Post by Rob W. Case on Dec 4, 2004 0:58:01 GMT -6
You know, every day we encounter some sort of spoildness. We accept a gift or a nice gesture once or twice and we take it for granted. But what is the reasoning?
For example: When a new technology is released, it is practically unheard of to backtrack. Some would rather not use it than go backwards. A friend of mine was over and was complaining that my connection speed was too slow. I have dial-up internet, and the guy just got internet....DSL internet. The connection speed is obviously faster, but this guy was acting like an expert? Oh, well, I guess it's human nature.
Spoildness in Companies:
This happens to companies as well.
For example, the SONY company had a good reputation. They were the best, and top of the line. Consumer Reports magazine proved it. Now, they are almost at the bottom. Why? Well, let me give you a brief History. First off, Sony was making serious bucks off of it's reputation. I bought a VCR from them in 1997 based on their reputation. They were successful. I have a Sony walkman, and so on, and it works. Then Sony bought out Columbia Tri-Star pictures, and they were making money. Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to expand your success and get more and more successful, but these people were getting greedy. So they skimped on the quality. Used cheaper parts and had factories in other countries working on them. In 2003 I bought a SONY DVD burner. I bought a 3 year warranty under the store and not the manufacturer. Anyway, I had to take it back because it was crapping out by April of 2004. Then in late November of 2004, I had to take that one back and just exchanged it for another brand altogether. The technician told me that he sees Sony's come by all the time. A computer tech friend of mine looked up the manufacturer of the Sony, and Sony ended up not making them. Sony bought the burners from a company called OPTIWRITE, and put their name on the cover. If you were to buy an OPTIWRITE drive, you would have to pay around
$65.00. For the OPTIWRITE with the SONY logo on the cover, the price is around $100+/- depending on where you go. What is the moral of this story? Well, Sony had a good reputation. Sony expanded and thought that if they cheapend production, they would keep the profits growing, while tight-wadding on their own resources. The result screwed the people in the end and their reputation is continuing to decline. In a business sense, the people are your friends, and if you treat them nice (by making products that surprise them by lasting a long time), word gets around, and you are trusted. Sony got spoiled rotten.
In America today, too many people are spoiled rotten. They expect someone else to do other people's work. I was listening to Sean Hannity on the radio (When he hads his "Man on the Street Thursdays") and the phone was in the hands of a woman named Andrea who said that she did not like President Bush "because I have to work for my home" she said. Well, I hope she does have to work to pay for her home. Some people struggle to make ends meet, and the last thing they need is their taxes raised so that some lazy person can get a free home and suck off of the Government's you-know-what.
I hear stories from parents who pay for their kids to go to college and/or pay for their kids car insurance. Some kids get into car accidents and momm and daddy are there to mend the fences. The kids do not learn a thing. They take advantage of their parents. They know they have a way out, and they will persue it... and if the parent is dumb enough to feed an unappreciative brat, then they themselves deserve the pain that may be inflicted if one day their kid screws up, and cannot be bailed out of a situation (Prison and death come to mind). An aunt of a friend of mine would always bail her son out of jail every time he burglarized his cousin's house. She thought that she was doing the right thing, but I say no freakin' way. Every single time he would get out on bail, he would ALWAYS do it again. She would ALWAYS bail him out. If I had a kid, and that was happening, I would let him stay in jail to give him the unpleasant experience of how it feels to be stripped of his freedom. Maybe he would appreciate it aftwerwards.
Unions are one thing that display spoildness. The truckers Union for Albertsons went on strike because they had to pay for their health benefits. Here the company offered it to them for free. Health costs rose, and truckers had to pay only $12.00 a week, for family coverage. They were spoiled, and wanted the company to keep paying them not only at thier normal labor rate, but to "get a raise" by having the company remain to provide free health care. We also have to remind ourselves that nothing is free and that someone has to always pay big for something. They were fortunate. While some families pay up to $500 a month for family coverage, the truckers would only have to pay $48.00 a month for health care for their family.
You don't realize you have something good until it's gone. That is a spoild man's proverb.
I was driving in a nearby town when I saw a man who had a bumper sticker that said something along the lines of: A worker who votes Republican Is Like a Chicken Supporting Colonel Sanders.
Aside from the fact that class warfare is initiated (class warfare creates envy from the poor and tension between both classes.), a tactic used by the Democrats, when you break it down and think about it, here is what the bumper sticker should have said: A Worker who votes Republican is like a farmer who enjoys the fruits of his labor. Because people get spoiled, they tend to vote for whichever way makes their life easier in the sense that they do not have to work, or at least as hard as someone else who cares, and reap the same exact benefits.
Solution:
It may be a long shot, but look at what you have already. If you have good health, then you have something that someone somewhere doesn't have. If you have a lot of money, then you have something that someone somewhere doesn't have. If you have a roof over your head, and clothes on your body, then you have something that something that someone somewhere doesn't have. The list goes on. We need to start emphasizing our pluses more than our minuses. When we are discontent, all we focus on is the minuses. We want more, more, and more, and there is no end to it. Greed is the same force that drives gamblers to gamble away their family's grocery money. Greed makes the glass half-empty rather than half-full. The list goes on.
Just Remember:
Greed is manipulative, yet defeatable.
For example: When a new technology is released, it is practically unheard of to backtrack. Some would rather not use it than go backwards. A friend of mine was over and was complaining that my connection speed was too slow. I have dial-up internet, and the guy just got internet....DSL internet. The connection speed is obviously faster, but this guy was acting like an expert? Oh, well, I guess it's human nature.
Spoildness in Companies:
This happens to companies as well.
For example, the SONY company had a good reputation. They were the best, and top of the line. Consumer Reports magazine proved it. Now, they are almost at the bottom. Why? Well, let me give you a brief History. First off, Sony was making serious bucks off of it's reputation. I bought a VCR from them in 1997 based on their reputation. They were successful. I have a Sony walkman, and so on, and it works. Then Sony bought out Columbia Tri-Star pictures, and they were making money. Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to expand your success and get more and more successful, but these people were getting greedy. So they skimped on the quality. Used cheaper parts and had factories in other countries working on them. In 2003 I bought a SONY DVD burner. I bought a 3 year warranty under the store and not the manufacturer. Anyway, I had to take it back because it was crapping out by April of 2004. Then in late November of 2004, I had to take that one back and just exchanged it for another brand altogether. The technician told me that he sees Sony's come by all the time. A computer tech friend of mine looked up the manufacturer of the Sony, and Sony ended up not making them. Sony bought the burners from a company called OPTIWRITE, and put their name on the cover. If you were to buy an OPTIWRITE drive, you would have to pay around
$65.00. For the OPTIWRITE with the SONY logo on the cover, the price is around $100+/- depending on where you go. What is the moral of this story? Well, Sony had a good reputation. Sony expanded and thought that if they cheapend production, they would keep the profits growing, while tight-wadding on their own resources. The result screwed the people in the end and their reputation is continuing to decline. In a business sense, the people are your friends, and if you treat them nice (by making products that surprise them by lasting a long time), word gets around, and you are trusted. Sony got spoiled rotten.
In America today, too many people are spoiled rotten. They expect someone else to do other people's work. I was listening to Sean Hannity on the radio (When he hads his "Man on the Street Thursdays") and the phone was in the hands of a woman named Andrea who said that she did not like President Bush "because I have to work for my home" she said. Well, I hope she does have to work to pay for her home. Some people struggle to make ends meet, and the last thing they need is their taxes raised so that some lazy person can get a free home and suck off of the Government's you-know-what.
I hear stories from parents who pay for their kids to go to college and/or pay for their kids car insurance. Some kids get into car accidents and momm and daddy are there to mend the fences. The kids do not learn a thing. They take advantage of their parents. They know they have a way out, and they will persue it... and if the parent is dumb enough to feed an unappreciative brat, then they themselves deserve the pain that may be inflicted if one day their kid screws up, and cannot be bailed out of a situation (Prison and death come to mind). An aunt of a friend of mine would always bail her son out of jail every time he burglarized his cousin's house. She thought that she was doing the right thing, but I say no freakin' way. Every single time he would get out on bail, he would ALWAYS do it again. She would ALWAYS bail him out. If I had a kid, and that was happening, I would let him stay in jail to give him the unpleasant experience of how it feels to be stripped of his freedom. Maybe he would appreciate it aftwerwards.
Unions are one thing that display spoildness. The truckers Union for Albertsons went on strike because they had to pay for their health benefits. Here the company offered it to them for free. Health costs rose, and truckers had to pay only $12.00 a week, for family coverage. They were spoiled, and wanted the company to keep paying them not only at thier normal labor rate, but to "get a raise" by having the company remain to provide free health care. We also have to remind ourselves that nothing is free and that someone has to always pay big for something. They were fortunate. While some families pay up to $500 a month for family coverage, the truckers would only have to pay $48.00 a month for health care for their family.
You don't realize you have something good until it's gone. That is a spoild man's proverb.
I was driving in a nearby town when I saw a man who had a bumper sticker that said something along the lines of: A worker who votes Republican Is Like a Chicken Supporting Colonel Sanders.
Aside from the fact that class warfare is initiated (class warfare creates envy from the poor and tension between both classes.), a tactic used by the Democrats, when you break it down and think about it, here is what the bumper sticker should have said: A Worker who votes Republican is like a farmer who enjoys the fruits of his labor. Because people get spoiled, they tend to vote for whichever way makes their life easier in the sense that they do not have to work, or at least as hard as someone else who cares, and reap the same exact benefits.
Solution:
It may be a long shot, but look at what you have already. If you have good health, then you have something that someone somewhere doesn't have. If you have a lot of money, then you have something that someone somewhere doesn't have. If you have a roof over your head, and clothes on your body, then you have something that something that someone somewhere doesn't have. The list goes on. We need to start emphasizing our pluses more than our minuses. When we are discontent, all we focus on is the minuses. We want more, more, and more, and there is no end to it. Greed is the same force that drives gamblers to gamble away their family's grocery money. Greed makes the glass half-empty rather than half-full. The list goes on.
Just Remember:
Greed is manipulative, yet defeatable.