The Kingdom of Happiness by Aimee Groth

Author:Aimee Groth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Touchstone

Artist Donovan Fitzgerald’s work at the Window. (Emily Wilson)

Tomorrow, many of the people who merged their voices with yours will find themselves without a job. While their names have yet to be revealed, the disillusioned expressions I conjure up are keeping me awake tonight. This group will undoubtedly include numerous young adults, who have not yet found your good fortune. As they have naively purchased homes and started families, this decision will impact them greatly.

“Business is business” will be the defense from those you have charged with delivering the sad news. But we have not experienced a string of tough breaks or bad luck. Rather, this is a collage of decadence, greed, and missing leadership. While some squandered the opportunity to “dent the universe,” others never cared about doing so in the first place. There were heroes among us, however, and it is for them that my soul weeps.

My heart also goes out to those whose jobs are spared. While that might seem a bit ridiculous, they will surely expend energy trying to understand the secret of why they were kept and others let go. In the end, the only thing they will know for sure is that their leaders lied to them in order to hurt their friends.

While reason might conclude that I should wait to either identify a new job, or collect my severance pay, I am compelled to tender my resignation instead. Compensation was never my primary concern. Doing meaningful work, however, is.

When artist Donovan Fitzgerald began depicting the ideal American city on the cement pillars at the Window, he made the unique choice of shunning physical structures in favor of three female characters. Noting my surprise, Donovan explained that while buildings rise and fall, great cities each require the same principles: Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. “The women,” he clarified, “are meant to represent each.” I remember staring at the figures for some time before requesting one addition. “What is it?” Donovan asked. “A North Star,” I replied, “so that we don’t lose our way.”

I wish you health and happiness.

Warmly,

David L. Gould

September 29, 2014, was the day that Downtown Project laid off a third of its staff. They called themselves the “Dirty Thirty.” It became a viral news story, thanks to the professor’s Op-Ed in Las Vegas Weekly and a story by the tech news site ReCode on the heels of a multi-part series about Downtown Project.

Ron Corso, the owner of 11th Street Records, had a planned meeting with his DTP contact, Ashton Allen, that morning. He walked into the headquarters to find people crying. “Not to get metaphysical, but I walked into the office, and there was something with the energy,” he recalled. Ashton told him what was happening and said he would be right back. He returned wide eyed from a meeting with Don Welch and broke the news: “Me too.”

Ron couldn’t believe it. “All the people who actually have a passion were the ones who were cut out.” He observed that DTP was filled with people who probably were great students but didn’t possess real creative genius.

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