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UID:Indybay-18666940
SEQUENCE:18742592
CREATED:20101218T035500Z
DESCRIPTION:\nFilm evenings begin with optional potluck refreshments and social hour at 
  6:30 pm,\nfollowed by the film at  7:30 pm, followed by a discussion after 
 the film.\n\nTHE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM\nby Alex Gibney\n\nAn important 
 theme in this penetrating documentary is the story of people — more than 
 the story of arcane financial accounting methods or numbers — and because 
 it is people, it can happen again.  Enron is just the manifestation of the 
 evil begotten by hubris, in spectacularly public fashion.  It is classic 
 Greek tragedy, and it is one from which its chief protagonists, Ken Lay and 
 Jeff Skilling, must not escape.  They designed Enron to be the ultimate 
 shell game, with no pea.  The only thing Enron ever had to sell was its 
 stock price.  And they knew that this was their only product.  With the 
 bevy of Bernie Madoffs and other Captains of Corruption we could easily 
 forget the scale of corruption that Enron represented just a few years ago. 
  Up to that time the idea of a Fortune 500 company based on absolutely 
 nothing was unthinkable.  But this riveting film exposes the scale of that 
 corruption and how the amoral culture of Enron, flowing from the top, 
 affected everyone and everything about the company.  The film proves that 
 personal ethics, character, and morality ARE indeed relevant in a corporate 
 context;  the market will  NOT weed out the grossly immoral through the 
 “magic of free markets.”\n\nThe most chilling part of this film is the 
 Enron analysts who were able to create rolling black-outs through 
 California.  They invested in the stock of power companies before they 
 called the power companies and asked them to shut down the power for hours 
 at a time.  This, in turn, created demand, which increased the price of the 
 stock and their profits. The real chill is that you hear what is tantamount 
 to their psychopathic laughter at the misery and hardship they helped 
 create throughout the state.  In another instance, they actually began 
 cheering when a forest fire shuts down a power plant.  Their “profit 
 cheering” with no regard for the misery of the people without power may 
 make the viewer want to drop these guys from a tall building.\n\nWheelchair 
 accessible around the corner at  411  28th  Street\n\n$5 donations are 
 accepted\n\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/17/18666940.php
SUMMARY:The Smartest Guys in the Room
LOCATION:Humanist Hall\n390  27th  Street\nuptown Oakland, between Telegraph and 
 Broadway\nhttp://www.HumanistHall.org\n
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/12/17/18666940.php
DTSTART:20110106T033000Z
DTEND:20110106T053000Z
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