement" at the Penta-gon, symbolized by the infamous $640 toilet seat. Amid the general embarrassment and excuse-making, only one defense hawk was bold enough to declare that waste and fraud were actually good things. "We need more" of them, wrote Edward Luttwak in Commentary. If you’re going to build a stronger defense and build it fast, a bit of corruption is a necessary by-product.
Today’s characteristic form of scandal is financial abuse and excess. So where is the Luttwak of today who will cut through all the demagoguery and the whining, the outraged criticism and the mealy-mouthed apologies, and say, "Look, you want a vigorous entrepreneurial economy?" A bit of excess is a necessary by-product. "We need more" financial abuse—it is a sign that capitalism is working.
Who has the courage to make this argument? I am not that man. But if 1 were that man, the case would run something like this: the magic of capitalism, as explained by Adam Smith and his followers, is that it channels individual greed into activities that benefit all of us. "Greed is good," declared Michael Douglas, playing a corrupt financier in the movie Wall Street. More accurately, greed is inevitable. It is part of the human condition. And in moderation, economists argue and history demonstrates, greed is no bad thing. Free-market economies could not function if we were all Mother Teresa.
But there is nothing inherent in the human condition that keeps greed in moderation. So there are laws, and there are appearances. Both these forces draw a rough line—and attempt to place it—between greed that helps other people and greed that hurts other people. Inevitably, though, some will take greed too far. And that’s a good thing (goes the argument I lack the courage to make). Why? Because you can’t regulate greed with precision.
Keynes used the term "animal spirits" to describe the motivation of business people. A successful economy needs a culture that encourages them, up to a point. It’s a Goldilocks-type situation. You don’t want too much greed, and you don’t want too little—you want an amount that’s just right. But the dials are not all that sensitive. A culture that encourages enough greed in enough people will encourage too much in a few. If nobody is taking greed too far, you can be certain that too few people are taking it far enough.
For some reason, none of the lawyers who are defending the big greedheads have chosen to make this argument. Instead, they offer inconsistent theories to explain the obvious. Lawyers for the Rigas family, which performed the remarkable feat of bankrupting a cable company, say their clients can’t be guilty of a conspiracy to loot the company because they are too dimwitted: one is "not the savviest guy," another is "clueless." Martha Stewart’s defense, by contrast, was in part that she is too clever to have done anything as dumb as conspiring to break the securities laws.
Lawyers for Dennis Kozlowski, former CEO of Tyco, take this line of reasoning further. The Wall Street Journal called theirs the "brazenness defense." Kozlowski made no secret of the fact that he used Tyco money for a yacht, kept his mistresses on the payroll and (possibly therefore) also let Tyco finance a $5 million diamond ring for his wife. How could he have criminal intent if it was all out in the open? By contrast, Scott Sullivan, former CFO of WorldCom, engaged in a more traditional form of gall in pleading guilty to $11 billion worth of accounting fraud. It was a "misguided effort to save the company," he said. Call this the Vietnam defense: it was necessary to destroy the company in order to save it.
Will no one step forward to say clearly that these seeming malefactors are actually heroes? That we need more of them, not fewer? True, Martha has been found guilty (though she is appeal-ing), and others may lose in court as well. True, these people may have personally harmed the economy and ripped off many individual investors. Nevertheless, taken together, they are a sign of the economy’s robust health. Far better that a few greedheads get carried away than that we are worried that we are not getting the benefit of all the good, healthy, productive sort of greed that this county is capable of producing.
In fact, dunk of these unpopular figures as the canaries of capitalism. They precede us into the coal mine of greed, going farther than the rest of us dare, showing us where far enough becomes too far and perishing in the effort. They are martyrs of capitalism, dying financially so that others may prosper. Does no one have the simple guts to tell mis truth?
Well, I certainly don’t.
"Malefactors" in the eighth paragraph is closest in meaning to_____.
选项
A、entrepreneurs
B、male presidents
C、criminals
D、heroes
答案
C
解析
结合上下文可知,这些巨贪可能都会受到法律的制裁,因此,作者用了seeming一词,所以选项C更符合题意,为正确答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/rfYO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
WhenIwasabout11,Iinheritedmyolderbrother’spaperroute.Itwasagoodjob,thoughitmeanswakingupatthecrackof
A、ItcondemnedLibya.B、ItbrokediplomatictieswithLibya.C、ItwouldnotnormalizerelationswithLibya.D、Itwasinvestigati
A、Theydon’thelpsportsplayersatall.B、Theymaybecomfortablebutaretooexpensive.C、Theydon’tliveuptotheirfame.D、
A、Pinochetwasneverallowedtoleavehisvilla.B、Pinochet’scasehadneverbeentried.C、Somepeople,however,weretryingto
Atpresentcompaniesandindustriesliketosponsorsportsevents.Tworeasonsareputforwardtoexplainthisphenomenon.Thef
GovernmentsAreTryingA1990UnitedNationssurveyrevealedthatthemorehighlydevelopedcountriesspendanaverageof2t
A、calledbackfromhisofficeB、abductedonhiswayhomeC、arrestedoutsidetheirhomeD、rousedfrombedD
Recently,apossiblealternativewayofproducingpaperhasbeensuggestedbyagriculturalists:andenvironmentalists:aplant
Ateamofinternationalresearchershasfoundnewevidencethatanendangeredsubspeciesofchimpanzeeisthesourceoftheviru
ThismonthSingaporepassedabillthatwouldgivelegalteethtothemoralobligationtosupportone’sparents.CalledastheM
随机试题
老年男性。反复咳嗽咳痰4~5年,近2个月来病情加重,痰量多,青霉素氨基糖苷类抗生素治疗效果欠佳。查体:背部双下肺野可闻湿啰音,血WBC7.6×109/L,N76%。该病人诊断应为
近代中国半殖民地半封建社会最主要的矛盾是()。
病人具有剧烈自发性搏动性牙痛,遇冷刺激可暂时缓解
临床上成人最常用的骨髓穿刺部位是
采用样地调查收割法进行生物量实测,草本群落选用()m2。
根据支付结算法律制度的规定,下列各项中,属于无效票据的有()。
根据以下资料,回答问题。2011年,民航行业完成运输总周转量577.44亿吨千米,比上年增长7.2%。其中旅客周转量403.53亿吨千米,增长12.2%;货邮周转量173.91亿吨千米。2011年,国内航线完成运输周转量380.61亿吨
下列有关实验操作、现象和解释或结论都正确的是()。
联系我国法治建设的需要,论述法律解释的必要性。(2011年论述70) 要求:观点明确,说理充分,条理清晰,语言规范、流畅。
Translatingisacomplexandfascinatingtask.Infact,A.Richardshasclaimedthatitisprobablythemostcomplextypeofeve
最新回复
(
0
)