Fault Lines: The Top 1% (via THE INTERNET POST)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Exactly. The distribution of income is this country is a great moral and ethical problem. If the money were allocated according to ability and work ethic, that might make some sense but walk around in this country and look at the hard working men and women reduced to penury by law that favor financial “innovation” over hard work and productivity.

James Pilant

The richest 1% of US Americans earn nearly a quarter of the country's income and control an astonishing 40% of its wealth. Inequality in the US is more extreme than it's been in almost a century — and the gap between the super rich and the poor and middle class people has widened drastically over the last 30 years. Meanwhile, in Washington, a bitter partisan debate over how to cut deficit spending and reduce the US' 14.3 trillion dollar debt is u … Read More

via THE INTERNET POST

Enough Is Enough! Demonstrate the True Will of the People (via Coffee Party USA)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is from the web site – Coffee Party USA – Here’s the lead in –

CALL TO ACTION: If you do not consent to being governed by corporations or billionaires…If you want to be heard by your government..If you’re ready to stand up for America’s democracy and your dignity as citizens…Join us. Let’s build America’s Tahrir Square.

We are calling for is a peaceful and decisive demonstration to restore  democracy in America.We want to see a million Americans turn up for a march in Washington with satellite rallies in every town and city.

As many acknowledge, we are on the cusp of losing our democracy.  As everyday Americans, we just don’t feel heard by our government or mainstream media. Representation has broken down.

The upward shift in wealth, the outsourcing of jobs, rampant financial speculation: all these are great moral and ethical issues before the American People. I cannot help but see that our institutions seem to have no concern for the great mass of Americans.

I want you to consider joining the March on Washington being organized on the web site. It’s not enough to be angry. It’s time to do something.

James Pilant

 

Ethics: it’s tough even to give it away (via Ethics Bob)

On By southwerkIn business ethics
Ethics Bob

This essay has an important observation. Ethics is more than discussing obeying the rules or even the laws. Ethics is a philosophy by which we guide our actions. When we discuss the subject only in terms of rule breaking we bring to mind the picture of the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. We are only plugging holes and not dealing with the wider issue of the behavior should be.

James Pilant

Ethics: it’s tough even to give it away Everybody talks about ethics but it seems nobody cares about it. The “ethics” talk is all about rules: bribery, conflict of interest, financial disclosure laws, nepotism, and the rest of the litany of rules of conduct that you can be fired or prosecuted for breaking. If you subscribe to a Google alert for “ethics” you learned today that a key aide to the governor of Illinois was fined $500 and forced to resign for sending a campaign email on his … Read More

via Ethics Bob

North West Arkansas Community College (via becomealiveblog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

It has been some years, more than I care to remember, since I went to college. I thought I was in heaven, and I’ve never forgotten how it felt those first few days when I discovered that my professors actually thought I was bright.

Here we have a student embarking on a new career path. One day soon, college may become a simple matter of computer assisted tests and internet presentations with the personal removed, no more lecture, no more exchange of ideas between teacher and student, and no more of the power and enthusiasm of teaching at its best. But we are not there yet and so his experience will be similar to mine, a path of self discovery with the pleasure of being taught.

I wish him well and suggest his essay as an example of a thinking human being, in short, a rare individual.

James Pilant

Well, my last day of employment at Coors of Western Arkansas was on Friday. I began that job a year ago when I  was still under the false impression that I wanted to work my way up in the work force. I thought: "I might like it better than the restaurant business." I was dead wrong. Despite the fact that I was a salesman, 80% of my day was stocking shelves. Which I found to be less than intellectually stimulating. So now it is Monday and I'm abou … Read More

via becomealiveblog

What on earth is S365? (via (B)LogtheLeg)

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

The debt ceiling agreement clobbers grad students. It makes it harder to get loans for those working toward advanced degrees. We in this country need to encourage education not just at the bachelor level but at all levels. We don’t just live to make money but to extend our civilization. It’s important to continue this process.

Let’s cut grad students a break and maintain their ability to stay in school.

James Pilant

Based on the timing on this post, I think you can infer it's the debt ceiling bill that passed the House earlier. But let's go a bit in depth, and discuss something which I don't believe was discussed on the Floor of the House. I'm not going to delve into the numbers of the debt ceiling, for you all can read that on whichever source you choose. What many of your outside sources will not tell you is the name of the bill itself. It is entitled, "To … Read More

via (B)LogtheLeg

Samuel Adams—To Richard Henry Lee (January 15, 1781) (via Democratic Thinker)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is a letter from Samuel Adams to Richard Henry Lee. These were two giants of the American Revolution. I am fond of American history and believe that we have much to learn from the ideas and actions of the founders (although I firmly believe it can be overdone).

This is an interesting letter. It has some observations I find compelling. Please have a look.

James Pilant

Samuel Adams—To Richard Henry Lee (January 15, 1781) American Correspondence     In 1781, while the war was still uncertain, Samuel Adams writes to his good friend and fellow patriot encouraging him to help inattentive citizens return to the first principles of liberty. It would be indeed alarming, if the United States should ever entrust the Ship in which our all is at Stake, with inexperiencd or unprincipled Pilots. Our Cause is surely too interesting to Mankind, to be put under the Dir … Read More

via Democratic Thinker

How The Rich Are Winning The Class War (via Blogadoccio’s Blog)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I think that the No Child Left Behind law had severely damaged character education, critical thinking and issue awareness among the young. An ability to take multiple choice tests, true false, or completion tests is not a useful employment skill. Yet that has become almost our sole measurement of educational achievement.

But the inaction of the middle class, whatever it’s cause, is critical to the success of the rich in shifting the tax burden.

James Pilant

The rich won the class war by depriving the middle and lower classes of education: history, civics, political education, and training in how to think critically. As a result, their mouthpieces can spout nonsense and the relatively uneducated voters now swallow it clean. The antidote, until we get a real education system back again, is for those of use whose eyes are open to educate those around us who cannot see what is going on. We need to devel … Read More

via Blogadoccio's Blog

Adding Insult to Injury – America’s Debt Ceiling Crisis & Who is responsible for the financial crisis in America? (via Tucson Blonde)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is a explanation of why the rich are gaining ground and the middle class losing it. It cites statistics on a regular basis. No statistic cited is anything that I have heard contrary data on. So, I think the report was written with considerable research. I would note that there is not just a little passion in the post which is delightful to me but not always to my readers.

This blogger wrote a lengthy, well written and thoughtful article. Please visit the web site and reward those efforts.

James Pilant

Whose side is Congress on? In November 2009 the New York Times published an article about the number of US Senators and House members who were millionaires.[i] At the time two-thirds (66%) of the senate and more than half (55%) of the house were also millionaires. That year recorded an estimate of nearly 7% (ca. 21 million) Americans who were, at least, millionaires. If our “representatives” truly reflected the current state of our great Nation w … Read More

via Tucson Blonde

How to have a ‘rational’ debate over nuclear power (via Rational and Green)

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

There is a lot of debate on the web about nuclear power. This is a different kind of take on the issue. Our author explains how the emotional aspects of the danger of nuclear power has to be taken into consideration. I’m sure there are many who would argue that only the rational arguments should be taken into consideration.

However, the advocates of nuclear power have cast every kind of insult at their opponents ranging from tree hugger to murderer (that’s right, since using coal power can increase death from particulate matter, opposing nuclear power is murder), I think the use of the irrational on that side is already well established.

James Pilant

In any debate over nuclear power, the people calling for a “rational” discussion tend to be proponents of nuclear power. In response, those in the “anti-nuclear” camp will often adopt the “rational” vocabulary of their “pro-nuclear” counterparts, basing their arguments on issues of cost and statistical risk (and perhaps some case studies to prove the viability of renewable sources of energy). And thus, there emerges a tacit consensus between thes … Read More

via Rational and Green

In the Tradition of Shays’ Rebellion, America is Poised to Tear Down Our Monetary System (via Job Voucher Plan)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is a really interesting take on history comparing Shay’s rebellion with current unrest. It is an intellectually stimulating argument. I rarely see historical arguments on the web. In my field you mainly get economic, philosophical or political arguments. This is refreshing change.

I don’t agree with everything here. But full agreement is never necessary to enjoy a good post. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

James Pilant

In the Tradition of Shays' Rebellion, America is Poised to Tear Down Our Monetary System America is now poised to repeat a test of our Republic that played out at the end of the Revolutionary War in the state of Massachusetts, that of Shays’ Rebellion. In 1776, 90 percent of the patriots who fought in the war left their farms to do so. To feed the war effort, others sought loans from bankers and wealthy merchants to increase the size of their farms. Returning from the war in 1783, former soldiers found their farms in disarray. Return … Read More

via Job Voucher Plan