Which means … it’s Memeday.
Starting, as expected, with the Thursday Thumb-Twiddler:
1. You know something about your company that very few other people do, something that, shortly, will drive the stock price way down. So happens your folks invested in your company, because you said it was a cool place to work. Do you let them know before the public finds out? Hmmmm. What would Martha do? Oh, wait …
Well, it’s called insider trading. And this is a nice dilemma, since it’s not just a matter of greed at work, but of wanting to keep your parents from being hurt — especially since you’re the one who got them there to begin with.
Yeah, I’d tell them, and hope the SEC never got wind of it.
2. Your neighbor is getting rid of junk, and you spot something he’s putting out on the curb as a collectable that could probably fetch a few hundred dollars on eBay. Do you tell him? Or do you sneak it out of their trash late at night? I’d probably sneak out to the trash. Or, if I was afraid it would get ruined, come up with some excuse to ask it of him. “Hey, my daughter’s been bugging us for one of those. Would you mind …?”
3. Where does your ethical obligation to intellectual honesty and openness to differing viewpoints end, and your need to shut off lunatic opinions of an annoying co-worker because they’re driving you batty begin? And does politeness factor into this equation? Politeness always factors into the equation, in my opinion. That said, you should try to find ways of being open to different ideas, but when you find yourself pounding on things afterwards, it’s probably time to try and withdraw from future discussions gently but firmly — either that, or cut down on the coffee.
And the Thursday Threesome …
Onesome: Rice– Okay, what’s the preference at your place at dinner time, rice or potatoes? …or something else? Hmmm? I like rice, particularly with stews and casseroles and the like. Not so hot on potatoes, mashed or baked, though fried up or smothered in cheese or cream … oh, yeah, baby.
Twosome: Krispies– …and how about breakfast? If you’re a cereal person, what is your favorite? …or is there something else you’d prefer to start your day with? Most days, it’s just a glass of juice and a multi-vitamin. When I eat cereal, it’s usually Cheerios. But my preference is either something in the eggs-and-bacon group, or the batter group (pancakes, waffles, French Toast).
Threesome: Treats– Has anyone not seen “Finding Nemo”? What treat did you have to buy (or slip in) for it to be a “Theatre Experience”? We went to the 1p showing, so grabbing a couple of hot dogs and some popcorn and a non-caffeinated soda was the thing to do. Which cost nearly what our tickets did …
Then there’s 3xThursday: the Post-G8 Mix.
1. In your own words what is globalization? Just what exactly are we talking about? Globalization is dealing with trade (including manufacturing) on a global, rather than local, scale.
2. What are the benefits of globalization? How can this help us as a planet and a people. In the macro, globalization maximizes wealth. It reduces costs of manufacture to a minimum, and enables sales to take place wherever there is demand. Products can be available world-wide, for lower prices. More jobs are available, too, to poorer (lower-wage) countries.
3. What are the dangers and curses of globalization? What is escaping from Pandora’s Box? To the extent that the free market is problematic, a global free market is problematic. Darwinism as an economic model produces very fit economies, but with a lot of carnage in their wake. Too, the gaming of laws around manufacture and production (environmental being the most obvious) by shopping that around has clear costs.
In the long run, I think it’s to the better (the alternative of protectionism and less-stuff-for-higher-prices and eating locally-produced organic hemp soup, does not sound particularly appealing, either), but we should do what we can to ameliorate the worst of it, just as we have in this country.
Bonus Question for Comments: If it truly is a global economy then why don’t we care about world opinion? For the same reason IBM doesn’t care whether I use its PCs to blog, to play games, or to run spreadsheets in support of some major chemical firm that’s polluting rivers.
Besides, is the “world” interested in my opinion?
And then there’s last week’s Saturday Scruples:
1. You plan to auction granny’s estate but are afraid valuable items will go for too little. Do you ask friends to bid up the prices? No. Either I’d be sticking my friends with the item (if they got stuck with the high bid), or else I’d be paying them for it, then I’m back where I started. I’d set a minimum, and see what happened. And if that failed, I’d figure something else out.
2. In the middle of the night, the baby starts crying. Your mate asks if you’re awake. You’re exhausted and don’t want to get up. Do you pretend to be asleep? If Margie asks if I’m awake, and I am, I say yes. If she doesn’t ask, though, I might wait and see if she gets up anyway. If I’m really tired.
3. Your child’s tricycle turns over too easily. You can’t return it. You’re having a garage sale. Do you sell it? If I think it’s going to be a hazard to kids, I’ll get rid of it. It’s not worth whatever I might get for it at a garage sale to possibly hurt someone else’s kids. Yeesh.
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