Continuing our series taken from a business article on ten mistakes not to make we look at:
#3 Terrible Money Management
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, provides an excellent example of bad management, and arguably of terrible money management. Rehoboam grew up as the spoiled son of an extravagant father. When his father died, Rehoboam became heir to Solomon's empire. His subjects came to him asking for relief from the heavy tax burden that they bore (1 Kings 12:4). The old men advised Rehoboam to listen to the people (1 Kings 12:6-7), but the young men advised him to live it up on luxuries that others had earned (1 Kings 12:10-11). Rehoboam rejected the advice of the old timers and listened instead to the young bucks (1 Kings 12:8). As a result, the ten tribes revolted against him and he lost the empire so carefully built up by his forefathers. He faced the prospect of greatly diminished revenues. This did not become clear to him until the tax-collector he sent to collect those revenues was stoned by the people to whom the tax-collector was sent (1 Kings 12:18). A move that cuts off one's prospect of future revenues is arguably a terrible management mistake.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Today's Nibley Quote
From "The Unsolved Loyalty Problem" CWHN 10:224:
Conformity can be had by bribery, flattery, or force, but one can no more legislate loyalty than one can legislate love, of which it is a part.
Today's Maxwell Quote
From this talk:
If Jesus had not rescued us from death, there would be ultimate misery. If his ministry is viewed as merely mortal, it is robbed of its real relevance. In the midst of such doctrinal disarray stands the church of Jesus Christ, proclaiming the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth. No wonder there is such a sharp reaction from the forces of him who sought the Saviorship for himself.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Today's Nibley Quote
From "Nobody to Blame" CWHN 17:125:
Seen in proper perspective, the doings of the learned are high comedy, and we who profess publicly and for a fee are fair game for any criticism, as Justice Learned Hand has noted in a significant decision: "It is indeed not true that all ridicule . . . or all disagreeable comment . . . is actionable; a man must not be too thin-skinned or a self important prig."
On Print and Digital
There are certain advantages which the various media have. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of the various media is necessary to know how best to use them. Many today are pushing the value of digital media, but I think it worthwhile to highlight one of the virtues of print.
For example, consider the book Glimpses of Lehi's Jerusalem. This book examines the cultural background of Jerusalem at the beginning of the sixth century BC. It thus provides a look at the world that was the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Although it available digitally, the digital version does not have the photo essay with the beautiful photographs. (Consequently all the chapter numbers after the second chapter are off by one.) One of the harder things to convey in words is what things actually looked like. So if you are interested in what life was like in the time of Jeremiah (or Lehi), you ought to obtain a copy of the print version of the book. (It is still in print and well worth the perusal.)
For example, consider the book Glimpses of Lehi's Jerusalem. This book examines the cultural background of Jerusalem at the beginning of the sixth century BC. It thus provides a look at the world that was the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the Book of Mormon. Although it available digitally, the digital version does not have the photo essay with the beautiful photographs. (Consequently all the chapter numbers after the second chapter are off by one.) One of the harder things to convey in words is what things actually looked like. So if you are interested in what life was like in the time of Jeremiah (or Lehi), you ought to obtain a copy of the print version of the book. (It is still in print and well worth the perusal.)
Today's Maxwell Quote
From Look Back at Sodom (1975), 33:
This small volume is dedicated to the decent people of the earth everywhere who have--
- learned from human experience what happens when badness becomes a way of life . . .
- shunned cleverness in favor of honesty . . .
- developed a deep and practical morality that flashes warnings to them when something, or someone, is phony or bad . . .
- been content to go unheralded, to make few demands of governments, and to abide (up to a point) the actions of others, thus making freedom possible for all, including the clever and the bad!
Integrity in Utopia
The word Utopia is a corruption of Greek οὖ τόπος "no place" with a suffix denoting place. It was supposed to mean something like "nowhere" because it does not exist.
Ronald Millet has a thought provoking piece on the necessity of integrity in a utopia.
I would actually extend his piece. One simply cannot have an ideal society without integrity. It is impossible to work with people who cannot be trusted.
For example, in a utopia one does not especially need to have anything in writing because the integrity of those involved will cause them to keep their agreements whether they were in writing or not. Without integrity verbal agreements are worthless because they are not honored. Instead they are a means by which people can be freely dishonest: Such individuals tell people what they think they want to hear to manipulate them for selfish purposes and then deny it later because they think there is no record of it. In this world, as opposed to utopia, an untrustworthy individual who insists on not putting anything in writing is being openly and deliberately dishonest.
An example of the havoc wrecked without integrity can be found by considering the case of Abdi-Ashirta, the ruler of Amurru, in the El-Amarna correspondence. The modern reader who sorts through the correspondence can see that other officials were constantly complaining to the Egyptian ruler of Abdi-Ashirta abuses of them and their people. Rib-Addi, the ruler of Byblos, complained of Adbi-Ashirta's use of murder and subversion. Abdi-Ashirta would then protest his innocence to his Egyptian overlords while falsely claiming his loyalty to Egypt and claiming to act in their interests and doing their bidding.
The late Bill Murnane describes it this way:
One might make the case that Abdi-Ashirta was merely a canny administrator. That may be, but he did not have integrity. As a consequence, the Levant at the end of Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty was anything but a utopia.
Ronald Millet has a thought provoking piece on the necessity of integrity in a utopia.
I would actually extend his piece. One simply cannot have an ideal society without integrity. It is impossible to work with people who cannot be trusted.
For example, in a utopia one does not especially need to have anything in writing because the integrity of those involved will cause them to keep their agreements whether they were in writing or not. Without integrity verbal agreements are worthless because they are not honored. Instead they are a means by which people can be freely dishonest: Such individuals tell people what they think they want to hear to manipulate them for selfish purposes and then deny it later because they think there is no record of it. In this world, as opposed to utopia, an untrustworthy individual who insists on not putting anything in writing is being openly and deliberately dishonest.
An example of the havoc wrecked without integrity can be found by considering the case of Abdi-Ashirta, the ruler of Amurru, in the El-Amarna correspondence. The modern reader who sorts through the correspondence can see that other officials were constantly complaining to the Egyptian ruler of Abdi-Ashirta abuses of them and their people. Rib-Addi, the ruler of Byblos, complained of Adbi-Ashirta's use of murder and subversion. Abdi-Ashirta would then protest his innocence to his Egyptian overlords while falsely claiming his loyalty to Egypt and claiming to act in their interests and doing their bidding.
The late Bill Murnane describes it this way:
A strong and independent kingdom of Amurru was incompatible with its current status in the Egyptian empire—especially with its resident commissioner at Sumur, on the coast, within easy reach of Egypt by sea. The house of Abdi-Ashirta was thus committed to a dangerous double game: to dislodge the commissioner, but also to keep him out by constituting the kings of Amurru as defenders of imperial interests in the locality. (William J. Murnane, The Road to Kadesh, 2nd ed. [Chicago: Oriental Institute, ], 6.)And so it was
when Abdi-Ashirta came to power in Amurru, . . . the Egyptians were already having trouble keeping possession of Sumur—the result, perhaps, of the unsettled conditions that Abdi-Ashirta's campaign of subversion had unleashed within Amurru? In any case, the commissioner had retired to Egypt, and Abdi-Ashirta could write to him (perhaps disingenuously) that the city had been virtually undefended when he had rescued it from marauding warrior bands. With Sumur thus under his control, Abdi-Ashirta could beleaguer meighboring city-states at his leisure, and at one point Rib-Addi even claimed that his territory was reduced to the very environs of Byblos. (Murnane, Road to Kadesh, 6.)When Tushratta, the king of Mitanni (the neighboring super-power to the northeast) sent his armies in, Abdi-Ashirta immediately threw his lot in with Mitanni against Egypt.
One might make the case that Abdi-Ashirta was merely a canny administrator. That may be, but he did not have integrity. As a consequence, the Levant at the end of Egyptian Eighteenth Dynasty was anything but a utopia.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Ten Ancient Mistakes II
Continuing with our examination of the ancient versions of ten mistakes we look at:
#2 Corrupt Culture
In the modern form, it is summarized this way:
First, the annona was a Roman welfare institution. Taxes in the form of food were collected across the empire and distributed to the citizens of Rome. Roman citizens were entitled to a living provided by Roman subjects, but always found it insufficient for their wants. An immense amount of wealth was redistributed because of the annona. While Augustus initially hesitated to entrust such wealth to a single corruptible individual, he later did so by establishing the praefectus annonae. Under Tiberius, the praefectus annonae manipulated grain supplies and prices, almost completely ruining the grain merchants in Rome.
Apuleius (Metamorphoses 1.24-25) makes fun of the local curator of the annona, who runs into a friend in the marketplace, sees that he has a basket of fish, and immediately determines that his friend has been ripped off. He drags his friend, who was satisfied with the fish and the exchange, back to the merchant, berates the merchant and has the fish dumped out on the pavement and tramples them to pieces. So in the name of getting his friend better food, destroys the food that his friend has. The friend loses his fish and money in the bargain. The scene is played for ironic comedy but the corruption of the annona was well-known.
Second, over a millennium earlier (about 1500-1350 BC), in the town of Nuzi, just before its destruction, a series of indictments against the former mayor, Kushshiharpe, show just how corrupt the towns culture was. Graft was a way of life. Bribes were expected. One historian describes it this way:
#2 Corrupt Culture
In the modern form, it is summarized this way:
Organizations that mistreat employees and abuse customers are ripe for failure. Firms that base their philosophies on "win-lose" thinking, seeking to take advantage of relationships, can neither survive nor prosper. Such an approach generally begins with leadership that is arrogant and greedy. They in turn hire and promote mangers of the same attitude and behavior.Two examples of this come to mind.
First, the annona was a Roman welfare institution. Taxes in the form of food were collected across the empire and distributed to the citizens of Rome. Roman citizens were entitled to a living provided by Roman subjects, but always found it insufficient for their wants. An immense amount of wealth was redistributed because of the annona. While Augustus initially hesitated to entrust such wealth to a single corruptible individual, he later did so by establishing the praefectus annonae. Under Tiberius, the praefectus annonae manipulated grain supplies and prices, almost completely ruining the grain merchants in Rome.
Apuleius (Metamorphoses 1.24-25) makes fun of the local curator of the annona, who runs into a friend in the marketplace, sees that he has a basket of fish, and immediately determines that his friend has been ripped off. He drags his friend, who was satisfied with the fish and the exchange, back to the merchant, berates the merchant and has the fish dumped out on the pavement and tramples them to pieces. So in the name of getting his friend better food, destroys the food that his friend has. The friend loses his fish and money in the bargain. The scene is played for ironic comedy but the corruption of the annona was well-known.
Second, over a millennium earlier (about 1500-1350 BC), in the town of Nuzi, just before its destruction, a series of indictments against the former mayor, Kushshiharpe, show just how corrupt the towns culture was. Graft was a way of life. Bribes were expected. One historian describes it this way:
Misappropriation of public funds, acceptance of bribes, aggravated acceptance of bribes ("aggravated" because the quid pro quo was never tendered), extortion, theft, aggravated theft (i.e., breaking and entering), kidnapping, abduction to rape, rape---all the usual crimes we associate with political corruption---are attested in these texts. (Maynard Paul Maidman, Nuzi Texts and Their Uses as Historical Evidence [Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2010], 7).Of course, Kushshiharpe denied all the accusations. Lying was a way of life for a corrupt politician. Most intriguing is that this corruption was rife just before Nuzi was destroyed.
Today's Nibley Quote
From "The Unsolved Loyalty Problem" CWHN 10:224:
Loyalty is one of the few words in existence about whose meaning dispute is virtually impossible. Everyone knows what loyalty is, and what a desirable, nay indispensable thing it is to the survival of any community. Like honor and chastity, it is strongest when least talked about, and thrives only in a climate of uncritical acceptance. A virtuous investigation of loyalty is like a noisy oration in praise of silence, and the appearance of loyalty order and loyalty legislation such as are found in the Theodosian Code and elsewhere is a sign of lost confidence, a desperate groping in empty air for something which groping fingers only push father out of reach.
Today's Maxwell Quote
From this talk:
The tests of obedience are always "to whom?" and "to what?" Obedience is not blind faith but following the glimpses we get when seeing with the eye of faith. Obedience is not shrinking from adventure and agency; it is an opening up. Obedience is not being glad to have someone else relieve us of our responsibility.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Today's Nibley Quote
From "Nobody to Blame" CWHN 17:127:
By its very nature the university is the rival of the Church; its historic mission has been to supply the guiding light which passed away with the loss of revelation, and it can make no concessions to its absolute authority without forfeiting that authority.
Ten Ancient Mistakes I
About a month ago, I mentioned a newspaper article about ten business mistakes never to make. While I applied it mainly to higher education, it also applies to the ancient world. So here are the mistakes looked at in an ancient context.
#1 Dishonesty
One of the more interesting examples of dishonesty is Ramses II. When Ramses II went up against the city of Qadesh, he was lucky to come back alive. The Hittites routed the Egyptians and plundered the camp. They almost killed Ramses II too. Fortunately for Ramses, he was able to snatch a stalemate out of the jaws of defeat. He retreated to Egypt but the Hittites followed him taking Egyptian territories behind him.
When he got back to Egypt, Ramses portrayed the battle as a great victory for Egypt and even had poetic verses praising his accomplishments composed. One wonders how many of the soldiers who were at the battle believed Ramses' account. These days, we do not believe Ramses because we also have the Hittite accounts of the battle. As a result, many wonder if he was really as brave as he claimed. Given that he never went on campaign again, one might be forgiven for having doubts.
Ramses II was dishonest in another way. He would take the monuments of earlier pharaohs and carve his name in place of theirs, thus giving the appearance that he was a more prolific builder than he actually was. He really did not need to do so because he was a prolific builder in his own right and because of his lengthy reign, he outbuilt most pharaohs. As a consequence, when scholars see Ramses' name on a monument, the first thing they ask is if he really built it.
In the long run, dishonesty disgraces those who engage in it and diminishes what might otherwise be significant accomplishments.
#1 Dishonesty
One of the more interesting examples of dishonesty is Ramses II. When Ramses II went up against the city of Qadesh, he was lucky to come back alive. The Hittites routed the Egyptians and plundered the camp. They almost killed Ramses II too. Fortunately for Ramses, he was able to snatch a stalemate out of the jaws of defeat. He retreated to Egypt but the Hittites followed him taking Egyptian territories behind him.
When he got back to Egypt, Ramses portrayed the battle as a great victory for Egypt and even had poetic verses praising his accomplishments composed. One wonders how many of the soldiers who were at the battle believed Ramses' account. These days, we do not believe Ramses because we also have the Hittite accounts of the battle. As a result, many wonder if he was really as brave as he claimed. Given that he never went on campaign again, one might be forgiven for having doubts.
Ramses II was dishonest in another way. He would take the monuments of earlier pharaohs and carve his name in place of theirs, thus giving the appearance that he was a more prolific builder than he actually was. He really did not need to do so because he was a prolific builder in his own right and because of his lengthy reign, he outbuilt most pharaohs. As a consequence, when scholars see Ramses' name on a monument, the first thing they ask is if he really built it.
In the long run, dishonesty disgraces those who engage in it and diminishes what might otherwise be significant accomplishments.
Today's Maxwell Quote
From Whom the Lord Loveth (2003), 15-16:
The last days will be discouraging, with dizzying inversions of good being called evil, and evil good (Isaiah 5:20; 2 Nephi 2:5; 15:20; D&C 64:16). This form of vertigo produces worldly individuals who either have trouble drawing the line or holding the line against evil.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
A Lesson from Chrysophylax
This is a quote from one of Tolkien's lesser known works, Farmer Giles of Ham:
They were, of course, very foolish. For though the oaths he had taken should have burdened his conscience with sorrow and a great fear of disaster, he had, alas! no conscience at all.Chrysophylax today might be rather commonplace.
On Today's Mormon Odditorium
Today's Mormon Odditorium has a great feature on John B. Floyd, which is very good and very lengthy (for the Odditorium) and well worth the read. It is too lengthy, however, to post here.
Today's Nibley Quote
From "The Unsolved Loyalty Problem" CWHN 10:196-197:
To the Roman mind, fides, a sense of personal reciprocal obligation, was the key to peace and secutiry in life--the very essence of the social order.
Today's Maxwell Quote
From this talk:
As the veil of unbelief thickens around the globe, nothing can rend "the dark veil of unbelief" (Alma 19:6) that is not sharp, piercing, bright, and true. Dull disciples will not light the way nor draw people to the kingdom. The philosophies of the world cannot do it, for so far as having some saving and consequential core to them, such philosophies are like peeling an onion. Perhaps that is why we cry when we peel onions.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
A View from the Looking Glass
From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, chapter 4:
"The first thing I've got to do," said Alice to herself, as she wandered about in the wood, "is to grow to my right size again; and the second thing is to find my way into that lovely garden. I think that will be the best plan."
It sounded an excellent plan, no doubt, and very neatly and simply arranged: the only difficulty was, that she had not the smallest idea how to set about it.
Today's Nibley Quote
From "How to Get Rich" CWHN 9:198:
This is the Book of Mormon situation also, which is characteristic only of Israel to this degree; other nations have sinned and suffered, and they are still in existence, still sinning and suffering, after thousands of years; but in the Old World, and the New, Israel was smashed and scattered. Epidemics, war and drought will wipe you out.
Today's Maxwell Quote
From A More Excellent Way (1967), 34:
One of the great qualities Jesus had was his ability to demand of his disciples quality in thought and action, which, while temporarily uncomfortable, finally produced a cohesive kind of loyalty based on a sense of accomplishment which all followers very much need to have. One wonders if the tolerance of unnecessary mediocrity in others isn't at some deep level of consciousness, a way of protecting ourselves or excusing ourselves for our own personal mediocrity.
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