Tuesday, April 1, 2008 |
For some time, I was concerned about the car I drove & other nonsense I now find to be of little importance. At one point, I wore two carat diamond studs in my ears, but have downgraded to a less ostentatious quarter carat. In the end, it’s not going to matter how big my diamonds were or whether I drove a Ford or a Ferrari. That’s not what will determine my worth.
The status of a person is not how much money they have or what they do for a living — the real importance of a person is how they treat everybody, particularly the people who are deemed lower than them in society. I’ve figured out what it’s all about. For me, the only thing that’s going to matter is that I lived my life to the fullest and did everything I possibly could to help those around me in need.
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Friday, February 29, 2008 |
Some time ago, economist Milton Friedman wrote an article which offered his ideas on the purpose of business. The title itself blatantly stated his view: “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits“.
Friedman stated businessmen believe they defend free enterprise when they state business isn’t just out to make a profit, but to also “[promote] desirable ’social’ ends.” He opposed the idea that business possesses social responsibilities: “Only people can have responsibilities,” he declared.
According to Friedman, “there is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engage in open and free competition without deception or fraud.”
To some degree, I agree with Friedman: every business hopes to make a profit, but I do not believe that is the only intent; businesses can do good and do well (DGADW) at the same time.
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Thursday, January 31, 2008 |
Pulitzer Prize nominee Maya Angelou and Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison are causing quite a stir, as are many other well-known figures throughout America, by making celebrity endorsements of presidential candidates.
Nowadays, it’s easy to capitalize on pretty much anything and that’s exactly what a lot of celebrities are doing.
About 47 percent of Americans between the ages of 18-24 voted in the 2004 presidential election, up from 36 percent in 2000, according to the Census Bureau. But I can’t help but think that “Vote or Die!” had something to do with that. Was using high-profile names such as Paris Hilton or Ludacris as a way to stress the importance of voting the best way to do it, though?
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