Riding vs Flying -- How many here ride?

Jose wrote in news:mwHqg.60108$Lm5.38218
@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com:

Who decided that amount?

Society.

You mean, the part of society that is not greedy?

Jose

Perhaps I'm not clear on what I mean by greed. I'm talking about
excessive unrelenting greed for profit derived without regard
to the human condition.

For example, take again that feller that 'donated' 30+ billion
dollars to charity. Obviously he has no need or want for it,
or else he wouldn't be giving it away.

Just doing a quick number crunch, 30 billion dollars would give
721,154 people a $1 an hour raise for 20 years. I'd bet that
would do far more to help people - and the economy - than giving
30B in *stocks* to another rich mans 'charity' where only the
interest on those stocks would be used to do any good. And what
if the stocks tank? Then the charity tanks.

Look, I have no problem with making profit, even making lot's
of profit. What I do have a problem with is making that profit
by reducing the work force to near 'slave labor' conditions to
make that profit.

I'm sorry if my giving a **** about other peoples livelihoods
and quality of life is so offensive to you.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?

No and no.
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Flying Machine - http://pad39a.com/gene/
Because we fly, we envy no one.


It used to be that most pilots I knew rode motorcycles, but that seems
to be less of a correlation lately. Wot say the group -- do you
currently ride a motorcycle? Did you in the past?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"





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Perhaps I'm not clear on what I mean by greed. I'm talking about
excessive unrelenting greed for profit derived without regard
to the human condition.

How excessive is "excessive"? And aren't you unrelenting in your greed?
I mean, you still insist on getting paid at your job, right? Or if
retired, of getting all your retirement benefits? Even though other
people could benefit from them?

For example, take again that feller that 'donated' 30+ billion
dollars to charity. Obviously he has no need or want for it,
or else he wouldn't be giving it away.

I guess he's greedy for giving his money away. Hmmm, tell me again how
the world is banana shaped. And he's not just "giving it away", he's
giving it to an organization which supports causes he supports, by and
large, and will see to it that his money is used more or less to further
causes he believes in. That's hardly "no need or want of it".

Just doing a quick number crunch, 30 billion dollars would give
721,154 people a $1 an hour raise for 20 years. I'd bet that
would do far more to help people - and the economy...

That's laughable. If people had free money, they wouldn't be as
interested in working so hard, or at less interesting jobs. There would
be a shortage of burger flippers, wages would go up, prices would go up,
and all the extra free money would not buy more burgers. It would buy
the same number of more expensive but still mediocre burgers. It's the
fallacy of welfare.

Look, I have no problem with making profit, even making lot's
of profit.

"lots of profit". Or perhaps, "Lot's profit", since "salary" comes from
"salt".

What I do have a problem with is making that profit
by reducing the work force to near 'slave labor' conditions to
make that profit.

Slaves are forced by their owners to work. Employees are not owned.
They are not forced to work, except by the same conditions that force
you and I to work, and I bet we are working under "slave labor"
conditions compared to those rich tycoons in Beverly Hills, who can go
into a recording studio and make a million for sneezing with the right
intonation.

If workers don't like the deal, they can work elsewhere. If customers
don't like the deal, they can buy elsewhere.

The problem is not greed, nor is it rich individuals. The problem is
the disparity between the power of an individual vs a large corporation
like WalMart or Microsoft. WalMart affects millions when it decides to
quit (or enter) an area, an individual has little effect on a
corporation like WalMart. This is why unions were developed, but then
unions =became= large corporations, and became the problem rather than
the solution. There is a similar issue between government and their
subjects. In aviation terms, look at the difference between buying and
flying certificated aircraft vs homebuilt ones - it's the same effect
(or rather, the same fundamental cause).

Corporations are supposed to be greedy. That's how stockholders get
their dividends. If you feel you are on the wrong end of the stick, buy
some stock. Then, while trying to figure out how you are going to put
your kids through college, tell the corporation to lower prices and
reduce dividends. You won't mind losing all that filthy lucre, and your
kids won't mind not going to college.

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

Nevermind, Jose. You're reading what you want to read in
my posts and not what I'm saying.

Brian
--
http://www.skywise711.com - Lasers, Seismology, Astronomy, Skepticism
Seismic FAQ: http://www.skywise711.com/SeismicFAQ/SeismicFAQ.html
Quake "predictions": http://www.skywise711.com/quakes/EQDB/index.html
Sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?