Re: A response to Fired for Writing Book

[brian whatcott <inet@INTELLISYS.NET>]

At 12:18 8/24/01 -0600, Dewey Dykstra Jr. wrote:
> The following is a response by a thoughtful friend of mine who has read
> Disciplined Minds and is also concerned about the firing of Jeff Schmidt.
> Minor adjustments from me.  I thought some on the list might enjoy it.
> Dewey
>
>
> A Fishy Story
> by Roberto Bahruth, Ph.D.
>
>        Once upon a time, in the land of difficult to believe, there lived
> a society of fish, one group of which thought they were the smartest fish
around.
/snip/
> Robert E. Bahruth, Ph.D.
> Boise State University
> Elementary Education and Specialized Studies

I enjoyed reading this parable.
   Having the elite group as shallow swimmers was a role reversal that
took some effort on my part.

But in hopes of casting a little light on employment matters for Non-US
list members, I should mention that the great majority of the US working
population works on the basis that an employer may fire "at will" or
 "for cause" (without explicit notification of the relevant causes.)
These two phrases are to be found embedded in employment contracts.

Moreover, people who attempt to organize other employees in commercial
organizations are exceptionally likely to get squeezed out.
This is not a mystery; it is in fact, the usual practice.

As people without a job tend to lose all medical insurance too,
they tend not to 'rock the boat' - and treat supervisors with unusual
circumspection.
   People who've been 'round the block' in this way find a County Hospital
because hospitals of this kind are charged with some level of care
for paupers. Users are likely to face extended  payment schedules if
they are so unfortunate as to be detained overnight - the charge for which
can exceed $1000 per day.

Still, this makes the US economy exceptionally responsive to business cycles:
hire today, fire tomorrow if necessary. This is a powerful ingredient
in entrepreneurial success, for which the US is noted.

brian whatcott <inet@intellisys.net>  Altus OK
                Eureka!