I actually don't mind the idea of large corporations, and I can understand if my rant was just translated into more neo-socialist/anti-institutional crap. I agree with you, that sort of blind opinion is naive and seems more like bandwagon, group-think. I'm very much so a capitalist, and I try to get more people to take advantage of it's raw power in making things more equal for themselves. I like money and the purchasing/voting power it comes with - duh. I just want to clarify who my rant was directed towards, because it was a lot more simple than I think you interpreted. (almost just satire towards MBA's/slicksters/etc at the time of writing)
There's a certain type of person that most corporations employ - the corporate marketing/lawyer/PR/Sr. VP weenies. A lot of these people, based on the ones who are my friends/family/acquaintances - lead wasteful and ignorant lifestyles. They aren't able to really connect their actions to the outside world, and if they do, they just ignore it if it's inconvenient. Some people choose to protest this fact, some try to forcefully change it through taxes/laws, some will personally confront them about their actions - my approach is to simply hit them where it hurts by not giving them money if I can help it. Money is what allows them to act like that, so in my opinion they don't deserve it. Truthfully I'm really not as strict about it as I'm probably coming off. I start small - I don't buy clothes from the Gap or Old Navy. I don't own a car. I listen to operant-conditioning speak like Henry Ford saying "SUV's are what Americans want", and then take note to never buy a Ford. I go to the local hardware store. I crack jokes with my coworkers who choose to spend $5 on starbucks coffee - they laugh too. Little things like this, if done on a wide enough scale, I think would not only fix a lot of things but also naturally change some of the people mentioned in the last paragraph. Now isn't that how a true capitalist would handle things? One more thing - you wrote: > > The only thing I ever look at when I purchase something, > weather it be software, or clothes, or food. What is it's > value to me personally. Is it worth what they are asking me > to pay for it. With software this means does it have the > functionality I need, the support I need, and is it at a cost > that I can not only afford, but matches it's value. This is where I disagree. It's impossible for me to not question how it was they were able to make their product so cheap. If they're using methods that hurt people in order to make their weenie execs fatter, then I will choose not to support them. If they're a litigious company that uses lobbying and lawsuits in order to succeed, then I will choose not to support them. If you don't like big govt. coming in and intervening, then this will be how people have to start treating their purchases and what they're financially supporting. Otherwise you're basically leaving it to the govt. to make the decision of what's fair and what's not fair. That doesn't work very well. Adam. > -----Original Message----- > From: Timothy Heald [mailto:healdt@;dsmail.state.gov] > Sent: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 6:53 AM > To: CF-Community > Subject: RE: got a job.. > > > Long, useless, politically biased reply ahead. No alcohol, > and worth reading simply for the fact that I wrote it :p > > Adam, While I know that recent happenings in our primary > sectors have left people feeling reasonably anti-corporate, > you have to realize that not all large companies are evil, in > fact the only reason that there are jobs in this nation at > all is due in large part to the number of huge companies we > have. Works something like this. XYZ has thousands of > employees, most of whom make damn good money, they then go > spend that money, on food clothes and luxuries, this in turn > creates markets for other companies to produce goods and > provide services. Now the people who service the XYZ > employees have more money, spend more money, and again create > more jobs. > > Many people today seem to think that money isn't made, isn't > earned, it's transferred. This isn't a zero sum game you > know. These huge faceless companies don't always just stomp > people, they create new markets. They create new jobs. > > Also I do have to make one other comment, money driven/greedy > and unethical are not the same thing. They don't have to be > related at all. I am more afraid of a person who isn't > concerned with money, one who acts on intangible "feelings", > and opinions. Yet another problem I have with the open > source community is the idea that everyone can claim > ownership of the product of a single persons mind. I have > grown so tired of the argument that someone else would have > gotten there eventually. Someone else didn't get it, this > person did it, it's theirs to do with as they see fit. > > The only thing I ever look at when I purchase something, > weather it be software, or clothes, or food. What is it's > value to me personally. Is it worth what they are asking me > to pay for it. With software this means does it have the > functionality I need, the support I need, and is it at a cost > that I can not only afford, but matches it's value. > > Nothing personal man, you said earlier that your statement > was probably naive. Through in the fact that I am rereading > "Atlas Shrugged" for about the tenth time and you'll see > where I am coming from. > > Tim > > -----Original Message----- > From: Cantrell, Adam [mailto:Acantrell@;kentlaw.edu] > Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 6:07 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: RE: got a job.. > > > > down side is there tech guy wants me to learn > > php, & mySql > > > > which i should learn any way! > > long, useless, politically biased rant ahead. probably > written under the > influence of alcohol. probably not worth reading. you were warned. > > > Here's why I've been getting back into open source lately, it may be > different than most other's reasoning. > > Before, I would judge the software solely on it's technical > merit. Cost > wasn't really a factor unless it was a complete rip off > (cough - oracle). > Open source would usually come up short in the list of > features it offered, > or it didn't have full-time support, or it didn't have this > or that. Lately > though I'm looking at broader things like... "Where is the money I'm > spending on this commercial product going?". > > I don't want to turn this into a "corporate > marketing/PR/lawyers/advertising/sales/MBA/analysts people are mostly > overpaid pricks" debate, but I just want to say that corporate > marketing/PR/lawyers/advertising/sales/MBA/analysts people > are for the most > part (from my skewed perspective) overpaid pricks, and that I > would very > much so like to minimize my financial support towards them. > > Instead of protesting along with my long-hair brethren in > Seattle about how > money-driven, unethical, and greedy these people and their > corporations are, > I simply just choose not to spend money with them if there's > a suitable > alternative. Since money is their only motivator, and if > nobody is giving it > to them, they will essentially just go away. > > I understand this is a kinda naive viewpoint to have, and maybe even > selfish, but this is a personal choice I've made. To me this > seems better > than "blah, xyz software doesn't even support super atomic > transactionional > integration processees, therefore xyz software is totally > useless for my > CORBA java interaction protocols and am totally offended that > you would even > compare it to my beloved zyx software." which is basically what most > flamewars degrade into. > > Macromedia is at least opening up, giving some of the employees that > actually know what they're talking about the freedom to share what the > product is really about (much less strategy/prepared > statemtent/plastic > bullshit. much more un-relayed knowledge/educated > opinions/true community > interaction). I admire, and continue to support them for > this. They also > have Cold Fusion, which came from Allaire, which was a very > cool company. > Unfortunately though, for each well-educated, in-the-know employee at > Macromedia, there are roughly 3 - 4 asswipe PR/marketing/Business Dev. > clowns slowing things down, giving false information, > creating bureaucracy, > sensationalizing, and mostly just increasing the cost of the > product. Hence, > PHP/MySQL just makes me feel better when I use it; it doesn't feel > 'tainted', and I can rest assured that I'm not financing some clown's > Mercedes SUV, Banana Republic wardrobe, and rent on their > overpriced loft at > the "Wharf". This alone makes me feel good. > > Again, nothing technical here, and nothing Macromedia can > really do about it > since they do have to pay salaries, advertise their product, > and fend off > lawsuits from turd companies like Adobe. > > Adam. > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Paul Ihrig [mailto:pihrig@;columbus.rr.com] > > Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 3:17 PM > > To: CF-Community > > Subject: got a job.. > > > > > > well > > after 3 > > 2+ hour long interviews i got the job with a small archit firm.. > > > > down side is there tech guy wants me to learn > > php, & mySql > > > > which i should learn any way! > > > > also guess they will want me to do allot of director.. > > which i haven't used in 3 or 4 versions! > > > > should be a big change.. > > will still push for cf.. > > > > but i needed a job. > > going nuts at home! > > > > start on Friday.. > > now where did i put that d3 file.. > > =] > > > > -paul > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm
