communication. community. cognition.
Tightening the Noose
“Those who use government to reign in business make both business and government stronger. Those who make it their business to lobby the government make both government and business stronger.”
Inspired by a Twitter discussion with Carmen Villadar.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Ike on May 15, 2009 at 11:40 am, and is filed under My Quotes. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |
The Turkeys on Your TV
about 1 year ago - 11 comments
I don’t mean to pick on Good Morning America because it’s bad. It’s not. In fact, it is the only TV news I regularly subject myself to anymore. They probably do as well or better than any of the other networks. Which is sad, because what passes for news these days is not news, it’s
Political Vegetable
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
“Modern politics is an endless onion. You can peel back layers as long as you want, and everything you find smells bad and makes you cry.”
Tastes Great, Less Filling
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
“Socialism is easy to like on full stomachs, but isn’t so good at filling them.”
Kill Art and Craft, and you Might Share The Coffin
about 1 year ago - 13 comments
One of the finest compliments I ever received was from Dan Cates, who was then my assistant news director at the ABC affiliate in Birmingham. “I wish I had a whole newsroom full of Ike Pigotts.” It was weeks before I could walk through a doorway without my big head getting in the way. I
A Poverty of Realism
about 1 year ago - 3 comments
“No matter how badly you wish it so, pure intentions and a bottomless checkbook are not an automatic solution for anything.”
The Future of Political Journalism?
about 1 year ago - 7 comments
Traditional Journalism is in for several more tremors before the implosion is finished. I’ve mentioned several of the trends that are accelerating the shift toward a concept I call the Embedded Journalist, but don’t expect that transition to be smooth. In California, for example, a political campaign high on finance and low on interest is
Imported Turf
about 1 year ago - 23 comments
While traditional media outlets claim to “embrace the conversation,” are they still holding it at arm’s length? Is it enough to host comments and invite input online, without the due diligence to see if others are manipulating the agenda? A few days ago, I wrote about what appeared to be a fairly obvious case of
Political Geometry
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
“Modern politics has become an exercise in bending over backwards to bend your opponent forwards.”
A Lesson on Worth
about 1 year ago - 19 comments
I recently ran across one of those messages about how our nation needs to get its priorities in order, because we pay professional athletes so much more than we do teachers. On the surface, it seems a difficult point to argue, because obviously teaching is important. This is where an understanding of marginal utility comes
Color Me Invisible
about 1 year ago - 10 comments
In many issues of communication, color does matter. Some colors evoke strength, some safety, some progress, and some security. Some project cowardice, and others royalty. The mistake is in assuming too much – that a spectrum of colors will cover every flavor of difference and distinction. American politics has divided down Red and Blue lines,
about 2 years ago
“If we continue to allow Corporations the power to influence economies, then we MUST at least hold them socially accountable for their actions.” – @digitalfemme
Twitter has become an incredible platform for engaging in thoughtful dialog that not only enables us to think, but to think far more critically than ever before.
Thanks to the Lehman Brothers’ fiasco, the domino effect created an important global awareness. The awareness that, more than ever, citizens of the world must scrutinize the actions of *those powers that be* in handling our future.
So many instances, have people been mislead by Governments. And yet, many of us idly watch as the big players make their moves all the while seeing the ripple effect enter into our very homes.
I am not really against Government *crossing fingers*, nor am I against big corporations. What I am against is the socially irresponsibility that these entities have displayed.
Money will always be a means to obtain variables for our well fair but we must realize is that Money is NOT the driving force that steers mankind forward. Indeed, it is the whole hearted intent to create a meaningful existence in each of our lives. It is also the empowerment and joy we feel when we help one another without asking for anything in return.
I believe that the tool(s) we use to create a change in the infrastructures, that are set up to support those in Power, are the social media platforms that allow us to have open, free dialog.
Ike, thank you for giving me the platform to ventilate my concerns. Know that this is only a fraction of what I really could say
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@digitalfemme
Carmen Villadar
about 2 years ago
Carmen, I’m honored you came to comment.
I’m all for holding companies accountable, but government has a horrible track record in that regard.
We are where we are today primarily because of a key government intervention.
President Clinton wanted to clamp down on corporate greed, and set a tax provision that companies could only write-off salaries over a million dollars if certain performance measures were hit.
(read it here, from Business Week, 2006)
The end result is that many businesses ratcheted down straight pay, and created these performance-based compensation plans that included high-flying options and other pieces of wacky math. (the article includes several examples.)
Ultimately, government can’t dictate without creating unintended consequences. Shareholders CAN.
I’ve long been a fan of the 401-K, which has the potential to liberate tens of millions of investors to be self-sufficient. However, an Unintended Consequence of the 401-K is you now have much more money in the markets, and no more oversight. The degree of scrutiny divided by the amount of money in the system is WAY lower than it used to be. When you own a piece of an index fund, you have such tiny slivers of companies that you don’t pay the same attention as when you buy the shares off the shelf.