Top 5 Lame Excuses Not to Support Extreme-Poverty Alleviation Work

[Robert_Sock]

There is no political or economic system that will ever breed love. It sounds to me like you want to force people to love one another.

By selecting the proper political and economic systems that are more congruent with LOVE, and using the mass media, one can drastically change the overall love and caring that exists in society.

 

[Robert_Sock]

It is a tough situation, but it’s one that many of us have to deal with each and every day.

But here’s the thing, Robert, in the business world (at least in my experience), we generally try to follow the same principle as what you said in the text I bolded above.

In the second option you listed, keep in mind that if she goes out of business, then the beauticians that rented chairs from her will be forced to find other beauty parlors that have chairs available for rent and the employees (like the hair-wash girl and the cleaning girl) will have to find themselves other jobs. Obviously, losing the business would not just hurt mom “a”, but would hurt all the people who depend upon her for their livelihoods.

I am not trying to say that there are no scoundrels out there. There are. There are businesses out there who smuggle people in from outside the country and have them work as literal slaves until their shipping bill is paid for (if it ever is). There are people who will cheat their employees out of wages they’ve earned. There are people who hire employees and then pay them cash, so they can avoid having to pay taxes on them. I am not defending them. They need to be found, caught, very publicly frog-marched to jail in front of a whole lot of TV cameras and bright lights. And they need to spend a lot of years behind bars.

Just because there are scoundrels does not mean that the system is bad. It means that they are scoundrels.

Pope John Paul II once said,

It should be noted that in today’s world, among other rights, the right of economic initiative is often suppressed. Yet it is a right which is important not only for the individual but also for the common good. Experience shows us that the denial of this right, or its limitation in the name of an alleged “equality” of everyone in society, diminishes, or in practice absolutely destroys the spirit of initiative, that is to say the creative subjectivity of the citizen. As a consequence, there arises, not so much a true equality as a “leveling down.” In the place of creative initiative there appears passivity, dependence and submission to the bureaucratic apparatus which, as the only “ordering” and “decision-making” body - if not also the “owner”- of the entire totality of goods and the means of production…
The point is that yes, absolutely, the free market needs to have a certain sense of the logic of gift (as Pope Benedict called it). It needs to be tempered with love.

Think about it: even in religious societies (which is about as perfect an example of a communal existence as there is):

• All the members of that society joined it voluntarily as an adult
• If a member can’t adapt well to that society, he can be made to leave
• They still depend upon selling stuff (to the free market world outside)
• They still depend upon alms (from the free market world outside)

How would these religious institutes exist if there was no free market world to inject resources into them?

Anyway, thanks for considering the scenario I presented Robert!

Well, we both agree that we need more Christlike LOVE in this miserable and corrupt world.

 

[tabycat]

By selecting the proper political and economic systems that are more congruent with LOVE, and using the mass media, one can drastically change the overall love and caring that exists in society.

Sounds great but . . . Just who gets to select the ‘proper’ political and economic systems? Who is to decide what systems more (or most) congurent with love? Using the mass media sounds a tad like ‘mind control’ and remember that the media is a two edge sword.

 

[markomalley]

Well, we both agree that we need more Christlike LOVE in this miserable and corrupt world.

Indeed.

 

[markomalley]

BTW, Robert, I wanted to share something with you from my office.

We are performing an IT services contract for a particular customer. The project manager on that contract had to go on medical disability a few months ago because of a spinal fracture (no, he wasn’t paralyzed). Now on short term medical disability (at least for the disability policy our company offers), you get 60% of your pay for the duration that you are disabled (for up to 6 months). Anyway, his doctor finally cleared him to start back work next week. Great news, right?

Well, the customer has told us that they don’t want him back and that they want a different project manager (and, yes, they knew he was out on disability).

The reason why? Because they claimed he got paid too much. (He gets paid within the realm of the market rate). When asked how much they would be willing to pay, they gave a number that was only about 75% of the market rate…yet they were unwilling to back down on the educational or experience requirements…or the professional certification/licensing requirements that they require.

Oh, by the way, they were happy with his performance…they just don’t want to pay the bill.

So, an interesting thing: a guy goes out on medical leave and, as far as this customer is concerned, he can go straight from medical leave to the unemployment line (because if we don’t have a project manager job available right now that we can put him in, we’ll have to lay him off)

The customer is not willing to pay a rate that will allow us to hire a person that meets their requirements. We MIGHT be able to find somebody…maybe…

And, oh, by the way, the work still has to get done, so this project manager’s boss will have to continue to do the project manager’s work…but can’t bill the customer for her time. So the customer is getting something for nothing.

And…to make it worse…the company is losing badly needed revenue because of this.

Does that sound just and fair to you?

(I’ll tell you who the customer is after you answer, Robert)

 

[Robert_Sock]

BTW, Robert, I wanted to share something with you from my office.

We are performing an IT services contract for a particular customer. The project manager on that contract had to go on medical disability a few months ago because of a spinal fracture (no, he wasn’t paralyzed). Now on short term medical disability (at least for the disability policy our company offers), you get 60% of your pay for the duration that you are disabled (for up to 6 months). Anyway, his doctor finally cleared him to start back work next week. Great news, right?

Well, the customer has told us that they don’t want him back and that they want a different project manager (and, yes, they knew he was out on disability).

The reason why? Because they claimed he got paid too much. (He gets paid within the realm of the market rate). When asked how much they would be willing to pay, they gave a number that was only about 75% of the market rate…yet they were unwilling to back down on the educational or experience requirements…or the professional certification/licensing requirements that they require.

Oh, by the way, they were happy with his performance…they just don’t want to pay the bill.

So, an interesting thing: a guy goes out on medical leave and, as far as this customer is concerned, he can go straight from medical leave to the unemployment line (because if we don’t have a project manager job available right now that we can put him in, we’ll have to lay him off)

The customer is not willing to pay a rate that will allow us to hire a person that meets their requirements. We MIGHT be able to find somebody…maybe…

And, oh, by the way, the work still has to get done, so this project manager’s boss will have to continue to do the project manager’s work…but can’t bill the customer for her time. So the customer is getting something for nothing.

And…to make it worse…the company is losing badly needed revenue because of this.

Does that sound just and fair to you?

(I’ll tell you who the customer is after you answer, Robert)

Of course it’s unjust! It sure sounds like greed! To lose one’s job is a terribly stressful situations.

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

Huffington Post is very far left, so why use it for a source???

You’re free to find a “very far right” source that addresses the alleviation of poverty. Please share it with us when you find something like that.

 

[markomalley]

Of course it’s unjust! It sure sounds like greed! To lose one’s job is a terribly stressful situations.

It’s particularly bad when, at the time the contract was signed, the customer knew full well and good what the individual’s salary was…and had, in fact, approved increasing the rate as a performance raise…this, before he got sick.

Anyway, such things happen. In business, we call respect for “commutative justice” – business ethics.

Oh, by the way, as promised…the customer was the US Government.

 

[pnewton]

AMEN BROTHER! THANK YOU for REAL-EYESing this, I just had a two hour discussion as to why it was wrong for the Vatican to horde millions of dollars while children are starving.

I bet the Catholic Church helps the poor more than any Church you are with!

Of course the Catholic Church has millions, though the truth is most of this is split in a quarter of a million different accounts. If each parish only kept $1000 average in the bank to operate with, their would be 270 million in parish accounts. Additionally, some have building funds, St. Vincent de Paul, etc. that have money set aside for special projects or to operate charity locally. Right now, we have tens of thousands in on fund alone that we are saving to sponsor a Habitat for Humanity House.

Now if we start adding every level of operation, and various charitable funds, the Catholic Church has billions. Some or it is used to keep things running, some to do the very work this thread is about. What the Catholic Church does not do, and has never done, is “horde”. That sort of garbage is right out of a Jack Chick tract and just as ignorant.

 

[pnewton]

You’re free to find a “very far right” source that addresses the alleviation of poverty. Please share it with us when you find something like that.

The Huffington Post feeds no one by articles like this except their own employees. Political rags and lame articles feed no one.

 

[Robert_Sock]

The Huffington Post feeds no one by articles like this except their own employees. Political rags and lame articles feed no one.

It sounds like you have an issue with the news agency, but you fail to state what it is in the article that you disagree with or that which is falsely reported.

LOVE!

 

[pnewton]

It sounds like you have an issue with the news agency, but you fail to state what it is in the article that you disagree with or that which is falsely reported.

LOVE!

I said the article feeds no one. Writing about compassion is not compassion. Telling others to engage in charity is not charity. This could be said over and over again about politicians and pundits that develop an image of concern by telling others what they should do.

I just pulled up Adrianna Huffington. I found where she gave proceeds from a book sale to schools. I found where she talks about poverty and talks about charity. What I do not find is her engaging in helping the poor in any way. Maybe she is doing anonymous work (unusual for a self-promoter). I am only saying that talking isn’t doing.

 

[Robert_Sock]

I said the article feeds no one. Writing about compassion is not compassion. Telling others to engage in charity is not charity. This could be said over and over again about politicians and pundits that develop an image of concern by telling others what they should do.

I just pulled up Adrianna Huffington. I found where she gave proceeds from a book sale to schools. I found where she talks about poverty and talks about charity. What I do not find is her engaging in helping the poor in any way. Maybe she is doing anonymous work (unusual for a self-promoter). I am only saying that talking isn’t doing.

I don’t see where anything in the article is telling people what they should do. The article is simply explaining the myths associated with extreme poverty. Please quote where the article is telling people what they should do.

LOVE!

 

[tabycat]

You’re free to find a “very far right” source that addresses the alleviation of poverty. Please share it with us when you find something like that.

How about the Catholic Church? Is that far right enough for you?

 

[tabycat]

I don’t see where anything in the article is telling people what they should do. The article is simply explaining the myths associated with extreme poverty. Please quote where the article is telling people what they should do.

LOVE!

‘Preach the Gospel all ways, Use words only when needed.’ St. Francis of Assisi

Maybe the far left needs to preach in words always because they have so few deeds that stand up?

 

[Robert_Sock]

‘Preach the Gospel all ways, Use words only when needed.’ St. Francis of Assisi

Maybe the far left needs to preach in words always because they have so few deeds that stand up?

I fail to understand how your comments relates to my quote? Can you please explain?

LOVE!

 

[tabycat]

I fail to understand how your comments relates to my quote? Can you please explain?

LOVE!

Tell us what the left, compared the right, has done to help others. It should be easy because most of left-leaning people I’ve known like to tell others what ‘good’ they have done and what other should do.

 

[tabycat]

‘Preach the Gospel all ways, Use words only when needed.’ St. Francis of Assisi

Maybe the far left needs to preach in words always because they have so few deeds that stand up?

Forgoth Saint James’s Letter where he sayes ‘show me your faith without works and I will show you my faith by my works.’

 

[Robert_Sock]

Tell us what the left, compared the right, has done to help others. It should be easy because most of left-leaning people I’ve known like to tell others what ‘good’ they have done and what other should do.

In psychology we call your probable error in cognition, ‘selective abstraction.’

From Wikipedia:

In clinical psychology, selective abstraction is a type of cognitive bias in which a detail is taken out of context and believed whilst everything else in the context is ignored. It commonly appears in Aaron Beck’s work in cognitive therapy. Another definition is, “focusing on only the negative aspects of an event, such as, ‘I ruined the whole recital because of that one mistake’” "Also known to be a cognitive distortion in generalized anxiety disorder, “when a person makes a judgment based on some information but disregards other information. Example: Someone attends a party and afterward focuses on the one awkward look directed her way and ignores the hours of smiles.”

In short, are your observations biased? They certainly do not conform to my observations.

 

[tabycat]

In psychology we call your probable error in cognition, ‘selective abstraction.’

From Wikipedia:

In clinical psychology, selective abstraction is a type of cognitive bias in which a detail is taken out of context and believed whilst everything else in the context is ignored. It commonly appears in Aaron Beck’s work in cognitive therapy. Another definition is, “focusing on only the negative aspects of an event, such as, ‘I ruined the whole recital because of that one mistake’” "Also known to be a cognitive distortion in generalized anxiety disorder, “when a person makes a judgment based on some information but disregards other information. Example: Someone attends a party and afterward focuses on the one awkward look directed her way and ignores the hours of smiles.”

In short, are your observations biased? They certainly do not conform to my observations.

1. Wikipedia is not considered a overly reliable source. A clinical psychology site would have been a better choice.
2. You are, in all probabilaty, one of the better schooled in clinical psychologh on this site.
3. Everyone that I have known has, at times, made judgments based on incomplete information, ie that governments can make people love other people and do the right thing.
4. I have not claimed that what I have posted is anything other my observanations and that the posting do not conform to what others have to post. I do not expect you, or anyone else here, has to agree with me.