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Opinion

Enron raises questions about American principles, dream

Melissa Correa
Opinion Columnist

Morals and ethics are dead to Americans. The Enron trial pays homage to the fact that in the end, we are all money-hungry people who only care about the contents of our own wallets.

As I watched Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room last weekend, I finally realized everything behind this popular trial.

Ken Lay was brilliant. He had this genius idea that would help Americans re-establish a great economy. Lay had the making of a great businessman. His childhood was quaint; he came from little money and realized at a young age, that to get ahead in life, he had to work hard and come up with an original idea. Eventually, Lay came up with this great plan to de-regulate energy and oil.

Jeff Skilling has qualities only found in the greatest of leaders. He can captivate hundreds of people and get them to believe that his words are the truth. I'd like to think that if Skilling weren't a corrupt businessman, he would have been up for an Oscar this year--that's how amazing of an actor Skilling is.

These two men, in combination with Andrew Fastow, built one of the biggest business empires to date. The only problem was that they built the whole thing on a foundation of lies and fraud. They swindled money from many Americans, banks and even co-workers. 

Pandora's Box opened because these millionaires wanted more and more money. 

Like many of us, these men are well educated. They started out ethically and even had morals. Somewhere along the way they lost sight of right and steered toward wrong. 

That scares me. I can't see the difference between these guys and myself. Who's to say that in the future a big amount of money thrown in my face won't corrupt me? That's America. We all start off bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. We all want to become productive members of society while making names for ourselves. 

There are many others who are doing the same thing. Take politicians such as the well-connected Republican Jack Abramoff. He manipulated congressmen to do similar things and is now under investigation. At times, he lobbied for great issues such as the environment. Abramoff wanted to do good, but money got in the way. The most obvious example of politics gone wrong is Rep. Tom DeLay, R-TX, who recently stepped down as House majority leader.

There is this saying in Spanish, "todos pagaran"--everyone will pay. Sure, in the end these liars will have to serve jail time for their actions, but only after we turn them all against each other.

Fastow has it great as long as he rats out his "friends." He embodies the simple truth that you can't trust anyone, sometimes not even yourself.

The thing that really ticks me off is that everyone forgot about the 2,000 Enron employees who got the shaft. Many, if not all of them, cashed their 401K's into Enron stock only to walk away with nine dollars.

At one time, one Enron employee calculated his stock to be worth $375,000, and by the time the company declared bankruptcy, he only was able to get $1200--but even it was frozen and by the time he could put his hands on it, his pile of dough wasn't even a pile, it was nine dollars. Even worse is Lay's multi-million dollar account that plummeted to only 20 million. Oh goodness, poor Key Lay, he only has $20 million. Never did he offer to fork over any of that to help employees.

But why would Lay help others? It goes against our new American beliefs. We have become so oblivious to the feelings of others. Hey, as long as I am OK …

I see a trend. I foresee more scandals like these unfolding. We are so selfish. We want only the best for ourselves, and rarely do we come across someone who is looking out for the other guy.

The new American dream is: Create a big business, get people behind you and then cheat them for all they are worth. As long as you are happy and rich it doesn't matter how anyone else is getting by.

That is why so many countries hate America. We want to press our ideas onto them just to make a dime. When the plan doesn't work, we just invade a different country.

Enron's motto was "Ask Why." I think it's about time look in the mirror and ask our selves the same question. I just don't understand why I have to do the same thing to make some money. 

Correa, an opinion columnist for The Daily Cougar, 
can be reached at mel_correa@yahoo.com.