24. Historical examples of both influential public officials and influential business 4 B6 h) B! \6 @2 ?
leaders abound. However, the power of the modern-era business leader is quite different ; ^ j7 k. a! p' V N5 |, ]
from that of the government official. On balance, the CEO seems to be better positioned # G o6 j1 ^( a' I6 ?0 v
to influence the course of community and of nations., m7 h' S7 v( Y* p$ G
Admittedly the opportunities for the legislator to regulate commerce or of the
$ u9 o9 S- ]+ a( u# u8 f4 X% f1 L8 n* Fjurist to dictate rules of equity are official and immediate. No private individual can
8 E) D# O( Y Z0 h8 uhold that brand of influence. Yet official power is tempered by our check-and-balance
! H) V3 k) A$ Bsystem of government and, in the case of legislators, by the voting power of the
. M$ X9 C; v7 {# [1 celectorate. Our business leaders are not so constrained, so, their opportunities far exceed
0 ~8 H, }6 A) D Sthose of any public official. Moreover, powerful business leaders all too often seem to
* S- {; H% h* ^7 m" x. ]$ g' e2 |, ihold de facto legislative and judicial power by way of their direct influence over public
2 a& w( z6 P6 z3 {officials, as the Clinton Administration's fund-raising scandal of 1997 illuminated all
* \8 G# k4 s, t, V6 V) mtoo well.% w: p! }& X2 ^1 U4 M3 u1 L
The industrial and technological eras have bred such moguls of capitalism as
% ~, X2 K' B7 Z. J9 n0 s) k) T, tPullman, Rockefeller, Carnegie, and Gates, who by the nature of their industries and ) D: Y$ ]" J# I. @! L2 w: U
their business savvy, not by force of law, have transformed our economy, the nature of
. o9 e7 t8 ?+ F2 u$ iwork, and our very day-to-day existence. Of course, many modern-day public servants
# q- o' ?5 E0 s0 |5 c; ghave made the most of their opportunities—for example, the crime-busting mayor % d! U4 F; p+ ^, [. t3 g8 m! _
Rudolph Giuliani and the new-dealing President Franklin Roosevelt. Yet their impact x3 O; L( Y0 x l3 F# i
seems to pale next to those of our modern captains of industry.
# i* h g9 h! R In sum, modem business leaders by virtue of the far-reaching impact of their * Y9 X6 D+ o8 F- F. y3 z; y
industries and of their freedom from external constraints, have supplanted lawmakers as
5 |, f. h; F$ g) K G9 Nthe great opportunists of the world and prime movers of society. |