alright, that's love - you broke it down to the very source quote. appreciated..

> I recall that at
>the time that TWA was
>taken over, a lot of
>routes were abandoned because they
>weren't profitable, which meant that
>a lot of flight attendants
>were laid off. The
>flight attendants picketed -- not
>just TWA, but also the
>investment bank that had found
>the financiers for the takeover.
> The media made a
>big deal out of the
>poor flight attendants and, granted,
>it's horrible to be laid
>off from a job.
>But TWA was really hurting,
>otherwise it wouldn't have been
>a takeover target. So
>the choice may have been
>between laying off a big
>group of flight attendants and
>other staff members, or closing
>down entirely -- which would
>have cost a lot more
>jobs. It was this
>kind of scenario that was
>played up by the makers
>of Wall Street, but without
>asking the harder questions of
>"What alternatives are there?" and
>"Who's going to pay that
>person's salary?"

kinda like shedding weight - destroy to build. or like mos def said it: 'it's business, no faces - just lines and statistics/from your phone and zip code to ssi digits/system breaks man, child and women into figures...numbers are hardly real and never have feelings/but push too hard, even numbers got limits..'

>I like to think that I
>am a good person, one
>who thinks about the larger
>perspective and tries to make
>a difference. But I'm
>not completely selfless -- comfort
>is important to me.
>So is appearance. So
>I'm driven at least in
>part by greed and vanity.
> And I do try
>to be realistic.

that's what I'm saying with good greed - that's relatively harmless to others (if you shop right) but beneficial to your economy - greed/vanity keeps us spending instead of hoarding.

> Each person who owns
>a share of a corporation
>is a part owner of
>that corporation, because each share
>represents a teensy little ownership
>percentage -- usually a teensy
>percent of a percent of
>ownership). The corporation's mandate
>is to generate profits, which
>are paid to the owners
>of the company (the shareholders)
>as dividends. A shareholder
>who believes that the company
>is being mismanaged can bring
>an action (not easy and
>expensive, but doable in the
>right circumstances) to replace the
>officers if they are not
>creating profits -- dividends.
>Most state statutes that govern
>corporations require that all profits
>be paid in dividends (although
>you can keep a small
>amount back for contingencies and
>working capital and stuff).
>So, by law, you have
>to give out dividends if
>you've got profits, and you
>have to earn profits or
>basically you'll lose your job
>if you're a company officer.

damn, that sounds like a fairly sweet set-up..is shareholding considered as employment? that's almost like pimping..to sit back and let the money roll in and know that you have the right by law to act up if it flow's too slow..

>
>So, is greed good? I
>think it's morally neutral up
>to a certain point.
>It's built into the system.
> Profits are the way
>we judge the value of
>a corporation. Corporations are
>owned by individuals (lots and
>lots of individuals). So
>the idea of the big
>bad corporation doing mean things
>to nice unsuspecting individuals is
>kind of inapt, because it's
>those very individuals that are
>providing the incentive for the
>corporation to create and distribute
>profits, sometimes by means of
>cutbacks and layoffs.

but a lot of shareholders prolly don't know or care about the finer points of company policy, they just want the bottom line..but the big bad company'll do whatever it takes to keep them pacified?

>But honestly, I'm in agreement
>with those who believe that
>the first effect of this
>would be a major recession
>or depression. I still
>believe that we should think
>globally but act locally.
>
>Peace.

sounds like a plan..peace to you - nicely explained, thank you.
______________________________________

seize your time! - marley/wailers

crack baggin sick of braggin how my mink be draggin
desert eaze street sweeper inside the beamer wagon - BIG (RIP)