We have the ability to think and reason. We should be expected to use this in every aspect of our lives. "Zero tolerance" is an attempt to remove human reason and judgment. It is an attempt to turn us into robots and not allow us to make decisions, even punishments, based upon the available evidence. I don't know why they are so popular, but they are certainly not fair. Punishments do not need to be equal across the board for fairness and equality. Punishments should be different based on the incident and those involved.
I've, thankfully, not been caught up in any sort of "zero tolerance" enforcement, but I do wish the concept would die away. Humans are capable of much more and should not be legislating artificial caps on our own abilities.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Free market capitalist no more...
This is no essay, as I am prone to say. I am not documenting anything. I am just posting some thoughts. That's what my blog is.
I used to believe that the answers to all, or most ills, could be found through a free and open market. That people would not do business with bad companies. That the government did not need excessive regulation because people would do business with the companies who did things the right ways. That the companies, their executives, and their shareholders would do the right things because the market would not tolerate the wrong things...
I began to have doubts with the numerous financial scandals that began to break over the past several years. All of that is still shaking out and more are being discovered. I have had to admit that these people were not doing the right things and the market was buying up all their lies and some people made a whole lot of money while others lost a whole lot of money. Some totally innocent people, such as the employees of these corporations, may have ended up with less than nothing thanks to losing pensions, 401ks, their jobs, and then their homes.
Sure, the government is attempting to do their proper job by holding these men responsible for these crimes against society. But justice really takes a long time and these guys have a lot of money to assemble the best defense that money can buy. Meanwhile, the government has made it harder for those who lost their lunch to declare bankruptcy. In the end, big corporations ended up ahead of the average person once again.
Walmart is a company that is busy driving down wages, driving down benefits, driving down property values, and is putting cash in the hands of the Chinese government by being almost-singlehandedly responsible for our ever-growing trade imbalance with China. To further turn my stomach, they drape themselves in the red, white, and blue of the American flag to generate some sort of patriotic feeling amongst the consumers. They benefit, in major ways, from eminent domain land grabs. If they really are such a great company and believe in the free market, why aren't they buying the land for their stores via the same free market?
I no longer think that the market, as a whole, has the ability to rein in problem corporations. The majority of people just are not willing, or do not have the time, to make sure they are properly informed and do business with companies that do the right thing. Another side is that, as a result of this 'race to the bottom' across all industries, a lot more people can no longer afford to do business with the good companies and are forced to do business with, and seek employment with, companies that they would not ideally have anything at all to do with.
I used to believe in Milton Friedman, but a lot of what has happened over the past 5 or 6 years has really changed my mind. The shine came off for good when I found out he may have played a very significant role in the "payroll withholdings" scam that the government employs to steal our money throughout the year instead of submitting taxes at the end of each year.
Just a few thoughts while waiting on slow computers to respond on a Sunday morning at work...
I used to believe that the answers to all, or most ills, could be found through a free and open market. That people would not do business with bad companies. That the government did not need excessive regulation because people would do business with the companies who did things the right ways. That the companies, their executives, and their shareholders would do the right things because the market would not tolerate the wrong things...
I began to have doubts with the numerous financial scandals that began to break over the past several years. All of that is still shaking out and more are being discovered. I have had to admit that these people were not doing the right things and the market was buying up all their lies and some people made a whole lot of money while others lost a whole lot of money. Some totally innocent people, such as the employees of these corporations, may have ended up with less than nothing thanks to losing pensions, 401ks, their jobs, and then their homes.
Sure, the government is attempting to do their proper job by holding these men responsible for these crimes against society. But justice really takes a long time and these guys have a lot of money to assemble the best defense that money can buy. Meanwhile, the government has made it harder for those who lost their lunch to declare bankruptcy. In the end, big corporations ended up ahead of the average person once again.
Walmart is a company that is busy driving down wages, driving down benefits, driving down property values, and is putting cash in the hands of the Chinese government by being almost-singlehandedly responsible for our ever-growing trade imbalance with China. To further turn my stomach, they drape themselves in the red, white, and blue of the American flag to generate some sort of patriotic feeling amongst the consumers. They benefit, in major ways, from eminent domain land grabs. If they really are such a great company and believe in the free market, why aren't they buying the land for their stores via the same free market?
I no longer think that the market, as a whole, has the ability to rein in problem corporations. The majority of people just are not willing, or do not have the time, to make sure they are properly informed and do business with companies that do the right thing. Another side is that, as a result of this 'race to the bottom' across all industries, a lot more people can no longer afford to do business with the good companies and are forced to do business with, and seek employment with, companies that they would not ideally have anything at all to do with.
I used to believe in Milton Friedman, but a lot of what has happened over the past 5 or 6 years has really changed my mind. The shine came off for good when I found out he may have played a very significant role in the "payroll withholdings" scam that the government employs to steal our money throughout the year instead of submitting taxes at the end of each year.
Just a few thoughts while waiting on slow computers to respond on a Sunday morning at work...
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