communication. community. cognition.
{{myquote|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.
[…] with @ikepigott inspired this post. Share this post: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and […]
Occamtude for you ===> : Tightening the Noose http://bit.ly/rFgm3
@digitalfemme – Here’s the start: http://bit.ly/rFgm3
“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 :-).
@digitalfemme
Carmen Villadar
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.