Why We Mourn So Deeply For Steve Jobs – And Should
There has been discussion that perhaps the mourning for Steve Jobs has gone on too long as headline news. We think not. We can’t think of another company leader who would provoke such heartfelt loss from so many around the world.
We think it’s pretty sad that George Washington is denied proper respect by using him as a symbol for selling cars on President’s Day, and we don’t think Benjamin Franklin is fully appreciated by picturing him as a quaint historical figure, albeit an important one. George Washington had the vision to give us a true democracy, and made a remarkable effort to define the concept of a “public servant” by living it every day. Democratic nations, and those who want to be, should dust off his image to see how it’s done.
As for Franklin, he was a capitalist and businessman. But he understood what we seemed to have forgotten – its appropriate limits. When Ben had accumulated enough wealth to live on comfortably, he went on to become the essential civil servant that was needed, and the inventor and scientist that he wanted to be. These he gifted to the society he had helped forge. What he gave back to society, for no personal gain (other than perhaps self satisfaction and a respect he relished), was far more than the monetary gains that kept him in reasonable living.
Steve Jobs had a love of the creative task first, not the profit, and not only gave us truly elegant technical designs that people loved, but some words of wisdom about life and living that we sorely need. Why not grieve a bit longer? In a world where greed, corruption, and self-indulgence seem to know no bounds, Steve was an extraordinary exception, and we do need to hold on to that. We believe that the concepts of capitalism and democracy – as we now practice them – should be cautionary tales as we think long and hard about Steve Jobs, what he stood for, and why he was so special to so many of us.
“Capitalism should go unfettered!” “It will sort everything out in the end!” Really? Come to think of it, capitalism is as old as humankind, not some grand solution recently thought up. If a Neanderthal traded some nice warm hides to a Cro-Magnon (assuming they didn’t kill each other first), for a few arrowheads, that was capitalism. The concept is that if the transaction is transparent, and the values are fairly and equally determined, then the deal is made and everyone goes home happy. Transparency and mutual agreement without deceit, coercion, force, or whatever mayhem is capitalism working for everyone’s benefit in any age. Capitalism is an economic system that hardly needs to be defended. As long as one has bargained transparently and fairly, the fundamentals of capitalism as an economic system work. But it’s not a political system, and it’s not a system that cares for the health of social structure. Political systems oversee social structure – and their economic systems – for better or for worse. Defending unbridled capitalism as a perfect social solution is a specious red herring.
But back to Jobs, and our example of Ben Franklin. Both these men were extraordinary innovators, designers of things that worked, who made outstanding contributions to the “pursuit of happiness” of so many. They made money the capitalist way, enough to live on well – and then kept right on working for the shear joy of it.
In a time that is overrun by greed, deceit, and self-indulgence that seems to have no bounds, we need our heroes, our examples of what gives “capitalism” a good name. Particularly when there are those muddling their metaphors and defending capitalism like it’s defending democracy, we need to think on those who understood what limitations are needed to make systems, political systems like democracy, and economic systems like capitalism, better by how we use and manage them – not how we declare them perfect and allow them to run amok in the hands of those who abuse the rest of society by their manipulation.
George Washington stood back from absolute power; we admire him endless for that. Franklin stood back from unbridled monetary gain and gifted wonderful systems, ideas, inventions and good counsel after he had secured just enough for himself; we admire him endlessly for that. Steve Jobs gave us intuitive technology that let us work and play efficiently and happily. He charged us, but we paid because it was worth it. And then he just kept giving us the most wonderful technical solutions for his joy and ours. We should, indeed, go on endlessly appreciating him for that.
Queen of Amerndia