Should anybody be above the law?
Here in Arizona we’re having a debate. Ok, so we’re having a lot of debates here and sparking a few big nasty national ones as well lately. Arizona is definitely subscribed to the Wild Wild West mentality. But the debate I’m writing about relates to ethics, and whether our elected officials should have immunity from prosecution while the legislature is in session. Ethics is actually being Debated here??!
It was a crazy incident that sparked this debate. The state majority leader of the Arizona state Senate and his girlfriend were arrested after having a fight in their car on the highway. The girlfriend was arrested and charged with assault. The state majority leader claimed immunity because the state Senate was in session and he was not arrested or charged at the time. Both of them showed bumps and bruises and minor injuries from the fight. The state majority leader later lied about claiming immunity at the time of the incident.
It seems that most states have some sort of law granting immunity while their legislature is in session. Arizona is one of those states. On the one hand, this means that we’ve put a certain group of people above the law. They cannot be punished while they’re doing their job of passing laws and representing us unless the incident is a felony, treason or breach of peace. If I correctly remember my grade school lessons on how this country was established it seems to me this is the very thing our founding fathers wanted to prevent. That’s why we have three branches of government, with checks and balances on all three of them so none of them have more power or privilege than the others!
On the other hand, if we didn’t have this type of immunity law the risk increases that some people might actively try to prevent lawmakers from getting to the legislature to vote on controversial issues. Lobbyists and others with power and money have been influencing votes in the US Congress for a long time. I’m sure it happens at the state and local level as well. It’s just not as widely publicized unless someone gets caught doing something illegal, like the Fiesta Bowl situation where lawmakers accepted gifts, tickets and trips to football games and didn’t report them.
So what’s the right choice here? If the fistfight on the highway had been an ordinary citizen, both people would have gone to jail, served their time, and received their punishment. The media probably wouldn’t have even given this case a second look. Because it was a state senator, though, a whole different set of actions occurred. The debate was dragged out for almost a year before punishment was delivered, and yet the real ethics issues still have not been fully addressed.
I look at things from the perspective of how current event impacts the future. This is one of those situations that give me a bad feeling. We’re setting a precedent for future crimes to be ignored depending on who does them rather than the facts or harm done. It’s time to get back to basics – Forget “whodunit”. Look at the facts, evaluate the options and consequences for each option, and make a decision based on what we’re willing to accept as a cost, benefit or precedent for the future.
March 26, 2012 | 
Author Here in Arizona we’re having a debate. Ok, so we’re having a lot of debates here and sparking a few big nasty national ones as well lately. Arizona is definitely subscribed to the Wild Wild West mentality. But the debate I’m writing about relates to ethics, and whether our elected officials should have immunity from prosecution while the legislature is in session. Ethics is actually being Debated here??!
It was a crazy incident that sparked this debate. The state majority leader of the Arizona state Senate and his girlfriend were arrested after having a fight in their car on the highway. The girlfriend was arrested and charged with assault. The state majority leader claimed immunity because the state Senate was in session and he was not arrested or charged at the time. Both of them showed bumps and bruises and minor injuries from the fight. The state majority leader later lied about claiming immunity at the time of the incident.
It seems that most states have some sort of law granting immunity while their legislature is in session. Arizona is one of those states. On the one hand, this means that we’ve put a certain group of people above the law. They cannot be punished while they’re doing their job of passing laws and representing us unless the incident is a felony, treason or breach of peace. If I correctly remember my grade school lessons on how this country was established it seems to me this is the very thing our founding fathers wanted to prevent. That’s why we have three branches of government, with checks and balances on all three of them so none of them have more power or privilege than the others!
On the other hand, if we didn’t have this type of immunity law the risk increases that some people might actively try to prevent lawmakers from getting to the legislature to vote on controversial issues. Lobbyists and others with power and money have been influencing votes in the US Congress for a long time. I’m sure it happens at the state and local level as well. It’s just not as widely publicized unless someone gets caught doing something illegal, like the Fiesta Bowl situation where lawmakers accepted gifts, tickets and trips to football games and didn’t report them.
So what’s the right choice here? If the fistfight on the highway had been an ordinary citizen, both people would have gone to jail, served their time, and received their punishment. The media probably wouldn’t have even given this case a second look. Because it was a state senator, though, a whole different set of actions occurred. The debate was dragged out for almost a year before punishment was delivered, and yet the real ethics issues still have not been fully addressed.
I look at things from the perspective of how current event impacts the future. This is one of those situations that give me a bad feeling. We’re setting a precedent for future crimes to be ignored depending on who does them rather than the facts or harm done. It’s time to get back to basics – Forget “whodunit”. Look at the facts, evaluate the options and consequences for each option, and make a decision based on what we’re willing to accept as a cost, benefit or precedent for the future.
Lessons from Gabrielle Giffords
I will cherish this memory. A unanimous vote in the US Congress. A rare thing of beauty it was, although the reason for it was heart wrenchingly sad. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords submitted her last piece of legislation before resigning as a US representative of the state of Arizona. Watching her complete this task, take her last vote, and submit her resignation was much harder for me than I anticipated. And yet, it was truly one of those profiles in courage that we’re seeing less and less these days. It was something I felt I absolutely had to rearrange my schedule to watch, recording for history my own memories of the good things in life.
The memory of her walking up the stairs to the Speaker’s podium still brings me to tears. While it was happening “live on TV” I remember feeling a little bit of anger at this. Why couldn’t Speaker Boehner meet her half-way down the steps or something? Why make her climb all those difficult stairs? And then a news commentator provided a different perspective; it was Giffords’ insistence that she wanted to deliver her resignation to him in person herself. She had to do it. She had to climb those stairs and meet the Speaker of the House in his space. She had to show all of us – herself, members of Congress, and the viewing public that she (and we) can overcome any obstacles if she (we) wanted it badly enough.
Ah, the lessons Gabby has taught us all this past year. Pain and triumph over it. Courage and facing our deepest fears. Persistence, persistence, and persistence again. Honoring commitments made and being conscientious in keeping our promises. Responsibility. Loyalty. Hard work and dedication. Trust. And Love. Old fashioned values, coming back into favor (I hope). We could learn a lot from Gabrielle Giffords! It is often hard to do the right things, and it might take a lot of extra work. Oh, but the rewards! Seeing people who cannot get along actually shake hands and talk with each other, even help each other as Rep Jeff Flake (Republican) helped Gabby (Democrat), is something I call a miracle in today’s political world. She inspired an entire Congress to set aside their bickering for almost an entire hour! I think that must be a record.
So many people love this person called Gabby, whether they know her personally or not. Of course, she had help. An incredible family and an incredible staff who kept her office running smoothly. It was wonderful to see Congress recognize her staff as well, another rare event in the life of Congress. Maybe there is hope…. well, at least I have my memory of this rare event of unity to pull out when the bickering begins again. For now, I challenge all elected officials to be more like Gabby. I also pay tribute to Gabrielle Giffords. I look forward to the day that she can return to Congress as our Representative.
Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: courage, Determination, doing the right thing, Gabrielle Giffords, Lessons | 
No Comments »
I will cherish this memory. A unanimous vote in the US Congress. A rare thing of beauty it was, although the reason for it was heart wrenchingly sad. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords submitted her last piece of legislation before resigning as a US representative of the state of Arizona. Watching her complete this task, take her last vote, and submit her resignation was much harder for me than I anticipated. And yet, it was truly one of those profiles in courage that we’re seeing less and less these days. It was something I felt I absolutely had to rearrange my schedule to watch, recording for history my own memories of the good things in life.
The memory of her walking up the stairs to the Speaker’s podium still brings me to tears. While it was happening “live on TV” I remember feeling a little bit of anger at this. Why couldn’t Speaker Boehner meet her half-way down the steps or something? Why make her climb all those difficult stairs? And then a news commentator provided a different perspective; it was Giffords’ insistence that she wanted to deliver her resignation to him in person herself. She had to do it. She had to climb those stairs and meet the Speaker of the House in his space. She had to show all of us – herself, members of Congress, and the viewing public that she (and we) can overcome any obstacles if she (we) wanted it badly enough.
Ah, the lessons Gabby has taught us all this past year. Pain and triumph over it. Courage and facing our deepest fears. Persistence, persistence, and persistence again. Honoring commitments made and being conscientious in keeping our promises. Responsibility. Loyalty. Hard work and dedication. Trust. And Love. Old fashioned values, coming back into favor (I hope). We could learn a lot from Gabrielle Giffords! It is often hard to do the right things, and it might take a lot of extra work. Oh, but the rewards! Seeing people who cannot get along actually shake hands and talk with each other, even help each other as Rep Jeff Flake (Republican) helped Gabby (Democrat), is something I call a miracle in today’s political world. She inspired an entire Congress to set aside their bickering for almost an entire hour! I think that must be a record.
So many people love this person called Gabby, whether they know her personally or not. Of course, she had help. An incredible family and an incredible staff who kept her office running smoothly. It was wonderful to see Congress recognize her staff as well, another rare event in the life of Congress. Maybe there is hope…. well, at least I have my memory of this rare event of unity to pull out when the bickering begins again. For now, I challenge all elected officials to be more like Gabby. I also pay tribute to Gabrielle Giffords. I look forward to the day that she can return to Congress as our Representative.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: courage, Determination, doing the right thing, Gabrielle Giffords, Lessons | No Comments »
Accountability vs Responsibility
It happened again today. Someone came to my door to do a little maintenance work, and his truck was parked in front of the fire hydrant. I had to politely ask him to move his truck. Luckily, this gentleman didn’t get rude or nasty. He just turned around, looked at his truck, saw it was directly in front of the hydrant and moved it. I’m not usually so lucky. The normal reaction from visitors and neighbors of my little community is one of hateful, ugly name calling and verbal abuse. How DARE I insist that people move their vehicles away from the fire hydrant? Nothing’s going to happen anyway….
Well friends, if we believe this why do we pay for costly home, health, life or car insurance?? What is so hard about parking a few feet away and walking a few extra steps to your destination? Have we suddenly lost our collective minds? I’m missing something here.
This is common sense to me. Never mind that my reasons are these: it takes 3.5 minutes for an average home to burn to ashes to the ground, taking away memories, valuable belongings and the stuff our lives are made of. The fire hydrant is our insurance against fire. Staying away from it could save your life and mine as well as our properties. The emotional and mental price of losing all your belongings is enormous. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it is illegal to park 15 feet on either side of the hydrant? There could be some costly tickets and fines for getting caught…
I have asked my homeowners’ association to paint the curbs and mark the illegal zone, and they’ve told me it’s the city’s responsibility. I’ve called police and fire, who’ve both told me it’s the homeowners’ association’s responsibility and they’re fully within their rights to paint the curbs. I shudder to think of the increase in cost of our insurance premiums should there ever be a fire in this complex. The premiums are part of our monthly homeowners’ fees, so all of us will pay the price of a fire here.
These are all important reasons, but my bigger concern is the ethics of this situation. There is a blatant disrespect and disregard for “doing the right thing.” If it’s not convenient it doesn’t apply. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission – haven’t we all heard that a few times? Well in a worst case scenario, asking for forgiveness might mean apologizing for killing someone by doing something entirely preventable – keeping the fire hydrant clear. The extra time taken by the fire truck to move that car away from the fire hydrant could mean the difference between saving or losing the people, the house and the contents. Somehow I don’t think that a mere apology would be nearly enough, do you?
There’s also a complete and total lack of accountability. Nobody is accepting responsibility. Every single person who parks in front of a fire hydrant is risking their own lives, as well as the lives of property owners, visitors and the citizens in the community. The homeowners’ association has refused to do something completely within their power and inexpensive to do. And this is too small an item on the local government totem pole to even bother with. Oh, but I forgot; it’ll never happen to us, right???
So who is responsible? And who should be accountable? All of us – so the next time you see a fire hydrant, please stay away from it! There! I’ve completed my responsibility for today.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: accountability, doing the right thing, ethics, respect, responsibility | No Comments »
It happened again today. Someone came to my door to do a little maintenance work, and his truck was parked in front of the fire hydrant. I had to politely ask him to move his truck. Luckily, this gentleman didn’t get rude or nasty. He just turned around, looked at his truck, saw it was directly in front of the hydrant and moved it. I’m not usually so lucky. The normal reaction from visitors and neighbors of my little community is one of hateful, ugly name calling and verbal abuse. How DARE I insist that people move their vehicles away from the fire hydrant? Nothing’s going to happen anyway….
Well friends, if we believe this why do we pay for costly home, health, life or car insurance?? What is so hard about parking a few feet away and walking a few extra steps to your destination? Have we suddenly lost our collective minds? I’m missing something here.
This is common sense to me. Never mind that my reasons are these: it takes 3.5 minutes for an average home to burn to ashes to the ground, taking away memories, valuable belongings and the stuff our lives are made of. The fire hydrant is our insurance against fire. Staying away from it could save your life and mine as well as our properties. The emotional and mental price of losing all your belongings is enormous. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it is illegal to park 15 feet on either side of the hydrant? There could be some costly tickets and fines for getting caught…
I have asked my homeowners’ association to paint the curbs and mark the illegal zone, and they’ve told me it’s the city’s responsibility. I’ve called police and fire, who’ve both told me it’s the homeowners’ association’s responsibility and they’re fully within their rights to paint the curbs. I shudder to think of the increase in cost of our insurance premiums should there ever be a fire in this complex. The premiums are part of our monthly homeowners’ fees, so all of us will pay the price of a fire here.
These are all important reasons, but my bigger concern is the ethics of this situation. There is a blatant disrespect and disregard for “doing the right thing.” If it’s not convenient it doesn’t apply. It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission – haven’t we all heard that a few times? Well in a worst case scenario, asking for forgiveness might mean apologizing for killing someone by doing something entirely preventable – keeping the fire hydrant clear. The extra time taken by the fire truck to move that car away from the fire hydrant could mean the difference between saving or losing the people, the house and the contents. Somehow I don’t think that a mere apology would be nearly enough, do you?
There’s also a complete and total lack of accountability. Nobody is accepting responsibility. Every single person who parks in front of a fire hydrant is risking their own lives, as well as the lives of property owners, visitors and the citizens in the community. The homeowners’ association has refused to do something completely within their power and inexpensive to do. And this is too small an item on the local government totem pole to even bother with. Oh, but I forgot; it’ll never happen to us, right???
So who is responsible? And who should be accountable? All of us – so the next time you see a fire hydrant, please stay away from it! There! I’ve completed my responsibility for today.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: accountability, doing the right thing, ethics, respect, responsibility | No Comments »
Ethics: Right vs. Easy
Ethical awareness is growing. Can you feel it? It’s in the air and it’s in the news. Penn State, Congress, Wall Street and Countrywide have all been skewered for big ethical misconduct lately. It’s gotten so bad that after ten minutes of watching the nightly news my blogs and e-zines are practically begging to write themselves. Even in fiction – popular books like the Harry Potter series – do we see the issue of ethics in the following statement: “Soon we must make a choice between what is right and what is easy.” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) So ethics is everywhere, if we choose to recognize the words and actions as ethics.
There we go. The word “Choose” crops up. Isn’t it curious that we are constantly making choices between what is right and what is easy? In conversation with a friend recently we talked about the way we make decisions. It is “normal” for people to look at a situation, determine the options, and then consider what’s easiest vs. the right thing to do. In effect we’re doing a “cost-benefit” analysis for every action or decision. What are the risks? What are the rewards? What’s in it for me? What consequences might I receive or suffer from in the option I choose or the action I take?
Hopefully, somewhere in this cost-benefit analysis is “What’s the right thing to do?” But it doesn’t always get to the top of the pile of questions, nor does it always get selected as the best option. Why? Because we all have different definitions of “right thing to do.” We also have different thresholds of acceptable personal risk, and these two facts color our perception of what is appropriate action to take. If one of the choices is reporting a crime and the risk is that we might lose our job or have our families threatened, we might take the easy choice of ignoring or not reporting the crime.
What troubles me is the question of limits. At what point do we finally feel enough pain to stand up and say Enough! What will it take for people to choose the right thing in spite of the potential risks? And how do we define what the right thing is? I’ve written and spoken on this topic before – it starts with definitions and curiosity instead of finger pointing and judgment. My real concern is how far we’ll allow ourselves to fall before finally placing the right thing to do above the cost-benefit. I’m not saying to disregard the evaluation of potential risks. I think that’s part of the process of understanding what would be the right thing to do! One thing is clear to me, though. Doing nothing is an unacceptable option.
Ethical awareness is growing. Can you feel it? It’s in the air and it’s in the news. Penn State, Congress, Wall Street and Countrywide have all been skewered for big ethical misconduct lately. It’s gotten so bad that after ten minutes of watching the nightly news my blogs and e-zines are practically begging to write themselves. Even in fiction – popular books like the Harry Potter series – do we see the issue of ethics in the following statement: “Soon we must make a choice between what is right and what is easy.” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) So ethics is everywhere, if we choose to recognize the words and actions as ethics.
There we go. The word “Choose” crops up. Isn’t it curious that we are constantly making choices between what is right and what is easy? In conversation with a friend recently we talked about the way we make decisions. It is “normal” for people to look at a situation, determine the options, and then consider what’s easiest vs. the right thing to do. In effect we’re doing a “cost-benefit” analysis for every action or decision. What are the risks? What are the rewards? What’s in it for me? What consequences might I receive or suffer from in the option I choose or the action I take?
Hopefully, somewhere in this cost-benefit analysis is “What’s the right thing to do?” But it doesn’t always get to the top of the pile of questions, nor does it always get selected as the best option. Why? Because we all have different definitions of “right thing to do.” We also have different thresholds of acceptable personal risk, and these two facts color our perception of what is appropriate action to take. If one of the choices is reporting a crime and the risk is that we might lose our job or have our families threatened, we might take the easy choice of ignoring or not reporting the crime.
What troubles me is the question of limits. At what point do we finally feel enough pain to stand up and say Enough! What will it take for people to choose the right thing in spite of the potential risks? And how do we define what the right thing is? I’ve written and spoken on this topic before – it starts with definitions and curiosity instead of finger pointing and judgment. My real concern is how far we’ll allow ourselves to fall before finally placing the right thing to do above the cost-benefit. I’m not saying to disregard the evaluation of potential risks. I think that’s part of the process of understanding what would be the right thing to do! One thing is clear to me, though. Doing nothing is an unacceptable option.
Motivation to Write
Somehow, I’ve gotten out of the discipline of writing and blogging weekly. I don’t really know how, except that a variety of events, tasks and activities got in my way and distracted me from the weekly grind of writing. Writing a blog is really a simple thing, especially when I’m using Posterous which allows me to write a post as if I were composing an email and voila! It magically appears on my blog! And I think it would be safe to say there has been an absolute abundance of ethics topics to talk about. All I need to do is watch 10 minutes of the nightly news and my blogs practically could write themselves!
So why don’t they? Write themselves I mean? If I had the answer to that question I’d be a very happy (and possibly wealthier) girl. So here I am, finally getting back to blogging. And I’m making the commitment to write a blog once a week for the year 2012. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. It just has to “be.” It involves me picking a day out of each week to sit in front of the computer, compose my thoughts, put my fingers to the keyboard, and Write!
Who would think this could be such a difficult task???
Meet me on the blog in 2012! Happy Holidays, everyone, and here’s to a healthy, prosperous and joyful new year of 2012.
Honesty and Truth – Plain and Simple
I’ve just had an experience with feedback that has left me feeling defeated and wondering how in the world I can even dare to trust people.
After delivering a typical presentation I walked away feeling pretty good about it based on the interaction with the group, the types of questions asked, and the discussion that followed with individuals in the group. I asked for feedback from the leader of the group and was told the general consensus was that the topic was a rich one to explore. I opened up a huge area of discussion for the group on a topic that was of great concern to them but I didn’t go far enough into all the rabbit holes of the topic and help them solve their issues.
Ok, so that’s valid feedback. I can take my lumps and critiques as well as the next person, and the truth only helps me to get better and better with each delivery. In reality, in an hour and a half how far can we really dive into a topic that requires deep thinking and analysis? The presentation was meant to be the tip of the iceberg, a start to a longer conversation about the topic and its value to an organization. But our society is one of instant fixes and instant gratification. A lifetime of dilemmas needs to be solved right now, right here, in an hour or less.
Now, a few weeks after that presentation, I get stunning feedback from someone in the group that the presentation didn’t go over well. What? That’s contrary to everything I’ve been told so far! I’m extremely grateful that someone had the courage to share their honest perspective with me! But now what am I supposed to believe? Did the group love the presentation or did they hate it? Was it useful or was it a complete waste of time? You know, what’s occurring to me as I sit here writing this blog post is darn it, I just want plain and simple English. Stop worrying about whether or not my feelings will get hurt, and stop coddling me! Lay the truth on me. Be HONEST! Anything less is too painful, misleading and just plain unfair.
Ever been in this situation? How do you deal with this type of conflicting feedback? Do you internalize it or blame the others for not getting your message or chalk it up to experience and let it go? And how do you know what to do about it? If you are (or ever have been) a leader in an organization, you’ve probably gone through this experience a time or two. People tend to tell you what they think you want to hear, not what will help you make a better decision. Especially if the situation involves something with a negative consequence or huge risk. Well, folks, I’m here to say that the consequence of telling people what they want to hear rather than the truth, at least for me, is a complete and utter destruction of trust.
And yes, each of us can have a different interpretation of “truth”. We all have our own set of experiences, background and culture that creates the filters we use to process information and make decisions. So let’s work our way back to feedback that offers complete and total honesty. Yes, we can couch it in kind and gentle words, but quit monkeying around with political correctness and avoiding hurting people’s feelings. There are ways to provide feedback that do not hurt people’s feelings, but rather just start the conversation about what works and what doesn’t. The best part is that we build trust this way, rather than destroy it!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: ethics, honesty, providing useful feedback, trust, truth | No Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: ethics, honesty, providing useful feedback, trust, truth | No Comments »
Governing By The People
Ok, so I’m going way out on a limb to open a discussion about politics. I normally steer clear of this because I don’t want to start arguments, but enough is enough! And besides, newsletter readers have been requesting me to take e-Factor!® to Washington or have the local politicians play the game. There’s hope that this might “straighten them out.” Funny concept, that one, and my first reaction is to run away as far and fast as I can. Is it possible to “straighten out” our politics today? I Don’t know, but I fear the worst.
What I do know is that we’re now seeing ethical dilemmas of such immense proportions that even I reserve my judgment over whether we can resolve the situation. And I tend to be optimistic – everything can be resolved through discussion, analysis and action!
I live in Phoenix, where the Police Department was caught falsifying the statistics on kidnappings to get more federal grant money. The Arizona legislature has passed a controversial law on immigration, and is trying to pass more laws related to the rights of children born here to illegal immigrants. Arizona is also a state where gun possession is allowable almost everywhere, including schools, and the citizens get angry and shoot innocent people when traffic cameras are installed to monitor speed limits. And finally, Arizona is a state where a simple law to make texting while driving illegal seems almost impossible to pass, even though it will save untold numbers of young people. And we wonder why a Congresswoman was shot here???
Arizona is not the only state with issues like this. Each state has its own set of challenges. Although I know Arizona best, if you’re paying attention to the news you cannot avoid hearing about Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, and other states having ethical challenges. What do you consider to be the biggest dilemmas of the state where you reside? And what do you think the solutions might be??
Brace yourself. What follows will not be pleasant. The root of the issue, at least to me, is that there’s a shortage of money and an excess of attitude towards entitlement. We did “something” (or didn’t do “something”) because of a promise made, so we’re now ENTITLED. We must as a nation get over this, and soon, or the threat of bankruptcy will become reality. Some think a bankrupt United States is already a reality – we’re borrowing money to be able to continue to borrow more money. How crazy is that? As individuals we’re not allowed to do this – what makes a country different?
Here’s what I think we should consider doing. For those who are in retirement, they Did do something based on a promise. They worked, paid into Social Security, followed the rules. They should get paid their Social Security and Medicare benefits, within reason. I’ll explain “within reason” in a minute. For those who are younger than 30 years old, there’s no money left, and the expectation that the program will not pay out is already there. So make that rule change. Under 30, no Medicare, no Social Security. Start saving now for retirement on your own. (I did warn you!) The hardest group to discuss is those who are between 30 and 65 years old. The people in this group (including me) also did do something based on a promise. We paid in to Social Security. But the reality is that there’s still no money left to make good on that promise. There’s got to be some modification to the programs – a partial payment, if you will, but this will be the hardest, most painful of the three.
Here’s what I mean by “within reason”, especially as it relates to Medicare. I’ve seen reports where an operation costs $250,000 with a chance of complete recovery at 10% or worse. If this is true, why would anyone invest in those odds? If this were a business decision rather than a life-or-death decision, we’d turn the deal down flat. Sorry if I’m offending people, but we the taxpayers are paying for these types of odds. Why, why, why? Within reason really means preparing people for compromise and realistic analysis of our current situation. Medicare must be overhauled – let’s find the fraudulent charges and amend the rules to decide what gets paid and what doesn’t.
Something has got to change. Everything, absolutely everything we have today, has to be examined as if it were a new proposal. Let’s put the National budget on the table, look at every item in there from the perspective of how it will help or hurt our future growth and how much we’re willing to pay for that growth. We all need to do this in our own lives, as well. Yes, it’s nice to believe in abundance. Yes, it’s great to have a positive attitude. But in order to make a real change we need to know where we’re starting from – right here, right now. Stop the excuses, and get to work.
If our Founding Fathers were alive today, what would they say or do? How do you think they’d react to the mess we’ve found ourselves in right now? I sure would love the opportunity to speak with someone like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington. They seemed to have a crystal ball back in 1776. Wonder what their crystal ball would say today?
Ok, so I’m going way out on a limb to open a discussion about politics. I normally steer clear of this because I don’t want to start arguments, but enough is enough! And besides, newsletter readers have been requesting me to take e-Factor!® to Washington or have the local politicians play the game. There’s hope that this might “straighten them out.” Funny concept, that one, and my first reaction is to run away as far and fast as I can. Is it possible to “straighten out” our politics today? I Don’t know, but I fear the worst.
What I do know is that we’re now seeing ethical dilemmas of such immense proportions that even I reserve my judgment over whether we can resolve the situation. And I tend to be optimistic – everything can be resolved through discussion, analysis and action!
I live in Phoenix, where the Police Department was caught falsifying the statistics on kidnappings to get more federal grant money. The Arizona legislature has passed a controversial law on immigration, and is trying to pass more laws related to the rights of children born here to illegal immigrants. Arizona is also a state where gun possession is allowable almost everywhere, including schools, and the citizens get angry and shoot innocent people when traffic cameras are installed to monitor speed limits. And finally, Arizona is a state where a simple law to make texting while driving illegal seems almost impossible to pass, even though it will save untold numbers of young people. And we wonder why a Congresswoman was shot here???
Arizona is not the only state with issues like this. Each state has its own set of challenges. Although I know Arizona best, if you’re paying attention to the news you cannot avoid hearing about Wisconsin, Illinois, New Jersey, and other states having ethical challenges. What do you consider to be the biggest dilemmas of the state where you reside? And what do you think the solutions might be??
Brace yourself. What follows will not be pleasant. The root of the issue, at least to me, is that there’s a shortage of money and an excess of attitude towards entitlement. We did “something” (or didn’t do “something”) because of a promise made, so we’re now ENTITLED. We must as a nation get over this, and soon, or the threat of bankruptcy will become reality. Some think a bankrupt United States is already a reality – we’re borrowing money to be able to continue to borrow more money. How crazy is that? As individuals we’re not allowed to do this – what makes a country different?
Here’s what I think we should consider doing. For those who are in retirement, they Did do something based on a promise. They worked, paid into Social Security, followed the rules. They should get paid their Social Security and Medicare benefits, within reason. I’ll explain “within reason” in a minute. For those who are younger than 30 years old, there’s no money left, and the expectation that the program will not pay out is already there. So make that rule change. Under 30, no Medicare, no Social Security. Start saving now for retirement on your own. (I did warn you!) The hardest group to discuss is those who are between 30 and 65 years old. The people in this group (including me) also did do something based on a promise. We paid in to Social Security. But the reality is that there’s still no money left to make good on that promise. There’s got to be some modification to the programs – a partial payment, if you will, but this will be the hardest, most painful of the three.
Here’s what I mean by “within reason”, especially as it relates to Medicare. I’ve seen reports where an operation costs $250,000 with a chance of complete recovery at 10% or worse. If this is true, why would anyone invest in those odds? If this were a business decision rather than a life-or-death decision, we’d turn the deal down flat. Sorry if I’m offending people, but we the taxpayers are paying for these types of odds. Why, why, why? Within reason really means preparing people for compromise and realistic analysis of our current situation. Medicare must be overhauled – let’s find the fraudulent charges and amend the rules to decide what gets paid and what doesn’t.
Something has got to change. Everything, absolutely everything we have today, has to be examined as if it were a new proposal. Let’s put the National budget on the table, look at every item in there from the perspective of how it will help or hurt our future growth and how much we’re willing to pay for that growth. We all need to do this in our own lives, as well. Yes, it’s nice to believe in abundance. Yes, it’s great to have a positive attitude. But in order to make a real change we need to know where we’re starting from – right here, right now. Stop the excuses, and get to work.
If our Founding Fathers were alive today, what would they say or do? How do you think they’d react to the mess we’ve found ourselves in right now? I sure would love the opportunity to speak with someone like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson or George Washington. They seemed to have a crystal ball back in 1776. Wonder what their crystal ball would say today?
The fruit vendor’s rebellion
– and what we all can learn from him!
This is the story of the power each and every one of us has within ourselves to change the world. Yes, you read that right. So how does this relate to ethics? By the end of this article you should be able to answer that for yourself. The information for this story came from a segment on 60 Minutes that aired February 20, 2011.
The fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi , from a small town in Tunisia, couldn’t take the corruption any more. A municipal official confiscated his scale, worth $100, and Bouazizi knew he’d have to pay a bribe to get it back. He complained to the official, and the official slapped him in the face. Bouazizi went to the government office to complain; they refused to let him in. So Bouazizi poured gas over himself, screaming that he couldn’t take this anymore, and lit himself on fire in the middle of traffic.
That’s all it took. All this guy wanted to do was take care of his family. He made $10 a day and his goal was to make enough money to send his sisters to college. But it was illegal for anyone to speak out against the government or the President of Tunisia, and Bouazizi paid the ultimate price of his life for daring to speak up and complain about someone taking his own property away from him.
This is the act that started the uprisings we’re seeing throughout the Middle East right now. People in power are scared, and I’m thinking that it’s not just people in power in the Middle East but all over the world that are scared. They have a lot to lose, people in power, don’t they? The people who have been oppressed are finally finding the courage to stand up and say they’ve had enough abuse, corruption and suppression. They want their freedom, their independence.
In this segment one of the people interviewed said this was like experiencing their deepest joy. Can you remember feeling your deepest joy – and have you ever experienced something like what Tunisians must be feeling now? Let’s face it; compared to the fruit vendor’s life, we’ve got it easy. Sure, gas prices are skyrocketing to $4 and $5 a gallon. Sure, prices at the grocery store are going up. Definitely, the banks aren’t lending money to those who need it and small businesses are having cash flow challenges. But we have the right to speak our mind, go where we want, do what we want, and we have opportunities to make more than $10 a day. No matter who we are or what station in life we have, this country of ours gives us the opportunity that anything is possible.
All it took was one person saying enough is enough. It was like a house of cards tumbling down – as one of the people interviewed said, that “one little bit of energy” was all it took to bring the castle down and open the doorway to freedom, independence and the richness that life holds.
In our lives in the “civilized” world we do have corruption. We do have bribery and the hypocrisy of people who try to deny that it doesn’t exist. We do have people in power abusing or trying to abuse their privilege. We don’t have to fear that the military will shoot on us for gathering in the town square. We don’t have the fear that authorities can just take what they want, confiscating our livelihoods, homes or belongings. How much is this worth to you??
What would it take for you to stand up and “do the right thing” like the fruit vendor did? And what price would you be willing to pay – what sacrifice would you be willing to make? There was a study done in 2007 by the Ethics Resource Center in Washington DC that said that 56% of the people they surveyed observed unethical behavior and 58% of them did not report it. Shocking statistic, don’t you think? Observation of misconduct went down to 49% and whistle blowing went up to 63% in their 2009 report, but the ERC explained that this happens when there are hard times and company existence may be on the line. They called it an ethics “bubble” and expect the ethical misconduct to increase as the economy increases.
Not good news, and the sad part is retaliation against those who reported misconduct is on the rise. So how much are you willing to take witnessing abuse and corruption, and what would it take for you to get to the same point as the fruit vendor? We take too much for granted here in our cushy lives. It’s time to find the courage to speak our minds – not about what we’re entitled to, but what we want our lives to be like and what we’re willing to do to ensure that our freedom and our opportunities continue to exist. All of us have a bit of the Tunisian fruit vendor inside ourselves. Let’s honor his effort and continue to make our world a better place for everyone to live.
Here’s the link to the Tunisia CBS 60 Minutes video (sorry for the ads in the middle) Feb 20, 2011 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7357188n&tag=related;photovideo
– and what we all can learn from him!
This is the story of the power each and every one of us has within ourselves to change the world. Yes, you read that right. So how does this relate to ethics? By the end of this article you should be able to answer that for yourself. The information for this story came from a segment on 60 Minutes that aired February 20, 2011.
The fruit vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi , from a small town in Tunisia, couldn’t take the corruption any more. A municipal official confiscated his scale, worth $100, and Bouazizi knew he’d have to pay a bribe to get it back. He complained to the official, and the official slapped him in the face. Bouazizi went to the government office to complain; they refused to let him in. So Bouazizi poured gas over himself, screaming that he couldn’t take this anymore, and lit himself on fire in the middle of traffic.
That’s all it took. All this guy wanted to do was take care of his family. He made $10 a day and his goal was to make enough money to send his sisters to college. But it was illegal for anyone to speak out against the government or the President of Tunisia, and Bouazizi paid the ultimate price of his life for daring to speak up and complain about someone taking his own property away from him.
This is the act that started the uprisings we’re seeing throughout the Middle East right now. People in power are scared, and I’m thinking that it’s not just people in power in the Middle East but all over the world that are scared. They have a lot to lose, people in power, don’t they? The people who have been oppressed are finally finding the courage to stand up and say they’ve had enough abuse, corruption and suppression. They want their freedom, their independence.
In this segment one of the people interviewed said this was like experiencing their deepest joy. Can you remember feeling your deepest joy – and have you ever experienced something like what Tunisians must be feeling now? Let’s face it; compared to the fruit vendor’s life, we’ve got it easy. Sure, gas prices are skyrocketing to $4 and $5 a gallon. Sure, prices at the grocery store are going up. Definitely, the banks aren’t lending money to those who need it and small businesses are having cash flow challenges. But we have the right to speak our mind, go where we want, do what we want, and we have opportunities to make more than $10 a day. No matter who we are or what station in life we have, this country of ours gives us the opportunity that anything is possible.
All it took was one person saying enough is enough. It was like a house of cards tumbling down – as one of the people interviewed said, that “one little bit of energy” was all it took to bring the castle down and open the doorway to freedom, independence and the richness that life holds.
In our lives in the “civilized” world we do have corruption. We do have bribery and the hypocrisy of people who try to deny that it doesn’t exist. We do have people in power abusing or trying to abuse their privilege. We don’t have to fear that the military will shoot on us for gathering in the town square. We don’t have the fear that authorities can just take what they want, confiscating our livelihoods, homes or belongings. How much is this worth to you??
What would it take for you to stand up and “do the right thing” like the fruit vendor did? And what price would you be willing to pay – what sacrifice would you be willing to make? There was a study done in 2007 by the Ethics Resource Center in Washington DC that said that 56% of the people they surveyed observed unethical behavior and 58% of them did not report it. Shocking statistic, don’t you think? Observation of misconduct went down to 49% and whistle blowing went up to 63% in their 2009 report, but the ERC explained that this happens when there are hard times and company existence may be on the line. They called it an ethics “bubble” and expect the ethical misconduct to increase as the economy increases.
Not good news, and the sad part is retaliation against those who reported misconduct is on the rise. So how much are you willing to take witnessing abuse and corruption, and what would it take for you to get to the same point as the fruit vendor? We take too much for granted here in our cushy lives. It’s time to find the courage to speak our minds – not about what we’re entitled to, but what we want our lives to be like and what we’re willing to do to ensure that our freedom and our opportunities continue to exist. All of us have a bit of the Tunisian fruit vendor inside ourselves. Let’s honor his effort and continue to make our world a better place for everyone to live.
Here’s the link to the Tunisia CBS 60 Minutes video (sorry for the ads in the middle) Feb 20, 2011 http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7357188n&tag=related;photovideo
It sure feels good!
It sure feels good…!
For the first time in quite a few years, I’ve finished all my accounting early and turned over all the information to my trusted Tax advisor. Whew! I hadn’t realized how much of a relief it would be to get this done early! Why is it that we put this work off until the very end, waiting until the last minute and adding more pressure than necessary???
As a business coach, I’ve been known to advise my clients to do all sorts of things to break the logjam and get those unpleasant tasks done. Things like break the tasks up into small bite-sized chunks, create a reward for doing the job, work on the task early in the week or early in the morning, etc. Now the shoe is on my own foot, and I have to practice what I preach. Haha. Not so much fun, any of those options. And I’ve found out that bribing myself by setting up a reward just does not work!
However, one of the insights I gleaned from this year’s tax exercise that I really like the feeling of having the work done early!! No wondering if I owe money or will get a refund. I can start this year’s accounting now and not let it pile up into a mountain of papers. I can do other things with my weekends for the next two months!! And my tax advisor said I was one of the first to turn in my paperwork, so I’ll be one of the first done – no more extensions!! Whooopeeeeeeeeeeee!
So for all you procrastinators out there – try it. Get all your papers together and start the process. Just start it. You’ll see how fast time flies when you’re having fun!
Witnessing History Unfold
What an amazing couple of weeks we’ve lived through, wouldn’t you agree? For those of you who’ve stopped watching the news because it is so filled with hate and anger, I hope you broke your self-imposed exile to witness history unfolding in Egypt. If not, you missed such a rare opportunity to see something this momentous happen in our lifetime.
We’ve had a few of these opportunities to witness history over the last few years – some US events like our market crash and its reverberating impact on other countries, and some International events like the Chilean mining rescue that had us all glued to our seats. However, nothing has happened that has as much promise for a new world as the events in Egypt. It shows that world peace IS possible. It starts with small, baby steps. The events of Egypt show that people are awakening to their own truth, recognizing their own rights and free will choices. The events of Egypt also show that Egyptian people are fully capable of making their own decisions without interference by meddling outsiders. And the events of Egypt are a reminder to us all of how precious our own rights of freedom of speech, religion, etc really are. People all over the world are willing to die for the freedoms we take for granted.
This is a critical time for the world right now. We need to let Egyptians reform their country as they see it, need it, want it. Now is not the time for us to intervene – unless we are asked, and only to provide advice and guidance, not to impose our world view or way of doing things. Hopefully, we learned a thing or two from our experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan that will help us give Egypt the freedom and time to do the right things for themselves.
Loading ...