A-friggin'-men!! After living and working in Europe for nearly 20 years and moving back to the US in 2005, one of THE things that absolutely became apparent to me was how much the country had changed in the interim with regard to the obsession with money. It permeated everything, it seemed. Of course, that's not to say that mentality doe…
A-friggin'-men!! After living and working in Europe for nearly 20 years and moving back to the US in 2005, one of THE things that absolutely became apparent to me was how much the country had changed in the interim with regard to the obsession with money. It permeated everything, it seemed. Of course, that's not to say that mentality doesn't similarly exist in Europe—I lived in The Netherlands and they are famous for their, um, "frugality"—but returning here I was struck with the pervasiveness of this attitude, obsession even, everywhere you turned of making money at all costs. It was ALWAYS the bottom line and there was no subtlety about it. It's one of those things that one could only notice after spending a number of years away from a place—kind of like every time I'd return to the US to visit, maybe once a year, that's when I began to really notice how my parents were aging. When you're around it all the time you don't take as much notice of it. Go away for like 20 years and come back and, a la Rip van Winkle, you get a real sense of how much things can change.
The two things you mentioned—the caving in to Trump of Columbia U. and the high-powered law firm yesterday—really showed how money can seemingly compromise anyone's ethics. Everybody seems to have their price, and ruthless, predatory capitalists like Trump know exactly how to use that power. One really can't fault Columbia for failing to turn their nose up at $400 million in grants. That's a LOT of funding for very valuable research. It just sucks that jerks like Trump can be in positions where they can extort favors from people, political ones in this case, and make them fall in line all for the price of a dollar.
Everyone has a price—that’s the not-so-secret of the con.
Have you ever imagined yourself in a situation where you had to choose between taking a 'life-changing sum of money' in exchange for… *you fill in the blank*? A moment where the offer on the table could alter your future, tempting you to compromise something you once thought was non-negotiable?
In the end, it all comes down to one thing—something in dangerously short supply these days: INTEGRITY!
Agree. Columbia U would have survived without the $400 million and law firm Paul Weiss can easily provide $40 million in pro bono work -- but for Trump? Principle went out the window in both cases.
Columbia seemed to fold pretty quick. I am unaware if Columbia tried any legal appeals. A whole lot of outfits have seemed only too eager to sell out human rights responsibilities.
A-friggin'-men!! After living and working in Europe for nearly 20 years and moving back to the US in 2005, one of THE things that absolutely became apparent to me was how much the country had changed in the interim with regard to the obsession with money. It permeated everything, it seemed. Of course, that's not to say that mentality doesn't similarly exist in Europe—I lived in The Netherlands and they are famous for their, um, "frugality"—but returning here I was struck with the pervasiveness of this attitude, obsession even, everywhere you turned of making money at all costs. It was ALWAYS the bottom line and there was no subtlety about it. It's one of those things that one could only notice after spending a number of years away from a place—kind of like every time I'd return to the US to visit, maybe once a year, that's when I began to really notice how my parents were aging. When you're around it all the time you don't take as much notice of it. Go away for like 20 years and come back and, a la Rip van Winkle, you get a real sense of how much things can change.
The two things you mentioned—the caving in to Trump of Columbia U. and the high-powered law firm yesterday—really showed how money can seemingly compromise anyone's ethics. Everybody seems to have their price, and ruthless, predatory capitalists like Trump know exactly how to use that power. One really can't fault Columbia for failing to turn their nose up at $400 million in grants. That's a LOT of funding for very valuable research. It just sucks that jerks like Trump can be in positions where they can extort favors from people, political ones in this case, and make them fall in line all for the price of a dollar.
Everyone has a price—that’s the not-so-secret of the con.
Have you ever imagined yourself in a situation where you had to choose between taking a 'life-changing sum of money' in exchange for… *you fill in the blank*? A moment where the offer on the table could alter your future, tempting you to compromise something you once thought was non-negotiable?
In the end, it all comes down to one thing—something in dangerously short supply these days: INTEGRITY!
Agree. Columbia U would have survived without the $400 million and law firm Paul Weiss can easily provide $40 million in pro bono work -- but for Trump? Principle went out the window in both cases.
Columbia seemed to fold pretty quick. I am unaware if Columbia tried any legal appeals. A whole lot of outfits have seemed only too eager to sell out human rights responsibilities.