Dan Henninger of the Wall Street Journal wrote a column in the December 16, 2010, issue entitled “What are Taxes For?” This simple question triggered a thought in my mind about the broader purposes of government.

Most people would agree that government has certain roles as a provider of security, a deliverer of basic services, a regulator, an enforcer of societal norms through criminal and civil laws and the court systems that enforce them, and a provider or a creator of certain “safety net” services, such as unemployment compensation and welfare.

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Within the past week, I was asked to take on a more active executive role in Dossia, the combination of the for-profit service corporation and the not-for-profit foundation which has a mission of deploying and managing a patient-controlled, private, portable, personal health record system.  Dossia has been in place for four years, and I began serving as the Chairman of the Board in February, 2007.

In early 2009, the Obama Administration included significant funding in the ARRA stimulus legislation for the upgrading of medical records in physician offices, and directed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission to issue regulations, which would implement a transition process over a multi-year period.  Those regulations are largely in place and the legislation and regulations have enabled Dossia and the other players in the market, including Microsoft and Google, to get anchored in a relatively stable, coherent regulatory environment.

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In the early 1980’s, shortly after George Harvey became the Chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes, I asked a more senior colleague why he thought George was the best candidate among those who vied for the CEO position.  He talked about George’s wisdom and track record, but he also said: “Unlike many adults who collect a paycheck, he actually makes tough decisions.”  He went on to explain that many highly-paid, well-credentialed people are afraid to put themselves at risk by making difficult decisions, but that no leader of a major organization could afford to be afraid to take the risk of being wrong or pretend to be taking certain actions.

That comment has not only stuck, but seems more astute than ever.  I have been both more admiring of people who stick their neck out, and more frustrated with those who should, but do not, when tough situations occur.  In the last few years, we have moved into the most difficult economic environment since the 1930’s.  It has effectively “smoked out” whether people want to embrace tough decisions and engage others in constructive conflict, or whether they will develop even more elaborate ways to avoid those decisions.  I have seen more of both kinds of people in the last three years than ever before, especially the non-performers who have learned to survive by “pretending” to perform.

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Catherine Rampell of the New York Times wrote an article that, unfortunately, reports on an all-too-common problem, the increase in the long-term unemployed population, on December 2, in a story entitled “Dwindling Prospects.” I know people who fit her description. In fact, I have spoken to a local support group of individuals who are part of the long-term unemployed population, in one of the wealthiest communities in the world, Darien Connecticut.

I was effectively unemployed once in my life, for about a 4-month period  (January, 1979, through May, 1979) between my second law firm job and my hiring by Pitney Bowes.  I was told in October, 1978, that I would not be offered a partnership, was given a few months to look for a job while on the payroll, and then was put in an “of counsel” status, meaning that I would be hired only for hourly project work. I had a little work, but nowhere near enough to support my family.  It was initially scary, and I felt all the self-doubt that Ms. Rampell described in the people she profiled.  When I became unemployed, despite a Harvard Law degree, I did not know when I would be hired to work again.

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