So two weeks ago today a massive earthquake shook the island country of Haiti and wreaked havoc on its people. We've all heard about this and the world has responded to the tragedy with an amazing outpouring of love and support. While it's difficult to imagine this today, I believe this event has triggered a new day for Haiti and the Haitian people to get off to a fresh start, to rebuild, achieve greatness and become a model for other impoverished nations. In the end this "act of God" may be just what this poor country needed to break its cycle of oppression and poverty. This high cost of greatness, in the form of so many lost lives, may be the price that had to be paid...or could it have been avoided?
We wouldn't be doing ourselves any favors if we don't ask the hard questions in the wake of disaster. After all, if we don't learn from our mistakes then how will we learn? So let me ask: Could this disaster have been avoided? Were the warning signs there?
While the earthquake itself was certainly unavoidable, I submit that actions could have been undertaken for at least the past two years to build a disaster recovery plan that would have reduced loss of life and allowed for swifter rescue and aid distribution. Two years ago scientists from Purdue University warned Haiti that it was ripe for a 7.2 magnitude earthquake. While it certainly wasn't enough time for the entire capital of Port-Au-Prince to rebuild all it's structure to earthquake code, there could have been an earthquake recovery plan identified along with some smaller projects perhaps such as reinforcing the major shipping port or building some high-occupancy shelters, or for Pete's sake just having a stockpile of tents and fresh water on hand somewhere! What about something as simple as a communication plan so people would know where to go for aid in the event of something of that magnitude.
So this leads me to my next question, with all due respect as I know they lost a lot of their own as well, but....what was the UN doing in Haiti? Hindsight being 20/20 doesn't it appear that they could have done a much better job alerting the international community to this pending disaster and asking the world for assistance beforehand knowing how devastating a 7.0 or 7.2 earthquake would be to this island with absolutely no structures built to sustain an earthquake of this nature? Couldn't they have done more to plan for this day, even if it couldn't have been avoided?
Finally, here comes the U.S. to the rescue. With money and soldiers and hospital ships and who's paying for all that? You and I are. If we're expected to save the day then shouldn't we have a say in what goes on in these neighboring countries? Shouldn't we have been there BEFORE this tragedy occurred expressing our concern and trying to get something done about it? Well, we were there...the question is what were we doing?
I guess in the end there is plenty of blame to go around. But it's not about laying blame. It's about fixing it and not letting it happen again - in Haiti or anywhere else. If that makes me an imperialist, then so be it.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Where is the balance between business and citizenship?
“We’re going to have to learn to think
in two dimensions: on one plane
as a businessman, labor leader, or
governmental official, each with his
own particular point of view—on the
second as a citizen whose first duty
is not to a special interest but to the
well-being of the whole nation.”
— Thomas Watson, Jr.
Where is this balance in business today? Did we ever have it? If so, when did we lose it? Are our economic troubles the byproduct of Generation Me's now running much of American business? Or could it be increased global competition threatening the American Dynasty? What role does the national impatience spawned by first by cable TV and now by the internet have to play here?
I submit all the above are contributing factors, but would trace the root cause back to the invention of the 401k tax code in 1978. Yes, while the 401k was intended to help citizens take responsibility for their own welfare in their "golden years", a byproduct has been a maniacal focus on stock market performance. It used to be the stock market was only for the rich and entitled, but the inception of the 401k opened up Wall Street to the commoner. A bunch of additional capital floating into the market drove short-sighted decision making and encouraged business to push (and sometimes exceed) the limits of common sense, and decency - not to mention the law.
Should we revoke the 401k IRS tax code of 1978? No, there's no turning back now. So how do we encourage business to make decisions that may not give them the maximum boost to their bottom line and their stock price, but will give them a "good enough" boost while they act as good citizens in support of our great nation? We need them to not only keep people employed but also create new jobs here at home, as well as do good deeds for our communities and community members in need. How do we get that balance between being a good businessperson and a good citizen - an increasingly difficult task in the age of globalization? Which business or industry would be the first to do this? The financial industry certainly has an opportunity right now to step in and do some major damage control to their image. Will they seize this opportunity to build some goodwill with Americans and the world?
Please send me your thoughts.
in two dimensions: on one plane
as a businessman, labor leader, or
governmental official, each with his
own particular point of view—on the
second as a citizen whose first duty
is not to a special interest but to the
well-being of the whole nation.”
— Thomas Watson, Jr.
Where is this balance in business today? Did we ever have it? If so, when did we lose it? Are our economic troubles the byproduct of Generation Me's now running much of American business? Or could it be increased global competition threatening the American Dynasty? What role does the national impatience spawned by first by cable TV and now by the internet have to play here?
I submit all the above are contributing factors, but would trace the root cause back to the invention of the 401k tax code in 1978. Yes, while the 401k was intended to help citizens take responsibility for their own welfare in their "golden years", a byproduct has been a maniacal focus on stock market performance. It used to be the stock market was only for the rich and entitled, but the inception of the 401k opened up Wall Street to the commoner. A bunch of additional capital floating into the market drove short-sighted decision making and encouraged business to push (and sometimes exceed) the limits of common sense, and decency - not to mention the law.
Should we revoke the 401k IRS tax code of 1978? No, there's no turning back now. So how do we encourage business to make decisions that may not give them the maximum boost to their bottom line and their stock price, but will give them a "good enough" boost while they act as good citizens in support of our great nation? We need them to not only keep people employed but also create new jobs here at home, as well as do good deeds for our communities and community members in need. How do we get that balance between being a good businessperson and a good citizen - an increasingly difficult task in the age of globalization? Which business or industry would be the first to do this? The financial industry certainly has an opportunity right now to step in and do some major damage control to their image. Will they seize this opportunity to build some goodwill with Americans and the world?
Please send me your thoughts.
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