Short And Sweet

I don't know if I thought of this, or if I remembered it. Maybe someone can help me out.

Temptation is a parasite that kills its host (Good Intention) to feed its offspring (sin).

Comment away. ;)

Greed

"Greed is the inventor of injustice as well as the current enforcer." - Julian Casablancas

 I've spent a little time thinking about greed. It's easy to say "I don't like greed" or "greed is evil" but can you really identify greed when you see it?

I should probably interrupt myself to explain something; my politics are generally conservative, but there are plenty of areas where my world view differs from the former political party of choice. Which party that is doesn't rate on the radar of importance. This post isn't about political parties... or politics in general. It's about greed.

I see greed on a lot of levels. Not surprising, since it's one of the seven deadly sins - which is the Catholic way of saying everybody's got it. Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes not so much. It is very definitely a human condition, a result of wanting to do less and gain more. We strive for efficiency, even at the expense of others.

In any event, here's a few places that I see greed.

Unemployed - I get it. I've had a tough time finding a job before, too. You can argue all you want that my unemployment was during a better economy (I'll concede, marginally) but in the end, if you turn down a job, you feel like you're entitled to something more. Maybe you are, maybe you're a better, more well rounded person than I was when I was unemployed. Fact is - given the circumstance that you've turned down any job - you feel entitled to more than that job has to offer. I've always found it easier to find a good job when you have any job. I stocked shelves until I found a job doing something in my field. Get over yourself and start working.

Employed - Everybody wants their piece of the pie, right? When I finally got a job more in line with my training, I was really stoked. It was at a company just coming out of the effects of the previous recession. They were starting to re-instate the profit-sharing policy that had lain dormant during the recession. The CEO announced it, and everyone was eagerly anticipating their bonus check. When it came back smaller than some expected, there was much grumbling. GRUMBLING. Really? I don't care if it's not enough to buy a shirt - you didn't walk in with that money, be grateful for what you get.

You are being paid for your time and your talent. Make the most of both on behalf of the person paying you. You agreed to the wage when taking the job.


Business Owners - I'm currently one of these, so this is a group that I can speak to quite frankly. How much is enough? Chris Rock said it quite eloquently:

I used to work at McDonald's making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss was trying to say? It's like, "Hey, if I could pay you less, I would, but it's against the law."

Am I guilty of this? Sort of. I didn't pay absolute minimum wage for my one and only employee. I understand the pressures that employers have, especially in California, my home state. California is openly hostile toward small business. However, we can't hope for retention of key people unless we're willing to belly up to the bar and pay a live-able wage. Someone with deeper pockets will always steal them away.

Unions - Maybe it's my conservative bent, but I have a real problem with unions. Please, don't get me wrong - I do believe that there was a time and place where unions were the only buffer between corporate greed and legalized slavery. I don't want things to be scaled back to the point where that condition is possible again. I'm addressing the last 3 decades - I understand that collective bargaining nets a better quality of life for its constituents. But, at what price? Does the workers' quest for a larger share lead us to slaughtering the cow that gives us milk?  I'm more than willing to be educated in a different way, but my belief is that unions have (largely) become entities that exist to justify their own existence - that they bargain not only for their constituents' rights, but to establish themselves as the sole bargaining vehicle. This is a self-interest that I mistrust.

Middle Class - You cannot continue to spend. Money is not as easy to come by, and when you do come by it, it has less impact. You bought that house on a barely-above-poverty-level income. Do you really expect to keep it? Additionally, you're going to be taxed at a rate that you've never seen before. The American dream has always been built on your backs; the American nightmare will rest there as well.

Corporations - It's not without merit that the "Occupy" movement has had its day. Though the movement has faded, their somewhat muddy motives have been heard. In an ideal society, the capital infused by selling shares on the open market make a company better suited to meet its customers' needs. In reality, that has come to mean that a company exists to show its investors a healthy profit, with little or no tolerance for a downspike. Things change, people. The greatest gaming console today is not going to be the greatest console in 6 months. I'm glad you invested in the first, but it does not mean I won't buy the competition as well.

Investors - Your need for a consistently upward trend in investments is understandable. However, it's not realistic. Take your trends over a longer period for evaluation. A quarterly report is not sufficient to determine the health of a company. People will always need toothpaste and toilet paper. If you want a sure profit maker, go with those. Invest there. If you're investing in gaming consoles, you're playing a risky game. Live with the risk, and know you stand a good chance of losing.

Elected Officials - Is there any wonder that there's a near universal contempt for your profession? You promise the moon, but we're lucky if you deliver 1/10th of what you promise. Doesn't matter which profession from which you hail, the process of becoming an elected official is such that only the least desirable can make office. Anyone with truth and conviction becomes marginalized instantly. You accept bribes in exchange for political favors, and your pockets are lined with our future.  I'm being too heavy-handed with my imagery? Try over 16 Trillion in debt. THAT is heavy-handed. 

Greed exists at all levels of society. It is not the exclusive territory of the rich. Before you start harassing people, corporations, or entities about their greed - make sure you've eliminated your own. 

Thankful

I've been reading a lot of posts lately about what people are thankful for. If I'm honest, Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. It's not because of the tryptophan induced food comas, the football or the pies.  It still lacks so much of the commercialization of the other major holidays... Something to be thankful for in itself.

Not to be overly cheesy, but my thankfulness centers around faith, family and friends.

I don't really post much about my faith. If such posts aren't interesting to you, or you're offended by them - this is a good post to bypass on your way to things that do interest you. If you're marginally interested, or not that thin-skinned - by all means, read on.

Random crap I think about

The people that we love are the people whose irrational behavior we find most agreeable.

Car Wash

This is how I approach the Saturday car wash routine. From inside the car. With the engine running in case of zombie attack.

Occupied

Over the last month or so there's been a great deal of coverage about the "Occupy Wall Street" movement, and the spin-off "Occupy ___________" (fill in the blank) movements. This is NOT continued coverage. If you want a well written primer on it, it's easy to find: Wikipedia has a very good one. An even better one, focusing on the numbers and statistics, is over at Business Insider.

Starz Ends Renewal Negotiations With Netflix; Will Cease Content Distribution In 2012 | TechCrunch

Starz Ends Renewal Negotiations With Netflix; Will Cease Content Distribution In 2012 | TechCrunch:

'via Blog this'

Dear Starz:

Thank you so much for your involvement with Netflix. Though it is coming to an end - largely because you want to believe in "the appropriate pricing and packaging of our exclusive and highly valuable content" - I saw plenty of great features on your system.

My wife and I are cord cutters; tired of having to pay the top cable tier for the half dozen or so networks that we actually watch, we finally got wise. Do we really need to watch this stuff? Do we need the commercials and the 200 other channels that we don't watch in order to get the 6 that we like? What if we decide instead to drop it all and find new things to like? That is exactly what we did when we switched it all to Hulu and Netflix.

By no means are we anti-profits. Nor are we anti-capitalism. By all means, make a buck! We want to continue to use the service for a long time.

When we had cable, we did not specifically order Starz. Usually it came in a package with another premium channel. We are not used to spending extra specifically for your brand; but we are willing to learn new things. At this point, however, we are unwilling to shift to a model that would require us to get tons of stuff we don't need just to get the content you provide. In short, we will not invest in dead-end or wasteful delivery models.

We will continue to stream; we have added to our streamed subscriptions; we subscribe to Hulu, Netflix and Amazon for our video consumption. We have Pandora for audio. We find plenty to watch or listen to with those subscriptions and will most likely not add to them. If content providers continue to leave Netflix, we may come to the decision to remove it; that decision is still quite a ways off.

I'm not sure exactly how your brand is improved by separation from Netflix. That is a decision for you to make. We may or may not agree with you; you will be missed on Netflix, but not to the point where I will subscribe to another service just to get your stuff. So, if you keep this decision, it will be 'farewell' in February.

I wish you the best of luck, and perhaps I'll see your content again, when I subscribe to a service that includes Starz content.

Sincerely,
Not Convinced Starz Made A Good Choice