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GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:39
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:39 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Duke Carey1-Apr-20 3:44
professionalDuke Carey1-Apr-20 3:44 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
milo-xml1-Apr-20 3:09
professionalmilo-xml1-Apr-20 3:09 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:45
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:45 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
  Forogar  1-Apr-20 3:27
professional  Forogar  1-Apr-20 3:27 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:28
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:28 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Slacker0071-Apr-20 4:17
professionalSlacker0071-Apr-20 4:17 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
willichan1-Apr-20 19:47
professionalwillichan1-Apr-20 19:47 
The interesting thing about what "US citizens have drummed into them" is not drummed into them. That is move of what we refer to as the "vocal minority". There are just a few Knee'd Jerks out there that make large amounts of noise that people start to think that there are more of them than there really are.

The real problem here is the "mainstream media". In addition to giving a too much attention and credibility to the "vocal minority", most of the media in the U.S. are highly skewed on the political scale, and will twist the news to paint political figures that oppose their views in the worst light they possibly can. This is the same for American corporations that do not fall in line with the media's political leanings. Unfortunately, these are the same "authoritative news sources" that foreign news services rely on to report on. So, even if foreign news sources are unbiased in their reporting, their sources are still skewed, and therefore, so is the news. Yes, this also applies to reporting on "a certain-colored person who lives in a certain-colored house".

That being said, I cannot blame people outside the U.S. for having the opinions of our corporations and government leaders. We only have the information we have to go on. Even the internet, which gives us access to such an abundance of otherwise unavailable information, doesn't help as much as we think it should. It is difficult to determine true information vs. twisted/manipulated/truncated/manufactured information. Not to mention that the same media, and the same "vocal minorities" have considerable presence on the internet as well.

Contrary to the popular image of corporations as giant businesses with deap pockets, the vast majority are small companies, some as small as just a husband and wife running a home business. I, personally, sit on the board of two corporations. Both are, in reality, relatively small companies with only a handful of employees each. Both were just at the point of breaking even, but were on a path of growth before the COVID-19 shutdowns happened. Both companies are effectively shut down, and it is uncertain what kind of recovery path lies before us. One was in negotiations to do business in China. All of us, on both boards, carry the same morals and standards while we act on the company's behalf as we do in our private lives: only our priorities are different based on the role we are filling. Every corporate board member I have met, from various corporations of varying sizes, conducts themselves the same. When you sit on the board of a corporation, you have the legal, moral, and ethical responsibility to act in accordance to the corporation's interests and good. This is no different than a parent's responsibility to act in accordance to their family's interests and good, but acting morally and ethically to their employer's interests and good while at work.

In the case of both boards I sit on, every member unanimously voted to forgo our own personal paychecks and benefits to be left in the company general funds. This was to ensure that, first and foremost, all of our vendors and service providers were paid, to ensure that we were not the cause of additional financial burden to their businesses or employees, as well as to maintain credibility should we reopen for business later. Secondly, any remaining funds were distributed to our employee's (albeit few) paychecks for as long as the money held. Since we would not be able to conduct business, our employees would not otherwise have any income during the shutdowns. My family's finances come from my wife's and my day-to-day jobs. We are fortunate to work in "essential services" jobs, and still have our regular living incomes. I'll work on rebuilding our retirement income again once the COVID-19 situation is over.


No disparagement intended here. Just hoping that this provides a small window into the perspective of at least one American, and the corporations he has visibility into.

Money makes the world go round ... but documentation moves the money.
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
ZurdoDev1-Apr-20 1:33
professionalZurdoDev1-Apr-20 1:33 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Peter Adam1-Apr-20 0:15
professionalPeter Adam1-Apr-20 0:15 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:03
Mark_Wallace1-Apr-20 3:03 
GeneralRe: A "humble bundle" that may be worth us all getting. Pin
Kris Lantz1-Apr-20 2:14
professionalKris Lantz1-Apr-20 2:14 
GeneralOi, Griff! Pin
Richard Deeming31-Mar-20 9:22
mveRichard Deeming31-Mar-20 9:22 
GeneralRe: Oi, Griff! Pin
kmoorevs31-Mar-20 12:11
kmoorevs31-Mar-20 12:11 
GeneralRe: Oi, Griff! Pin
the goat in your machine31-Mar-20 15:44
the goat in your machine31-Mar-20 15:44 
GeneralRe: Oi, Griff! Pin
OriginalGriff31-Mar-20 20:23
mveOriginalGriff31-Mar-20 20:23 
GeneralRe: Oi, Griff! Pin
Stefan_Lang31-Mar-20 21:07
Stefan_Lang31-Mar-20 21:07 
GeneralRe: Oi, Griff! Pin
jsc4231-Mar-20 22:45
professionaljsc4231-Mar-20 22:45 
Generalrebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
raddevus31-Mar-20 9:13
mvaraddevus31-Mar-20 9:13 
GeneralRe: rebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
PIEBALDconsult31-Mar-20 9:15
mvePIEBALDconsult31-Mar-20 9:15 
GeneralRe: rebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
raddevus31-Mar-20 9:16
mvaraddevus31-Mar-20 9:16 
GeneralRe: rebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
Richard MacCutchan31-Mar-20 21:13
mveRichard MacCutchan31-Mar-20 21:13 
GeneralRe: rebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
Maximilien31-Mar-20 9:24
Maximilien31-Mar-20 9:24 
GeneralRe: rebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
raddevus31-Mar-20 9:28
mvaraddevus31-Mar-20 9:28 
GeneralRe: rebooting my cable modem: why? Pin
Kris Lantz31-Mar-20 9:38
professionalKris Lantz31-Mar-20 9:38 

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