11.01.2007
Profit$ Over People
© 2007 Stan Spire
“Companies are now paying attention to the mental health problems of employees. An estimated X million dollars are lost each year due to depression and other emotional problems.”
“If a pandemic like bird flu sweeps the world, an estimated X billion dollars would be lost in productivity.”
Ever notice how most news stories stress the financial over the human? When there’s a problem related to workers, the main concern is how it affects the bottom line, not the person.
A cog in the machine – that’s the apparent value of a person. If he’s struggling with the agony of severe depression, don’t think of him as a fellow being who needs help. Regard him only as a mechanical part that needs a little more oil.
And make sure that your cogs are properly maintained, keep them healthy, not because they have families to support, but because you, Mr. Rich Capitalist, want to achieve your target for yearly profits. Keep the machine going. Don’t do anything for humanitarian reasons; such altruism is for suckers. Spend money on employees only when it affects the profit margin. And even then spend the minimum.
After all, materialism makes America the greatest country in the world – of expendable cogs.
# posted by Stan Spire @ 5:38 AM 
