Upholding Integrity Amidst Discontent

It’s company policy at VERITAS to never discuss politics or for our consultants to offer any political opinion. Our clients. almost all who are Westerners. have strong political views. We respect they are entitled to their opinions but have learned the hard way there’s no upside in VERITAS interacting with those views regardless of what our political persuasions might be.

What we can say with no reservations is there’s a wave of discontent in the United States of America that’s manifested in VERITAS receiving a significantly higher number of inquiries than ever before. From a
business perspective that’s good for VERITAS but from a personal perspective it saddens me.

To say America was good to me would be a gross understatement. When I arrived there in March 1985 I was broken in every conceivable way. I had only US$300 to somehow survive on. I looked up and down a bustling Market Street in San Francisco wondering where I’d spend the night and subsequent nights. I was also broken emotionally after leaving an Ireland steeped in political and commercial chaos.

But America gave to me what it had always given to millions of other immigrants, an opportunity to build a new and productive life provided I worked hard and wisely. In Ireland I’d studied prelaw at University College Galway. Only the top 10 of 170 students would be allowed move on to study law. I was one of those ten students. Sadly, I had to drop out because no jobs of any type were available. No loans or grants were available from the Irish government.

BUT what happened to me in America? After completing my undergraduate degree, I applied for law school. Although my grades were good but not special, America not only offered me a place in several law schools, but also gave me scholarships, loans, and grants!All this despite my not being a citizen of the country! My mind still
boggles at that stark contrast in positions.

America had always been good to me on every level. I’ve always had immense respect for the country and its noble aspirations. That’s why its particularly painful to see this country, which no foreign power could ever defeat, now being destroyed internally by its citizens and politicians fueled by righteous indignation while being convinced of the sanctity of their positions. I was having lunch recently with a VERITAS client and friend of mine, Steve M. He told me about the situation in San Francisco. That once bustling business place, the Market Street I walked on back in 1985, has been deserted by large retail stores and most other businesses! Why?
Steve told me there’s now a law in San Francisco that denies police or store employees restraining or charging any person who enters a store and STEALS any item under $950 in retail value! Our research department checked on this preposterous news. It was worse than true. This is not only a city, but a state law. Recently, a Rite Aid employee was murdered in San Francisco by thieves.

No wonder the basic fabric of American society is crumbling. Five days after Steve told me about this insanity, I’m still shaking my head with bewilderment and sadness. Stealing in now allowed under the laws of California!
I’d like to optimistic and hope America will eventually survive and perhaps prosper as before. Might America once again become a guiding light for the world? Perhaps I’m being unrealistically optimistic.

What do you think?