Merica's main problem: corruption

[VooDoo6Actual]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-0...lem-corruption

[26 Inf]

I agree with one caveat - I would change corruption to accountability.

Corruption, inefficiency and immorality flourish when people are not held accountable for their actions, when they don't have to answer to the 'all' but rather 'the few.'

I find it humorous that the reading you linked is from 'zerohedge' because I feel that one of the great downfalls of our Nation is the fact that we have an entire class of folks who have become wealthy, not by physical labor, or physical creativity, but rather by the manipulation of the idea of money, moving it back and forth and creating no physical product.

It's kind of two-faced for me to say that because due to my investments I'm getting ready to punch out at roughly 1.5 times my current salary, but there you go.

[Averageman]

I agree with one caveat - I would change corruption to accountability.

Corruption, inefficiency and immorality flourish when people are not held accountable for their actions, when they don't have to answer to the 'all' but rather 'the few"

Very, very true.
I'm dealing with this issue at work now and I wouldn't mind painting this on some office walls.

[SkiDevil]

My favorite line so often cited by the politicians and bureaucrats when caught in wrong doing or other improprieties; "I take full responsibility for what occurred".

Really, how by simply saying the words with no other real significant consequences.


Question is what is to be done about all this corruption now?

[Spurholder]

My favorite line so often cited by the politicians and bureaucrats when caught in wrong doing or other improprieties; "I take full responsibility for what occurred".

Really, how by simply saying the words with no other real significant consequences.


Question is what is to be done about all this corruption now?

In days of old (meaning up to maybe Eisenhower's administration), the statement of "I take full responsibility" was usually followed by another comment: "Appreciate you saying that. You're fired/under arrest."

[brickboy240]

America's problem is the lack of punishment that goes along with the corruption and wrong doings.

How many Congresspeople do we see get caught taking goodies from lobbyists or being behind many thousands in income taxes or insider deals and NOBODY gets fined or goes to jail.

We also see things like Fast & Furious and Benghazi go down and again...nobody pays a fine, goes to jail or even gets fired. Some even get promoted!

Hillary Clinton should at least face some charges and probably be in jail but many are about to elect her to the presidency! Amazing!

Others see this and think they too will do wrong because even if you get caught...you are probably not going to face any real punishments at all.

Lack of punishment is the biggest problem....there is no deterrent to bad behavior for elected officials.

None...zippo!

[ramairthree]

I find it humorous that the reading you linked is from 'zerohedge' because I feel that one of the great downfalls of our Nation is the fact that we have an entire class of folks who have become wealthy, not by physical labor, or physical creativity, but rather by the manipulation of the idea of money, moving it back and forth and creating no physical product.

This is a huge economic problem that I call the "zero economy."
It is the chink in the armor of capitalism that leads to the gritty, soft underbelly.

There are a lot of very affluent, and some down right rich Americans due to this.

They contribute nothing, produce nothing, invent nothing, etc.

Real estate agents, sales positions, etc. etc.

I know someone that makes about half a million a year managing offices that sell TV services. Knows nothing about filming, broadcasting, engineering, connections, etc.

And someone making a similar amount selling internet services.
Again, individual or business wants internet, his company sells them the service, they get a share of the service costs, but they have no idea how to install, service, etc.

And this is not even going into useless middle management jobs, employees that are "carried", etc.

There is a whole theory in economics,
that aside from the whole cultural shift away from a responsible, western european morals, protestant work ethic society, leading to less people employed,
is that
we simply have a ton of people that are pretty much useless,
whether they are unintelligent, lazy, etc. vs. highly "educated,"
and a whole ton of jobs exist so they have a tax producing and consumer spending role.

One model of this is the "flipper."
They buy old cars, ammo, in demand toys at Walmart, etc.
then sell at a profit.

They did nothing to fix the car, did not make the ammo, was not some hard to find, rare antique toy they invested time into finding,
etc. Just adding a "zero economy" link the the chain from seller, who made less, and end buyer, who paid more.



]

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

I'm big into S&M, sales and marketing. You have no clue what you are talking about. I take my production and lab people on sales trips and they can't believe the long hours, customers that treat you like crap- and you just have to take it. Sales and marketing are what actually make a market (see that word) function.

I will agree that sales is the easiest job to do poorly, but the hardest job to do well. I've seen construction guys screw stuff up so bad you'd think they tried to mess it up, their are sales guys who can screw the pooch hard too.

The problem isn't lobbyists, it's that the Fed gov has basically unlimited money to hand out. Even Rahm Emmanuel is hated by the teachers union when he actually has to hit a limited budget.

ETA:
The 22lr is an interesting example. Supply is low demand is high. I assume the manufacturers have power relative to the retailers. Why they haven't raised prices at the wholesale level doesn't make sense to me to bring the market back in balance and tamp out the re-sellers- but that's they thing, I'm not the manufacturer. They obviously have a reason for keeping the price low- it's their money. I see markets and customers that are 'broken' all the time, but that's because the we don't know all the forces people are dealing with- especially perceived risk and scarce resources.

[ramairthree]

The hours people work and the crap they take have nothing to do with how useful or needed a product is or how much value the employee has.

As an over simplification,

Some poor guy working 7 twelve hour nights a week and the Quickee Gas Mart counter with no benefits works long hours and takes a lot of crap.

People already need the gas. People already want the cigarettes and the beer.

The counter guy has produced or contributed nothing.

I want a new Corvette.
I would be fine to order it exactly as I want it from GM.
The salesman at the local Chevy dealer is a non entity in my decision. Or his manager.

Sales minus the marketing and advertising provides nothing to the transaction.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

The hours people work and the crap they take have nothing to do with how useful or needed a product is or how much value the employee has.

As an over simplification,

Some poor guy working 7 twelve hour nights a week and the Quickee Gas Mart counter with no benefits works long hours and takes a lot of crap.

People already need the gas. People already want the cigarettes and the beer.

The counter guy has produced or contributed nothing.

I want a new Corvette.
I would be fine to order it exactly as I want it from GM.
The salesman at the local Chevy dealer is a non entity in my decision. Or his manager.

Sales minus the marketing and advertising provides nothing to the transaction.

You have a some kind of line job, or you are some kind of technician and you think that suits are idiots and everything would be fine if everyone listened to you- I get it.

If you think the cash register guy at the quick-e-mart is sales, I'm afraid that I you really don't understand what sales is.

People need gas- how much, when? What price can you charge?

Which cigarettes should you carry, how much stock? If I price the cigs differently, can I pull more people to get gas? If I cut the price on gas, will more people come in to buy cigs and cokes- where I can actually make higher margins?

With out advertising how do people even know that the business exists? What kind of promotion can you run to increase sales and profits.

I find it interesting that the thread really is about corruption, but you decided to go after sales people. Like I said, I guess you have some production/techie position- how exactly do you know what to make or do- or where it goes, or what the best price you can get is? Please God, don't tell me you work for the govt or a public utility.

Or do you interact with customers? Well, welcome to sales. Anyone that interacts with the customer has a sales functionality.

Whenever people complain about sales or 'middle-men' making too much money I just tell them that they are more then welcome to figure out a way to cut them out and take the money themselves. It happens everyday as technology and markets change- and its good. It makes things more efficient and wastes less resources.

The car example you have above is an example not of a business failure, but a govt failure. Laws that restrict trade interfere with markets clearing efficiently. Having to use a dealer is a great example with cars.