Social institutions shape a person’s perspective and direct his or her interactions with the people he or she encounters. The social institutions that exist within a given society are not necessarily in agreement with one another; indeed, they often have different values and priorities. This tension between social institutions serves a functional benefit by freeing the individuals within society from the absolute control and influence of any one group. Society requires varied and separate social institutions in order to fulfill their roles and to remain vibrant. Continue reading “Equality and Diversity Require Disagreement”
Communicating with Feelers: Or Why no One Likes Your Spock Impressions
Libertarians sometimes tick off other people. The concept of a bleeding heart libertarian has been a long time in coming. The libertarian movement has for a long time been the domain of people who have read the book Human Action. These people have trouble interacting with feeling thinkers because they themselves are logic thinkers. Continue reading “Communicating with Feelers: Or Why no One Likes Your Spock Impressions”
Keeping People to Their Contracts
Following the train of thought that lead to my essay about empowering communities with liberty; I want to write about social change in general. I just had a conversation with a man from Schwan’s, that purveyor of delicious frozen foods.
Did you know that stores may not require a minimum purchase for credit or debit purchases? Some gas stations require at least five dollars for you to pay with credit or debit. Apparently, this is not legal. That fellow from Schwan’s I had a conversation with said that one fellow insisted on paying for a $1.39 pack of gum with his card. When they told the fellow no, he called his bank, who called the credit card company they processed their credit payments through, who then called the company that maintained the register card readers, who then called the gas station company, who then called the gas station and told them to run the purchase for the pack of gum. This story is a mixed bag to me. On the one hand, the man was right and he stood his ground and won. On the other hand, he didn’t change anything. All this man really did was waste a lot of people’s time over a 1.39 pack of gum. Continue reading “Keeping People to Their Contracts”
The Joy of Delivering on Time
“You have missed the BB by 48 hours. The deadline is in 42 hours.
I am here to assist you for the next 30 hours. At the 12 hour
mark, if the objective is not accomplished, I am to pursue my own
course of action. My advice, should you fail to accomplish the
objective within 30 hours, is to leave the country as your
contract will be terminated. If you or any of your team choose to
remain, I will make use of you, however understand that you will
not be reemployed nor will your welfare be a priority.”
His name is Samuel Carver. No operative wants to meet Mr.Carver
on the job. If Carver is called in, it means the objective is in
jeopardy and Carver will fix it. Some call Carver a sociopath, others call him a monster. I call
Carver a professional. Carver is well regarded not for his calm
demeanor, nor for his skills. Carver is well regarded in the
profession for his ability to take any course of action that
accomplishes a deadline. If we were in the killing business, that
would be one thing, but we just work at Fed Ex…
Written in the Past, to Demonstrate a Thought
So yeah, I just decided to write something to get back into the swing of things. I’m figuring I won’t post this, but I know I really will. I guess that kind of defeats the point of lying to myself to say that but what the hey?
Anyway, we’re nearing the end of the election period, eleven more days until we get to decide which hopeless liar to elect! 1 Yay!, and after that they can start raising the gas prices again. As you can tell, I am quite optimistic about all of this. There is no doubt in my mind that everything is going to work out to the benefit of us all, whether we want it or not. I just thought of something I might actually want to write about. Leadership. Continue reading “Written in the Past, to Demonstrate a Thought”