What's in a Name?

The unyielding torturous roller-coaster of Wall Street continues to wreak havoc on the paper fortunes of the elite and hoi-polloi alike as the world becomes acclimated to seeing those fortunes fall to pieces. No one knows what kind of a monetary system we'll be left with when the dust settles; a bigger problem is that the dust may not settle for 15- 18 months or longer, since the once-invincible American consumer is now about to be "down on his uppers," and is in no mood/position to bail out a sinking ship - again. It's all over save for rearranging the deck chairs...

The question remains, what will our economic system be called in the wake of its virtual destruction and rebirth? "Capitalism" scarcely seems accurate when our banks are partially (and forcibly) owned by the Federal Government and when we have the enforced intervention - socialism - that the recent rescue/bailout imputes to the system. Since we now know "capitalism" really means those in charge of the capital have free license to run the economy into the ground, former and would-be "capitalists" may not want to cop to the name.

"Socialism," or collective ownership, has such a negative connotation to our Yankee ingenuity and inclinations, that even if the Federal Government were to nationalize feature film production - or Hollywood - we still could not accept the moniker, much less the reality.

Back in the dark ages of the 21st century I was a wet-behind-the ears account executive with the Wall Street firm E.F. Hutton & Co., Inc., founded by actress Dina Merrill's father, Edward F. Hutton. It was common knowledge around the firm that when Ms. Merrill, daughter of Post cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, AKA Marjorie Merriweather Post Close Hutton Davies May, informed her father that she was going to become an actress, the enraged financier, in a pique of anger, purportedly told her, "No daughter of mine will sully the name of Hutton upon the stage!"

Whereupon Ms. Merrill, in the ultimate game of one-upmanship, took the name of her father's fiercest rival, Charles Merrill (yes, the on-and-same Merrill of Merrill Lynch which was recently subsumed into Bank Of America). Thus was christened Dina Merrill of stage and screen fame.

Considering that the wire-house E.F. Hutton long ago disappeared, and that the name of Merrill Lynch is also now history, it's worth noting that Ms. Merrill, who will celebrate her 83rd birthday in December, is still thriving. When all is said and done, the institutions founded by the mighty - all of them men - have foundered. Yet Dina soldiers on.

Perhaps we can take a leaf from Dina Hutton Merrill's durability when it comes to our forthcoming metamorphosis and come through the process with style and grace. Neither a Capitalistic nor Socialist system, perhaps we'd fare better as a Dinastic one. After all, what's in a name? A system by any other would smell as sweet.