| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"0" |
| Date: |
02 Apr 2007 01:25:37 PM |
| Object: |
Disposable Workers |
Disposable Workers
Last week, electronics retailer Circuit City announced that it was laying off
3400 employees.
What made these particular layoffs noteworthy was not their size but,
instead, Circuit City's stated reasons. They had "nothing to do with
[employees'] skills or whether they were a good worker or not." Instead, "it
was a function of their salary relative to the market."
In other words, Circuit City was laying them off so it could replace them
with people who make less. Rotten!
To be fair, Circuit City is not alone in this practice. It is part of a "new way
of controlling labor costs in the service industry." Employers "determine the
prevailing market wages for particular jobs in various geographic regions"
and "then find ways to make sure that their workers' salaries stay within that
range."
There is no consideration of an employee's productivity or quality of work.
Nor is there any claim that the company can't afford to pay what the
workers are currently making-only that it doesn't have to.
It is hard to imagine a clearer example of how rapacious unrestrained
economic power can be. With all due respect to the late Milton Friedman,
corporations' social responsibility goes beyond maximizing shareholders'
returns.
But even if you do not think that unapologetically getting rid of workers so
that they can hire cheaper workers is degrading and dehumanizing, it goes
against your self-interest.
That is because it undermines the moral and cultural consensus that sustains
free-market capitalism. Michael Novak has written about what he calls the
"three-legged stool" that makes democratic capitalism possible: economic
freedom, political freedom, and moral restraint. Take away any of these
three and the system collapses.
Christianity's great contribution to this consensus was that it provided
capitalism with a moral dimension that capitalism could not provide for itself.
Its teachings about the necessity for moral restraint in the marketplace were
rooted in the Old Testament concerns for social justice, fair wages, and care
for the poor. It incorporated the consistent biblical teaching about human
dignity, including the dignity of honest labor.
Thus, when poet William Blake wrote about nineteenth-century England's
"dark satanic mills," his criticism invoked unmistakably biblical language and
imagery.
Christianity provided more than a basis for criticism of capitalism-it helped
forge an alternative that kept what John Paul II called "the circle of
exchange" going. In the aftermath of World War II, democratic capitalism in
Europe appeared to have failed, leaving communism as its likely
successor-until, that is, Christian statesmen like Konrad Adenauer of
Germany created an alternative to amoral capitalism and socialism. It was
called Christian democracy, and it saved Western Europe from communism.
Closer to home, there are companies like ServiceMaster and Herman
Miller, which are run explicitly on Christian principles and have proven that a
concern for your employees' dignity is not incompatible with making a
profit.
Christianity has shown that capitalism can be the servant of justice, which is
why I am so disturbed at Circuit City's actions. It is yet another reminder of
Christianity's diminished cultural influence, which leaves people as
disposable commodities and dehumanized. This is a sober reminder of why
restoring Christian influence is so urgent.
By Chuck Colson
4/2/2007
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For Further Reading and Information
Mike Carney, "Circuit City Fires Thousands after Deciding They Earn Too
Much Money," On Deadline blog, USA Today, 29 March 2007.
Stephanie Armour, "Circuit City's Plan to Fire 3,400 Will Have Ripple
Effects," USA Today, 28 March 2007.
David Carr, "Thousands Are Laid Off at Circuit City. What's New?" New
York Times, 2 April 2007.
Stu Bykofsky, "Boycott Short-Circuit City," Philadelphia Inquirer, 2 April
2007.
Eve Tahmincioglu, "Circuit City: Bold Strategy or Black Eye?" MSNBC,
29 March 2007.
Michael Novak, Business as a Calling: Work and the Examined Life (Free
Press, 1996).
BreakPoint Commentary No. 061227, "Weber the Friendly Geist:
Christianity and the Rise of Capitalism."
BreakPoint Commentary No. 030716, "Christianity and Capitalism: Using
Business to Reach Our World."
BreakPoint Commentary No. 030717, "Taking Care of Business: Virtue in
the Boardroom."
BreakPoint Commentary No. 030718, "Believers in Business: Apologetics
for a Free-Market Society."
BreakPoint Commentary No. 020415, "Sharks, Stools, and Secularism:
Can We Prevent Another Enron?"
BreakPoint Commentary No. 940601, "Is Capitalism Christian?: The
Revolutionary Michael Novak."
-- Sig
"Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your
pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and
turn to attack you. "(Matthew 7:6 RSV)
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's
clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves." (Matthew 7:15 RSV)
Overview the Bible
http://76.162.173.93/bible-study/=CD-R=ltb-24/
There's no hurry?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrmDWn6awMA
"The best way to drive out the devil, if he will
not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and
flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."
Heaven & Hell
http://76.162.173.93/prophecy/=CD-R=heaven-and-hell/
The Gospel of Matthew
http://76.162.173.93/bible-study/=CD-R=matthew-rv/
A Primer on Prophecy
http://76.162.173.93//prophecy/=CD-R=prophecy-101-small-wmv
Born once, die twice. Born twice, die once.
Wisdom of a Lifetime - Audio MP3 Collection -
http://bibleweb.info/ftp/ftp-members-0002.html
The Last (5th) Horseman
http://bibleweb.info/ftp/ftp-members-0003.html
The Facts About Jesus, the Bible & the Afterlife
http://bibleweb.info/ftp/ftp-members-0004.html
The Way - http://john-14-6.com/john-14-6.pdf
A Tribute to THE KING
http://bibleweb.info/public-a-tribute-to-the-king.pdf
How to Spot a Counterfeit
http://76.162.173.93/guest/ar-mp3/ar-how-to-spot-a-counterfeit.mp3
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction
on themselves (2 Peter 2:1).
Scriptural Christianity
http://76.162.173.93/guest/=CD-R=scriptural-christianity/
My Main Collection - http://Bibleweb.Info/
Maranatha!
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| User: "Pies de Arcilla" |
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| Title: Re: Disposable Workers |
02 Apr 2007 03:25:45 PM |
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"0" <Melchize...@trust-but-verify.com> wrote:
There is no consideration of an employee's productivity or quality of work.
If companies really don't care about productivity or quality of work,
then they will go bankrupt. That is why it is important that companies
be allowed to go bankrupt. Then the surviving ones will be the ones
that treat workers decently.
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