Like most Americans, I’ve had a keen interest in the events that unfolded over the last couple of weeks regarding the death of Osama bin Laden.  I was proud to see our military execute such a difficult and risky mission with such precision and expertise.  

Of course, after the mission was complete, all the politicians and commentators jumped in to take credit and steer public opinion on this issue.  Because of the spin and posturing, I’ve honestly been disappointed by much of what I’ve read on the topic recently. 

That was true—until I picked up last week’s copy of Business Week.  Across a bright pink cover blazed the title, “Why Bin Laden Lost.”  The subtitle of the article was:  Al Qaeda’s leader died because he was outgunned.  He lost because he was wrong. 

The article, written by Brendan Greeley, makes the point that while bin Laden made a profound impact on the world, his ideas have failed (and will continue to fail) to produce the results he had hoped for.  Greeley put it this way: 

“This is the lesson of the past 10 years, and one Osama bin Laden, a man animated by a grandiose vision of restoring a 7th century Muslim empire, never grasped.  The most successful organizing principle the world has ever known is a simple guarantee that we can buy and do things that have no point greater than the satisfaction of our own happiness.”

Of course, Greeley points us back the our country's founding documents to make his point:

“The United States has no purpose.  That is perhaps its greatest achievement.  America's founding document, its Declaration of Independence, allows that a state exists only to secure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

That's it.  There's a curious lack of ambition in those words.  The United States was not founded for the greater glory of anything, or as the necessary outcome of history, but for the freedom to collect figurines, to join a clogging troupe, to take a road trip.”

Greely then spends the next couple of pages developing the argument that the basic human condition is inconsistent with the bin Laden’s world view.  

“…Osama bin Laden will lose because nobody actually wants to live in a cave.  Even bin Laden didn't want to live in a cave.  As Bloomberg News reported, in Abbottabad he sent runners out for equal amounts of Coke and Pepsi, for Nestlé milk and the good-quality shampoos.  The societies that make these things do not turn up their noses at the consumer and his whims, the needs that lack any justification larger than the personal.”

Finally, Greely sums up his point by making the following statement:

"We humans follow base and pedestrian needs.  We need narratives for our lives, and we look to the speechmakers, the prisoners of conscience, to write them for us.  These narratives render our desires into abstract phrases.  Freedom.  Self-determination.  Democracy. 

All of which are means to an end.  For us humans, the end is almost always just a house and some quiet to raise our daughters.  Some friends, and a measure of something fermented.  Someone to love.”

Do you look at what you do as a real estate owner, manager, or other participant in the real estate industry as an important part of the "end" that Greely references?  If you're a WorkPuzzle reader who is not in the real estate industry, do you provide some other "base or pedestrian" need to our society?  

If so, your contribution is more valuable than you may realize.  As millions of us make these small contributions on a day-in and day-out basis, they add up to something quite significant–a society that was able to look down and defeat bin Laden's philosophy.  Certainly there will be more battles to fight, but for now, pat yourself on the back and know that you are helping our country win the war of ideas that rages around the world.  And then get back to work!

Read the full BusinessWeek article. 

Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.