I listened to the song, "Angry All The Time" sung by Tim McGraw & written by Bruce Robison, and wondered. Why do I get angry? I have self-confidence, I am strong and I can take care of my family and myself. Yet, I feel that I am being taken advantage of by the utility companies, by the car manufacturers and by the makers of things that I purchase. I seem to be living in a throw away world.
I remember when cars, appliances and things in general were expected to work and last for a very long time. If something new came on the market, we were not obliged to purchase it because we were either satisfied with what we had, we couldn’t afford it, or what we had lasted. But if it was something we felt we wanted, needed or could use, we bought it. We had choices. In the world today, there are very few choices. Companies have taken that privilege away from our money and us too.
I like being in control of my little world--my environment. I want to be able to make the choices that this great Country is known for. Today, there are very few choices I can make in this area because these things do not last. We are expected to throw away whatever wears out and they wear out faster than ever. Things are made to be replaced instead of repaired.
The utilities companies, from the electric to the phone, let us down in so many ways because they seem to be too busy paying their top people instead of paying attention to business. Finally, after years of this kind of businesses practices, the Public Utilities Commission is taking a hard look at them. Their answer to being investigated is to ask us, their customers, to pay for it. Would I be able to request payment from them if I were being investigated because of some problem with them? Aren’t I supposed to be totally responsible and responsive due to my actions particular if it has an effect on millions of people? Responsibility is a word that does not appear to apply to utility companies and manufacturers.
Utility companies are allowed to downsize at the expense of their customers while continue to pay mega salaries to their leaders. Their customers need their services so they feel no responsibility leaving me with no choices.
Why is this being allowed to happen? The part that manufacturers play are what they produce is being zapped by the electric company, thereby enabling the manufacturers to sell more products. As long as they are selling more products, this kind of business ethics are all right. Profits motivate businesses today not customer care, concern and satisfaction. Business talks a good talk, but their actions reveal their true principles and practices.
The public is unaware of this because either business practices are accomplished out of sight, or within our busy world these issues go unnoticed until it is too late. Business is out of control but so are our lives. Even if we would want to take control, things are so out of control, it would be impossible for us to do anything but pay the bills and hope that tomorrow will be better. It will only get worse if business is allowed to continue these types of practices. They cannot sell their products if people stop buying them in order that they will listen to what is really wanted and needed. They will then sit up and take notice that something is wrong.
Morals and values do not appear to enter into businesses today. But I feel that we, one person at a time, can begin putting them back where they belong. Will we? I don’t know. Most of us do not want to be uncomfortable, we want things immediately and we are willing to pay for it. However, years later, when the stock market has chipped away at our pensions, and our retirement is pushed past the point we are ready to retire, it will be a big shock to realize that we have let business rule the world and get away with overcharging, underachieving and just plain stealing from us. Too late, we have to work longer and harder than ever when we should be rewarded for working so hard all those years. Oh, it won’t happen to you? Want to bet? It happens every day to a lot of people who said the same thing and it’s too late at that point.
Ask yourself what type of lifestyle are you willing to work hard for and then be able to have it available when you need it? It’s a big question because it involves the choices you make regarding what you buy and the way you save and handle your money now. The future is only a short ride away and must be seen as such in order to be able to achieve it. Lie out your morals and values and live them. Let them be your guidelines for the rest of your life. Do not waiver from them let them lead you into the life you choose to live.
How do you do that without knocking out the economy? To achieve your morals and values that most businesses have discarded, we need to keep those morals and values in front of us and live them daily and hourly. These are lessons we want for our children. They will see what we value and strive to meet them. They will embrace them in their own lives and live it into their future. What more can we give them than the principles and guidelines for a better way to live? To do that is to be an example. It is a throw away world, but is that what we want to teach our children? Do you tell them, “You don’t have to take care of anything we can get another if that doesn’t last or it breaks”? Is that how they will treat you when you become old and break? What we live, we teach. Often what we live comes back to haunt us, let’s make our last years our best.
Let us remember that business is made up of real people with feelings and families of their own. In forging their future, have forgotten what is important? Yes, business should make a profit, that point is not in question. At whose expense are they profiting? It appears to be at the expense of their customers. Who would keep buying from a business that only makes throw away merchandise? Would you? Should you? Or should you create a better world in which things are less important than the values and morals you teach your precious children? Search out and find that special particular business that holds their morals and values up to their practices.
What kind of a world would you like to see your children and your grandchildren inhabit? What kind of morals and values would you teach them in order to achieve that world? Put it together and DO IT! Every mountain can be climbed it starts with a single step. Each change is precipitated on a single idea that grows until change takes place. Each change is a mountain to be climbed, but you would be climbing some mountain anyway, it might as well be the mountain you choose for your life and for your children.
Examples: RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE
Buy used, buy old and by replacement. Keep what you have and, unless it is impossible to repair, trade it in or sell it. Many people I know are beginning to buy those old cars and some of the incidental things they remember having because they can either understand them and/or those things can be repaired. Punch buttons only break, knobs and handles last almost forever or at least are repairable.
New refrigerators (which have to be replaced often because of power glitches) are nice, but used is better. New cars are wonderful (I imagine), but used cars are much better. Let someone else break it in and get the recalls. Don’t wait to ‘save’ do it NOW!
Don’t wait to travel and see that foreign country you always wanted to see. There is value in everything you can think of to do. Friends can become partners in adventures and business. Value your ability to meet and make friends with almost everyone. You may believe that you will never begin a business that may do trading overseas, but you never know what the future holds. You may not, people you meet and become friends with may never become business ventures, however, the more people you befriend, the better your opportunities to open your life up to new experiences and to possible new ventures. They, on the other hand, have the same opportunities. You would be more than happy to help a friend but that also holds true of them. In helping each other, we keep the morals and values going. It is when we ‘use’ each other that the trouble begins. In using someone, only one person benefits and most of the time the other person gets hurt. But when an opportunity is presented it should benefit everyone who is involved, or they should not be involved. I do not mean necessarily monetarily. The world revolves around money and, yes, it is important, but your world should revolve around your own morals and values that you have set as your guidelines for life.
As a reminder, if a business does not treat you with the morals and values that you have set your standards to live by, why buy from them. Why give them the opportunity to corrupt what you believe in, steal from you, or take your choices from you, your children or your friends. Don’t feed into their precept and help them blindly lead you and others in a world that you do not accept.
I remember in the 1970s people would boycott companies that held different morals and values than they did. Sometimes these were environmental values, workforce morals, but it was to correct that companies’ direction. Most of the time the people who were boycotting the companies for years would finally be heard and the company actually turned around their thinking.
I don’t know if companies will listen today and it may take years (as it did then), it is still worth trying different ideas until they do listen. It is important you set your own morals and values and not waiver from them. You can make a difference in this world!
Why am I so angry? Because I want a different world. I am willing to have the patience to exert my morals and values for my children and grandchildren as guidelines for their future. One-step-at-a-time.