151 lines
9.5 KiB
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151 lines
9.5 KiB
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [John D. Rockefeller as a]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [neurotic person. ]
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[x]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [ ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: 07/94 # of Words:1375 School:Public State:NY
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>>Chop Here><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>><3E><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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John D. Rockefeller: Obsession Into Success
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John D. Rockefeller, the Standard Oil magnate who, by the time of his
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death in 1937, was probably worth close to a billion dollars, is perhaps
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one of the best historical examples of an obsessive-compulsive. An
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obsessive-compulsive is one who is driven to an act or acts, generally
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being asocial, by his own fixations but by nature of his peculiar psyche
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must balance these actions with others more socially acceptable. There are
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abundant examples of Rockefeller's deeds fitting these clinical
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characteristics, and John D. Rockefeller is today generally regarded as an
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obsessive-compulsive. The roots of this disorder are traceable back to his
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childhood. While much of Rockefeller's business history remains a mystery
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today, it is apparent that much of his success is attributable to his
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obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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Franz Alexander and Louis B. Shapiro's description of the
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obsessive-compulsive disorder from their book Neuroses, Behavior Disorders,
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and Perversions0 is a frequently used summary of the commonly agreed-upon
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characteristics. It states: "Full blown cases of obsessive-compulsive
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states present a dynamic equilibrium in which obsessive preoccupation with
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ego-alien fantasies... are precariously balanced by rituals representing an
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exaggeration of social standards, such as cleanliness, punctuality,
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consideration for others. The dynamic formula is similar to bookkeeping in
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which on the one side of ledger are the asocial tendencies which the
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patient tries to balance precisely on the other side with moralistic and
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social attitudes... Every asocial move must be undone by an opposing
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one..." The term "ego-alien" refers to thoughts, emotions or material which
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are consciously detestable to the patient (though not he may not
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necessarily be conscious of the reason). This summary is important, and we
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will return to it later.
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Rockefeller was born in 1839 and raised in a troubled, then broken,
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home. His father, who sold quack "quick-heal" ailment medicines, was often
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away for months at a time. Rockefeller was raised essentially by his
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mother. Eventually his father consummated a bigamous marriage with a
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teenage Canadian and left Rockefeller and his mother and siblings.
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At an early age, it became apparent that young John was not quite like
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the other children. For instance, he adamantly refused to play with other
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children unless he could choose the game. In almost every description of
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him as a child, he is often described as "thinking". He married Laura
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Celestia Spelman, a girl who was strikingly similar to his mother, which is
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never a good sign; and when he decided to go into business, he borrowed
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$1000 from his father- at ten percent interest. Ten percent was well above
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the going rate; Rockefeller's father essentially loansharked his son.
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Rockefeller was apparently disturbed by his childhood; he absorbed his
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cutthroat business techniques from his shyster father, and at some point
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other influences at a young age probably began to develop his
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obsessive-compulsive disorder. Unfortunately, few intimate accounts of his
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early life and family exist, so it is difficult to pinpoint these
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influences.
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Rockefeller seemed to make his fortune with hardly any effort; a brief
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outline is appropriate. After dropping out of high school and serving a
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clerical apprenticeship, Rockefeller went into business, forming a produce
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house with one partner and $4,000 of capital between them. In its first
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year its gross income was $450,000, with a net income of $4,400- better
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than one hundred percent return. After flourishing through the Civil War
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boom, Rockefeller's company bought its first refinery. Rockefeller soon
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gave up his original partnership to concentrate on the oil business. In
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1870, with a capital of better than one million dollars, Rockefeller
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reformed his company as the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. Buying the means
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to control production from the smallest detail (he even built his own
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barrels to save money) Rockefeller soon managed to dominate the nationwide
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oil market. In 1879 Standard Oil controlled 95 percent of oil production in
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the United States.
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Like all successful businesses of the time, Rockefeller's company did a
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fair amount of illegal dealing; and while Standard Oil was perhaps not
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quite as crooked as its competitors, it is in this fact that we see the
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first facet of Rockefeller as an obsessive-compulsive. While Rockefeller
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encouraged illegal railroad rebates and even invented a few new ones (such
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as the "drawback", a variation on the kickback) he was an adamant
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churchgoer. He strongly disapproved of: smoking, drinking, card playing,
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dancing, merriment, "wenching", theatre going, concert going, banqueting,
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idling, socializing in general and "good fellowship". He took no vacations,
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no time off. He did nothing in his small amount of free time except go to
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church two or three times a week. These are the "rituals representing an
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exaggeration of social standards" mentioned by Drs. Alexander and Shapiro.
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Rockefeller, who as an obsessive-compulsive had to balance his asocial acts
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(the seamy and/or illegal acts of Standard Oil) by social acts, in this
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case presenting (to himself as well as others) a facade of deep morality.
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In the anti-corporation hue and cry of the late 1800's and early
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twentieth century, Rockefeller was assaulted by the courts in an attempt to
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reduce his virtual monopoly. In 1892 he was ordered to dissolve his trust,
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one of his inventions which allowed him control over a number of subsidiary
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companies. He simply placed relatives and friends at the helms of the
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newly-freed subsidiaries. In 1906 Standard Oil's railroad rebate schemes
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were discovered and the company was fined $29.2 million. The judge, luckily
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for Rockefeller, had made an incompetent decision (his fine was too high by
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at least an order of magnitude) and the decision was reversed in a higher
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court. Standard Oil paid nothing. In the year following the 1892 decision,
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Rockefeller donated over $1.5 million to charities. While he had been
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donating money since his teenage years, this amount was three times as
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large as any sum he had ever donated in one year. In 1907, after the second
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major court case, he donated over $39 million. This was also the largest
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amount he had ever donated, by a large margin. We can say with some
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assurance that these hefty donations were a result of Rockefeller's
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obsessive-compulsive disorder; he was simply balancing the guilt he felt
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from his business practices with philanthropy.
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To what extent was Rockefeller's obsessive-compulsive disorder
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responsible for his phenomenal success? Rockefeller was unquestionably a
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financial genius, obsessive-compulsive or no. However, clearly
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Rockefeller's disturbance was responsible for his illegal activities that
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continued into the 1900's, after he had made more money than he could
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possibly use, and when he donated a large percentage of his personal income
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to various charities. Rockefeller's tactics put left tens of thousands of
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workers (at least one estimate is even over one hundred thousand) after the
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turn of the century after he had accumulated a staggering amount of wealth.
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It would probably be safe to say, at the very least, that any fortune
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generated by illegal activities after the mid 1890's was the result of his
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obsessive-compulsive complex; perhaps his obsession for money spurred him
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on from his very first business venture through the last days of Standard
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Oil. Too few records exist of Standard Oil and Rockefeller for us to be
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sure at what point Rockefeller's obsessive-compulsive disorder became the
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dominant force.
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John D. Rockefeller is, by all historical accounts, a clear-cut case of
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an obsessive-compulsive, one who commits asocial acts and feels a need to
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balance these actions with more socially becoming conduct. The origins of
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Rockefeller's disorder appear to have occurred in his childhood; the
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obsessive-compulsive syndrome that resulted was probably responsible for
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most of his financial ambition and subsequent success.
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