How do you respond to friends placing business before ideals?

[The Newswire]

I watched the Rock Docs: NWA: The World's Most Dangerous Group documentary about NWA last night. Surprisingly, it made me think and actually somewhat changed my view on some things, most notably Ice Cube

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[Morning Glory]

I used to probably care, but not so much anymore. all our ideals don't mean shit, they may make us feel good, and that is important, but they are never going to change anything. people are just too scared, or lazy or whatever to really do effective action to further their causes.

If someone can make a living and not have to live like a bum or work their ass off, then good for them. Unless what they are doing turns them into a real piece of shit and fucks over other people, I'm probably alright with it.

[Halcyon]

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I think we all find our comfortable place on the moral spectrum in every aspect of our lives.

May that be...
Eating meat.
Or living green.
Or participating in the commerce system.
Or whatever.

There are always paths MORE righteous than our own. And there are always paths LESS.

Hopefully we all are comfortable where we sit on the spectrum, and then, slowly but surely, move our way towards higher ground as we live and learn.

[Amelia G]

I think we all find our comfortable place on the moral spectrum in every aspect of our lives.

May that be...
Eating meat.
Or living green.
Or participating in the commerce system.
Or whatever.

There are always paths MORE righteous than our own. And there are always paths LESS.

Hopefully we all are comfortable where we sit on the spectrum, and then, slowly but surely, move our way towards higher ground as we live and learn.

Definitely true that there are always paths more and less righteous than what anyone chooses.

I do think a lot of people don't realize the impacts of their actions. I mean, to give a less emotionally-charged example, not that many years ago, most people thought nothing of littering. Now, I think most people generally don't litter.

I still want to interview you on the freecreditreport thing. Maybe I am naive and you know exactly what Experian has done to counterculture and to individuals in America. Or maybe you have a rationale which totally makes sense and I haven't thought of. We all struggle to find the right answers, but we don't all have access to the same information.

Experian actually sent me a commercial email today, one I don't recall soliciting, but they'd like to give me some free data in return for me giving them data on everyone I do business with. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be taking them up on their offer, although I probably will write something about it at some point.

[Halcyon]

Definitely true that there are always paths more and less righteous than what anyone chooses.

I do think a lot of people don't realize the impacts of their actions. I mean, to give a less emotionally-charged example, not that many years ago, most people thought nothing of littering. Now, I think most people generally don't litter.

I still want to interview you on the freecreditreport thing. Maybe I am naive and you know exactly what Experian has done to counterculture and to individuals in America. Or maybe you have a rationale which totally makes sense and I haven't thought of. We all struggle to find the right answers, but we don't all have access to the same information.

Experian actually sent me a commercial email today, one I don't recall soliciting, but they'd like to give me some free data in return for me giving them data on everyone I do business with. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be taking them up on their offer, although I probably will write something about it at some point.

I'm sick about the actions of the US government that I passively consent to. But I feel at peace with how I participate as a citizen in my day-to-day life.

That, too, is a spectrum. And we have to pick our battles, I believe.

Doing due diligence on every consulting client (and their parent company. And their parent company) is not something I am prepared to do right now.

Maybe someday I'll slide up the morality spectrum and refuse to accept money from any organization that doesn't adhere to my moral stance. That would be awesome. But not yet.

I CAN, however, be certain that the tasks I do/projects I am involved with are in line with morality I feel okay about.

[Amelia G]

I'm sick about the actions of the US government that I passively consent to. But I feel at peace with how I participate as a citizen in my day-to-day life.

That, too, is a spectrum. And we have to pick our battles, I believe.

Doing due diligence on every consulting client (and their parent company. And their parent company) is not something I am prepared to do right now.

Maybe someday I'll slide up the morality spectrum and refuse to accept money from any organization that doesn't adhere to my moral stance. That would be awesome. But not yet.

I CAN, however, be certain that the tasks I do/projects I am involved with are in line with morality I feel okay about.

Definitely with you on the governmental frustration.

The troubling thing I was writing about in this article is not failure to do due diligence, but actual participation in activities which enable bad stuff. For example, I think it would be an excessive reach to find anything wrong with someone directing gorgeous blondes in a video for Vivid with high production values and standard pay scales.

An argument could be made, I guess, that any revenue they make contributes to them exploiting "alt" talent, paying them less than their more normal-seeming talent, but I think that is at enough of a remove that it doesn't really disturb me. I don't think the person who works in the Exxon cafeteria is responsible for an oil spill, even though the people who made it possible probably needed to eat.

Which I guess comes back to what you were saying about how everyone needs to find sort of their level on such matters. To me, the level at which discomfort occurs is the one where a person is directly involved in the part which is damaging.

[One Eyed Cat]

I had to stop thinking about at all at some point. I'll try to set a good example, but I believe we have some issues in society symbiotic with those of the government. I found a way to pay local bands without losing money (usually). I almost feel a regression in saying that, it beats the shit out of a lot of things I could be doing though.

OEC

[Amelia G]

I had to stop thinking about at all at some point. I'll try to set a good example, but I believe we have some issues in society symbiotic with those of the government. I found a way to pay local bands without losing money (usually). I almost feel a regression in saying that, it beats the shit out of a lot of things I could be doing though.

OEC

Definitely difficult to navigate. Although I have some emotional responses which are incompatible with this, I don't believe commerce is in any way inherently bad. I do believe that there is such a thing as bad business practices, however. For example, if you made sure every band who played for you found a piece of equipment missing or other drama right at pay-out time, so they were not able to make sure they were paid the right amount, and then you hocked their stolen equipment, that would be bad. (Common practice at some clubs.) Simply having some dough left for you, after everybody else got paid is not bad.

[One Eyed Cat]

Definitely difficult to navigate. Although I have some emotional responses which are incompatible with this, I don't believe commerce is in any way inherently bad. I do believe that there is such a thing as bad business practices, however. For example, if you made sure every band who played for you found a piece of equipment missing or other drama right at pay-out time, so they were not able to make sure they were paid the right amount, and then you hocked their stolen equipment, that would be bad. (Common practice at some clubs.) Simply having some dough left for you, after everybody else got paid is not bad.

No, I don't think commerce is bad either. This is something I do for fun mostly. I don't take myself seriously in doing it. A lot of it is just simply being annoyed at how these folks are treated. I have nothing against making money. I don't rule it out even in this little side project we have going.

OEC

[incog]

As a professional musician I have seen a lot of people throw away friendships which could have lasted a lifetime just because they wanted a few dollars which would not last long. Maybe I have made so much money that is easy for me to say. I bet I have made less than Dre and Cube and Eazy.