That dirty dirty word: Profit

I've written two responses to this article on Thoughtleader.

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/martinyoung/2014/01/29/how-money-is-more-important-than-lives-in-healthcare-technology/

G-man 1:

Why is profit such a dirty word to you? And what on earth do you think these people do with their profits? Stuff in under a mattress and count it every evening before going to bed?

As Adam Smith pointed out (maybe the basic understanding of how profit works in the world has escaped you), It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.

Profits are divided up into taxable stated profit, business expansion, continued research, investment in stocks and firms, and cash in bank. All of which benefits man as it either employs people, funds more products and discoveries, or lent to people to purchase homes or businesses etc.

It is sad that there are actual grown-ups in this world who cannot see any benefit to profit. Even those who spend their lives helping others do so for personal reasons other than the pure unselfishness of it. It is where they find fulfillment, but it rarely does anything near as good as what ‘the profit’ does.

G-man 2 after some feedback:

From time of discovering a new drug, to submitting it to the FDA for approval, to having it tested, tried, checked, double checked and then finally having it peer reviewed and then placed into the mouth of the first patient, the cost is approximately $1 billion. GOVERNMENTS have made this so expensive, NOT private industry. Who the hell can go through all that for free? It makes perfect sense that if your initial outlay is so risky, and the expected returns so precarious that it would take financiers an awful lot of comfort before they would consider risking this sort of money. It is NOT the profit factor that makes these industries shy away from certain drugs, but the high cost of doing business, even before you CAN actually do any business, that makes it the high risk and costly industry it is.

But while we're at it, what is the percentage of taxable profit on any given drug? Or do you honestly believe everyone should be working for free in this industry? And why should people have to suffer in order to meet your general approval by working for mahala? As if this noble act is payment enough.

The average profit margin is around 12.2%. Most of that gets re-invested, taxed and used to fund the next project. What remains is in the low single figures. By removing this (even as the mild incentive it is) what difference to the overall cost will you be saving?

Personally, I'd rather take drugs from PROFITABLE businesses than those claiming virtuous poverty.

The SA rag

William Saunders is alright. But he gets all giddy every now and again and leaves the trail becoming another yes-man to the NuSA ways.

http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/williamsaundersonmeyer/2014/02/02/magical-thinking-is-behind-the-gloom-over-sas-constitution/

There are a number of problems with your Constitution. If you cast your mind back you will remember that Nelson Mandela and Cyril Ramaphosa's sole contribution to the design of the paper came about in the fourth workshop after a number of days of dead silence. 'All' they wanted was the ability to alter the Constitution with a 2/3rds majority. Why? What was so important about this? Could it perhaps have been a wiggle out and guarantee incase the policies of the ANC failed and they needed a ways and means to circumvent the Constitution and move on with their political agenda?

It certainly appears so.

The SA Constitution has been altered and amended 17 times in less than 20 years. The US Constitution has had 27 in over 200 years and each took an enormous amount of political will to alter. Each and every SA Amendment took place over a cup of tea.

Watch this space into Zuma's 2nd term.

There are other flaws; the fact that parties and not representatives are elected. Zuma didn't gain any votes, his party did and duly appointed him, which is typical for all your ministers. It is difficult to hold anyone accountable if they're never elected by the people. You have NO ministerial representatives.

There are also no restrictions to the size of the SA government. Hence the reason we see Zuma manufacturing departments and ministerial positions for his pals. This Constitution was a paper for the party (in charge) not a paper for the people.

More Affirmative Actionite gobbledygook

Another white hating writer-wannabee. They can't string two sentences together, never mind a single thought. But here they are whining and moaning about whites and how ungrateful we are and racist. They really all are a one-trick pony. I'm hearty done with their hatred.

http://mg.co.za/article/2014-01-31-affirmative-action-is-here-deal-with-it

G-man response which will no doubt be canned:

You'll have to forgive me but judging from your logic, your use of facts and statistics (as unreliable as they are) and your general use of grammar and sentence structure it seems safe to assume that you are a beneficiary of an Affirmative Action appointment? This entire piece is atrociously written, and isn't even anywhere near 'blog' status in my view.

Whites have traditionally had a low unemployment rate and no amount of firing them to make way for new AA blood seems to have slowed them down, as they are the LARGEST - in absolute numbers, not in percentage - of new business owners in SA. Further, when reading these figures it should be understood that it isn't as simple as black-or-white ('scuse the metaphor) but also a point of under and over employment. It stands to reason if preference is given to people based on how much light they absorb over any other criteria (being 'qualified' simply isn't enough, you must be suited), then it stands to reason that black people will be by-and-large OVER employed as they will be given positions they have not yet fully deserved or earned, and in many cases through desperation to conform to law, qualified for.

Whites, who may very well be qualified, will now for reasons of politics will thus be UNDER employed and be doing jobs below their qualifications. This is well borne out in the marketplace in South Africa where you now have a shortage of skills. Anecdotal evidence aside, it is very obvious from the overall state of your economy, it's downward slide in the world rankings (and Africa's) that AA, BBEEE and other useless acronymic policies are having a very negative effect.

And don't forget that many whites who saw the large misspelt Affirmative Action writing on the wall left the country before they became a negative statistic. You need to ratchet these policies backwards and then abandon them. It creates divide in the workplace, and it speaks volumes of how dimly you view white South Africans in that you don't put any trust in them to do the right thing in the new SA environment. It's frankly quite insulting. Maybe have a re-look at your attitude to whites Khaya.

Teachers: Scraped from the bottom of the tertiary barrel.

Here we have another teachers mouthpiece too scared to call these people out. G-man does his bit to rectify this absurd perception.

http://voices.news24.com/mohamed-saeed/2014/01/reformation-school-system/

G-man:

Here's a novel idea; how about we raise the standards for teachers to qualify FIRST? It is outrageous to me that writers like yourself grind out the same platitudes with regards to your education system completely ignoring the very link in the schooling chain that is causing the most harm in South Africa: The teacher!

You can throw as much money as you want at this problem, hand out millions of iPads, refill libraries with books that were stolen, rebuild schools that were razed by the very scum we're trying to protect and promote, but it won't make a blind bit of difference if your teacher has zero respect for her vocation, is an Affirmative Actionite ne'er-do-weller and just sits around for 30 days waiting for his or her fat give-away check which the tax payer generously ponies up every month, except for occasionally relieving the boredom by molesting a few pupils.

I read through your piece twice Mohamed, and the word 'teacher' came up a grand total of ZERO times. You didn't miss this, you're just as brain-washed into believing these people deserve more money, and that the default feelings on teachers is that they're god-sends and require molly-coddling whenever they come down from the pedestal you placed them on. So, ergo, YOU are part of the problem!

THEY need to be held accountable and held to a higher standard than anyone else out there. And adding a little personal responsibility wouldn't go amiss either.

You already have one of the worst Rondt:student-literacy rates in the entire world. By going the tired old route of nibbling at the edge of the issue will do nothing if teachers don't perform. What you lot need is a backbone and to call the entire teaching profession out for what they have become; a blight on your country. Churning out illiterate unemployable rabble rousers year-in-year-out can only result in a breakdown of your entire society.

The 400 year old tatty excuse put to bed

Continuing Gakwi's further education I have done my best to inform. But will he appreciate this? Not on yer Nelly! He is quick to denounce whites, thus positioning himself as superior, but this isn't enough to convince him he's a racist. The irony is go-smacking.

http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Show-Racism-a-Red-Card-20140126

G-man:

The challenge was very simple: Find virtue in your fellow man. You couldn't do it. You have simply denied that there is any, and have even gone so far as to avoid any responsibility of your opinions by suggesting that economically and historically you are a victim and therefor incapable of racism. But you were quick to denounce those same people, no? Surely, at some level, you must find some good in a class/race of people? This speaks volumes of you, but fortunately all your opinions - because of this attitude - can be dismissed as nothing more than the rants of a delusional race-baiter.

Have a word with yourself, if nothing else.

The '400-year-old' chestnut is such a weak excuse as to why your people can't make it in life. It is so absurd, so beyond modern comprehension as to be laughable. When will conditions be perfect enough for an African to thrive? When will you rid yourself of all excuses and accept your cultural shortcomings?

400 years ago none of us were alive, and all the repercussions of political actions since then have diluted to a point as to be immeasurable. So, you only have the modern era to contend with, and with the speed of communication, the vast spectrum of vocations to choose from - even if lumbered by historical reality - you must be able to progress beyond your past. But no. The easy-to-blame avenue is far more lucrative. It shows weakness in cultural character that you even have to go there.

Suck it up. Admit your failings. Move on.

Well Gakwi has responded.

Evidently a glutton for punishment, and he doesn't know his betters never mind who he's up against. I gave him all the clues with my first response, but he obviously doesn't have the depth of intellect to avoid me.

His response to my previous post:

@Guinness, "Everybody knows white kids are orientated into racism from an early age by their parents and have to unlearn racism. It doesn’t happen automatically." You were probably raised by a Black woman but today you think you can stand on two feet and ask me what I know about white people? Let me tell you; they all think like you, that they're Messiahnic and are put on this earth to save helpless Blacks. News for you; I have never worked for a white person my whole life. I know a lot of Blacks who have never done so and who are doing far better that any Black person your white employers ever gave work. I probably know more about you than you do about me; that's why your whole comment is based on assumptions which don't belong to you; you were never born with but were inculcated to you over a dinner table. I was never subjected to such racist gibberish tutoring as a child that's why I don't seek your love or approval to speak my mind. And by the way what do you know about Africans (since your point of departure clearly indicates you don't see yourself as one but some settler)?


G-Man's retort:

Gakwi. I was respectful enough to not only NOT point out that you NEVER start off an opinion backed up with 'everybody knows' (in lieu of facts and statistics), but also gave you the benefit of the doubt by suggesting that you were generalising and not speaking in absolutes when I used the word 'generally' to describe your point. You are obviously not respectful or intelligent enough to recognise this.

But be that as it may, I must hold you to the standards you generally hold white people to: one of excellence. No more allowances for your obvious intellectual shortcomings, and no more letting you away with utter nonsense.

I did not base my comments on assumptions (think about it, but what did that actually mean?). I came to generally accepted conclusions based on the statistics on hand. My two conclusions were: Blacks are the bigger racists in South Africa, and that white racism is largely a dearly held myth, played by those who are attempting to cover their limitations, be they cultural or personal. This was simply concluded by pointing you to the inter-racial murder rates in SA.

My second conclusion (or assumption, as you refer to it as) was that whites are contributing far more to SA both socially and economically than their population figures would suggest. The reasons are immaterial, but the fact of the matter is SA's tax base is largely white. Your countries biggest employers are all white. These are ACTUAL generally held views that can be taken as fact. The IRS will back this up. There are only so many jobs for taxi-drivers and alleged writers and stick wavers.

Gakwi, I had asked you to simply look at white people on balance, as this was NOT an attempt to point out racial superiority. But this appears to be quite beyond your capabilities for reasons best known to yourself, but I suspect that your innate hatred for whites has blinded you to our virtues completely, and that you are only capable of seeing the alleged bad in us, which is wholly manufactured I might add. I neither asked nor expect any approval from you. On the contrary in fact.

In conclusion, I would add that you are a major part of what the problems in SA are. You are a paradigm of your nation's modern failures. REAL progressive countries wishing to better themselves fill their universities with engineers and economists. Scientists and financiers. You have chosen to go down the well worn path of destruction by becoming a political analyst. A rather useless and unproductive degree. And you are using what little use this degree might have, by bashing your fellow citizens over the head with.

Showing racism the red card

Usual race-mongering from another fist waver. I respond in kind.

http://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Show-Racism-a-Red-Card-20140126

G-man:

It's as if he sat with a thesaurus, and then strung a few words together he hit with a dart. Incoherent. Pointless. Rambling. And that's its good points.

I'd also like to point out his projection here. What does he know of white people? How does he know how we're brought up, generally? If guys like Gakwi spent more time improving their cultural image, and less time looking for white racists, we would all get along a lot better. We're all hearty sick to death having to hear constantly about how bad we are, and how racism appears to be a one way ratchet. The truth is the complete converse of course. BLACKS appear to be the real dangerous racists out there (look at the cross racial murder statistics and let me know what you find), while whites are propping the black population up with jobs, a tax base to milk from, and a civil society in which they can thrive. But they're doing their utmost to bend the truth, cause havoc and generally muddy the social waters.

Here's a handy tip Gakwi: Don't worry about the antics of some uneducated, over paid sports figure. We don't pay any attention to them. Spend more time convincing your fellow Africans to stop the race-baiting and see us for our virtues, and what we bring to the table.

Nice chatting to you. No charge for all this value rolled into one reply to an illiterate mess.