----- Original Message ----- From: "mckeever" <mckeever at ccnet.com> To: <mckeever at ccnet.com> Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 12:06 PM Subject: Strange FTAA Dream
> Personal reflections, delete now if not interested.
>
> I had a strange dream last night - that I was given five minutes to
address
> the FTAA assembly. Of course, one is totally tongue-tied in a dream. So,
> here's some of what I might say if given the chance:
>
> "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today
> about the protestors outside this building. I want to try to explain to
you
> what their motivations are, recognizing that their motivations are complex
> and hard to boil down to a simple thought or two. I recognize that it is
> hard for you to understand why they are doing what they are doing - in
your
> hearts you know that you are fighting the good fight on their behalf every
> day. You might say to yourself: 'Why on earth do they make such a fuss
when
> we are only trying to help them?'
>
> First, let me begin by giving you some of my personal background. I know a
> lot about how you think because I have similar education and experiences
to
> many of you. I have had the responsibility of meeting a payroll or two,
> small ones, but I know what that means. I worked for McKinsey Consulting
and
> I worked for a Fortune 100 firm as well as being the Director of an MBA
> program for two years. So, I have some legitimate business experiences.
>
> In trying to boil down the essential points that the demonstrators are
> concerned about, I think their concerns go to the heart of how you make
> business decisions. By that I mean that when you make a decision, you are
> concerned about the bottom line - how will that decision affect profits,
ROI
> and share values. If that decision increases profits, ROI and share
prices,
> then you have done a good job; if it doesn't do that, you will probably be
> fired. Life is hard in the business world.
>
> But, and here is one of the protestor's points: the costs that you factor
> into the decisions that you make cover only the costs that you pay out of
> pocket. For example, you can make a higher profit by shifting
manufacturing
> jobs to China or Indonesia. Wage costs are lower and profits are higher -
> and you get a bonus in addition to the pleasure of travelling to China and
> Indonesia. Or, here's another example: you can make a higher profit by
> shipping hazardous waste to another country instead of treating it safely
in
> the good ol' USA.
>
> There are costs to both those decisions that someone has to pay. "There
> ain't no free lunch", as someone said a long time ago. Who is going to pay
> the out of work US factory worker when all he can get is a part time job
> that pays a third of what he used to make? Who is going to pay the people
> who live next to the waste dump where you send your waste for the cancer
> their children develop in ten or twenty years?
>
> The protestors want you to take responsibility for your decisions, not
just
> the bottom line responsibility that you are used to taking, but also the
> responsibility for the costs that society has to pay on your behalf.
Another
> quote is this:'If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.' Well, if you
> can't pay for the costs of the decision, don't make it.
>
> I know this sounds hard in an environment where earnings per share have to
> grow every quarter and shareholders don't give a rosy red rat's ass about
> anything but their share prices going up.
>
> I also know that you have been conditioned to think that the market will
> solve any of these problems and that your job is to maximize profits and
> obey the laws.
>
> I'm here to tell you that it does not work that way. It's not your fault
> that you believe that fairy tale, but it is time that you recognize the
> truth about it.
>
> The market does not solve those problems. What good is 20% off on a
scooter
> when your child has cancer? What good are annual earnings per share growth
> when 30% of the people in some countries will die from AIDS? What good is
> trade expansion when millions of farmers lose their livelihood from
cheaper
> imports and sell their daughters for food?
>
> Well, I have run over my five minutes, so let me end with this thought:
>
> It's about the future. The protestors want you to take responsibility for
> the future that you create. If you don't, then they will. You won't like
it
> when they take over. We're all in this together, so let's work together
to
> create a good future"
>
>
> Feel free to redistribute this in any forum you like, please give credit
to
> the author.
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Michael Pierce McKeever, Sr.
> Economics Instructor, Vista Community College, Berkeley, CA
> URL: www.mkeever.com [Note: no 'c' in mkeever]
>