Said much better than I was able.
Of course those who can't relate reduce my postings on this type of subject as
shallow haves & havenot jealousy. I will post if I feel strongly. (If your
tendency
is to dismiss & minimize everything I say - just put a filter on your email to
block my email address.)
Larry
Roger Wesson wrote:
> You're not rewarding skill and talent by paying $500 for photoshop - you're
> pouring
> money into the bank account of the grinning chief executive.
>
> Society makes most of the decisions about your level of life, in global,
> national and local terms. The wages you earn do not reflect your value
> to society and are not the result of your decisions alone. If you think
> that a company executive should earn ten times as much as a junior
> doctor, or that an accountant should earn much more than a teacher, I
> think you have a hard time justifying that stance. If you think that
> people in prison and on the streets have only themselves to blame for
> their plight, ask yourself why ethnic minorities, people who have been
> through the care system, people who have served in the armed forces,
> people with mental problems are all vastly over-represented in these two
> predicaments.
>
> On a global level, the capitalist governments conspire to keep most of
> the world poor so that the capitalist system will survive. Look at
> American interventions in Chile, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and much of Latin
> America. Look at the British government's support of the drug companies
> and their refusal to sell AIDS drugs cheaply to sub-Saharan Africa.
>
> We on this list are educated, literate, and have access to computers and
> the internet. This puts us well up in the most fortunate 10f
> humanity. We're debating whether to spend $500 on computer software
> when half the world lives on less than $1 a day. We all have a
> responsibilty and I would say an obligation to make the world a better
> place for everyone. Sitting back and congratulating ourselves on the
> 'decisions' that have led to us being so well off is not the way to do
> this.
>
> So what am I saying? Buy the software if you want to - just don't be
> under the impression that you're rewarding talent and entrepreneurship
> rather than paying $300 straight into the director's annual bonus. Rip
> the software off if you want to - but put a few pounds into the next
> charity tin you see.
>
> Roger
>
> NSURIT@xxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> > Rich or poor, it is your choice.
> >
> > Wrong or right, it is your decision.
> >
> > The software developer had the talent to create something which I
> > value and
> > am willing to trade for my money. Money which was earned from talents
> > I
> > possess and from taking risk others may not have been willing to take.
> >
> > Society does not make decisions about my level of life. That has been
> >
> > created by me in the decisions I have made in my lifetime. When one
> > accepts
> > their current circumstances as a reflection of the cumulative choices
> > they
> > have made, they will experience both power and freedom that eludes
> > many.
> > Here again we all have choices. Do we accept responsibility for our
> > decisions or do we blame our circumstances on society, our parents,
> > the
> > education system or whomever or whatever it is to which we choose to
> > relinquish our power and the responsibility for our life? Experience
> > has
> > shown me that should I not be happy with what it is that "life" has
> > given me,
> > I can change them through my willingness to change what I am doing and
> > what
> > I'm willing to put at risk.
> >
> > Our prison systems are full of people who have rationalized their
> > actions and
> > given the power for their circumstance to someone or something else.
> >
> > Different choices would have produced different results.
> >
> > What changes in our choices would have us able to own rather than
> > possess
> > Photoshop. Although I do not own this program, one day I will. It is
> > a
> > choice I have made. My owning it will reward its developer for their
> > talent,
> > the risk they have taken and the choices they have made in their life.
> > I am
> > honored to have the opportunity to participate in that type of system.
> > If it
> > works for them, it will work for me.
> >
> > Bill Barber
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 'I want them to have the courage of my convictions'
>
> -- Margaret Thatcher, asked whether she thought cabinet ministers
> should have the courage of their convictions
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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