I was reading an article about how Nike is getting slaughtered in the markets at the moment due to the tariffs being applied to the countries where they have their production. It is interesting, because Nike, and pretty much all of the large manufacturing companies, are pricks - and only moved their factories there to take advantage of cheap labour, including child labour. The conditions that these companies keep for their employees, is pretty terrible.
Isn't it a good thing that they economically suffer?
And while some will argue that if they pull out of these countries the people currently working there will have no income at all, which is true, is that a good enough reason to continue what is akin to slavery and child abuse? I don't think so. Perhaps if they paid their staff more in those production countries, they would be able to buy some of the products they work twelve hours a day to produce.
One of the things that I believe is quite backwards in the economy, is that while the activities of private individuals are tracked to the nth degree, public corporations are able to produce in shady ways, as well as manipulate and hide their financials in shady ways also. None of them are paying close o their full tax obligation, yet how many individuals aren't? If an individual gets caught for tax evasion, they end up in jail - while a company pays a fine. There is heavy asymmetry in the economy that favours entities that aren't human.
I think it would be interesting if there had to be financial tracking of all publicly listed companies across their entire supply chain, and it should be able to be audited publicly too. We the consumer should be able to research what we buy and be able to know exactly who and where is involved in the production. We should be able to go all the way back to wherever the start of the chain is, and see what is involved.
And it should be the same for governments.
While I don't agree with the way it is happening in the US, it is clear to me at least that it is safe to assume that a lot of the government wastage isn't just ineptitude, it is corruption. It is like those charity organisations that collect large volumes from kind people, but ninety percent of it goes to "administration costs" - while a handful of employees live in mansions and drive luxury cars.
Musks's "how'd they get so rich?" question for public servants, is very much valid.
While it would likely be uncomfortable for many, just imagine what it might look like if all financial data was transparent, and we could see exactly where all the money flows were going across businesses, and where it is exiting into pockets. I suspect that a lot of the "upstanding citizens in office", wouldn't be so keen to show their flows. Yet the same people demand to have unbridled access to ours.
We demand more from celebrities than we do from public servants.
Perhaps the rule should be that once at a certain level as a public servant, all past financial records are publicly accessible. Maybe then only the people who have nothing to hide will get into public leadership positions. If politicians are chosen on their personality rather than their ability, we should know who they are, right? Let's see who is worse, the crypto industry, or the government officials who legislate them.
Again, their is an asymmetry here, where the power for rule-making is in the hands of a few, who are also likely the most corrupt. No lobby group is coming to me to bribe me with goods and services.
You?
Transparency is an effective tool against corruption, which is why the corporations and governments are so unwilling to introduce it for themselves, but are more than willing to have it for us, the masses under their control. They want to know everything we do, all our secrets, every bit of dirty laundry, so they can use it to their advantage. Yet, have set up a system where there is no reciprocity.
I don't cry for the corporations that are getting hammered by tariffs, because they have been a negative force in the world for far too long. It is not ideal for the employees, or the contractors though, because they are just trying to make ends meet, and because of that need, they are continually taken advantage of - continually crushed to increase profits for the corporations.
Again, the system is backwards.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
