The purpose of Labor Unions is to protect the workers. History taught us the need for these unions during the Industrial Revolution. During that period workers were forced to work in dangerous conditions for long hours and low wages. The creation of the Unions gave workers protection as well as a away to bargain for better pay called "collective bargaining." This created a somewhat level playing between the worker and the employer. Now the fact has been proven that there was a need and this also created a middle class and substantial working class as it relates to income.
The state of Wisconsin is trying to eliminate the unions under the veil of trying to balance their budget. Now this alludes to my theory of "Profit over Humanity" which I will expand on in a future writing. The break up of the union will have a detrimental effect on the workers ability to protect themselves from unfair labor practices by their employers or shall we say "Big Business" in some instances. History has shown us that companies will sacrifice the safety of their workers as well as their livelihood for a huge profit. I emphasize the phrase "huge profit" because these companies could still make a profit by giving the worker substantial pay, safe conditions, better benefits, etc..... however the companies want the 'huge' profit thereby creating greed. It is greed that would make a company demoralize its worker for profit.
The American working class has to come together on this issue in order to keep the protection of workers as well as their right to collective bargaining to maintain a livable wage in this topsy turvy economy. This include all teachers unions, labor unions, service employee unions, etc.... The people of Wisconsin has shown that you have to protest in order for people to even be aware of the issue that are affecting millions of Americans. If the Unions are dismantled you will definitely see an erosion of the middle class and working class families. Once it is gone it will be harder to reestablish.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Change and Downfall of Education
In the recent years there has been a transformation all over the nation in the field of education. It has had some adverse effects on the student, parents, teachers, administrators, and society as a whole. There are various problems that can be addressed with this issue but for the sake of this article I will focus on just a few and not too extensively. The rest will be discussed in future blogs as well as an upcoming book. I want to focus how the mindset of today's student as it relates to a feeling of entitlement, no self accountability, and laziness.
Most students of today have poor work ethic. They do not try hard to complete task or go outside the box to acquire different resources to help themselves. The irony is that these resources are at their fingertips...literally! They have computers and smart phones. This allows them to access this information. When I was in high school we would have to go to the library and make copies of the books or check them out. Then we would have to go home and use a typewriter......and god forbid if you made a mistake in the middle of your paper...there was no backspace! You had to be on point to complete these tasks therefor being successful in school. Now imagine your child or other students of today in that situation....how would they fair? Allow me to bring this to life. I was teaching a class and gave a homework assignment to research Andrew Carnegie. The students came back and said that they could not find any thing on him. I just looked at them with a blank stare. I asked for all students who had computers at home to raise their hand. Every hand in the classroom goes up. I then ask them who had smart phones and more than half of the class hands goes up. I then tell them to take out their phones and go to google. I instruct them to type Andrew Carnegie in the search box. They all look as the info pops up on their phone. So this is very prevalent in today's classrooms all over the country. What is going to happen when this is the mindset of our Doctors in a critical situation? We already see how some of our government officials are acting....could you imagine this mindset running our country? Making decisions for you when you are elderly? This is and will have an adverse effect on society.
There is also a sense of entitlement with today's youth. They really feel that they are suppose to have these expensive items like the smart phones and computers which they do not even use to the best of their abilities as illustrated earlier. This has caused them not to try because they think it going to come to them because they are suppose to have it. This lack of initiative and laziness is going to have adverse effects on them if and when they graduate and face REAL LIFE situations.
The technology has been something that was suppose to launch us into this information age and bring students the world to their monitors. It was suppose to be a tool to further s students educational ability but now it serve as the number one distraction. Students are not focused in classrooms because they are not being visually stimulated as they are with their phones,laptops, ipod's, and video games. Teachers have to really change the way they teach. I use technology as far as using power point instead of a chalk board. I also show mini video clips and documentaries. When I assign homework it is Internet based. These are just a few things that has to be done to deal with the changes in the way our youth receive information effectively. I would love to assist any teacher or school with how to achieve better results with better Best Practices. Feel free to contact me at shawnmurry1@gmail.com or leave a comment on this blog. Parents must take control of the media that their children are being exposed to. There should be limits to TV time. computer time, and video game time. Wow that was a lot of categories...when is it time for reading and studying?
Most students of today have poor work ethic. They do not try hard to complete task or go outside the box to acquire different resources to help themselves. The irony is that these resources are at their fingertips...literally! They have computers and smart phones. This allows them to access this information. When I was in high school we would have to go to the library and make copies of the books or check them out. Then we would have to go home and use a typewriter......and god forbid if you made a mistake in the middle of your paper...there was no backspace! You had to be on point to complete these tasks therefor being successful in school. Now imagine your child or other students of today in that situation....how would they fair? Allow me to bring this to life. I was teaching a class and gave a homework assignment to research Andrew Carnegie. The students came back and said that they could not find any thing on him. I just looked at them with a blank stare. I asked for all students who had computers at home to raise their hand. Every hand in the classroom goes up. I then ask them who had smart phones and more than half of the class hands goes up. I then tell them to take out their phones and go to google. I instruct them to type Andrew Carnegie in the search box. They all look as the info pops up on their phone. So this is very prevalent in today's classrooms all over the country. What is going to happen when this is the mindset of our Doctors in a critical situation? We already see how some of our government officials are acting....could you imagine this mindset running our country? Making decisions for you when you are elderly? This is and will have an adverse effect on society.
There is also a sense of entitlement with today's youth. They really feel that they are suppose to have these expensive items like the smart phones and computers which they do not even use to the best of their abilities as illustrated earlier. This has caused them not to try because they think it going to come to them because they are suppose to have it. This lack of initiative and laziness is going to have adverse effects on them if and when they graduate and face REAL LIFE situations.
The technology has been something that was suppose to launch us into this information age and bring students the world to their monitors. It was suppose to be a tool to further s students educational ability but now it serve as the number one distraction. Students are not focused in classrooms because they are not being visually stimulated as they are with their phones,laptops, ipod's, and video games. Teachers have to really change the way they teach. I use technology as far as using power point instead of a chalk board. I also show mini video clips and documentaries. When I assign homework it is Internet based. These are just a few things that has to be done to deal with the changes in the way our youth receive information effectively. I would love to assist any teacher or school with how to achieve better results with better Best Practices. Feel free to contact me at shawnmurry1@gmail.com or leave a comment on this blog. Parents must take control of the media that their children are being exposed to. There should be limits to TV time. computer time, and video game time. Wow that was a lot of categories...when is it time for reading and studying?
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
New Ways of Making It
In my last blog I talked about the conventional methods of saving and investing money are now antiquated and simply does not work for the average American. I will now explore different ways of saving and investing and it starts with paying yourself. When you receive your pay check there should be a certain amount of money that you pay yourself. Your check is already taxed and then you go and buy items in the market place and you are yet taxed again. So when you wonder where is your money going it's going to the latter as well as you are confused to how much money you actually have and spend because we do not normally do tax calculations let alone calculate ATM fees and other hidden charges out there. Instead of going to the ATM machine go into the bank and make a withdrawal. Take out the amount equivalent to what you would have taken out the ATM in one week. Pay yourself the fees that you would have paid the bank in ATM fees. After 30 days calculate the amount you have earned in thirty days. That is YOUR interest that YOU have been paying the bank as a convenience fee for them to allow YOU to access YOUR own money! In addition if you do not have cash but have the debit card just make the purchase with the card. Change your habits and delete the ATM from your daily program. This is just one out of many ways to create more money for yourself as it related to savings.
Innovation and creativity is what you need to have in order for your money to work for you. There are people who are making money by buying and selling on EBAY. There are also are also people who have acquired merchandise and started their own online stores. I have even seen people who have a talent like writing poetry create a book of poetry and a website and published and sold there book as a result.These are just some examples of the creative ways of making money and there are many more....if you want to know more just contact me via email at shawnmurry1@gmail.com or leave a comment on here. So invest in yourself or better yet invest in GOLD! Yes the value of the dollar is based on GOLD. So it would be wise to by some ounces of gold to guarantee a solid return. Just check the market and you will agree.
Innovation and creativity is what you need to have in order for your money to work for you. There are people who are making money by buying and selling on EBAY. There are also are also people who have acquired merchandise and started their own online stores. I have even seen people who have a talent like writing poetry create a book of poetry and a website and published and sold there book as a result.These are just some examples of the creative ways of making money and there are many more....if you want to know more just contact me via email at shawnmurry1@gmail.com or leave a comment on here. So invest in yourself or better yet invest in GOLD! Yes the value of the dollar is based on GOLD. So it would be wise to by some ounces of gold to guarantee a solid return. Just check the market and you will agree.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Straight Talk: Saving and Investing Money has Changed
Straight Talk: Saving and Investing Money has Changed: "The American Dream....house with white picket fence, car, kids and a dog. Well nowadays our pursuit of this dream has turned into a nightmar..."
Saving and Investing Money has Changed
The American Dream....house with white picket fence, car, kids and a dog. Well nowadays our pursuit of this dream has turned into a nightmare but not just for the individuals but the entire system as a whole. More specifically the result of this is a paradigm shift in how to save and invest money. The conventional methods have changed and frankly do not work anymore. Lets examine 401k plans. Your job and the 401k plan was a sure investment into your retirement just 10 years ago but now its a disaster! You are losing money if you have a 401k ...just check your statements. Next up is the old reliable savings account. The savings account was promoted and sold like bread. Now if you look at the current rate of interest of a savings account it is 1%. If you maintain a daily balance of $3,000 for a year you will accrue $30! This is not an investment in savings. Some banks are paying out less than that with additional fees. Yes its bad but gets worst. Next up is the housing market. This was the most dependable investment of all time and was sold and promoted throughout the history of this country. To invest in a house now is the equivalent of buying a car that loses its value as soon as you drive off the lot. This has changed the way of life in America for many. People have lost and are loing their homes at an alarming rate as a result. The people who were successfully paying their mortgage still lost the value in their home and could not refinance on it. Now imagine the people who owned rental property that lost value and went into foreclosure. At this point the renters have now discovered that their landlord is in foreclosure and has no incentive to pay you if you are not even paying your own mortgage. You are now forced to cut and accept your losses and walk away because it is impossible to recover from it.
So as you can see the Savings and Investment model has changed as a result of the overall economy or the lack thereof. This could have all been avoided. This was a result of greed as well as a host of other nefariousness and deeds of ill repute. People have to re-create ways of investing and saving money which I will illustrate in an upcoming blog.
So as you can see the Savings and Investment model has changed as a result of the overall economy or the lack thereof. This could have all been avoided. This was a result of greed as well as a host of other nefariousness and deeds of ill repute. People have to re-create ways of investing and saving money which I will illustrate in an upcoming blog.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Global Warming......it must be Real!
The topic of Global Warming has been a controversial one in the past but the the evidence is mounting on the side of the "believers" with the change in weather patterns the last two years. Growing up in the Midwest(East St. Louis, Illinois) we had harsh winters as it relates to cold temperatures and pretty moderate snowfall but not too bad like our northern counterpart Chicago. I escaped the frozen tundra when I moved to Atlanta a.k.a "Hotlanta!" Yes this was nice weather with NO snowfall! The winters were very mild...a jacket at best. Well that was between 1994-1999.....now lets fast forward to 2011 and Atlanta is being hit with snowfall constantly as well as others cities in the south such as Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City, Shreveport, Little Rock, and a host of others. The weather pattern has definitely changed in this region.
Now I have also experienced living on the East Coast(D.C./Baltimore Area) and there was no real snow in Baltimore when I first arrived in 1999. The snow would always miss us. Well that soon changed. We started getting snow fall after 2000. Now lets fast forward to 2010 and 2011. In 2010 I missed almost two weeks of school working in D.C. as a teacher at a Charter School. It was then that I decided that I had enough of that lifestyle of being snowbound and getting cabin fever so I made a plan to move to a warmer climate. California! Southern California where it never rains....yeah right. When I moved here last summer it was not as warm and the locals would say that this was unusual but it was sunny and it did not rain for months when I first arrived here. But that soon changed as we suffered a rain slaughter for seven days in a row a month ago. Everyone was paralyzed it seemed. People were walking around in disbelief but not as bad as my former East Coast friends in D.C /Baltimore as well as the rest of the East Coast. So the evidence has proved that the patterns of weathers has changed. The causes could range from anything from Divine intervention to the shift of the Earth but it most be noted that there is a change. This has clearly proven that something is happening with the weather pattern. Is it Global Warming?
Now I have also experienced living on the East Coast(D.C./Baltimore Area) and there was no real snow in Baltimore when I first arrived in 1999. The snow would always miss us. Well that soon changed. We started getting snow fall after 2000. Now lets fast forward to 2010 and 2011. In 2010 I missed almost two weeks of school working in D.C. as a teacher at a Charter School. It was then that I decided that I had enough of that lifestyle of being snowbound and getting cabin fever so I made a plan to move to a warmer climate. California! Southern California where it never rains....yeah right. When I moved here last summer it was not as warm and the locals would say that this was unusual but it was sunny and it did not rain for months when I first arrived here. But that soon changed as we suffered a rain slaughter for seven days in a row a month ago. Everyone was paralyzed it seemed. People were walking around in disbelief but not as bad as my former East Coast friends in D.C /Baltimore as well as the rest of the East Coast. So the evidence has proved that the patterns of weathers has changed. The causes could range from anything from Divine intervention to the shift of the Earth but it most be noted that there is a change. This has clearly proven that something is happening with the weather pattern. Is it Global Warming?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)