continuing...

...A great fairy tale is that America is the land of the free. But, telling the truth can cost you your job, your career, your personal happiness and security. Living in a good style is not free. Americans who do not own their own digs still call the owner collecting the rent, the landlord. To many thoughtless renters, Old English fear-provoking put-downs do not seem to refer to great negatives. Who notices? Law books have a section on master and servant. Considering themselves ‘losers,’ some call themselves wage-slaves.

Close enough to the incandescent bulb of reality to sense both the light and the heat, an insider told us a story.

There once was a fellow with a famous father. Or was the elder, sinister and infamous? He wanted his oldest son to follow in footsteps as planned by the family. So sonny boy was selected to be the new head of the company, with worldwide business. The firm required someone to guide it who knew big business, politics, and how to be successful. And how to influence, if not bribe, foreign potentates who were sources of company revenue—that had to be ingrained in the top executive.

Junior was never greatly interested in foreign business, the history of the world, even current affairs. But Daddy was in good health, and Daddy and his friends would tell him how to run the company, and avoid pitfalls. With the latest technology, Junior could get virtual face-to-face advice from Daddy, even if both were thousands of miles apart. Daddy would fill up the nearby executive offices with Daddy’s advisers. And Daddy’s circle would write the company statements for Junior to read.

As the designated head of the firm, Junior knew he had to play the part and be the front man. Yes, there were problems even being selected to be the head man. The board of directors, as Junior well knew, were Daddy’s fixers. The directors had big investments in other companies, and the convoluted connections were such that the directors had to make unholy deals—get this—with a competing firm. This trick cost $40 million of off-the-books funds. Of all things, a competitor knew some inside details that could have prevented the board of directors from accepting Junior as the new head man. And who started the vicious rumors that Junior was a misfit and would steer the company into a wreck? Did these terrible stories come from competitors or from some old-timers inside Junior’s own company?

Junior took over as the head man in an off-year. Business was not good. The firm’s French unit was causing all kinds of business problems. The Frogs, as Daddy called the Frenchies, had their own commercial intelligence unit that was, of all things, compiling dirt on Junior. The purpose? To get better commissions and shipping terms for the Paris branch.

To show they were serious, the Frogs instigated two highly skilled investigative reporters to come out with a book detailing crooked business dealings that Junior’s home office had with their Mid-East affiliates. As the book pointed out, a top official in one of the company’s subsidiaries resigned. Why? As quoted in the book, he claimed that Junior and Daddy told him to stop asking questions about a certain family of Mid-East swindlers who were secretly in business with Daddy and Junior, and with Daddy’s advisers and fixers.

https://exploringrealhistory.blogspot.com/2020/12/part-2overthrow-of-american.html