Not perfect, but good enough |
From Business Insider:
The real problem is that American corporations, which are richer and more profitable than they have ever been in history, have become so obsessed with "maximizing short-term profits" that they are no longer investing in their future, their people, and the country.Employees are seen not as valuable assets but rather as "costs" which must be reduced as much as possible to increase profits for the corporations which are already earning record profits and pay huge salaries and bonuses to further line the pockets of top employees who are already rich. And, as a general policy, if the company has a bad year, the employees take the hit with layoffs, reduced benefits, and frozen wages, and - tah dah! - those at the top get bonuses.
This short-term corporate greed can be seen in many aspects of corporate behavior, from scrimping on investment spending to obsessing about quarterly earnings to fretting about daily fluctuations in stock prices. But it is most visible in the general attitude toward average employees.
Employees are human beings. They are people who devote their lives to creating value for customers, shareholders, and colleagues. And, in return, at least in theory, they share in the rewards of the value created by their team.
In theory.
In practice, American business culture has become so obsessed with maximizing short-term profits that employees aren't regarded as people who are members of a team.
Rather, they are regarded as "costs."
Short term profits and daily stock prices take precedence over sharing with employees the results of their labors. Think of it: Human beings who spend the better part of their lives building and keeping corporations running are considered liabilities rather than assets. Greater and greater numbers of those who once considered themselves middle class are sliding into poverty.
Four out of 5 U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.As more and more of the wealth of the US shifts to the haves, will the time ever come when the numbers of people who can purchase the goods and services of the corporations fall to such a low point that the profits of the corporations diminish, and the bubble pops? People with lower incomes must spend their money on every day subsistence, but the wealthy are able to invest and hoard their wealth.
As Amie Bush said on Facebook, "People are costs and corporations are people. It's a crazy-messed-up world we are a'livin' in people! I mean folks! Uh, I mean costs!"
This is so sad and hits really close to home. Here is the latest on the NC front. The legislature is in recess right now and this is the game plan during that time. Moral Monday is going on the road.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday, August 5 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m., a coalition of WNC groups will host
Mountain Moral Monday, a non-partisan event to highlight the abuse of power and cruel policies
coming out of the North Carolina statehouse. The event will take place at Pack Square Park and
will feature the Rev. Dr. William Barber, President of the NC NAACP, the grassroots leader
responsible for shining a national spotlight on what the New York Times has called “The Decline
of North Carolina.”
Sorry for the weird spacing. I copied the blurb from my church newsletter. Hopefully there will be a nice contingent from Calvary. Rides, if needed, are offered.
ReplyDeleteNo matter, Bonnie. It seems that just a few years ago North Carolina was known as a progressive southern state. Now it appears to have been kidnapped and is now held hostage by the Tea Party. Yes, I know the clowns were voted into office, but still.
DeleteI hope you have a good turnout for Moral Monday.
John Oliver did an absolutely BRILLIANT bit on this subject (starting w/ minimum wage fastfood workers striking for better pay) tonight.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part was the clip of FOX capitalism-shill Neal Cavuto talking about just how wonderful it was to start out (at age 16) for $2/hr for a Fish&Chips place in 1974...
...conveniently ignoring 1) the average minimum wage worker today is *28* (and a parent), not 16 and 2) $2/hr is, adjusted for inflation, equal to over $9/hour (or, more than 2 dollars MORE per hour than our current 2013 minimum wage! :-0)
Um, I should say John Oliver on "The Daily Show" (Comedy Central).
DeleteWe can all choose to go back to the halcyon days of some time or other and fantasize that things were so much better. Gee, I remember when gasoline was $.29 per gallon, and an attendant filled your car and cleaned your windshield. I wonder how much the attendants made.
DeleteI'll check out the video. John Oliver is so good that Jon Stewart had better watch his back.
The CEO of Caterpillar was recently quoted as saying, "You can't make too much money." You can't make too much profit." To which I say, "You can't take it with you" when it was reported that he'd given himself an 80% pay increase.
ReplyDeleteHow much money does one person or one family need? Why are the majority of the very rich so greedy? As you say...
DeleteI sent this story to a friend and she replied that they do think they can take it with them, or they're not going. Rich man and the beggar at the gate anyone?
ReplyDeleteYour friend may be right. Those types live in denial, and they may think they can buy off death.
DeleteIn the early 1990s, a vice president at American Airlines was quoted as saying "Pilots are expenses. They are not assets like planes or computers". Here is an article I wrote on it: http://xulonjam.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/capitalism-and-the-attack-on-the-imago-dei/
ReplyDeletexulonjam, I read your very interesting post and left a comment.
DeleteI saw it. I hoped the article would dovetail with what you were saying. Thanks for interacting.
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