[MD] Where have all the values gone?

[Matt poot]

Hi there,

I've been trying to catch up on all of these posts, so you'll have to let me 
know if i've missed out on any important points.

When were talking about issues surrounding profits  , if you want to 
eliminate wrangling in confusion, its a good idea to clarify whether were 
talking about financial, or accounting profits.

I'll assume accounting for now, since they are actually real.

Also, it is important for me, when these economic issues come around, not to 
over-generalize.
Profits are good in some cases, and in others may not be so.  The saying 
"too much of a good thing" comes to mind.

If you have a smaller business owner, who has invested part of their life 
into enterprise, than profit can serve as a reward for them, which is an 
indication of them doing something right (good product/service)  In many 
small businesses, the owners are on the line for the money they have 
invested themselves, and if they do go under, than it is a very bad thing 
for them, and their family.

When you  branch into mega-corporations, however,  where profits are 
measured in the billions , then the issues are, and should never be 
transplanted. I dont have too much time right now to delve as deeply as I 
would want, but the issue for many, when speaking of corporate business 
refers to the ethical (or lack thereof) conduct of those in charge of the 
company (board of directors/management) on behalf of shareholders.

In many large companies, the top shareholders are often on the board of 
directors, or in the upper eschelon of management.  the goal of 
corporations, as stated, is to act in the best interest of their 
shareholders.  It is not hard to see how this can go awry when you have 40 
percent of a corporations shareholder votes controlled by a handful of 
people, who just happen to work/run the company.....

Things are especially unbalanced, when you have the limited liabilities of 
corporations.  If those in charge of the company are not directly 
responsible , to some degree, for the consequences of their actions, then 
their initiatives and actions will, and do often go unchecked.

An example of why purely profit alone, can have unwanted repercussions?:

Does anyone remember the Ford Pinto with its improperly built gastank that 
lead to the deaths of many people using the car?

The reason behind the madness:

It would have cost the company $10 per car to remedy the gastank 
design/build, and given Ford's internal value judgment that the cost per 
death (factoring in lawsuits) would be $200,000, the design change was not 
deemed to be "cost effective"


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Also, very quickly, in response to platts statement of the police and 
military keeping "biological forces at bay".   this statement is false.  
military (violent) and police forces to not keep biological forces at bay.  
The intellectual level does.

How do we maintain this?  Not through policing , but through education.  An 
ounce of cure (taxes for education funding) is worth a pound of cure 
(police/military spending)



bedtime for bonzo!

pleasant dreams everyone.......

poot