A dear friend and I frequently tilt about the responsibility of business to its employees, the rightful role of the wealthy, the nature of labor, etc.
He is a liberal and I am a fiscal conservative (read almost any of the blogs here).
Dennis maintains that a business cannot exist without its workers and the wealthy have a responsibility to share their wealth. After all, they may have inherited it or at least gained it through a system in part supported by workers. Dennis has me set to read (and I have bought "Turbulent Years," (Irving Bernstein) a history of the American labor movement.
Surely he must be right: We should all treat each other with respect and dignity. Workers should earn a living wage; a business needs its workers. Those fortunates with wealth should share some of it. Who could argue with that?
My friend lives in (I think) Montgomery County, Ohio. It ranks 161 of 3115 counties in giving at 4.7 percent of its median $46,600 income--$2,206 median giving. I live in Lee County, Mississippi (poorest state in the U.S.). Lee County ranks 488 of 3115 counties in giving at 7.5 percent (median of $4,312) with a median income of $57.200. (Source: Chronicle of Philanthropy)
So, our communities differ in income, rank and giving.
No comments:
Post a Comment