Time to start living again
I don't hate corporations, but I certainly acknowledge some Inc.s have made practice of abusing people or customers. That won't make me hate corporations. I can still disapprove of practices that openly abuse people or customers, but ultimately it is illogical to either love or hate big business. The Fortune 500 certainly does plenty of good for plenty of people (economies of scale, jobs, etc.). A friend, whose name spelled backwards is oyapA, thinks these big businesses should be shut down. She hasn't told me how this is to happen yet, but her plan is to take down big business. She didn't care about any of this until a copper and gold mine decided they wanted to move in near her hometown. I'm not wanting to debate the goodness of corporations, but I do wish to comment on the solution (it would take a real elitist son-of-a-bitch to say corporations don't ever do anything wrong).
Apayo thinks the fist of the government should come down upon the corporations to protect the people. This is one of those areas where I'm going to lean right. I don't believe the government should be intruding on big business. In America today, where the only excuse for ignorance is apathy, the power should be left to the people. The government must force us to take responsibility for our actions. If a corporation is doing something bad, it's the media's job to alert us to the situation and it's our job to pay attention, and do something about it (like boycotts, not bombs).
For this to happen it's necessary for my generation to wean ourselves of this rampant consumerism that is somehow seen as patriotic. Waste and excess is not patriotism, it's just waste and excess. I was trying to convince apayo the better way to change the corporations is to change people. Sure, it'll be much harder, but so much better. If people didn't think they "needed" cocoa crispies, or 18 rims, accessories, new suburban homes, instant gratification, constant stimuli... the corporations would have a lot less power.
Just as mission trips will do what they are designed to, corporations are designed to make money, and will do so the best way possible... we can not fault them for that... all we can do is fault ourselves and our neighbors (ourselves first and foremost) for our own ignorance and laziness. There's nothing inherently wrong with making money, but there is something wrong with giving money to a crooked entity.
Obligatory update on life:
I have my knee back. I'm still in a cast, there were some fuzzies on the x-ray, so healing is happening (albeit slowly). The bone hasn't fused yet, so I still need complete immobilization (no boot cast, no washing the leg yet). It took a couple of days to get my knee loosened up, but now that it has I think I can get back to some semblance of life as I usually know it. This means two things... I can start cooking and riding again. I rode the bike a bit today. I'm still not supposed to put weight on the leg, so I really just let its mass push the pedal down and propel myself with my good leg.
I really want to buy a house, but I need a car also. I'm going to curb my spending for the next few weeks and try and get both. In the perfect world, I'll buy a house and add a little to the mortgage for a vehicle.
My lack of posting in no way indicates my brain is not thinking about random and pointless topics. My brain is actually playing a lot these days, but it's mostly at work, and I really can't imagine that stuff would be of any interest to anyone else. While I realize what I do would bore the crap out of most people, I love it. I am lucky enough to have a boss that let's my mind play a bit. Example: I estimated cost for a product last week. Generally, costing consists of getting quotes for materials, estimating labor based on current processes, and accounting for overhead using factors that come from sorcery (a topic I need to learn more about). I knew my estimate using standard methods was way off, so I created created a motion study of the labor involved and accounted for the theoretical and applied difference using a learning curve that I calculated from one data point and my motion study. I thought it was sweet. Like I say, terribly boring for most, but my brain eats it up.
Apayo thinks the fist of the government should come down upon the corporations to protect the people. This is one of those areas where I'm going to lean right. I don't believe the government should be intruding on big business. In America today, where the only excuse for ignorance is apathy, the power should be left to the people. The government must force us to take responsibility for our actions. If a corporation is doing something bad, it's the media's job to alert us to the situation and it's our job to pay attention, and do something about it (like boycotts, not bombs).
For this to happen it's necessary for my generation to wean ourselves of this rampant consumerism that is somehow seen as patriotic. Waste and excess is not patriotism, it's just waste and excess. I was trying to convince apayo the better way to change the corporations is to change people. Sure, it'll be much harder, but so much better. If people didn't think they "needed" cocoa crispies, or 18 rims, accessories, new suburban homes, instant gratification, constant stimuli... the corporations would have a lot less power.
Just as mission trips will do what they are designed to, corporations are designed to make money, and will do so the best way possible... we can not fault them for that... all we can do is fault ourselves and our neighbors (ourselves first and foremost) for our own ignorance and laziness. There's nothing inherently wrong with making money, but there is something wrong with giving money to a crooked entity.
Obligatory update on life:
I have my knee back. I'm still in a cast, there were some fuzzies on the x-ray, so healing is happening (albeit slowly). The bone hasn't fused yet, so I still need complete immobilization (no boot cast, no washing the leg yet). It took a couple of days to get my knee loosened up, but now that it has I think I can get back to some semblance of life as I usually know it. This means two things... I can start cooking and riding again. I rode the bike a bit today. I'm still not supposed to put weight on the leg, so I really just let its mass push the pedal down and propel myself with my good leg.
I really want to buy a house, but I need a car also. I'm going to curb my spending for the next few weeks and try and get both. In the perfect world, I'll buy a house and add a little to the mortgage for a vehicle.
My lack of posting in no way indicates my brain is not thinking about random and pointless topics. My brain is actually playing a lot these days, but it's mostly at work, and I really can't imagine that stuff would be of any interest to anyone else. While I realize what I do would bore the crap out of most people, I love it. I am lucky enough to have a boss that let's my mind play a bit. Example: I estimated cost for a product last week. Generally, costing consists of getting quotes for materials, estimating labor based on current processes, and accounting for overhead using factors that come from sorcery (a topic I need to learn more about). I knew my estimate using standard methods was way off, so I created created a motion study of the labor involved and accounted for the theoretical and applied difference using a learning curve that I calculated from one data point and my motion study. I thought it was sweet. Like I say, terribly boring for most, but my brain eats it up.
posted by Brady Beckham at 7:02 PM
2 Comments:
I hear you man. I feel badly sometimes about the effects that big business has on small communities, but ultimately, our country has been based on being able to make choices. CHoices where to shop, who to vote for, what car to drive. People do create a lot of their own excess. You should see the amount of excess waste and trash that is deposited on the sides of the road here in Mexico! If there was a decent recycling facility here, I could walk up and down the road for two hours picking up bottles and probably triple my daily salary working at this low paying job. People here do not care about planet/continent/country/city/street beautification at all. They drive around and throw plastic soda bottles out of their windows.
DOn't get a car. My mom said gas is at 3.98 a gallon in st. louis, which means it's probably about 3.50 a gallon where you are. no car? crisis averted.
ARG! I hate the pebble mine and I get so fumed up about it i never have a clear response to your support of corporate money hungry bastards. a;ljf;alwje;oijf (frustration).
Um, a car... I think I'm getting the turtle back. wahoo! But then again... am i supporting the shitt-house of a world for driving? hm... it never ends.
I'm in seattle... I'm going to tramp around this airport and find something amusing. peace
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