tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post8123255752176439494..comments2023-06-15T09:13:45.467-04:00Comments on Liberty's Torch: A Disappearing EthicFrancis W. Porrettohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-77848172166518467342013-01-04T14:00:43.280-05:002013-01-04T14:00:43.280-05:00Col. Bunny,
You are correct in that the wrong less...Col. Bunny,<br />You are correct in that the wrong lessons are learned (and likely that has been true for ages, but I remember when Aesop's were teaching methods... so it hasn't been THAT long. Blame it on Liberal educations.)<br /><br />I am Conservative, but had some rought times. It is impossible to explain to Catholic, conservative, 2nd generation immigrant parents what has gone wrong, that you have gone through a bankruptcy and exhausted all your resources - especially since each decision was what was best at the time, for the most involved - and even MORE frustrating when the woman you are involved with says, "Well, I took responsibility for my part in this, and it's time to move on." <br /><br />My own fault - and I believe that, though "we" have recovered, MORE scrutiny about lifestyle would've been good. She might've gotten her @$$ kicked before I met her... and as a result, maybe I would've been lucky wnough to NOT meet her.<br /><br />(Short version: Entered relationship, loaned her $7K to stabilize her finances; still had backup funds to the tune of ~$26K, and additional for retirement, and income, plus $100K in credit. Within two years, was bankrupt from court battle for custody of her daughter from the father, and buying a house, and exceeding income regularly - which was concealed from me, as she "took over the bills to feel like she was contributing while she couldn't find work." But she also wouldn't settle for less than she was making, nor was she able to hold a job for quite some time. I blame her attitude, mostly - she would tell me how she responded to co-workers, so I know when she fueed instead of de-escalating. Anyway, I'd estimate it at over $600,000 in LOSSES, PLUS loss of my family - and she thinks I should just move on. My Christian charity is long since exhausted, but she got her name on the mortgage... "just in case.") <br /><br />She learned nothing, and seems to mostly be incapable of learning. I elarned something, though: don't give a F*ck about someone who is, "down on their luck," and actually, don't give a f*ck about woman, either. She's ALWAYS having a rough time (per latest Tale of NA, "raising a daughter in patriarchy" - which, btw, highlights both the female (directly) and the male (indirectly, in the sense he allows his attention to wander) problems. <br /><br />I a microcom, it's the same issue you show here: we get scarred and desensitized to others' pain when we are being robbed to alleviate their pain regardless. It is even worse when we must live with our tormentor, and then are denied the ability to even complain about the abuse...Bill Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07312167460324611006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-66746666837995299192012-11-04T01:22:08.047-04:002012-11-04T01:22:08.047-04:00Local charity once was administered in the 19C thr...Local charity once was administered in the 19C through settlement houses in the community. How widespread that system was I don't know but aid came with scrutiny of lifestyle and responsibility for cause of or continuation of personal calamity. <br /><br />The capture of charity by government removed that scrutiny and government demanded no alteration of lifestyle. Oh, no.<br /><br />I no longer can source this statistic but in the 90s I liked to tell people that as of the early 90s the average family of four paid 24%, I think it was, of its income in federal income and employment taxes. Then I would ask, What percentage did the same family pay in 1948? <br /><br />Answer: 2%.<br /><br />In a little over 40 years the federal government exacted an additional 22% of the family's income. Without any protest that I could determine. As has been true of similar exactions, intrusions, invasions, and impositions. It is apparently possible for the government to suck the marrow from the very bones of the citizens utterly without protest or opposition from them. And this to accomplish purposes that are manifestly poisnous to the citizens forking over the funds in question. (The "forkers.")<br /><br />But this particular ship of state steams on. Headed to the Rocks of Fiscal Excess, as we know, where, after the hull is breached, copies of the iron laws of arithmetic will be distributed to the passengers. Then there will be a General Awakening, from which, of course, precisely the wrong lessons will be learned.Col. B. Bunnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09590364016079745156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-72066703315648005822012-11-02T10:35:00.013-04:002012-11-02T10:35:00.013-04:00In the scenario you imagined to be more likely, wo...In the scenario you imagined to be more likely, would you have expected those employees who showed up at work _despite_ the hurricane to be paid for it? Would you expect those whose accumulated vacation/personal/sick days for the year were already exhausted to be summarily fired as soon as the flood waters drained out of the HR department?<br /><br />I think a reasonable case could be made that, in the event that the employer voluntarily chooses to close unexpectedly, they do have a moral duty not to penalize the employees who had been available to work.<br /><br />Legally enforceable? No, and I'd shudder to think of the unintended consequences of trying to make it so...but nevertheless a reasonable expectation by employees which, if breached, would justify those employees immediately commencing -- en masse -- to seek after new employment opportunities.<br /><br />Loyalty is a two-way street. If employers don't want to expend the time and energy to continually train replacements for fed-up staff who quit, they'd best start taking better care of the folks they have.<br /><br />Congratulations to Our Host's employer for being far better than average in that regard, this time around.lelnethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08600824544185328505noreply@blogger.com