I have never quite understood why people who work in difficult situations in commercial enterprises think so highly of gifts of recognition awarded by states and their agencies. This idea came back forcefully to me when I read that a former CEO of the Royal bank of Scotland has had a Knighthood recalled because of ostensible mismanagement of the firm in which he was head. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian writes that Fred Goodwin had the Knighthood recalled and the decision as communicated to him by by a committee of five officers of the State in the U.K.
To my mind, I think that irrespective of the demonstrated incompetence that Goodwin had exhibited, it surprises me that everyone seems to think that this affects his reputation adversely. My contention is that the state should not be giving the marks of ostentation to business people and imagine that they are very highly valued unless they were sold. I would like to find out how much Fred Goodwin would pay for the Knighthood if it were sold to him because then it would reflect objective value. Since the state used tax payers money to call Fred to a meeting and awarded a medal made out of the funds of other tax payers, I do not think that Fred should really mind giving it back.
Now, I hope that medal could be auctioned to the highest bidder and the money dedicated to better public purposes. the state has no reason to appease entrepreneurs who go into a business and excel because their reward should come from their enterprises. As it stands, I am unsure whether the recall means that the decision to award the medal was wrong in the first place and who is to take responsibility for that.
To my mind, I think that irrespective of the demonstrated incompetence that Goodwin had exhibited, it surprises me that everyone seems to think that this affects his reputation adversely. My contention is that the state should not be giving the marks of ostentation to business people and imagine that they are very highly valued unless they were sold. I would like to find out how much Fred Goodwin would pay for the Knighthood if it were sold to him because then it would reflect objective value. Since the state used tax payers money to call Fred to a meeting and awarded a medal made out of the funds of other tax payers, I do not think that Fred should really mind giving it back.
Now, I hope that medal could be auctioned to the highest bidder and the money dedicated to better public purposes. the state has no reason to appease entrepreneurs who go into a business and excel because their reward should come from their enterprises. As it stands, I am unsure whether the recall means that the decision to award the medal was wrong in the first place and who is to take responsibility for that.
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