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The Solari Report – 22 Jan 2009
Michael Corleone: “My father is no different than any powerful man, any man with power, like a president or senator.”
Kay Adams: “Do you know how naive you sound, Michael? Presidents and senators don’t have men killed.”
Michael Corleone: “Oh. Who’s being naive, Kay?”
— The Godfather, Part I
A true family is a group of people who invest in each other’s skills and future. Within such a family, no person is expendable.
Throughout history, financial wealth has been organized around families. Many of the powerful institutions in our society, in fact, represent intergenerational pools of capital -– for example, the Bechtel Corporation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Glenmede Trust Company
If we are to build a strong economy, it will be made up of strong families. Either families in the traditional sense, or families that we create. Many of us are members of families that, like the Corleone family in The Godfather series, have been torn apart by the manipulation of our ambition, greed, and naivete by powerful financial and business interests. Husbands and wives are turned against one another. Children and parents disappoint each other and grow apart. Sibling rivalry threatens family interests.
Most of us assume that The Godfather films — Part I, Part II, Part III — are movies about an organized crime family. The reality is that we all live inside The Godfather’s world. The Godfather series has much to teach us about navigating in our current environment:
- The double-binds that families and businesses face in the real economy
- The stresses that this places on marriages and children
- How we can reduce the risk of being manipulated and turned against one another
- The important role played by churches, foundations and tax-exempt organizations in controlling and managing intergenerational wealth
- The interconnectedness of street crime to the board rooms of global corporations to the financial markets that trade their securities
In this week’s Solari Report our focus is on “Let’s Go to the Movies.” I have prepared a special report on how The Godfather series can help you understand the risks you and your family manage today and what this means to building real wealth in your household and business.
Note: Solari Report subscribers can now listen to Catherine’s discussion of this topic via MP3 recording. You can subscribe monthly or annually here.
Resources:
Michael,
One thing I feel you may misunderstand about Ghandi is that he lives on in Eternity as an archetype. He was uncompromising in his methods and his methods will live on in the hearts and minds of men, forever. How is this failure? Isn’t that the greatest human achievement possible, outside of becoming enlightened, or perhaps becoming a Boddhisattva or a tulkuh? You seem to give too much significance to material flesh, as the end-all, be-all of all Realities.
Prove to me that you exist. Prove to me you are made of particles of matter. Prove to me you are anything but an idea in a dream. Why give so much significance to a fleeting dream? Government is what happens to souls who have the ability to become One with God, to transcend, but have become ignorant of who they really are. Ignorance is why your spirit has taken on the form of material flesh, and for no other reason. You still have something to learn, if you are here.
The hard life decision is to know these things, and to remain uncompromising… to allow death to the flesh to arrive, to witness and suffer it fully, and to merge with God with eyes wide open. That was the path Ghandi took. Confuscius was not such a man.
BTW do you recall the book and the old TV series entitled The Captains and The Kings?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073971/
I picked up and saved the hard cover copy of Taylor Caldwell’s book last year from my long gone brother’s collection. When I read the back pages I shook my head and laughed as I thought of all the argument my banker brother and his rebel brother (Mean old me) had had over the years. I must say that noble lady tried like hell to inform us all of the score in 1962 in the prologue or whatever to her fine book of some not quite so fictional characters before the first of teo Irish Catholic sons of the USA were assinated.
Comtemorary classics to the Godfather such as it and the Network etc and most importantly the old show Citizen Kane from the time when the men who raised me were young taught me to never trust the system
The Captains and the Kings is a GREAT suggestion. I did not realize that they had made a TV series out of it. I will see if it is available.
Yes, Citizen Kane and Network are both excellent. It is amazing how much Hollywood describes. You just have to pick out the pieces and put them together with a bit of imagination.
THANKS!
OK, Captain and Kings is ordered from Netflix. A documentary on Confucius as well.
I made one other comment that was kinda heavy duty did you get it or was it blocked?
Dear Bman,
I agree with you. Knew I was raising eyebrows with my Ghandi comparison. It was a specific angle for effect.
My favorite Ghandi quote is: “First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.”
Catherine,
1- courses:
Will try to get exact names of courses. Just, ( errrrr), what used to be wiper is now over $60,000 dollars a year entry level with four months off. Courses start with entry engine room and entry to Able Bodied deck. But ALL these are now international. But short-sea is going to alter economy. Teamsters will get a kick in the gut. All the academic institutions in Maine were upset but not a damned thing they could do but go along. Zero requirements except for passing the courses. Yes your grandkids will be singing “I’ve Been Working On The Railroad” to a rap beat.
2- Aiming you to Godfather III-
The karmic aspect is heavy in that film. Don’t think that was reason for pointing. You seem to know that genetically anyway. I think it more seeing the “…fishes swimming together…” in the Vatican. Fishes were the giant Catholic trusts. These trusts are not Church money but church aligned money. ‘Swimming together’ it is a giant force in the world very under the radar. This is why China will allow Catholicism as long as it does not connect to Vatican.
Breaking away from this is giant risky but can be major fruitful if it works. This is why I think mathematician John Dee one of the world’s most influential, (as in history changing), spies. Gathered forces around Elizabeth and had her separate England from the Vatican by forming own church. Dee was in Mary Queen of Scot’s camp for a period also!!!! He was the GIANT ‘swing vote’.
In that regard good films mimic life. These Catholic under-radar trusts clubs very influential. In general prior to our War Between The States England was very much for the South in upper classes, for the North in lower classes. The Irish aspect of the ‘fishes who swim together’ was the swing vote. In the fiction book and movie Gone With The Wind when Scarlett told, ‘Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn’, perhaps more than a marriage partner was swinging away. Also most likely why at that time most of US navy spread all over the world. They were waiting to see which way world turning before risking the vessels. Just practical sense.
Norwegian Lady might be world’s biggest secret trust. Know that lists of world’s richest men leads away from real picture. It is the trustees of these secret trusts that are most quietly influential. Park of Norwegian Lady statue facing sea in middle of Virginia Beach highest real estate shore is owned by Norway. Same statue in Moss, Norway owned by Virginia corp where Lady faces this way. Real estate to keep trust honest. Wood in Age of Sail like an Intel on the Inside today. Everyone needed best water barrels. Basis of connector trust. Isn’t she good, Norwegian wood. With just some minor trust problem in 1980s King and Queen of Norway flew right over to NOB, Norfolk.
Communism super collected trusts. Mao example. He was ‘odd man out’ re: Truman & Stalin. When things coming together again was clued in by Anthony Eden. “What about the money?” Eden kept asking. “We’ll obey international business rules,” answered Mao not getting it. (How commie can you get?) Eden eventually broke through referencing how much China owned of Wall Street etc. Oh….., that money. Areas near Chung King have been off limits for a long time. Do not know about now. NYTimes got into real trouble on late 80s for just having a reporter near. China trust hippies live there very low key, like rich peasants. Another school of swim-togethers.
Both book and movie Falcon And The Snowman show much, just how much, they work together at the top. Never think you can play one side against another. As Soviet Life made an oblique reference to some of my writing I made an appointment. 1987. Office was technically on embassy grounds in Georgetown. When went to appointment it was put off to the next day but I was put through a ‘test’. Next day same thing happened, another test, this time more current events. Both times I could see that I was watched. Third time when appointment happened with Mr. Shipko those watching me were gone but instead a stationwagon outside with Foggy Bottom types. But never even thought of defecting. I did know enough to say right away ‘nothing confidential, you can share any of this.’. So many insiders say that movie reveals much.
Hoffa is Jack Nickolson’s best role. Great movie.
Great thread.
Michael
http://www.midcoast.com/~michael1/aspyintime.htm (link broken)
David:
I have posted every comment. Can you repost? Thanks.
Michael:
Yes, indeed. Boats sailing together is how it works. So may organizations have the organization and then the various money and investment syndicates aligned and affiliated.
I sometimes think that they greatest mistake in the history of the US was for our courts to affirm the charters after the Revolutionary War. So we negated much that the war accomplished and we ended up with the University endowments have the same investment syndicates around them.
I will watch Hoffa again and check out short sea.