cap·i·tal·ism (kāp'ĭ-tl-ĭz'əm)
Stop. Breathe. ..... feel better?
Careful! You're saying good things about capitalism. The company is still in competition with other companies, y'know.Ah, my apologies for my misinterpretation!
Certainly John Lewis is a fine example of how a more co-operative approach to business can lead to a much better working environment and still have a successful company. I've always liked shopping in John Lewis, mainly because they sell good quality stuff, but knowing that the workers will get a fair share of the profits makes it all the more attractive.
It'd be a good thing to see more companies take this approach.
Careful! You're saying good things about capitalism. The company is still in competition with other companies, y'know.
I certainly like the business model better than the antagonistic approach of our automotive industry. I'd hate to see politicians try to jump in and mandate such practices. That crap never works. You can't legislate attitude.
The inner city culture here has gone so far away from what used to be normal that sometimes I feel like a foreigner in my own land. It seems to be universally accepted that if someone accidentally drops something or leaves it on a table, such as a cell phone, the owner is at fault for not protecting the property and taking it is not really theft. :crazy: We would do well to teach morality, manners, ethics, etiquette, call it what you will, to our children, but we adults can't agree anymore on whether being a responsible adult means working hard and living within one's means or filling out the proper forms to maximize one's entitlements.
As you said, it would not be in the government's best interests. The best way to get away with murder is to keep people too distracted to notice. That's why I think every bureaucracy should be kept as small and as close to home as possible. It's different in European countries, being smaller, but we are the third largest country in the world. It's not realistic to ask people to work in Washington 1000 miles from home and make decisions that are simultaneously in the best interests of both their constituents and those of another community 1000 miles from both home and Washington. Any decisions specific to Iowa should be made in Iowa. Any laws specific to San Diego should be written in San Diego. Raising and educating our children is too important and intimate an issue to be dictated from Washington DC.This is my 1,000th post so I want to make it memorable...
For once, sir, we can totally agree
I've been with friends, people who I'd ordinarily consider reasonably educated and well brought-up, found someone's digital camera or wallet and it would take me ages to convince them to hand them into the police. The default response it seems is to take. There are some nice folk in the world though, a friend of mine dropped his wallet and was pretty convinced it was on the bus. I told him that someone would hand it in but he refused to believe me so didn't call the bus company. A couple of hours later he got a phone call from the police who had his wallet . it had been handed in by one of the passengers, complete with cards, cash and a small joint inside... that kind of thing gives one hope.
This is the real problem I guess, as you said, we simply can't agree on morals, manners nor ethics. For me, a good work ethic is a no-brainer, but as you've mentioned, there's a large proportion of adults who don't possess this themselves, and would be unable to teach anything other than how to get the maximum benefits from the social security system. I think that's where it might be better taught in educational establishments. As a whole, society should be able to agree on certain principles, that should be able to be taught in school. That probably won't cancel out a lot of the bad education a lot of kids receive at home, but it might make some headway...
Rant over.
