On Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:27:30 -0700 Bryan Sant <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 1:50 PM, Robert Merrill > <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 1:48 PM, Merrill Oveson <[email protected]> > > wrote: > >> > >> Most of the time, people get treated as disposable assets. > > > > It is unfortunate but true, you just wrote the world's smallest book > > on career management. > > Of course we're disposable assets. Sorry, no. People are not "assets", disposable or otherwise. They are human beings, and not to be used as means to one's own ends. Assets are things to be used, and used up: land, corn, buildings, etc. Some people get what they want by going out and creating assets. Miners, farmers, and, in the classic economics thought experiment, Robinson Crusoe. Human beings can and often do co-operate by trading. That's called the free market. For a vastly simplified thought experiment, Robinson Crusoe and Friday on their island. Other people get what they want by taking it, either theft of threats of violence. These are called variously, gangs, mafiosi, thugs, and governments. Think of people as human beings, and you move toward the market as the only ethical way to deal with them. Think of them as assets, and you veer toward the latter. That's part of why I object to the term "human resources". It's an oxymoron. Of course in an employment situation you co-operate with other people, and you do so under a contract, written or oral. It is an important part of contract law that when one party fails to live up to their part of the deal, the other is no longer obliged to live up to theirs. As for loyalties, they must be reciprocal. This point was not lost on feudal law. Just as the vassal had obligations to the lord, so the lord had obligations to the vassal. We seem to have a bit of that in corporate law and custom, but a wise employer and a wise employee will give more loyalty than is the modern custom. Some do, most don't. Thanks, though, for warning any potential employers on the list about your attitude toward them. -- Charles Curley /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign Looking for fine software \ / Respect for open standards and/or writing? X No HTML/RTF in email http://www.charlescurley.com / \ No M$ Word docs in email Key fingerprint = CE5C 6645 A45A 64E4 94C0 809C FFF6 4C48 4ECD DFDB /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
