When I was a little boy I used to watch “The Wonderful World of Disney,” and they had heroes. There was Fess Parker playing Davy Crockett. There was Zorro, the Swamp Fox and the Scarecrow. They fought against tyranny.
(The kind of Americans we use to have.)
They did what was right at great risk.
I was a little boy in those far off days. Those characters were my heroes.
So, I have to ask. Do the people running Disney every watch their own programs? Do they care what kind of example they set? Do they look in the mirror and wonder where it all went wrong because wrong it is?
They gave into evil.
They surrendered to an orange make up covered villain. And they did it knowing that they will be bullied again and again. Once the bad guys understand what brought fear and collapsed the spines of the management at Disney, they will do it again and again. Surrender and appeasement never stop. The crawling abasement of the defeated and the cowardly continues forever.
It is said the coward dies a thousand deaths, the hero just one. Well, Disney is on one death among many. I almost pity them.
What happened to doing what was right? What happened to facing the threat of tyranny with courage and resolve?
Was it just programming? They portrayed heroic behavior to beguile children into buying merchandise? Was that all it was, just a con? Or did they at one time believe that Americans had to stand up for what was right?
We’ll never know. For what can they say that we can trust? What can they say that we will believe?
If you don’t have a spine or courage, what won’t you say? What won’t you do to give yourself one more day, one more minute of hiding from the bully, one more desperate plea, “Please don’t hit me! I’ll do anything you want me to!”
Courage is necessary right now. Many Americans are standing up against what is happening.
But not everyone is up to the standard of men and women of courage. They prefer to crawl and we should pity them but never forget that when the time came to take a stand, they ran like hell.
Often on Facebook, I am asked to pray for a number of causes, often a pet or family member, sometimes a cause. I usually comply. When someone or a pet is ill, I would very much like them to get better.
Those prayers are private and I hope they do some good. But you and I both know that much public religion is little more than grandstanding. And here in the United States, many politicians wish the mantle of Christianity. We often, very often, see them fail to uphold the behavior of a follower of Christ.
The Pharisees are one of the earliest practitioners of the “public” prayer. They would go out on the street and pray publicly and loudly to demonstrate their piety. Jesus Christ called them out for their false religion and said they would have their “reward.”
But we have in our modern age, “Thoughts and Prayers.” This is a media strategy to divert criticism from a total and complete lack of action most often in regard to firearms. While children are being stacked up by so much bullet riddled cord wood, the solemn intonation that they have the thoughts and prayers of a prime recipient of National Rifle Association votes and money are solemnly reported by a compliant media.
Do the children, dead and wounded, deserve prayer? Yes, absolutely. What kind of prayer? Why don’t we see what a professional says?
The first US pope in history, a native of Chicago, spoke in English as he prayed for the victims of last week’s shooting during a Catholic school mass in Minnesota which saw two children killed and others seriously injured.
“Our prayers for the victims of the tragic shooting during a school mass in the American state of Minnesota,” he said. “We hold in our prayers the countless children killed and injured every day around the world. Let us plead God to stop the pandemic of arms, large and small, which infects our world.”
Michael Sainato writing for the Guardian reports in an article entitled (and quoted from just above this passage) Pope Leo demands end to ‘pandemic of arms’ after Minnesota school shooting
The Pontiff didn’t just offer “Thoughts and Prayers,” he addressed the root cause of all these small dead bodies. He’s calling for action, constructive and intelligent action to stop this kind of violence.
Let me explain about meaningful prayer. If you want children to be fed and they are nearby – like outside your door, feed them. Prayers is just spoken nonsense when you know what needs to be done and you don’t do it.
Prayer is never to be used as an excuse or substitute for action. We are justified in the eyes of God by what we do or fail to do. Your faith in God is demonstrated by works. What you do shows what is in your heart.
And using “thoughts and prayers” as political cover is horribly impious and wrong. James Alan Pilant
The neighbors can be a problem and especially now as customs about lawns are in the middle of change. We are entering a new era where the classic manicured lawn is under attack and people are moving toward natural lawns that provide food for insects and animals. Of course, the traditional bad neighbor behaviors over trees and property lines have never gone away.
(I was struck by the fact that this engraving from the middle of the 19th Century very much appears to ba a modern natural lawn. Trees and wildflowers abound and the grass is largely uncut. Of course, power mowers are at least fifty years away. But it is a compelling vision of man living in considerable harmony with nature. jp)
The article below used the phrase “borderline theft.” No, taking your lawn furniture without permission is theft (or grand larceny if the value is high enough). I think they are calling it borderline so it doesn’t sound so awful but it is. You cannot go into people’s yards and take stuff.
I fully agreed with commentators who were outraged.
In an article from People Magazine entitled: Woman Is ‘Livid’ After Returning from Weekend Away to Find Her Garden Furniture in Her Neighbor’s Yard: ‘Borderline Theft’.
A woman is “livid” after her neighbor borrowed her lawn furniture without asking
The woman, who shared her story on a community forum, said the neighbor “just helped herself” without so much as a note
Commenters on the woman’s post unanimously agreed that she had every right to be bothered by the neighbor’s “shocking” behavior
In this article linked to below, we have a story of a homeowner apparently on a tree slaughtering binge both on his property and the neighbors in an area where trees have legal protection. I really get the impression that there is just something wrong with him. Attacking an ancient tree with a chainsaw at one in the morning is not the act of a disciplined mind.
You’ll need to read the article linked to below for the details. I found the article’s conclusion quoted below to be more useful for those with homes and lawns.
The Cool Down published an article entitled Homeowner stunned by new neighbor’s bizarre acts on front lawn: ‘Went out at like one in the morning with a … chainsaw’ written by Sara Traynor.
Standard, bare lawns, like the kind the OP’s neighbor preferred, are actually not so great for the environment. Having only one species of plant in your yard can hurt the area’s biodiversity. Plus, they usually require a lot more upkeep, since these grasses aren’t accustomed to the local environment.
The OP’s first neighbor had the right idea. Having a variety of plants in your yard is great for local wildlife. Replacing your traditional lawn with native plants or a natural lawn is cheaper in the long run and gives pollinators a much-needed food source.
“Sounds like a great neighborhood to live in!” one commenter said. “And nice to hear the tree company snitched on him.”
It is not a huge leap of logic that neighbors should not be dispatching tree choppers or any other landscape style worker onto your property without permission but in the story below they did. I have many stories along these lines where trees, hedges, flowers and natural lawns were annihilated by the next door neighbor or the Home Owners Association. An HOA sounds more and more like a place where the borderline mentally ill go to have powertrips and create havoc. There should be state and federal law limiting their operations.
The Cool Down published an article entitled – Homeowner stunned after waking up to find workers hacking away in backyard: ‘I repeatedly told them to get off of my property’ Katie Lowe
Environmentally conscious homeowners across the country are increasingly finding themselves at odds with homeowners associations over their right to grow gardens on their own property. Cases are constantly emerging where HOAs restrict or even attempt to remove native trees, vegetable gardens, and natural lawns — even on properties not technically under HOA governance.
One Georgia homeowner recently woke to find workers in their backyard, hired by a neighbor and allegedly supported by the HOA, attempting to cut down a healthy sweet gum tree. The tree, which straddled a property line, had never been the subject of a complaint. Yet, without notice or consent, the crew pruned it severely, leaving it damaged and potentially dangerous.
I was reading through my three articles above and realized that I had provided few remedies to these kinds of acts. So I located an article on what to do if someone kills or damages a tree. From my reading, this the most common dispute.
James Pilant
When a Neighbor Damages or Destroys Your Tree by Ilona Bray, J.D.
If your neighbor or someone else cuts down, removes, or hurts a tree on your property without your permission, that person is required to compensate you (the tree owner) for your loss. If necessary, you can sue to enforce your rights.
Here’s the lowdown on what you must prove to recover for a damaged or destroyed tree, and how much money you can recover.
He is famous for many reasons among them his self-deprecating humor, his creation of the television situation comedy and immense continuous charity work. I learned studying his career that when it came to comedy, he was very learned when it came to his craft and he discussed the books and authors he valued as a comedian.
He started in vaudeville and renamed himself so as not be branded as a Jewish comedian, a dangerous thing in that now far off era. His family like so many today were immigrants. His father came to the United States from Poland and his mother from Lithuania.
Civilization manifests in many ways. Benny was a comedian who drew upon the earlier currents of American writing for ideas. He started on the stage in vaudeville but as technology developed he became a success in radio and films. And then when television became a reality he became a huge success there as well once again adapting to a new medium.
Cultures are enriched propelled by infusions of not just new ideas but the thoughts and customs of other and older cultures.
Benny was born in the United States but his ancestry combined elements of Polish and Ukrainian backgrounds. And, of course, he was Jewish, a considerable handicap at a time when Jews were often thought of as subversives and criminals particularly prone to organized crime.
Ideas develop and spread through cultural mediums like Vaudeville. I live in a small Oklahoma town, yet the local historians tell me there were no fewer than three theaters where entertainers plied their craft. They sang, they danced and told jokes. There were dog acts and family acts and old-fashioned melodrama.
I live in an apartment building which was once a hotel just off the rail line and here Vaudevillians stayed. Jack Benny, George and Gracie Burns and countless other famous entertainers may very well have occupied the same space I live in now.
Of course, those cultural mediums evolve and change. Vaudeville is now regional and little theatre. And our main cultural impetus may well be social media and streaming services.
We live in a river of ideas, cultures and peoples. Few nations have as much movement and excitement as the United States.
But our development is under threat from a foolish movement to create a white majority dominant theme, a movement that seeks to mute the differences that add value to our culture and remake all historical knowledge in the image of white cultural supremacy. And that is wrong and damaging.
It may seem harmless for conservatives to say that it is obvious that Santa Claus is white, to call a mixed race woman, Pocahantas, to ridicule her very real cultural background, to claim a non-existent “War on Christmas,” but these are all techniques to push the idea of a single culture without development or nuance that makes the doddering elderly and the foolish feel comfortable in their prejudices and cultural poverty.
It is important and right that we appreciate and cultivate our developing civilization. It is vital that we actively oppose attempts to limit cultural development like book banning and limits on what can be taught and discussed in the classroom.
Virtually every cultural element of our lives has come under attack at one point or another. Look at the history of Ragtime, Jazz, Rock and Roll and even Country music. Virtually every kind of book and publication has been assaulted by the right wing media machine at one time or another. Motion pictures once had to submit to a code that pretended that all crimes were punished, that all marriages were forever and that single people were always chaste. They pretended that child abuse didn’t exist and that there was nothing but racial harmony in the United States. And now teachers, professors, colleges and universities are under organized assault because of what are obviously the needs and wants of a greedy and prejudiced white majority.
It is more important to speak and live the truth than to engage with a fantasy of what life should be.
It is more important to understand and appreciate the people of this nation and their varied backgrounds and talents. It is a wonderful truth, a wonderful reality, a powerful and motivating history that continues to build.
We live in a nation that has been and continues to come to grips with its racist past and now the present. We live in a nation that ever more thinks in terms of the varied cultures that thrive within it. We live in a nation where free inquiry and scientific methods have produced a massive amount of profit and technological change.
That is a lot to be proud of and it gives me some comfort to think that the strength of those currents may well survive our current regime.
We begin with the wave of fires creating waves of destruction in the American West. Governor Gavin Newsom says the debate over climate change is finished. He says in these California fires you can see the results of climate change with your own eyes. I strongly agree but I felt that the fires in Australia last year should have ended the debate. This is further evidence.
Climate change is going to be a continuing issue in business ethics. How are businesses, particularly, the international corporations, going to act on this issue? Their responses will be as important as that of many medium size nations.
Sir David Attenborough tells us in his latest documentary that 60% of the vertebrate animals have disappeared since 1970 and the rate of natural extinction has been accelerated 100 times.
Many businesses impact species extinction. The international trade in animals and animal parts is savagely destructive of the earth’s species. And we have only a limited time to act.
Let’s segue to a somewhat nostalgic and yet current note, that is, vinyl records have outsold CD’s for the first time since the 1980’s. That may be just a chimera though since streaming services are seizing the lion’s share of the market.
There is a famous insurance fraud case making the rounds on social media. A woman in Slovenia cut off her hand with a band saw claiming it was an accident that happened while cutting branches. Unfortunately for her claim, she had just taken out five insurance polices which would have resulted in an award of more the equivalent of more than a million US dollars. This was certainly suspicious but her boyfriend’s internet searches on artificial hands done before the loss clinched the case for fraud.
Apparently another case of stupid criminals but a very sad one (although the hand was reattached).
California’s legislature faced with a shortage of firefighters and inmates showing bravery and tenacity fighting the wave of fires has passed a law making it easier for them to expunge their records and become firefighters.
As a form of positive business ethics, I am impressed by the act. It seems to me simple justice that those on the frontline of fighting these terrible and now increasingly regular fires should be rewarded.
Rio Tinto’s CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques, is going to resign following the destruction of sacred aboriginal sites. The company attempted to deal with the crisis by canceling bonuses but considering the harm done this was a non-starter.
This was an appalling crime and there is no real penalty. Under the law, they could destroy at will any cultural artifact on the land they controlled. The Juukan Gorge rock shelters had shown evidence of continuous human habitation for 46,000 years. They were an irreplaceable evidence of human history completely unique.
What kind of people are these to disintegrate and destroy cultural artifacts at will? And what kind of nation allows its cultural treasures to be annihilated without a hint of caution or penalty?
And finally, I would like to add my voice to Emily Stewart‘s writing in Vox. She is calling for providing all citizens of the United States with Internet. I strongly agree. If we are going to advance as a nation, that is a minimal requirement. Further, in a crisis like the current pandemic we have already seen the importance of being connected.
But please read the article, the author is detailed and impressive.
I’ve always thought children were wonderfully intelligent but what I like most about them is their honesty, that they are genuine. They haven’t learned the dangers of showing your real feelings or real thoughts.
And they’re bright. Children are learning at incredible rate. Did you know that that by the time a baby is five months old, it has learned to match the facial expressions of an adult? By the time a child is five, its ability to understand facial expressions is almost as good as an adult. And they are clever. How clever?
Let me tell you a story.
On the wall of my office is a picture from a coloring book marked with a bright orange crayon.
There was a five year old and I gave her a piece of candy, something to color and some Crayolas to color with. I expected her to be gone for a while but she came back very quickly and asked for more candy. I from the very heights of adult wisdom told her she could have one as soon as she finished coloring her picture. She said, “That’ll take forever!” and left apparently depressed. She then returned very quickly with the entire picture colored with broad strokes from the aforementioned orange Crayola. She wasn’t very much in the lines but she did color the whole picture.
She out foxed me. I told her to color the picture. I didn’t specify how or in what manner or even that she should use more than one color. She had held to the strict terms of the agreement and defeated my intent that she spend at least ten minutes coloring. It was a triumph of lawyerly reasoning and I the actual lawyer was on the short end of the stick being out reasoned and out thought by a little girl.
Of course, the stakes were very small. I keep a good amount of candy in my office. Being a diabetic I can’t eat it myself so it all goes to the occasional visiting child and sometimes a co-worker comes by and gets one. Since I can no longer eat candy, I buy the expensive dark chocolate and caramels and live vicariously through other people’s happiness while eating them.
But even thought the stakes were small, a loss is a loss, and being clobbered in a David vs. Goliath style struggle is pretty unsettling when you play the Goliath role. Nevertheless, I admire her for it. She was clever and knew how to think and that’s at five years of age.
Of course, the sporadic visits of children to the office are not my only experience with the learning power or reasoning of the very young.
I have one son who is now twenty-four. When he was just a small boy, instead of telling him no all the time, we made a deal. If he could give me a good reason to have something. I’d buy it for him. At first he was clumsy and made poor arguments but very rapidly began to develop real negotiating skill. And I kept the bargain. If he argued well, he got toys, and as time went by, the toys became video games and then movies and books. A few years ago, I watched him negotiate with his buddies while playing a D&D style game. It was like watching a shark in a pool full of minnows.
With children, it’s important to listen to them and cultivate their abilities. I know it is hard. They often repeat arguments, have outlandish ideas and no experience. But if you stay with it, pay attention and talk to them like adults, it pays off.
Climate change is going to be a continuing issue in business ethics. How are businesses, particularly, the international corporations, going to act on this issue? Their responses will be as important as that of many medium size nations.
Pilant's Business Ethics Blog 
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