[Oldeconomybuyer]

Free market capitalism is immoral.

[mort56]

The New York Times is immoral

[Maelstorm]

Is everything supposed to be ran like a government charity?

[Boiling Pots]

The purpose of a company is to make a profit for its owners, PERIOD.

Workers are privileged to have a job, its NEVER a right.

(But I guess it’s OK when the NYT lays off their employees)

[sickoflibs]

NYTimes layoffs did all this?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I wonder how he will feel when Government Motors starts laying EVERYBODY off?

[subterfuge]

The Times has an “Ethicist” and it’s no wonder they are failing.

[Big_Monkey]

From the NYT's about the Author, Randy Cohen...

"His first television work was writing for "Late Night With David Letterman," for which he won three Emmy Awards

That should tell everyone everything that they need to know about the author and the depth of his stupidity.

[G Larry]

Please explain to BO that crippling the American economy and industry with his taxes and phony carbon restrictions will only make it safe for totalitarian rule.....

Oh...you mean he already knows that?....oh....

[KarlInOhio]

His article says "Caterpillar must provide lifetime wages for everyone ever hired", but his heart says "The New York Times must...."

How can Pinch lay off a single person before he has personally bankrupted himself and his family.

[GeronL]

what could we expect from the NY Times??

The company is laying people off because they cannot make money in the present atmosphere. I guess the Times thinks that they should fund the laid off forever??

does the TIMES know or care that this would lead to shutting down of companies?? Who will pay taxes then??

[TheWasteLand]

Wow. Quite an insight into the NYT mindset.

[gridlock]

I love reading the NY Times Ethicist column, because this guy is always wrong. Without fail

[griswold3]

Is it proper use of the media to disparage a company when it contradicts the Messiah’s message?

Obama’s characterization of ‘saving jobs by passing the recovery bill’ during his speech at CAT was a lie. Everyone at the speech knew it.

[Billthedrill]

Hey Pub’, get a load of this guy. Bertram Scudder? LOL!

[EBH]

Uh...the company more than likely pays into the Unemployment Compensation Fund of the State and Union if one is involved.

[dalereed]

This commie should be in North Korea and not polluting a paper here with her filth.

Companies don't owe employees anything but a paycheck AS LONG AS THEY ARE NEEDED and are performing the specified work satisfactorily..

[IronJack]

Maybe the problem here isn’t Caterpillar. Maybe the immorality lies in government. Maybe a government that steals so much of its citizens’ resources has a moral obligation to see that those resources are well spent. And spent in accordance with the constraints of law.

Ask not what obligations citizens owe government, but what government owes its citizens.

[andy58-in-nh]

Hey, Randy: no one owes you a living. Get over it. Do you think the New York Times should care for your family if you are laid off? They won't. The ability of some to create businesses and wealth does not oblige them to support you. Socialism fails precisely for this reason: when producers lose the right to own and control everything they create, they stop producing as much. When they lose all such rights, they stop entirely, as they morally should.

[M203M4]

If they are meeting all contractual obligations, they are acting morally - but I doubt any human being actually enjoys laying people off; it would haunt me to get rid of people for no fault of their own. I’d make an exception for cutting union workers we never wanted to retain in the first place because of performance issues, but can now cut because the required dire fiscal conditions outlined in the contract have been triggered.

Now, layoffs may not always be wise for the company (long-term), especially in areas where lots of training has been invested (in some jobs, a worker must be trained for years before they contribute to the bottom line), and/or where obtaining highly skilled workers is necessary and normally difficult. I am surprised furloughs and other job-neutral cost-containment strategies are not in more widespread use in skilled industries.

[Yaelle]

His image of the American people:

His image of President Barack Obama: