Posted on 08/04/2008 7:54:07 PM PDT by DustyMoment
. . . honor, integrity, honesty, ethics, morals, character, judgement? Recently, rumors at the company where I work have started proving true. Our building will be sold and the manufacturing facility sold to another company.
Something new; unusual? Market downturn? No, not really. Just greed. Greed likely performed by an officer of the company who thought it would be okay to misreport our earnings. In other words, they "cooked the books". I'm sure they thought that no harm would come as a result of lying; it made their quarterly earnings look better than they were and earned them a higher bonus.
Tell that to the hundreds of employees who will likely lose their jobs as the result of this company officer's "little white lie". This isn't an exception, it's the rule today. Recent polls indicate that a majority of college students and working adults believe that cheating, lying and misrepresenting the facts are okay. After all, it's not as though they are committing a crime, right?
So, when they cheat on their taxes, no big deal. The government isn't out anything, they'll just print more money. And, taking food stamps, or welfare, or social security or disability or workman's comp . . . . that's not really stealing, is it? I mean, it's not as though they robbed a bank.
No, they robbed something much bigger - they robbed me . . and you . . and the millions of us who live by the law; who have honor, integrity and character. Mrs. Moment and I have often looked at one another and recognized that the reason we aren't rich is that we are too honest for our own good. When a clerk gives us too much change at the grocery store, we're dumb enough to return the overpayment. When a store tried to deliver an expensive machine that we had already picked up, we told them that we had the item, instead of keeping mum and getting a second one we could have sold for a lot of money. When the mortgage meltdown began, we could have walked away from our home loan and let the mortgage company absorb the loss and foreclose on us. Instead, we have continued to pay on the mortgage and nearly driven ourselves to the brink of bankruptcy.
I'm not looking for accolades or kudos, nor am I looking for pity. Trust me, as one of the hundreds of employees about to lose their job as the result of the company officer cheating on the books, I have enough self-pity to last for decades. I'm going to be 60 soon and this job was going to be the one I retired from. I don't have a lot of options open to me.
What I want you to think about is the kind of society we have; the kind we are raising our children in. When we cheat and get away with it, we are teaching our children to cheat, too. When we turn a blind eye to wrong doing under our very nose, we are quietly giving our approval.
Most conservatives understand that insurance companies have deep pockets because they simply raise the rates they charge others for their insurance when cheaters steal from them. Most taxpayers understand that when we steal from the government, we are only stealing from ourselves. The government will get the money back by raising taxes. Most conservatives understand that when the costs to business go up, the business raises its prices to make up the difference.
Mrs. Moment and I could probably be financially better off than we are if we had a touch of larceny in our hearts. But, for us, it's more important to be able to face ourselves in the morning, than to be able to roll around in our money vault a' la' Scrooge McDuck.
Our politicians no longer feel the need to tell us what their real platform is, because no one holds them accountable like the media used to in years gone by. President Bush 41 looked into the camera and told us "Read my lips, NO . . NEW . . Taxes", just before he signed a giant tax increase. President Clinton looked into the camera and told us "I did not have sex with that woman . . . Miss Lewinsky". Months later, through his lawyer, David Kendall, he finally admitted to Hillary and the rest of America that he did, indeed, have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky. Politician after politician has looked into the camera and lied to our collective faces and gotten away with it.
From them, our national leaders and representatives, this pervasive atmosphere of lying and cheating has flowed downhill to the rest of us. We lie, cheat, misrepresent, steal and think it's okay because, after all, "everyone else does it and I'm just getting my share of the pie."
Tell that to me and the hundreds of my co-workers who will lose their jobs and see their livelihoods disappear in the next few months. Tell that to my city mayor who will watch another employer leaving town and more jobs drying up.
It's not a victimless crime and people do get hurt.
They are lead by Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosie, Howard Dean and Barack Obama who have yet to make ONE factually accurate, honest statement about US Energy Policy.
This debate is now going on it's 8th month and they have yet to make one accurate, honest statement on the issue.
patriotism?
The OLD Freerepublic?
I’ve seen certain friends or family lie without hesitation when to their benefit. The one lied to is sometimes a big corporation. Sometimes the lie is to get around an inconvenient rule. It has seemed to me that it would at least take more time to consider and weigh the principles involved.
To say “Good luck” seems so shallow and insincere. But I do wish for things to work out for you.
It is a dog-eat-dog world. Sometimes our choices are not the best. I gave up a secure, early retirement (37) so that my kids could live in one place and put down strong roots.
The payoff has worked out so far but from one day to the next I’m always working on a backup plan.
Ya know, I was going to list those same people in my rant, Johnnie, but I didn’t want to shine a light solely on the liberals. Republicans have been guilty of the same thing, akthough to a lesser degree.
But, overall, the destruction of our sciety, IMO, has stemmed primarily from the liberals and the lies they tell and lack of accountability they require.
Perhaps the time has come that we DEMAND more and better from our politicians.
Good point. However, within the context of my rant, patriotism didn’t really fit.
That’s the topic of a rant for another day.
I agree. Increasingly, I become more disappointed that the future of this country has been corrupted by politicians and corporate leaders who think that lies, stealing and cheating are okay. Look at the number of married people having affairs instead of being honest enough to admit that the marriage isn't working and try to end it, for example. Do they think it causes less pain to their partner to get caught cheating, THEN ask for the divorce or what? The level of pain in that situation must be horrendous.
Sorry, I got off on a tangent and started a whole new rant. When the majority of college students think that cheating and plagiarism are okay, there is more than a problem, there is an ingrained culture that says this is acceptable behavior because "everyone else os doing it".
When did we become a society of lemmings?
I appreciate the good thoughts, Veni. For me, the problem is that this job WAS my backup plan. I would spend my last few working years with this company and retire at some point. This has changed everything.
Right now, I am both angry and heartbroken.
I am assuming your company is publicly traded if hundreds of people are effected.
Public companies spending millions upon millions of dollars a year on Sarbanes Oxley compliance. I’ve participated in SOX audits myself. Such a crock. Doesn’t do a single thing to prevent someone with bad intent from cooking the books. It is all just a big hoax designed by the consulting lobby to put money in the auditors pockets.
Best of luck in your future endeavors.
Yes, we are publicly traded and have been through the SOX dog ‘n pony show a time or two. Couldn’t agree with you more about the waste of time and money thing. It’s a lot like ISO which doesn’t guarantee anything but employment to the ISO auditors.
Thanks for your response and good wishes.
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