tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post7730359261707050226..comments2024-03-26T07:07:14.304-07:00Comments on Teacher Tom: Starving The Doomsday MachineTeacher Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-1817997811246908782011-12-20T12:50:32.630-08:002011-12-20T12:50:32.630-08:00The problem isn't profit, but unshared profit....The problem isn't profit, but unshared profit. If a corporation has a requirement that all employees have at least one share of voting stock, and the same salary plus some shares of dividend stock, Profit stops being a greedy monster for a few, but a collective incentive for all. <br /><br />As someone who's worked in small, medium, and very large companies. I'm more inclined to innovate, share ideas, and work harder the more impact to my bottom line I feel I'll get. In the small companies, I generally felt I might have more impact (some yes, some maybe, and some never), than in the larger companies.<br /><br />I think the problem comes when everyone is calcifying into a status quo, specifically because they are afraid of losing the steady salary they have. If everyone in the company (from the mailroom boy, to the CEO) got the same salary (but different numbers of dividend shares) then they all would feel it when the company did well and they all would feel it when the company didn't. It would be what a company should be ... A collective of individuals working together for a common endeavor. Instead of what it tends to be: A rich set of guys telling everyone how it's going to be and what to do while they go enjoy the money their employees are earning but not sharing.<br /><br />oh well, probably just a naive ideal.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17446290757921911032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-66215427653972460612011-12-11T10:19:51.227-08:002011-12-11T10:19:51.227-08:00Thank you for speaking out Anonymous. I know many ...Thank you for speaking out Anonymous. I know many people who understand Libertarianism as you do. Most of them are Ron Paul supporters and have turned me on to lots of his positions and policies with which I agree whole-heartedly.<br /><br />Perhaps you can help me:<br /><br />When we get to the core issue of economics, I find myself in opposition. No Libertarian has ever been able to explain to me how, if business is unregulated, we prevent them from growing so large and wealthy that they simply destroy or consume their competition and create monopolies and cartels in every industry, which is NOT in the best interest of consumers. No one has ever been able to explain to me how we prevent companies from becoming so large and wealthy that they take over our government. No one has been able to explain to me how the neoliberal economic direction that we have been pursuing for the past 30+ years is any different than what Libertarians support, and which has lead to exactly the kind of corporate controlled state we are threatened with today. And no one has been able to explain to me what Libertarians do about the sick, the poor, the aged, and the downright unfortunate. The answer I usually get is something along the lines of "hold a bake sale." Ron Paul himself recently let his former campaign manager die sick and penniless without lifting a finger and has famously fumbled his answer to this question in the debates. There seems to be a cruelty at the heart of Libertarianism that says: "You made bad choices, now you must suffer." I think we can do better than that.<br /><br />I do look forward to your response because these are genuine questions I would like to have answered. Please set me straight.Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-619716285172140442011-12-11T10:09:12.405-08:002011-12-11T10:09:12.405-08:00I like to point out that an unregulated economy is...I like to point out that an unregulated economy is simulated in a game of monopoly. 1. One person ends up with all the money. 2. Once you collect a lot of money it is a lot easier to make more money. 3. While there is some skill and strategy involved, there is also an element of luck. <br /><br />So then the question is do we really want our economy like that? And, is it really unfair to start the game over, or make rules so that it doesn't end? (I don't think so.)Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12146270736158297146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-18495775901977387532011-12-11T08:39:21.022-08:002011-12-11T08:39:21.022-08:00I am a preschool teacher that follows your blog. I...I am a preschool teacher that follows your blog. I am Also a Libertarian and recently ran for local office on the Libertarian Party line. I think you have libertarianism all wrong. So many people misunderstand and misrepresent libertarianism. alot of your ideas that I see expressed are of a libertarian nature. Non-aggression, free choice, free association, un-schooling ideas, allowing children and people the freedom to learn for themselves. I am no expert on this but I am willing to guess that Microsoft was dominating the field because of government regulation that was already in place.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-4604381283800183332011-12-11T08:05:09.683-08:002011-12-11T08:05:09.683-08:00Tom,
It is absolutely possible to have a society w...Tom,<br />It is absolutely possible to have a society with proper regulations for corporations and other businesses. It does take the will to make it happen, and voting for politicians who believe in this.<br />In my country we have a federal government which is very conservative and intent on deregulating - this means voting against gun control, dismantaling our precious Wheat Board, and providing support to "for profit" medical centers.<br /><br />I am fortunate to live in a province which still has strict government regulations in early childhood centers, and most of our daycare centers are non-profit, and parent governed.<br /><br />I have a post this weekend sharing a wonderful song, sung by a young man on You Tube, in support of the Occupy movement. I think you might enjoy his work. He is working his way through a book called "Rise Up and Sing".<br />The song I shared is All The Weary Mothers, written by Joan Baez, and I just love his version of it.<br />BrendaMullin Avenue Workshophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09489785153205822301noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-68810121155585092762011-12-10T20:15:29.815-08:002011-12-10T20:15:29.815-08:00What if from this perilous cliff we stand upon, th...What if from this perilous cliff we stand upon, the human race chose to build a bridge across the canyon, as four-year-old's with building blocks do? And what if all of our children were all allowed to explore possibilities, experiment, and have creative control, as is the model at Woodland Park? What if we all assumed the position of "Experience Facilitator" as a main role as parents and teachers? What if this went on even beyond early childhood? Ah!...there it is...yes, I see the vision now. I'm in.Autumn Dawnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09060976885542457477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-14267408306072275792011-12-10T17:47:33.750-08:002011-12-10T17:47:33.750-08:00Tom,
Phenomenal post. Please continue to spare yo...Tom,<br /><br />Phenomenal post. Please continue to spare your wife these musings in the future. <br /><br />-AlexAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-39955627978469569692011-12-10T16:11:45.735-08:002011-12-10T16:11:45.735-08:00Amen Annie!Amen Annie!Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-79514948632393790912011-12-10T14:36:53.541-08:002011-12-10T14:36:53.541-08:00It is achievable if we have the will. The country ...It is achievable if we have the will. The country of Bhutan has a measure called Gross National Happiness; if a business proposition doesn't contribute to the happiness of the people at large, it's not permitted to go forward. It's a matter of having the national (international) will to move towards a better way and refuse second best, which seems to mean putting up with pepper spray in your face at present but will probably meet with more extreme resistance in the long run.<br /><br />If you look at a graph of the economics of the first world and those of the Roman Empire, it's a perfect match; the next thing that happened to the Roman Empire, of course, was its fall. The human race is on the edge of a cliff of our own making.Aunt Anniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08799746597313773030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-24379671157226858882011-12-10T14:02:54.803-08:002011-12-10T14:02:54.803-08:00Nice Cody! I like that much better than the way I ...Nice Cody! I like that much better than the way I usually say it: "Profit is here to serve us; we are not here to serve profit." I think I shall be borrowing from you in the future.Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-85556810253155213772011-12-10T13:53:59.115-08:002011-12-10T13:53:59.115-08:00Profit is like the blood in our bodies. We don'...Profit is like the blood in our bodies. We don't live to pump blood through our body. The blood gives us a means to achieve our higher purpose. Just like blood, profit is important to sustain a business. It is not the driver in what the business stands for, but the means of transportation of those ideals.Cody Mossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-88655015904500236972011-12-10T12:45:44.398-08:002011-12-10T12:45:44.398-08:00Well Trisha, Neolibralism/Libertarianism is the &q...Well Trisha, Neolibralism/Libertarianism is the "utopic" answer to the belief that man is inherently evil. It is the notion that a machine (in this case a mechanistic, amoral method of reward and punishment) is an improvement on human nature. I will admit to taking the view of Locke and Rousseau in believing that man is inherently good and therefor morally superior to a machine.<br /><br />You put your finger on the entire conservative/liberal divide that we've been dealing with since the 17th century: Hobbes v. Locke.<br /><br />As for utopia, that's not what I'm expecting. Because man is inherently good, I believe that it's possible for us to live in a society that places profit on a lower rung and when we do we make life better for everyone. The Germans, for instance, have a requirement that the employees hold 50 percent of the seats on the board of every corporation, making it similar to our cooperative. As a result German workers have the highest wages and the most vacation days in the world, yet by any measure their corporations continue to compete quite well on the international stage. Lifestyle over profit works for the many. Profit over lifestyle works for the few at the expense of the many.Teacher Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14606781724784785338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15932919.post-32883685992363294632011-12-10T12:19:01.398-08:002011-12-10T12:19:01.398-08:00Please forgive my ignorance and naivety when I say...Please forgive my ignorance and naivety when I say that your idea for the world sounds like utopia, and therefore is unattainable, right? Am I being too Golding by believing the world is full of inherently evil people?Trishahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14633779886415991038noreply@blogger.com