IS RIVERS CREAtING - The Rivers School

You have studied and taught religion,
so you must be attuned to morality and
ethics. How do you reconcile this inclination
with being in a profession where
people seem to be increasingly unethical
I have never seen a separation between
Capitalism and morality, which is not the
same thing as saying that I have never seen
immoral and/or unethical capitalists. I
don’t wake up thinking, “today I will make
money and that will make me a better person’
anymore than I might think that if I
am a better person,” I am more likely to be
a better money manager. Crooks have to
live with themselves just like we do, and if
conscience isn’t a good guide, it will be the
bars which tax the soul even if one lives
scot free. If ethics can be viewed as a code
of conduct for a community, and morality
can be viewed as the mannered expression
of that code among that community’s
members, then history has only revealed
the indominatable desire for, and the imperfect
of achievement of, a state of either
in any construct: religious, political, social,
economic. Greed has its converts, fear has
its adherents, power its proponents. Ideology
and idolatry are always clapping. The
current cult of personality, which seeks to
elevate or scapegoat individuals and misalign
stereotypes with archetypes, feels as
democratic as a coronation at a witch trial.
Matthew 10:36: The foes shall be they of
your own household.
Americans hear about impact on the
US and other major markets, but do you
think they realize the effect this situation
is having on third world countries
Global growth and global risks are two
sides of our age’s coin. It’s hard to put that
coin into an ethical jukebox and not hear
the blues. There have been such significant
advancements in human care from cultural
awareness to major pharmaceutical treatments
that it is nearly overwhelming to see
how uncaring and inhumane the treatment
of whole populations still can be. Now,
with the health of the most powerful countries
in the world in question, the concerns
of uplifting the downtrodden are vulnerable
to being downtrodden themselves. But,
as has always been the case, our unique
strength as a country is that we are, in the
main, a composite of those who once were
downcast and downtrodden. We have more
than an educated notion of doing the right
thing; we have an ingrained, empathetic
understanding of helping not only our
neighbors but those completely unrelated
to and geographically far removed from us.
Americans are strongest in times of greatest
weakness. We give no quarter to failing
to pursue inalienable rights for all.
Do you keep your poetry writing separate
from your business writing
On the surface, I suppose I look like Yeat’s
swan—calm and collected and gliding on
an air of certainty. But, like Yeat’s swan, I’m
mostly tumult and business underneath.
The tumult is born of being open-eyed and
open-minded in a world often motivated
by and celebratory of blinders. Sometimes,
I’m moved to champion what I see, other
times I feel compelled to challenge what’s
Nominate an Alumnus
there, sometimes I watch football with a
passion that would make a crow blush—
and if my passion didn’t make that crow
blush, my vocabulary would. I don’t make a
big distinction between writing about the
world while investing in it and investing in
the world while writing in it. I do think
that the markets have rhythms all their
own; it’s my job to be attuned to them. I
do think that writing poetry is part of my
own rhythm—as I go on, that beat goes on,
and vice versa. Interestingly, what moves
me to invest in writing, and through writing
to invest, is the existential enjoyment I
derive from the infinity of my finitude—
what the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus
phrased as not being able to step in the
same river twice. I’ve never stepped into
the same market twice. I’ve never stepped
into the same poem twice. I’m certainly not
stepping in the same Rivers today with my
daughter as when I was fortunate enough
to be here before. Yet, I enjoy the ability to
appreciate distinct moments equally as
much and have yet to tire of trying to better
comprehend and express what being a
part of such rivers means to and for me,
sink or swim.
E
stablished in 2001, The Rivers School Alumni Excellence Award is presented
by the Alumni Association to members of the Rivers community who display
extraordinary achievement within their career field or through an outstanding
commitment to social, political, or other volunteer causes. The purpose of the
Award is to highlight the professional and volunteer achievements of select members
of the Rivers community and in so doing inspire Rivers students to pursue
their passions.
When nominating a Rivers alumnus, please include the following information:
• Name and class year
• Address, phone number, email address
• Title, company or industry
• List of professional achievements, professional, and civic commitments
• Other information relevant to the candidate’s professional contributions
Please submit nominations to Christina Grady at c.grady@rivers.org.
Spring 2009 • Riparian • 11