Upeople - the forgotten, the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, the invisible and the broken. A humble voice trying to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
It seems to me our entire culture is build on conflict; west and even more so here in the USA. The language of business is full of conflict as already pointed out, the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terror (my fav) and so on and so on. What causes conflict? Real or imagined inequality. And here in the USA we grow more unequal by the day (if not the hour). It is a part of our business model; competition is good. The main process of getting a job, resumes, applications, interviews second interviews is utterly dehumanizing. Apply on line, email resumes, network and better maintain a happy positive attitude all the while is only the beginning. Once on the job, things pretty much remain the same. The less your income, skill level and perceived value the more dehumanization you face. People are more often treated like interchangeable parts than flesh and blood human beings. Many companies set competition within their ranks. Who can make the most sales, produce the most widgets and so on and so on. The argument being they produce more. What are the results withing a cooperative model? Has it even been tried? I'm sure it has somewhere and I would like to know the results. One cost of the ultra-competitive model cannot be directly measured in dollars but in plain old human suffering. This does effect the bottom line with people out from stress related illnesses, sabotage and in extreme cases, horrendous acts of violence. With a sharp focus on the bottom line, companies strive to be leaner and meaner, stress meaner. I think to nip conflict in the bud, will take a major change in our culture. I'm still hopeful it can happen.
