News for today's 2018: 03/24/12

GOLDMAN SACHS AND THE VATICAN:

10:57 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2d-K4wW95mzeE4WX1lPAeIuD8AC0upHBLKhXZIjaqgitwUPqBxZ1EAv8yX-7rzCb6wA8845FG_S5As4VCYUyVu4GdhhX9gijIFEtBCEO7Nym_VSr1gtRrPNPvCqASGZXWCxLosg7NLXK/s1600/gs+vati.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx2d-K4wW95mzeE4WX1lPAeIuD8AC0upHBLKhXZIjaqgitwUPqBxZ1EAv8yX-7rzCb6wA8845FG_S5As4VCYUyVu4GdhhX9gijIFEtBCEO7Nym_VSr1gtRrPNPvCqASGZXWCxLosg7NLXK/s320/gs+vati.gif" width="215" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: red; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">TWO CULTURES OF INFALLIBILITY </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Stephan Richter via The Gobalist</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Greg Smiths tell all resignation from Goldman Sachs last week was evidence that the culture of greed is alive and well in one of the world’s top investment banks, He wrote of a “toxic and destructive” culture and a “decline in the firm’s moral fiber.” But Goldman has a lot in common with another global institution, the Catholic Church and its doctrine of infallibility <span> </span></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">From the perspective of Goldman's management, the recent path of the Catholic Church is probably the most nightmarish thing to think about — assuming their imagination and sense of seriousness reaches this far. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Look at the long list of parallels: None, of course, is more powerful — and disastrous — than Goldman's and the Vatican's unceasing belief in the doctrine of infallibility. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The rot, one says, starts at the top — and in the age of democracy and participatory learning, no organization can successfully hold onto the belief that, as far as dealings with the outside world are concerned, its staff members are really incorrigible. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">I am not suggesting that there isn't plenty of rigorous debate about the organizations' direction and business (or spiritual) practices — but it occurs strictly in the inner sanctum. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDn883r4G-phVP0ZokFwy9TsXv_eOuMNj2LTSrfl98if0x3m7RaPTx-xoLXWzXIMZNHLi2ORZIVn7oBcO_swha5tEBWVD1hxT7WGYZanXMIS3QmrLOBIWQiG8gE14sqI8VOYc8VkoEOdWM/s1600/dome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDn883r4G-phVP0ZokFwy9TsXv_eOuMNj2LTSrfl98if0x3m7RaPTx-xoLXWzXIMZNHLi2ORZIVn7oBcO_swha5tEBWVD1hxT7WGYZanXMIS3QmrLOBIWQiG8gE14sqI8VOYc8VkoEOdWM/s320/dome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The instrument of doubt plays a role in both organizational learning cultures. However, it is viewed solely as a method of rigorous inquisition to come to a decision internally, which — once made — is upheld externally with a united front. One for all, all for one. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">With regard to interactions with the outside, such a frame of mind can quickly result in presenting a fiercely clannish, if not secretive, front. That unquestioned commitment to the cause, 24x7x365, surely breeds a strong internal culture, but it also makes the organization as a whole ripe for systemic denial. In short, wrongdoing simply cannot occur because we are perfect, aren't we? </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">What Goldman must realize is that the Vatican had tried to hush things up. It simply could not happen here, it argued. But the harder and longer it tried, the more pushback there was among the victims. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It is simply inconceivable that a firm with the breadth and depth of Goldman's client dealings in the markets — and its relentless hunger for profit maximization — did not leave behind a lot of broken china. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The second applicable lesson for Goldman which the Vatican's troubles foreshadow is this: While child molestation and sexual abuse are definitely qualitatively different charges than manipulating financial markets, the ultimate fallout of denial on one's reputation, financial well-being and inner morale may well be the same. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It all starts with the inner logic of the real temptation — "overlooking" the respective crime in question. Regarding the internal culture of the two organizations, there are stunning parallels. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Both cultures are rooted in an intense sense of loyalty to the "company." Both firms' staff members have a strong sense of mission, even though one is very much focused on the immaterial, while the other is very material-minded. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Selection into the ranks of upper management is generally very much merit-based, although it happens in a manner that is totally non-transparent to outsiders. As a result, the selectees' devotion to the organization's cause is unparalleled compared to their peers in the respective "industries." </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiZoNd2pvmBMqoKvNtLM4JWtM31xBFqQd0t_lBD6eMbOBN9dGdp7rPgknpWMcMqHIcrZ38ykNFXrSkbzNT7AwQrSksCN34S2LkkyBoQTRnKbW5aj0x0SUZi-w8-WL8l3FkjIxkKwjbfi6/s1600/WYWH-front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQiZoNd2pvmBMqoKvNtLM4JWtM31xBFqQd0t_lBD6eMbOBN9dGdp7rPgknpWMcMqHIcrZ38ykNFXrSkbzNT7AwQrSksCN34S2LkkyBoQTRnKbW5aj0x0SUZi-w8-WL8l3FkjIxkKwjbfi6/s320/WYWH-front.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">For all those qualities, high potential and performance, the evidence seems overwhelming that both Goldman and the Vatican, inside their high walls, suffer from a serious organizational birth defect, which is at the root of their respective troubles today. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The archaic, anti-modern and perhaps anti-human vow of celibacy for the Vatican finds its equivalent in the out-of-this-world God-like self-perception of many senior Goldman staffers. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">They clearly feel as anointed — and selected — inside the financial world of today as were the prominent clergy in the Middle Ages and into the early modern era. Appointment to "the firm" came — and comes (in Goldman's case) — with immense social status and access to immense economic wealth. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">True, in the case of the Catholic Church's senior leaders, that wealth was, in effect, "rented" and temporary — and definitely not transferable to one's heirs (hence the requirement for celibacy!). But one could live on the Church's "dime" in a splendor that would make even many a modern hedge fund manager go pale with envy. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Ultimately, it is all a function of an overbearing internal corporate culture. If you put yourself on the pedestal this much, if you promote a sense among the staff that they are the anointed ones, such zeal is bound to come crashing down sooner or later. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In fact, once you are no longer considered untouchable, the whole litany of past transgressions will come to haunt you. Outsiders, previously oppressed and hunted, will come out of the woodwork and contribute to taking you down for all those past sins. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;">In conclusion, in the age of democracy and reason, no culture rooted in a doctrine of infallibility will survive. They must adapt. In both Goldman's and the Vatican's case, the lawsuits are the last wake-up call.</span></span></div>

GOLDMAN SACHS AND THE VATICAN:

TWO CULTURES OF INFALLIBILITY By Stephan Richter via The Gobalist Greg Smiths tell all resignation from Goldman Sachs last week was evidenc...

Mad Men: Through a Glass Darkly

6:00 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i>by guest contributor Motorcycle Boy</i> </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjzYRxrBDwBX2t6vu6M8_uomwT1I5AJPD8j1TH-rh6s5DKe37ARF2Ut8-p3XG9C6PFsu_B14TJgipkIJ7LOXJHkpiCWjmSpTRmM8oL-KZSmNEOLVwB4uHe3zbVD0PToBeIJvFEmbbEZHi/s1600/roger+and+don+season+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUjzYRxrBDwBX2t6vu6M8_uomwT1I5AJPD8j1TH-rh6s5DKe37ARF2Ut8-p3XG9C6PFsu_B14TJgipkIJ7LOXJHkpiCWjmSpTRmM8oL-KZSmNEOLVwB4uHe3zbVD0PToBeIJvFEmbbEZHi/s1600/roger+and+don+season+5.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“A personality marked by traits of compulsive and habitual use of a substance or practice in an attempt to cope with psychic pain engendered by conflict and anxiety.”</span></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">~<span style="-moz-font-feature-settings: normal; -moz-font-language-override: normal; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">      </span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">definition of addictive personality, <i>Mosby’s Medical Dictionary</i></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">  </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">“<i>Mad Men</i> glorifies alcoholics.”  This statement was made to me by an acquaintance, clearly meant as a criticism of my favorite television series.  He went on:  “It seems the writers take every opportunity conceivable to shove a glass in the hands of the actors.” </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span></span><br /><a name="more"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: right;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCtbmtuZ_CHfCI919dsMK23-BK1_Gx8ErFNBr9AaKIA-zEjKlYUiwntd7Uw23zc6YI31Zma7Ta5SIsa14yNDHEowcIgCXAgNdkazbAIare7VW4MwukdLzpDIojVXaCTW1dAyBpUcdERYe/s1600/joan+and+the+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVCtbmtuZ_CHfCI919dsMK23-BK1_Gx8ErFNBr9AaKIA-zEjKlYUiwntd7Uw23zc6YI31Zma7Ta5SIsa14yNDHEowcIgCXAgNdkazbAIare7VW4MwukdLzpDIojVXaCTW1dAyBpUcdERYe/s320/joan+and+the+boys.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Now, there is no denying the fact that at the office of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, alcohol is a constant given. “I drink, therefore I am” seems to be the ad man’s motto.  And everyone on this show smokes – they smoke like chimneys, as if there’s no tomorrow (or at least a tomorrow not leading to premature illness and death). Of course, these characters live in a different time – the early 60’s -  a not so distant past when people freely and thoughtlessly litter a park while they picnic and adults slap children, even ones that aren’t their own.  This was a time when women and minorities were openly treated as second class citizens.  And along with this, it was a time when many people were alcoholics, though they may not have identified themselves as such, who drank throughout the day. <i>Mad Men</i> depicts all this as it enters into the reality of the era, though these things are never portrayed as something to be emulated. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">But as  much attention that is given to <i>Mad Men</i> -  its smoking and drinking, its obsessive attention to period detail (the length of women’s skirts, the hairstyles and interior design of the rooms)  -  there is so much more that lies beneath the glossy, escapist surface of this show. <i>Mad Men</i> is an extremely complicated drama - a human drama.  There is much to discover in its characters and storylines – much about our society and about ourselves. I believe that it’s all these factors that contribute to this show’s great appeal.  Something draws us to watch it - something we’re seeking to discover (whether we’re conscious of it or not) and this, in itself, is addictive.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_gECQIOs-BV7Lb4KR06dYHJTRCZTJD1FkSJpFkHxDizVBn3CJtumb5uEwh-Joc_ejVUruDkZwlt_xNaxS3AbR_3FaEQ1h0WZo0uV7Z8wCGCY3kwEIwN2kUDihtjzINH9-L-zN0jTPjP9/s1600/peggy+goes+underground+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_gECQIOs-BV7Lb4KR06dYHJTRCZTJD1FkSJpFkHxDizVBn3CJtumb5uEwh-Joc_ejVUruDkZwlt_xNaxS3AbR_3FaEQ1h0WZo0uV7Z8wCGCY3kwEIwN2kUDihtjzINH9-L-zN0jTPjP9/s320/peggy+goes+underground+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mad Men</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> depicts a period in American culture when habitual drinking and smoking (and bigotry) were an accepted part of the norm. It deals with the social changes that were happening at the beginning of the 60’s and into the mid-60’s. Often different episodes will show the tension between the passing era of the 50’s – the rigidity, repression and denial – and the approaching of the turbulent changes associated with the 60’s – the civil rights and women’s movements, open sexual freedom, drug experimentation and the events that were about to blow the lid off of American society. It’s quite fitting that there’s an episode in the first season titled “Kennedy vs. Nixon”.  There is the “old order,” in which the different levels of society were much more hierarchical and defined (like the male dominated pecking order of the ad agency), and then there is the dawning of a new awareness that is full of promise and, at the same time, threatening. How society worked and how people coped during this changing time is fertile ground for exploration and producer/creator Matthew Weiner makes the most of it. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">          </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">...So what habits are Don Draper and his agency pushing?</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">          </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNpMctQaSVkwu9ejOqka_fWiXXxYfMAHq1rl9Cty4VOdRNn4Eoi6bbN393iQUMxnku2eimUYGb6-fFffci71QbTjOMV0K73ADbLDWHyzuaCrqifF7Br1quEMjEMcrGtu7ri3sxvZLgh2Z/s1600/betty+picks+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNpMctQaSVkwu9ejOqka_fWiXXxYfMAHq1rl9Cty4VOdRNn4Eoi6bbN393iQUMxnku2eimUYGb6-fFffci71QbTjOMV0K73ADbLDWHyzuaCrqifF7Br1quEMjEMcrGtu7ri3sxvZLgh2Z/s320/betty+picks+up.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The basic thrust of consumerism is marketing an image to people so that they can be sold a product. It’s not just about what people want, but what they <i>really</i> want – their unconscious desires and the obstacles to fulfillment represented by their unconscious fears.  In the time period of <i>Mad Men</i> - much more so than even today - there were many social boundaries around sex and race, of one’s basic identity, and a suffocating rigidity in roles that people felt pressured to act out in their lives.  This is an obvious formula for the kind of psychic pain that comes from conflict – the conflict that grows from a repressed identity.  How can you know what you really want or need when you don’t know who you really are?  If the “social mask” fits too tightly it makes it difficult to breathe.  The constant drinking in <i>Mad Men</i> is shown more as a socially sanctioned way that many people sought some relief from this internal pressure – or at least as a way to numb themselves.  A person who is imprisoned, whether conscious of it or not, feels the overwhelming need to be released. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPgmpPMNhlQJI0siI6aHf2yyCn9cNYeJlpgF5pvs2rfNeyXOvf8VrqrpeE_RTeAvX_XeWpe5Drjsq8E3DQbOG4HJt3ziKaU_2ZKyBNqyC_uOw1aP1CNoEzHPvhvI1ggF81ntoD3_ZfedC/s1600/don+in+the+dark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPgmpPMNhlQJI0siI6aHf2yyCn9cNYeJlpgF5pvs2rfNeyXOvf8VrqrpeE_RTeAvX_XeWpe5Drjsq8E3DQbOG4HJt3ziKaU_2ZKyBNqyC_uOw1aP1CNoEzHPvhvI1ggF81ntoD3_ZfedC/s320/don+in+the+dark.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Don Draper and his associates cater to this need.  By the 1950s America had undergone a form of mass hypnosis constructed around total consumerism.  Television and growing mass media connected people in a way that opened them further to manipulation by the “professionals” who understood the pressure points of living a false identity and could use it to sell product.  Many people, then and now, present a fabricated image to society - a façade for the real identity underneath. This condition  is embodied in the whole Madison Avenue advertising industry as presented in the show and, in particular, in the central character of Don Draper, who literally has taken on a false identity to hide the truth from the world, and, as best he can,  himself.  If anyone is in psychic pain its Draper and it touches everyone in his life.  Still, no one knows better how to sell people a bill of goods by manipulating their insecurities and, unavoidably, their addictions.  On some level Draper seems to understand that he reflects a kind of mass delusion where consumerism is a substitute for self-knowledge and love.  The whole thing, from the perspective of the men in advertising and the unknowing public, is like one great dysfunctional, addictive process, founded on repression and denial and affecting everyone.  What motivates people is spiritual “thirst” and Don Draper knows how to use that to sell product because he’s so familiar with the feeling himself.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX3aNOd2Jc9yloTxjFCOO4EJ0N_GEG1COOb8XVG7RCeHXuJLAw-Lg7EHPXAv5zu3FoUW3s2_QtWZWfneJIMREhHvxY14IEnvjTvIZCIr8AD1QuwiG-yxzHPnCFnig33PzdVcLCBFZDiHv/s1600/betty+and+sally+thanx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNX3aNOd2Jc9yloTxjFCOO4EJ0N_GEG1COOb8XVG7RCeHXuJLAw-Lg7EHPXAv5zu3FoUW3s2_QtWZWfneJIMREhHvxY14IEnvjTvIZCIr8AD1QuwiG-yxzHPnCFnig33PzdVcLCBFZDiHv/s400/betty+and+sally+thanx.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Mad Men</span></i><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"> is a series with many stylish surfaces and is so well done it could easily be appreciated strictly as escapism. But it’s so much more than that.  The characters are full of twists and turns and their fates interest us because they’re very much up for grabs.  What will happen next?  By the fourth season Don Draper is moving headlong into alcoholism and we wonder if he’ll end up a more fashionable version of his rival, Duck Phillips, or a less farcical Roger Sterling.  What’s captivating is that we, the audience, know what is to come for America but we don’t know how these characters will respond to or reflect the change.  The events are part of history, and though these people’s lives are shaped by them, they have to strive and discover for themselves their place in the new society.   We wonder if Betty Draper will completely go over the edge and continue to alienate her children.  She seems hopelessly stuck and unable to discover a path out of her false existence - she could take a number of courses, one of which could easily be addiction.  Sally Draper, the difficult young daughter who also is struggling to find her way, seems to represent a coming generation which will be defiant and loud, sexually active, and impossible to ignore.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmgNdhoAdvrrloUWTogKe4nd3JbDkBxpiuv67VFZvqmeenGqZ_iJTweJf_Brrj2Nlrdst34yQ8ickMWyFkWVyCfZS3fkueJGE3d8sNAbnAYt5lgdBmDD2AYih0EiJSX4IfYQo-iP2-6lw/s1600/don+and+modern+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEmgNdhoAdvrrloUWTogKe4nd3JbDkBxpiuv67VFZvqmeenGqZ_iJTweJf_Brrj2Nlrdst34yQ8ickMWyFkWVyCfZS3fkueJGE3d8sNAbnAYt5lgdBmDD2AYih0EiJSX4IfYQo-iP2-6lw/s320/don+and+modern+art.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">There are multiple angles from which to interpret <i>Mad Men</i>, but I feel that there’s a great overriding tension at the core of the series, and in many ways it’s linked to the addictive process.  When people live within tightly wound conventions and are prevented from expressing their true nature, they can cut themselves off from their life force – there’s no creativity, only conformity.  If, on the other hand, they go deeper and connect with their instincts, it’s possible to feed the soul but it’s inherently dangerous because there is no formula to follow – anything can happen – the “old order” drops away and chaos can emerge.  Fear is what keeps the characters in <i>Mad Men</i> from genuine lives and leads them to grasp at substitutes, whether it be alcohol or consumerism.  Don Draper attempts to stay fixated on externals and selling an image rather than facing his true identity. He functions on the inside of society, spinning out illusions (he’s a powerful force and influence on people’s lives), still, when it comes to his personal relationships and his own inner life, Draper is the ultimate outsider – a living enigma.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As long as <i>Mad Men</i> is able to peel back the layers and creatively express this very human conflict, it will continue to mesmerize (perhaps the word should be intoxicate).  Over the course of multiple seasons Matthew Weiner and his writers have the luxury to explore these characters and their relationship to the times – to get at the truth of their lives.  <i>Mad Men</i> is addictive on so many levels because it’s a psychological adventure, an entry into a tumultuous past that has shaped our current world of mass media - of reality shows and twenty-four-hour news. In this context, it’s not just a joy to watch and a benign habit, but, through the range of its insight, a lush oasis of sanity.</span></span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9oIMWf1Mrzcp9v_6fMVh1rFdkD6jEWJbAty1EwZ5IuFWAgNjQ5nr5IaOCdhes4_nrm5HH9kjtAvHG7eps7Jyzh_3JBSQVRrYl50lvm06YM5BGd2VtvfChyphenhyphen1ueBZpMnGypv75sHbfIXpk/s1600/season+2+artwork.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9oIMWf1Mrzcp9v_6fMVh1rFdkD6jEWJbAty1EwZ5IuFWAgNjQ5nr5IaOCdhes4_nrm5HH9kjtAvHG7eps7Jyzh_3JBSQVRrYl50lvm06YM5BGd2VtvfChyphenhyphen1ueBZpMnGypv75sHbfIXpk/s1600/season+2+artwork.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Motorcycle Boy, a new contributor to the Lady Eve's Reel Life, is a loyal follower of this blog as well as a family friend. <span style="font-family: Arial;">H</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;">e has worked professionally in the fields of psychology and  music, is a longtime resident of the San Francisco Bay Area and  a lifelong lover of art and history.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>