In a follow-up to my last blog entry about the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, I would like to address a sign that I saw some of the protestors carrying. It said “Corporations Are Not People”. I’ve seen this sign over and over again.
First off, let me be clear that the term “corporations are people” does not imply in any way shape or form that anyone thinks that corporations are human beings. What this refers to are Supreme Court decisions in 1819 and 1886 stating that corporations possessed SOME of the rights of human beings, including the right to enter into contracts and the right to 14th amendment protections. A few years back, the Supreme Court took this (I think) flawed logic to an extreme by saying that since legally the earlier court had granted corporations personhood that this should be extended to the right of free speech, which, in the case of corporations, meant money.
Personally, I think that rather than granting corporations MORE “human” rights, the 21st century court should have struck down or severely restricted the earlier decisions for the flawed pieces of logic that they are.
Here’s the problem… a corporation cannot and should not be able to enter into a contract. In order to enter into a contract, you must be a legal adult. Corporations are not human, therefore the phrase “adult” can never apply to them. Instead, we should recognize that contracts are entered into by human beings on behalf of corporations. For instance, at my former job with Costco, every time we received a new contract, the signature at the bottom was that of Jim Sinegal, the CEO of the company and not “Mr. Costco”. Our contract was with Jim, who accepted the responsibility of enforcing the contract on our behalf with the company, and not with the company itself.
As far as the personhood that the 21st century court was arguing for that includes the right to free speech, why should that not apply?
Well, to begin with, let’s look at the differences between persons and corporations. What are the inalienable rights of human beings, as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence? Well, to begin with, it recognizes that we were created by a being greater than ourselves, who the document rightly and simply refers to as “our creator”. Corporations were not created by this omnipresent creator, but by flawed human beings. Then it goes on to say that this creator granted us the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Corporations do not live. The liberty that they have is, like the liberty that WE have, curtailed by laws to protect us from society and society from us. That is the one thing that we have in common, for a corporation cannot pursue happiness. Happiness is an emotion and corporations are incapable of feeling emotion.
And what about the motives of human beings? I I think that most of our motives are pretty complex. In addition to the inalienable rights enumerated above and Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs (food, water, shelter, air and affection) we want so many other things. We want a good life for our kids. We want to know that our spouse is safe, or that our ex-spouse is suffering tremendous pain. What’s the motive of a corporation? To make money. That’s it. That’s the entire reason for a corporation’s existence, is to make money. I think that that, alone, should deny a corporation personhood. Although our tolerance for persons whose sole goal seems to be to make money, we know in our hearts that that person has other goals, they are just not pursuing them as publicly.
And even if we do grant corporations personhood, then we also have to consider the idiotic idea of “deregulation”. Think of the number of laws that you have constraining you every day from laws against killing your ex-spouse and kicking your cat to speed limits and what you can see, read and hear. I’m a cigar smoker who finds myself constantly at odds with all of the insane laws around my hobby. Right now Congress is considering yet ANOTHER law that would prohibit internet or catalog sales of cigars. I guess that the logic is that since they can ban internet sales of cigarettes to keep kids from ordering them, they are within their rights to do the same thing to cigars. I hate to break it to our rather out-of-touch Congress, though… KIDS DON’T SMOKE CIGARS. If they use tobacco, they either smoke cigarettes or chew. So yes, let’s logically deny them access to the things that they abuse, but not pretend that they abuse something that they don’t so that you can get your nose further up our butts.
Anyway.
I digress.
My point is, shouldn’t corporations have at LEAST as many laws constraining them as we do, if we are going to consider them persons like us?
Peace.
Randal
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
The 99% Needs to Put Up or Shut Up
I was just watching a news report on the Occupy Wall Street movement, and something struck me. The reporter was talking about what a bunch of freaks the protesters were, and how it was hard to sympathize with their movement when they behave so oddly. Then he interviewed a group of so-called “Normal” Americans who all agreed that something had to be done about the income inequity in the US. Not by them, of course, but by SOMEBODY. They all had kids to take care of and football games to watch, etc., etc.
The great Rabbi Hillel said, among other things, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am only for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?” In other words, the oft-misquoted “If not us, who? If not now, when?” So WE have to do something about it. I think that these protests will wind up having the same net effect that the WTC riots in Seattle had… net zero. So it’s not up to the protesters. It’s up to us. And if we’re going to change this, it’s going to require a massive grass roots movement. So how do we do it?
First off, let me say that I’m not anti-wealth. I’d like to be wealthy myself one day. Frankly, I don’t care how much money and stuff people like Phil Knight and the rest of the 1% have. What I care is how they GOT it. When the chairman of Chrysler says that his company can’t afford to pay Americans a living wage to make him rich, and then he himself nets millions of dollars per year while the Americans that he’s NOT employing are on food stamps, that’s a problem. And I’m not talking about forcibly redistributing his or anyone else’s wealth, either. I’m talking about forcing him and the rest of them to start reinvesting that wealth into America and Americans to strengthen our country and our economy before it’s too late.
So… how can we do this? I mean me… you… individuals. What the heck can we do?
For starters, pay attention to your candidates when you vote. FORGET YOUR DAMNED PARTY, IN OTHER WORDS. (Sorry about the swear word. I can’t promise that it won’t happen again, but I am trying to keep this blog friendly for everyone. Just get a little irate where political parties are concerned.) Both major parties in the US have become so corporatized and corrupt that it’s hard for me to tell them apart. And just like I was sick of Bush’s so-called conservatism after a few years, I am sick of Obama’s so-called liberalism as well. Neither of these men apparently know what those words mean. So pay attention to your candidates, not just their party. If you’re a republican who supports American jobs, and your representative was one of those who voted against the jobs bill, don’t vote for them. If you’re a democrat who feels like Obama didn’t just DROP the ball on health care, but actively handed it to the other team, don’t vote for him again. Spend some time. Do some research. “Throw your vote away” on a so-called “third party” candidate. Think of this… in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won the popular vote and George Bush won the electoral vote. In real terms, they each got about half of the votes cast. That means that since only about 60% of Americans voted, they each got about 30% of Americans to vote for them. So what would have happened if the other 40% had “thrown their vote away” on Ralph Nader? It would have been President Nader in 2000 instead of “President” Bush in 2001. You can bet that the 1% and their lackies are paying attention and voting. The 99% should, too.
Another way that we can do this is to vote with our dollars. If you know that a company is taking huge amounts of money OUT of America without putting any back IN (I’m looking at you, Apple and Nike) then don’t buy their shit. When my wife and I went out to buy new sneakers for me, she got a little frustrated at me because I wanted to find a pair that was made in the USA. She didn’t like any of the ones that I found and I REALLY didn’t want to buy a pair made with Chinese slave labor. We finally found a pair of New Balances that we both liked that was made in the USA, that cost less than most of the sneaks made in China. And they’re comfortable, for a bonus.
Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it takes time. But your choices, 99%, are to either take the time to take care, or shut up about it. There is no viable third choice.
Oh, and while you're here, please take a moment to click on one of the ads. You don't have to buy anything, just click. I'm trying to make a living off of my writing, and that's one way that I can do it. Thanks.
Peace.
Randal
The great Rabbi Hillel said, among other things, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And when I am only for myself, what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?” In other words, the oft-misquoted “If not us, who? If not now, when?” So WE have to do something about it. I think that these protests will wind up having the same net effect that the WTC riots in Seattle had… net zero. So it’s not up to the protesters. It’s up to us. And if we’re going to change this, it’s going to require a massive grass roots movement. So how do we do it?
First off, let me say that I’m not anti-wealth. I’d like to be wealthy myself one day. Frankly, I don’t care how much money and stuff people like Phil Knight and the rest of the 1% have. What I care is how they GOT it. When the chairman of Chrysler says that his company can’t afford to pay Americans a living wage to make him rich, and then he himself nets millions of dollars per year while the Americans that he’s NOT employing are on food stamps, that’s a problem. And I’m not talking about forcibly redistributing his or anyone else’s wealth, either. I’m talking about forcing him and the rest of them to start reinvesting that wealth into America and Americans to strengthen our country and our economy before it’s too late.
So… how can we do this? I mean me… you… individuals. What the heck can we do?
For starters, pay attention to your candidates when you vote. FORGET YOUR DAMNED PARTY, IN OTHER WORDS. (Sorry about the swear word. I can’t promise that it won’t happen again, but I am trying to keep this blog friendly for everyone. Just get a little irate where political parties are concerned.) Both major parties in the US have become so corporatized and corrupt that it’s hard for me to tell them apart. And just like I was sick of Bush’s so-called conservatism after a few years, I am sick of Obama’s so-called liberalism as well. Neither of these men apparently know what those words mean. So pay attention to your candidates, not just their party. If you’re a republican who supports American jobs, and your representative was one of those who voted against the jobs bill, don’t vote for them. If you’re a democrat who feels like Obama didn’t just DROP the ball on health care, but actively handed it to the other team, don’t vote for him again. Spend some time. Do some research. “Throw your vote away” on a so-called “third party” candidate. Think of this… in the 2000 presidential election, Al Gore won the popular vote and George Bush won the electoral vote. In real terms, they each got about half of the votes cast. That means that since only about 60% of Americans voted, they each got about 30% of Americans to vote for them. So what would have happened if the other 40% had “thrown their vote away” on Ralph Nader? It would have been President Nader in 2000 instead of “President” Bush in 2001. You can bet that the 1% and their lackies are paying attention and voting. The 99% should, too.
Another way that we can do this is to vote with our dollars. If you know that a company is taking huge amounts of money OUT of America without putting any back IN (I’m looking at you, Apple and Nike) then don’t buy their shit. When my wife and I went out to buy new sneakers for me, she got a little frustrated at me because I wanted to find a pair that was made in the USA. She didn’t like any of the ones that I found and I REALLY didn’t want to buy a pair made with Chinese slave labor. We finally found a pair of New Balances that we both liked that was made in the USA, that cost less than most of the sneaks made in China. And they’re comfortable, for a bonus.
Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it takes time. But your choices, 99%, are to either take the time to take care, or shut up about it. There is no viable third choice.
Oh, and while you're here, please take a moment to click on one of the ads. You don't have to buy anything, just click. I'm trying to make a living off of my writing, and that's one way that I can do it. Thanks.
Peace.
Randal
Friday, October 14, 2011
Isn't It Amazing...
...how at the age of 46 (WII Fitness age 26, thank you very much) i can still be struck kind of stupid by a physically attractive woman. I consider myself an intelligent, fairly articulate guy... i think that most people that know me would agree... but... there's this woman...
She's a supervisor where i work. In heels, she's almost as tall as me (6' 2") and slim with long blonde hair. Whenever i get around her, all that it's in my head to say is "Heh heh heh... you're purrrrty..."
Personally, i find it kind of repulsive that women have that kind of control over me.
Am i the only guy that this happens to? Admittedly, it happens a lot less now than it did in my thirties... a lot less then than it did in my twenties... and so forth, back to about age 15 or 16 when i discovered my dad's Playboy stash and REALLY got interested in females. (What can i say, kids? It was a different world. We didn't grow up as fast.)
By the same token, i wish that more women would take Spider-man to heart. "With great power comes great responsibility." Most of the women that i've encountered over the years who realize that they have this power over us seem bound and determined to use it for evil.
There was a TV show on for years on either the comedy channel or Spike, i can't remember which, called "The Man Show" that was pretty good as long as Jimmy Kimmell and Adam Corolla hosted it. When Joe Rogan and whoever the heck that other guy was took over, it just slid into a pit. This show celebrated all things men, with tongue firmly in cheek. They spent the show quaffing beer and ended with a huge toast and a stein-drainer. They had beautiful girls on there called (kids, cover your eyes) the Juggies, for obvious reasons, and, over the end credits, always showed slow-motion video of girls jumping on trampolines. It was a MAN show, darn it.
Anyway.
I digress.
They did one segment on this show that, frankly, made me a little embarrassed to be a man, while, at the same time, demonstrating perfectly this power that i spoke of earlier.
One of the prettiest of the "Juggies", whose name i am embarrassed to admit that i can't remember, was hanging out in a bikini shop that was wired with hidden cameras. Guys would come in and she would try to talk them into buying her ridiculously expensive bikinis. Sometimes she just had to ask, a couple of guys she had to take into the changing room with her while she tried them on. (Don't worry, ladies... WE didn't get to see any of the girl, even if the guy in the changing room with her did). Most of the guys broke out the plastic and "bought" them for her. I don't think that their card was ever charged. Good thing, too. Let's see them explain THAT to the wife.
Anyway, one of these poor saps, the one that made me embarrassed to be a man, made it to the changing room with her, and, after getting the full show, rather sweatily admitted that he couldn't buy them for her because he didn't have any money. So then she started trying to talk him into STEALING them for her. AND HE DID IT!
I guess that what i'm trying to say, ladies, is that if you know that you have this effect on men, please don't use your powers for evil. Don't get us to buy (or steal) things for you with it. Don't promise sex and then withhold it as a punishment for some transgression. Don't bend, fold or manipulate us. Be gentle with us. We do good things for you and only ask that you treat us well in response.
Peace.
Randal
She's a supervisor where i work. In heels, she's almost as tall as me (6' 2") and slim with long blonde hair. Whenever i get around her, all that it's in my head to say is "Heh heh heh... you're purrrrty..."
Personally, i find it kind of repulsive that women have that kind of control over me.
Am i the only guy that this happens to? Admittedly, it happens a lot less now than it did in my thirties... a lot less then than it did in my twenties... and so forth, back to about age 15 or 16 when i discovered my dad's Playboy stash and REALLY got interested in females. (What can i say, kids? It was a different world. We didn't grow up as fast.)
By the same token, i wish that more women would take Spider-man to heart. "With great power comes great responsibility." Most of the women that i've encountered over the years who realize that they have this power over us seem bound and determined to use it for evil.
There was a TV show on for years on either the comedy channel or Spike, i can't remember which, called "The Man Show" that was pretty good as long as Jimmy Kimmell and Adam Corolla hosted it. When Joe Rogan and whoever the heck that other guy was took over, it just slid into a pit. This show celebrated all things men, with tongue firmly in cheek. They spent the show quaffing beer and ended with a huge toast and a stein-drainer. They had beautiful girls on there called (kids, cover your eyes) the Juggies, for obvious reasons, and, over the end credits, always showed slow-motion video of girls jumping on trampolines. It was a MAN show, darn it.
Anyway.
I digress.
They did one segment on this show that, frankly, made me a little embarrassed to be a man, while, at the same time, demonstrating perfectly this power that i spoke of earlier.
One of the prettiest of the "Juggies", whose name i am embarrassed to admit that i can't remember, was hanging out in a bikini shop that was wired with hidden cameras. Guys would come in and she would try to talk them into buying her ridiculously expensive bikinis. Sometimes she just had to ask, a couple of guys she had to take into the changing room with her while she tried them on. (Don't worry, ladies... WE didn't get to see any of the girl, even if the guy in the changing room with her did). Most of the guys broke out the plastic and "bought" them for her. I don't think that their card was ever charged. Good thing, too. Let's see them explain THAT to the wife.
Anyway, one of these poor saps, the one that made me embarrassed to be a man, made it to the changing room with her, and, after getting the full show, rather sweatily admitted that he couldn't buy them for her because he didn't have any money. So then she started trying to talk him into STEALING them for her. AND HE DID IT!
I guess that what i'm trying to say, ladies, is that if you know that you have this effect on men, please don't use your powers for evil. Don't get us to buy (or steal) things for you with it. Don't promise sex and then withhold it as a punishment for some transgression. Don't bend, fold or manipulate us. Be gentle with us. We do good things for you and only ask that you treat us well in response.
Peace.
Randal
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Welcome to the New Blog!
Hello, my friends!
My name is Randal Schaffer and this is my new blog. Here i'll be writing about whatever it is that i want to write about, hopefully you'll find it interesting and amusing. May be random thoughts on language, like this one, or movie or book reviews, or political stuff or whatever's on my mind.
For me, i am a married Christian man who holds bits and pieces of just about all political philosophies. I am a believer in small government like the republicans, a believer in personal freedoms like the libertarians, and a believer in the rights and safety of the people like the liberals. I find myself typically voting democrat (i voted for Obama) but find myself as isolated from the modern democrats like i do all of the other parties.
Also, as soon as i figure out how to post the darned code to get ads working on this thing, do me a favor and click on one of the ads when you read a post. You don't have to BUY anything if you don't want, just click on an ad. I'm trying to make money from my writing, and that's one way to do it.
Okay, on to my first post.
There are two words in the English language that i truly do not understand. One is "modest", the other is "arrogant".
At my old job riding a cash register, i was doing my usual multi-tasking thing to try to move the line as fast as possible when one of my customers said "How do you do all of that at once?" I replied "I'm really good at my job." She looked a little taken aback and said "You're not very modest, are you?"
So what, exactly, is modesty? Is it pretending that you don't know that you're good at something, hoping that someone else will notice it and recognize you for it? That seems somewhat dishonest to me. It's not like i greeted this lady with "I'm really good at my job, aren't i?" She asked me a question and i did my best to answer it honestly. Maybe that's part of the problem... many people simply can't deal with honesty. I know what i'm good at and what i'm not and am honest about these things. For instance, i'm really pretty good at getting people to smile and laugh, sometimes even without meaning to. On the other hand, i seem completely incapable at learning how to knit, no matter how hard i try. And i HAVE tried. I'd love to learn to knit.
The other side of this coin is "arrogance". I can't tell you how often i've heard "You're very arrogant." What's the difference between arrogance and confidence? I had a job interview once where i didn't get the job, but the manager of the company asked me in to tell me in person. He said "You were in the top three, and i've got to tell you that i almost gave you the job simply because you walked in here and acted as if it were already yours for the taking." That was, i'm sure, part of the reason that i got the job that i have now. There was no doubt in my mind that i could do this job, and i was right. I've been at the job for less than a month and i keep hearing from the more experienced reps that i seem like i've been doing the job for years. Is it simply a matter of "it's confidence in you but arrogance in others"? I hope not, but i fear that may be it.
Feel free to post a comment on this or any other blog posting. I love lively discussion, and also love to just stir stuff up sometimes.
Peace.
Randal
My name is Randal Schaffer and this is my new blog. Here i'll be writing about whatever it is that i want to write about, hopefully you'll find it interesting and amusing. May be random thoughts on language, like this one, or movie or book reviews, or political stuff or whatever's on my mind.
For me, i am a married Christian man who holds bits and pieces of just about all political philosophies. I am a believer in small government like the republicans, a believer in personal freedoms like the libertarians, and a believer in the rights and safety of the people like the liberals. I find myself typically voting democrat (i voted for Obama) but find myself as isolated from the modern democrats like i do all of the other parties.
Also, as soon as i figure out how to post the darned code to get ads working on this thing, do me a favor and click on one of the ads when you read a post. You don't have to BUY anything if you don't want, just click on an ad. I'm trying to make money from my writing, and that's one way to do it.
Okay, on to my first post.
There are two words in the English language that i truly do not understand. One is "modest", the other is "arrogant".
At my old job riding a cash register, i was doing my usual multi-tasking thing to try to move the line as fast as possible when one of my customers said "How do you do all of that at once?" I replied "I'm really good at my job." She looked a little taken aback and said "You're not very modest, are you?"
So what, exactly, is modesty? Is it pretending that you don't know that you're good at something, hoping that someone else will notice it and recognize you for it? That seems somewhat dishonest to me. It's not like i greeted this lady with "I'm really good at my job, aren't i?" She asked me a question and i did my best to answer it honestly. Maybe that's part of the problem... many people simply can't deal with honesty. I know what i'm good at and what i'm not and am honest about these things. For instance, i'm really pretty good at getting people to smile and laugh, sometimes even without meaning to. On the other hand, i seem completely incapable at learning how to knit, no matter how hard i try. And i HAVE tried. I'd love to learn to knit.
The other side of this coin is "arrogance". I can't tell you how often i've heard "You're very arrogant." What's the difference between arrogance and confidence? I had a job interview once where i didn't get the job, but the manager of the company asked me in to tell me in person. He said "You were in the top three, and i've got to tell you that i almost gave you the job simply because you walked in here and acted as if it were already yours for the taking." That was, i'm sure, part of the reason that i got the job that i have now. There was no doubt in my mind that i could do this job, and i was right. I've been at the job for less than a month and i keep hearing from the more experienced reps that i seem like i've been doing the job for years. Is it simply a matter of "it's confidence in you but arrogance in others"? I hope not, but i fear that may be it.
Feel free to post a comment on this or any other blog posting. I love lively discussion, and also love to just stir stuff up sometimes.
Peace.
Randal
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