Reciprocal Capitalism

After high school, I embarked on the seeming obligatory middle class journey toward obtaining an undergraduate college degree. Like many who began their trip during the sixties, I mistakenly signed up for the 23 year plan. However, Once finished, I found I enjoyed those years so much, well I just kept right on going – all the way to an actual graduate degree, whereby I combined communication with business.

Obtaining the two degrees kept me in academia in a teaching and research capacity concentrating on gendered communication along with the communication of social change. Eventually, whatever impact I was having with that combination was rewarded with an unsolicited appointment to the Oxford Round Table. Held at Oxford University in England, 35 of us from around the world were invited to contribute to an annual session, “devoted to discussing and examining the topic of human and civil rights with particular reference to womens' rights and issues of gender equity in both the public and private sectors”.

In addition to my time in academia, I managed to devote about fifteen wonderful years to the mortgage banking industry., While there, I had the delicious experience of being a street loan officer, branch manager, and finally a vice-president when interest rates climbed from 10% all the way up to a little over 20. We were ecstatic when the rates dropped, then hovered right around 15% and 16% for quite a while. At least at those rates we were still able to do a fair amount of business. Since this was during the time collateralized mortgage obligations were created, I am struck by the ease those we call our leaders can deceive themselves and their constituents to provide their self-esteem just a wee bit of self protection. Of course they new this financial disaster was coming. Any of us who were in the mortgage business during the early 1980’s could have told them so, but nobody asked. More later, but at least this will get me started.