As I sit here in my loney artist’s/writer’s garret, typing away as I expound on maters with a marketing bent, it occurs to me I might have need to say a few words about the very serious subject of rational thought.
This was prompted by a reply to yesterday’s post, where your humble correspondent was taken to task by someone who chose to respond with slogans and things he’d obviously heard – as opposed to things he’d studied, considered, and investigated.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a skeptic. On everything. I like what President Ronald Regan said – “Trust, but verify” – and I apply that to my daily life. I think it is prudent to take everything you hear, see, and expereience, with a critical eye. In this age of media maniuplation, it’s easy to forget that everybody has an agenda – but not everyone is up front about it.
Case in point: the reader that responded to my last post cited a trio of things that he or she felt were indicative of the “evils” of corporate America, and proof positive that Corporate America is out to kill us all for profit. The three items cited were “Agent Orange,” “Thalidomide” and “Atomic Bombs.”
Hmm. Buzzword alert.
For those of you whose knowledge of history comes from those hopelessly slanted History Channel specials, here’s the rundown on the three things the poster cited:
Agent Orange was a herbicide used by the U.S. Governement in Vietnam, to clear out thick jungle growth for our troops to feret out the Viet Cong. Essentially, it was Dioxin. towards the end of the war, it was discovered that Dioxin caused birth defects and a host of health problems. It’s use was discontinued by the U.S. Military.
There was no single manufacturer of Agent Orange, a formula that was first developed by the military back in WWII. Dow Chemical, Monsanto, and Diamond Shamrock all made it for the government. And all were sued by those affected.
The truth is that Agent Orange was pretty nasty stuff, and hurt large numbers of the enemy, civilians, and our troops. That’s unfortunate, but it’s also the kind of stuff that happens when you’re in a war. Nobody set out to develop something that would cause birth defects. That was an unhappy side-effect. When those in power figured out what was going on, they stopped using it. End of story – execpt that the Left has used this product as some sort of rationalle to paint every government contractor with a rep for irresponsible product development.
Thalidomide was a drug originally developed to help people sleep. Introduced in 1957, it was found (in animal testing) to have no toxic effects, and was quickly authorized for over-the-counter use. One problem – it caused birth defects on a massive scale. Nobody knew about this until lots of sleep-deprived pregnant women began birthing babies with horribly deformed limbs and other problems. Interestingly enough, thalidomide is still manufactured – and used to treat aggresvie cancers. Of course, it is NEVER prescribed to any woman who is pregnant or has even the remotest chance of getting pregnant. The Thalidomide disaster was also directly responsible for changes in how drugs are tested. Again, nobody set out to develop a drug that would hurt people. Nobody knew. When the birth defects issues were discovered, all Hell broke loose. Do you honestly think any company would risk those kinds of problems just to make a buck? That would be really stupid.
Atomic Bombs were designed in WWII to be a game changer, a weapon that would end World Wars. The only times such a weapon has been used, it had exactly the intended purpose. It caused Japan to surrender unconditionally. When Truman learned that we had “the bomb,” he was facing a difficult decision. He had to choose between using the bombs (we had only the two of them at the time) or send our troops to invade Japan. He was told by our generals, we’d lose thousands of troops in an invasion. There was no guarantee of success. The bombs might work – or might not – but they were our best chance for peace. They saved American lives, and likely saved the lives of countless other Japanese citizens. It was the right thing to do, and in the larger sense, a moral choice.
What do these three things have in common? I have no idea. A herbicide, a drug, and a bomb don’t seem to have much in common – except that they have become iconic to the Left to make the case that Big Corporations must be inherently evil.
Give me a break.
How about we all start doing a little research, and thinking for ourselves, instead of allowing us all to be manipulated by special-interest groups and those in the media that are willing to say whatever works, in order to sell papers and get eyeballs glued to TVs?
If we’re going to discuss marketing, we need to approach it from a viewpoint of logic, reason, and a willingness to see past the slogans, and discover the truth. If not, then we’ll all be guilty of drinking our own Kool-Aid, with the result that nobody will really know what’s going on, and we will all become not people, but sheeple.
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If Dow Chemical really never meant to hurt anyone, why have they still not cleaned up their toxic messes in Vietnam and Bhopal? Why do they still manufacture chemicals that have scientifically been proven to cause birth defects such as Bisphenol A? Producing a chemical of that scale obviously would have consequences. Many of these corporations know of the lethality used in their chemicals, yet still produce and sell them, thinking nothing will come of it. You should read up on your history.
http://www.thetruthaboutdow.org
If you re-read my post carefully, you'd notice that at no point do I ever
give Dow Chemical a pass for anything else they've done. I was speaking
specifically about Agent Orange. I think one of the fundamental problems is
that our society has blurred the lines between tragedy and responsibility.
If someone buys a ladder and falls off with a result of serious injury or
death, that's a tragedy. If the ladder was the cause, that's a shame. But
only if the ladder was defective is it actionable. And only if the
manufacturer KNEW IN ADVANCE that they ladder was unsafe should they be held
responsible for criminal acts.
There are many products (thalidomide, oddly enough is one of them) that if
used in specific, carefully monitored ways can be both safe and therapeutic.
Does that absolve the manufacturer from ill effects if the product is used
off-label or contrary to their recommendations? It does in my book. Look, is
it logical to blame Stanley Toolworks if some idiot buys a hammer and uses
it to murder their family?
There are certainly companies out there (Union Carbide springs to mind) that
have cut corners in foreign countries with disastrous results. The Bhopal
disaster was criminal. The people responsible belong in jail. None of that
has anything to do with my point that a vast majority of companies behave
responsibly, and don't risk harming the public in order to make an extra
buck.
[...] I was quite excited when I read the presentation ” Global Process Safety Metrics – Driving Consistency and Improvement” by Tim Overton, who is chief safety engineer at The Dow Chemical Company. This result of the CCPS Metrics Project was presented at this years AIChE Spring Meeting and CCPS … The Art of Reason. [...]
I wish to wish all pregnant women of good mood, easy pregnancy and natural sorts!
Good luck also are happy! Give birth easily and independently! Let not doctors give birth for you, and you! Also adjust itself on chest feeding of the kid! Read the necessary information! Be, lovely pregnant mums and expecting posterities of the daddy, are healthy and wise!