STURBRIDGETIMES

THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

THE

AUGUST 2013

MAGAZINE

MUSINGS FROM LONG HILL

DONT TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER

BY RICHARD MORCHOE

LEGAL BRIEF
ROBERT A. GEORGE, ESQ.
M THE S
ON THLY FOR RE AD E RS
STURBRIDGE ATTORNEY

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AGAZ I N E

CLIENT SECURITY CLAIM

This may come as a shock to you, but sometimes lawyers do bad things. Theyve been known to steal, embezzle and otherwise misappropriate money entrusted to them by their clients. Perhaps equally shocking, however, is that sometimes lawyers do good things. One of the good things is to fund the Client Security Board -- which is designed to make up for some of the bad things. A portion of annual fees lawyers pay each year end up in the fund, which is then distributed to people whose lawyers cheated them. A common complaint is that a lawyer took money to perform a legal service and then never did the service. To get money back however, you must show your financial loss was caused by a defalcation your lawyer actually stole your money. Claims can only be brought by clients whose lawyer has resigned, died or been disbarred or suspended. To apply for the fund, clients have to fill out a five-page form that details their loss. Seven attorneys (the good sort) review the applications and decide whether and how much to reimburse you. There is no requirement that they make an award. They take into consideration the degree of hardship suffered by the client and any negligence on the clients part that may have contributed to the loss. The board may make an award on the basis of the application and supporting documents you submit, or it may call an actual hearing. But in almost all cases where theres a viable application, the board is well aware of the circumstances surrounding a clients application. Lawyers actually dont do as many bad things as people might believe. So when they do, its big news.

There are many qualities that are overrated, but none more so than leadership. In fact, leadership, if relied on too much will eventually be fatal to those who are led. Even if it does not lead to physical demise, the propensity to always follow a leader sooner or later leads to ruin. Now we are not talking about following the bosss orders. People rarely feel their supervisor to be a star and sans paycheck, in most cases, they would not associate. No, we are talking about the great men of history. The people acclaimed by their partisans as geniuses as they all too often steer the ship skillfully onto the rocks. Up on Long Hill, we came to this conclusion after the review of The Great Deformation that appeared in the July, 2013 issue of this magazine. The author, David Stockman, chronicled the ups and downs of the Federal Reserve under various chairmen. Some of the Feds leaders were able while others, with similar educations and prior accomplishments, failed to varying degrees. Our current fiscal mess is the result of the two incompetents who succeeded the courageous and brilliant Paul Volcker. Thus, The Long Hill Institute for Organizational Studies (LHIfOS) has formulated a law that states, Any organization that relies on leadership must eventually face catastrophe. Dont believe me? Lets do a few examples. Napoleon may be considered the greatest general of all times, maybe also the greatest leader. His men loved and were willing to die for him, and they did. Bonaparte loved France, but like most great leaders, he loved himself a lot more. He believed he could do it all. The fatal flaw is that the person who believes it never knows when to stop. Russia and Waterloo solved that. You cant have a column denigrating leadership and not mention Hitler. Boy, did he lead, inspiring absolute devo-

tion in the faithful. If ever there was a charismatic guy, it was Dolph. The lesson, charisma is kind of a Jedi mind trick. Alexander the Great, wasnt just great, even more than Muhammad Ali, he could claim to be the greatest. Grabbed a lot of land in a short time. Died at 33 years of age. His companions broke up the empire, murdering his wife and heir, the perils of leaderhood. Great library, though. The US, being a democracy should not go in for the worship of the military conqueror. True, a Caesar or Alexander has not arisen, but that does not mean we do not adulate the jefe mximo. In the paper, War and Presidential Greatness, economists David Henderson and Zachary Gochenour have studied what causes a president to be judged great. So what does it take to be considered in the top rank of presidents? According to the authors, We find a strong positive correlation between the number of Americans killed during a presidents time in office and the presidents rating. There you have it. Make sure a lot of your countrymen die and you will live forever, or your rep will. One may argue that desperate times bring out great men and the casualties are inevitable. That may be true in some cases. Usually, its not so much the war finds the man, but the man finds the war. Case in point, Woodrow Wilson and World War I. He spent his first administration not getting involved in the murderous conflict waging in Europe. The campaign slogan, He kept us out of war got him re-elected. Scarcely a month back in office and he asked congress to declare war
Continued on page 22

16 THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE

THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

Book review

on Colin Powell. Packer writes on Page 159, Even the worst scandal in political American history proved the institutional strength of democracy. Congress, the courts, the press, and the popular will cut out the cancer. Yup, its Watergate. The Boomers cant get enough of how wonderful they were, but really, the worst scandal? Bigger than the Yazoo Land Scandal of 1795? Well maybe, but that was a more dangerous time for chicanery when the new government was fragile. Since then, there have been many others that have shaken the foundations of the Republic. Heck, Powells fibbing at the UN has not completely played out. His Jeff Connaughton chapters are good not just because they chronicle an idealist who got close to power. Rather, it is because they are as near to being history as the book gets. Maybe youve heard the old Bismarck quote about not seeing laws or sausages made? Sausages are a cleaner operation. Packers bias shows when he goes after Newt Gingrich. The vignette of the Newtster is not unfair. It would be hard to show Gingrich in a pleasant light. The problem is Joe Biden inspired Connaughton to a political life. He was a longtime staffer for Joe and his life was tied up with the Senators. Joe was a user of people, but Packer seems to give him a boys will be boys pass. It isnt fatal to the book and even in a way helps as any reasonably astute reader can parse the author easily enough. He makes no attempt to overdo subtlety. There are pleasant surprises. The chapter on Robert Rubin starts out as a paean to the banker, economist and treasury secretary. One almost expects the Holy See to damn precedent and open a canonization case for a living non-communicant. Rubin makes the Dalai Lama look a braggart until he doesnt. Deftly, Packer turns down the temperature as he exposes the feet of clay.

Continued on page 9

His narratives are all good even if you disagree. Sometimes it seems he is having us on. The Occupy movement is described as the Tea Party with brains and then his coverage makes it appear more as a manic and incoherent campout. He probably did not plan that. There is much to like. Is Dean Price a dreamer or just a crackpot? One hopes his last schemes will work.

YMCA

Spotlighting Peter Thiel was a good idea as he is truly one of kind. Tampa will not be the city of the future. Sam Walton was one cheap guy. So its August and if you are going to the beach, you could do worse than take The Unwinding with you. As a history it does not work. As a series of snapshots it has its own value. As to the question, is there really an unwinding? Look around.

Continued from page 10 what to do with a one-acre piece of property adjacent to the Southbridge location purchased last year. Currently, the home on the property is being rented out and a 20-space, staff parking area was created. Juchno said the YMCAs full day, day care center on Marcy Street could be a possible tenant in the future. Licensed for 72 children, 95 percent of parents receive subsidy for payment to the center from organizations like the United Way. We lease space from the town for the Day Care Center, which is licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education & Care (EEC) and now accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This may be a possible location for it, but we will need to do

some fund raising, Juchno said. While all these changes are taking place, the overall strategic planning process is moving to the next level. Last month, SEER Analytics began gathering data from members on satisfaction surveys and will continue to do so over the next year. Monthly surveys will also be sent via email to various parts of the YMCA membership, such as the child care, or swim lesson families. They will be gathering lots of data for us and compiling information. It gives us an opportunity to listen to the community and change services as needed. This planning process will drive actions; it is critical to our future success, Juchno said.

Dont take me to your leader

Our system is our system and is not going to undergo a huge change in the foreseeable future unless it becomes unavoidable. So we are stuck with whoever comes along. Is there any hope? Not according to the greatest observer of our democratic experiment, Alexis De Tocqueville. His work, Democracy in America, is still the gold standard for commentary on our society. Below is his characterization of who does and does not run, The pursuit of wealth generally diverts men of great talents and strong passions from the pursuit of power; and it frequently happens that a man does not undertake to direct the fortunes of the state until he has shown himself incompetent to conduct his own. The vast number of very ordinary men who occupy public stations is quite as attributable to these causes as to the bad choice of democracy. In the United States I am not sure that the people would choose men of superior abilities even if they wished to be elected; but it is certain that candidates of this description do not come forward. As someone who once held an unpaid elective position, all I can say is ouch. Still, it is a thought that I cant cavil with. After all, does anyone think that either Presidents Obama or Bush is more intelligent than, say, a Warren Buffett? The inventors of the wheel and printing press to name merely two have done more for humanity than any president, king, general or potentate ever did. To be fair, we can blame none of the men who have occupied the Oval Office for the Chia Pet or Crocs. *This is not original, I just dont remember who said it first.
THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

Library director

Continued on page 7 like a photocopier or new carpet. People in charge have recognized that these are needs and support them, Plimpton aid. The library is a great community center for the town, with people and organizations coming in and using space. Weve worked hard the last few years to make the building more comfortable and useable. If Plimpton were to bookmark one aspect of her job that is most fulfilling, it would be the way library services impact individuals. I am lucky to have a job where I can see that what I do, and what the library staff does, makes a difference in our communitywe are able to help people on a very individual level, she said. The field trips from kindergartners at Burgess are so important because sometimes, it may be the only time some children come to the library. Often times, parents subsequently bring them back.
22 THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE

Continued on page 16 on Germany for sinking British shipping. Kind of a contrived rationale, but when you figure you are the man to end war and make the world safe for democracy, why quibble. None of the goals were achieved. His League of Nations was useless. In the end, there was nothing to compensate the 100,000 dead boys, and yet learned men and woman consider him a great president. Well, I once heard that an intellectual is someone who got good grades, and I didnt so my wee voice is meaningless. Though his plans did not work out, his actions had an immense impact on subsequent events. Had America not jumped into WWI, in all likelihood, the German monarchy would have survived and Hitler would have gone to his death raving in a Bavarian old soldiers home.* Thats right folks, without Woody, there would have been no Dolph. Aint leadership grand? Okay, I know youre thinking. Someone has to run things. I grant you, a ship needs a captain, but maybe not a fuehrer. There is an example of a country that has not been enamored of the great man. In the middle ages, Switzerland beat up any of the acclaimed military commanders who thought them an easy mark. The Swiss pikemen were so famous as fighters, all the other countries hired them. The same infantry still guard the Vatican. Name a famous Swiss conqueror? Cant be done. The system worked so well, the leader was almost irrelevant. They have continued that tradition even though it meant missing out on all the slaughter of the last century and the noble adventures of this.