The Tao of Enron - excerpt from the book Dead Boys

Dead Boys by Gabriel Squailia

"Our Goddess isn’t gracious, nor loving, nor any of the other fine words we impute to her in our prayers; she’s fickle, fickle as a kitten, and yet we think the same old blessings repeated for eternity can win her affections. Not so!” He cupped his hands above his brow. “We have to shake her up to keep her close! And feeling that truth in my bones, I placed what little time remained to me on the tabletop, and cursed the Lady with all my might,...-- and lo, when I stood up again, I was richer..." From the preaching of Brother Griswold

When I read this excerpt from Dead Boys by Gabriel Squailia, I thought, "Maybe blasphemy really can bring luck to some people if the ruling gods' attention is gained by spitting right in their eye." This is a dangerous path, for sure. But greed brings people to perform strange acts. It has the tinge of the 'left-handed' paths in various spiritual traditions; going so far in the 'wrong' direction.


One of the curses further on in this chapter is very contemporary:  “May all statistical improbabilities impact thee unfavorably!” This was the downfall of the stock market in 2008 when all the mortgages went South as a result of banks poorly assessing the statistical risks of sub-prime loans. The improbability (black swan) manifested itself but only after making tons of money for the blasphemers!!! Of course, few were punished.

So, how  did the author come up with the Tao of Enron?

Perceptive, but the perversity of attracting god's attention through misbehaving is twisted.

"There's a scene in the documentary, "Smartest Guys in the Room" where these two traders are talking while they're forcing power blackouts in California during the forest fires, and it's really obvious that they equate the grandmothers they're killing with the money they're making on some cosmic level," answered Gabriel.


Dead Boys is a novel chock full of such insight as well as entertaining banter, inspired characters.

Light-hearted and macabre, Dead Boys’ comic-book flash illuminates a framework of Buddhist philosophy and classical allusions that give it an appeal far beyond the boundaries of generic fantasy. http://squailia.blogspot.com/

Yoga-nomics: Ayn Rand and our Market Meltdown

 How much did naïve sentiments color Greenspan's decisions as Fed chairman? (for the full story)
I figured out the problems with the Objectivist philosophy of Ayn Rand in my early 20's and am really stunned that our country was taken off course by this inconsistently logical dogma. Argh!
I subscribed to the Objectivist newsletter. I voted for Nixon based on Rand's endorsement. I thought about it all and came to the conclusion that there was too big a divide between the Ideology and the day to day living reality of what is. There, now I've said it...
A main thread running through this insane split in our country is over this issue. Do we trust the people running our Corporations, and to what degree. It's evident from the Tea Party gatherings that people are pissed about any regulations. Liberals, on the other hand, can't understand why good, orderly supervision is denied so vociferously.
Read Ayn Rand's novels to understand what is dividing our country these days. In spite of a mountain of evidence to the contrary, many are sticking to the rugged individualism espoused by Ayn. Come to your own conclusions about her philosophy and talk to others. This is a very serious time in our country, make no mistake.
We all have this idealism to deal with and it is a good thing. Integrity comes from this source. However, when it is misplaced and dogmatic it can only lead to the kinds of excess that we have seen in the past 3 years. 
Each and every one of us should be able to discuss our views on the role of government in our lives from a deep understanding of the underlying issues. It seems that Ayn Rand is a good starting place to delve into the reasons why so many citizens are today talking about exercising "Second Amendment Remedies."
Take this seriously. This debate and the actions that ensue are part of our history. And history, as we say, will repeat itself until it is understood.
"Greenspan's Fed looked the other way while essentially unregulated mortgage brokers churned out bad loans to dreamers, deadbeats, and suckers during the housing boom.
This is the problem in huge proportions. Greenspan's ideology led him to say this:

"...you and I will never agree about fraud," she remembered him saying. "You probably will always believe there should be laws against fraud, and I don't think there is any need for a law against fraud."

Greenspan... believed the market would take care of itself.