If you read my previous article, "Regulations" you might think that I am against Business. Not at all. I am not unmindful of the benefits I have reaped working for Big Business. But I think most of you will agree that things are out of balance in this country right now.
U.S. executives earn about 400 times the pay of the lowest paid workers in their own companies. In Europe and Asia, the pay of executives is about 10 times that of the lowest paid worker. And, that does not include the generous stock options or severance packages that many top U.S. executives receive that increase the value of their compensation. These compensation packages of American executives have received a lot of media attention during the current economic crisis, especially when corporations with high pay rates for CEOs and other top employees are also shipping jobs abroad, laying off employees or closing plants.
As Harvard law professor Joseph Singer put it, there is "a disconnect between widely shared moral intuitions and our prevalent economic institutions and norms. We can bridge this gap between our values and our institutions through policy and law: the law is the site where [our] values are effectuated and implemented." That includes "corporate laws that balance employee, community, and shareholder interests."
I remember reading about Aaron Feuerstein, the owner of a textile factory in Massachusetts. His factory caught fire and burnt to the ground. At that point, he could have walked away. But, instead, Mr. Feuerstein promised his workers and the community that he would rebuild. And, while he was rebuilding, he continued to pay his employees. Here is a man who was tested and did "what everyone would agree was right, but what few people actually do".
Our workers, the most productive in the world, do not deserve to be abandoned by Big Business in their time of need. It is time to bring the jobs home.
[While writing this article, I remembered the story about Mr. Feuerstein and wanted to include it. A Google search landed me at:
www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_common_interest_in_property
I highly recommend it. I am tired of the labels Conservative, Liberal, Progressive. We are all Americans, together. We should not tear this country apart for a political agenda. More on this later.]
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Contact Me: jacquelyn.k.thompson@hotmail.com
Contact Me: jacquelyn.k.thompson@hotmail.com
Welcome
Hello and Welcome:
Over the summer of 2010 I began to ask myself, "what do you do if two of our Rights, as citizens of these United States, are diametrically opposed?" I came to the only viable conclusion: you compromise. Our great Nation works when there is compromise.
Right now most of you will agree with me that our political system is broken. What we currently have is: the politics of destruction; special interest groups who have the power and money to dictate policy; politicians who must spend their time raising money for the next election instead of doing the People's business; and, there are those who are so concerned about getting re-elected they cede their responsibilities to the citizenry to those groups making the loudest noises and the greatest threats.
The attacks that we were inundated with during the this election cycle belittled the democratic process. Shame on everyone involved. And, shame on the political obstructionists who are more interested in gaining and maintaining power than doing the people’s business. During these very difficult times all of us should be supporting our President. The challenge for all of us is, how do we improve upon this imperfect union that we call the United States of America? One thing I know for certain...it is not by dividing us.
I can remember when I was sixteen years old there was a day when my father called out to me, "Jackie, come quickly. You have to hear this. It's Winston Churchill. Come listen." I raced to the radio and for the first time heard a recording of Churchill's speech to a Nation standing alone against the greatest evil the world has ever known: "...we shall defend our island no matter what the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; and we shall not surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until in God's good time, the New World, with all it's power and might, steps forth to the rescue and liberation of The Old."
That day my hero was born. Where are our heroes today? jkt
Over the summer of 2010 I began to ask myself, "what do you do if two of our Rights, as citizens of these United States, are diametrically opposed?" I came to the only viable conclusion: you compromise. Our great Nation works when there is compromise.
Right now most of you will agree with me that our political system is broken. What we currently have is: the politics of destruction; special interest groups who have the power and money to dictate policy; politicians who must spend their time raising money for the next election instead of doing the People's business; and, there are those who are so concerned about getting re-elected they cede their responsibilities to the citizenry to those groups making the loudest noises and the greatest threats.
The attacks that we were inundated with during the this election cycle belittled the democratic process. Shame on everyone involved. And, shame on the political obstructionists who are more interested in gaining and maintaining power than doing the people’s business. During these very difficult times all of us should be supporting our President. The challenge for all of us is, how do we improve upon this imperfect union that we call the United States of America? One thing I know for certain...it is not by dividing us.
I can remember when I was sixteen years old there was a day when my father called out to me, "Jackie, come quickly. You have to hear this. It's Winston Churchill. Come listen." I raced to the radio and for the first time heard a recording of Churchill's speech to a Nation standing alone against the greatest evil the world has ever known: "...we shall defend our island no matter what the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; and we shall not surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until in God's good time, the New World, with all it's power and might, steps forth to the rescue and liberation of The Old."
That day my hero was born. Where are our heroes today? jkt
