---------- From: Brad McCormick, Ed.D. To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; #ECOM - COMÉ Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: The Bill of Gates fallacy, Odysseus and the Cyclops, "the invisible hand".... Date: Sunday, February 13, 2000 10:27AM snip, snip,.... Cordell... A corollary to this is that in the future Nuremburg social policy crimes tribunal the answer will be, 'I am sorry sir but it is company policy.' Who is accountable? Nobody. Brad, But, no doubt about it, more often it is the other way (2) The only way to kill the cancer was to: (A) Pay off *everything on the account including anything we had charged after the latest statement in full + the cash advance*, and also *not use the card until the check cleared*. A first line supervisor told me the magic number, which was a couple hundred dollars over the balance due. (B) we did as we were told. [Oh, yes, the supervisor told me she was not allowed to give me her supervisor's name, and threatened me about my verbal abuse of her!] (C) We got our new monthly statement -----> WITH ANOTHER FINANCE CHARGE. So yesterday I go to my neighborhood Fleet branch, and the manager, after about half an hour of herself having trouble getting anywhere, finally gets the finance charges cancelled and the tumor removed and also she gives me the name of the person to bring back to the branch if my next bill is not right. Needless to say: (1) I went in the branch making it very clear I was very angry [because I felt *helpless*!]. And (2) I thanked the manager profusely for her help. So there's the two sides of "self-serve", in my opinion. "Capitalism" is one of mankind's greatest inventions: It enabled exploiters to claim they were only hurting you because thay had to hurt you to not hurt you and lots of other people worse ("the invisible hand"). Computers added a second good reason why nobody is to blame for your (i.e., in each case: my) getting hurt --> because the computer does it that way to *everybody*. Stalin and Hitler were idiots: If you didn't like what they were doing to you, you at least had a target to try to shoot at. As Odysseus would have answered the Cyclops if he was alive today: Cyclops: "Who put out my eye?" Odysseus: "The invisible hand of the market did it!" Cyclops [calling his colleagues for aid]: "Help! The invisible hand of the market put out my eye!" And, of course, none of his colleagues come to his aid, because they all know that that's just what the invisible hand of the market does to Cyclopses -- so there is no problem [Odysseus's real answer, of course, was: "Nobody" -- and, when the Cyclops yelled: "Nobopdy has hurt me!", all his colleagues figured he did not have a problem, because he told them so himself!] \brad mccormick -- Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16) Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21) Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] 914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua NY 10514-3403 USA ------------------------------------------------------- <![%THINK;[XML]]> Visit my website: http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
Re: The Bill of Gates fallacy, Odysseus and the Cyclops, "the invisible hand"....
"Cordell, Arthur: #ECOM - COMÉ" Mon, 14 Feb 2000 10:55:54 -0800