Pissed off Parishoner con't
No, I'm not really pissed off. That was a bit of blogger drama. Mind?
The text of the sermon was the parable of the one lost sheep which then shifted into a discussion on responsibility. Pastor H. gave several examples and then mentioned "outsourcing" with the hypothetical question (I'm paraphrasing), "Does a company have a responsiblity to only the stockholders and the bottom line or is it more - to the community, society, etc." Answering in my mind, I said "No."
Why does a company's mere existence give others - society, the community, the church - some kind of claim over that company. The investors took and continue to take the risk, the owner/managers work to grow the company. They didn't grow the company throught deceit but through hard work and voluntary exchange. The owners should be the only ones with a claim over it. But no, a part of society has constructed a whole rationale and philosophy for people to expect a portion of others work that isn't due them.
I thought of my clients first. If they invest their money in a company, does that make them immediately indebted to others. Does local Cincinnati favorite P&G's shareholders and managers owe me something because they've operated in the same town where I live? Do I have a right to tell P&G to not open a plant overseas because they have incurred an obligation here? What give me the right to say that to P&G? There is no right, but only my own ability to use guilt or misuse morality on them.
Taken to just my small business on the west side. Do I owe the west side of Cincinnati something because I've built up a small business here? No. Back to the topic of outsourcing: If I want to move my office closer to home across the Ohio River to Bellevue, should the west side neighborhood association be allowed to control my business and say "No, you can't move. You have a responsibility to the west-side." If so, I'd tell them to go to hell. I built this business. You weren't here when I was at 6:00 a.m. or at 9:00 p.m.
I hate to sound like a Randian, but whether someone takes my property by breaking through my back window or by demanding that I hand over control of it to someone else by force of the bible is still thief. It's a loss of property rights which I describe in my book.
As for feeling guilty or whatever, I stick by what I wrote in The Pure Investor:
One other thought: when my business has a problem, should I expect society to help me out. Unless I'm huge it ain't gonna happen.
Stay You.
Back to Main Page
The text of the sermon was the parable of the one lost sheep which then shifted into a discussion on responsibility. Pastor H. gave several examples and then mentioned "outsourcing" with the hypothetical question (I'm paraphrasing), "Does a company have a responsiblity to only the stockholders and the bottom line or is it more - to the community, society, etc." Answering in my mind, I said "No."
Why does a company's mere existence give others - society, the community, the church - some kind of claim over that company. The investors took and continue to take the risk, the owner/managers work to grow the company. They didn't grow the company throught deceit but through hard work and voluntary exchange. The owners should be the only ones with a claim over it. But no, a part of society has constructed a whole rationale and philosophy for people to expect a portion of others work that isn't due them.
I thought of my clients first. If they invest their money in a company, does that make them immediately indebted to others. Does local Cincinnati favorite P&G's shareholders and managers owe me something because they've operated in the same town where I live? Do I have a right to tell P&G to not open a plant overseas because they have incurred an obligation here? What give me the right to say that to P&G? There is no right, but only my own ability to use guilt or misuse morality on them.
Taken to just my small business on the west side. Do I owe the west side of Cincinnati something because I've built up a small business here? No. Back to the topic of outsourcing: If I want to move my office closer to home across the Ohio River to Bellevue, should the west side neighborhood association be allowed to control my business and say "No, you can't move. You have a responsibility to the west-side." If so, I'd tell them to go to hell. I built this business. You weren't here when I was at 6:00 a.m. or at 9:00 p.m.
I hate to sound like a Randian, but whether someone takes my property by breaking through my back window or by demanding that I hand over control of it to someone else by force of the bible is still thief. It's a loss of property rights which I describe in my book.
As for feeling guilty or whatever, I stick by what I wrote in The Pure Investor:
The Pure Investor is not affected by the guilt heaped upon him by those who do not know how wealth is created. Unfettered, unbound capitalism is the best anti-poverty program available. Capitalism, and the political freedom that always comes with it, is the reason why Cuban cross the Florida Straits, mainlanders swim Deep Water Bay to reach Hong Kong, and East Berliners ran face first into the barbed wired wall perating them from the west.
One other thought: when my business has a problem, should I expect society to help me out. Unless I'm huge it ain't gonna happen.
Stay You.
Back to Main Page
posted by Howard McEwen, CFA at Monday, September 13, 2004
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