https://blogs.ubc.ca/florazhu/

Flora Zhu’s blog, “Taking from the rich to assist the poor” questions the fairness of taxing the “hard working” top class. Flora states that actually 70% of the 1% actually hold top academic positions, which reflect their diligence and dedication. The debate between trickle down economics and social equality has been going on forever and will probably go on forever. However, there is a yet more interesting approach to the question of poverty, fairness, etc.

New Yorker writer, John Cassidy asks, “how poor is poor?” This (very interesting) article article can be found here.

The article is titled “Relatively Deprived”. Cassidy argues that poverty is not an isolated condition, but rather a result of comparing oneself to others around you. It’s the fact that we compete with others that we feel poor, or not poor. Therefore, poverty standards should be redefined into taking into consideration psychological factors of comparison.

Now, that been said, what I’m trying to say is quite simple. We have endlessly discuss whether to help the poor out, or leave it to the rule of the jungle… But, why not redefine poverty? Is it not more affordable to encourage people not to compare themselves to others and thus encourage them to redefine themselves out of the poverty line? This would be revolutionary to poverty standards, economic measures, and international relations.

Among the many problems that haunt Costa Rica, inflation is one of the most common ones. Foreigners, travelers and immigrants often complain about the high prices in Costa Rica. As a former nationalist, I was used to defending my “beloved nation” by saying that you get what you pay for, and that the living quality in Costa Rica hadn’t fallen from the sky… Taxes, regulation policies, and laws that protected the workers made the final prices of consumer products much, much more expensive than those of the region. I would probably then say that Costa Rica is not like the other countries nearby: we have stability, peace, and happiness. So, let us leave it at that and don’t complain, just pay the inflated price.

But I was wrong. Inflation is an issue that must be faced. More than five hundred colones buy one dollar, and the economic environment in Costa Rica is not welcoming for foreign investors that are looking for cheaper modes of production. The relative political stability is an incentive, though. The high cost of living in Costa Rica is not at all a byproduct of high living standard. On the contrary it is caused by an inefficient political system that prints too much money and has no idea whatsoever how to deal with debt. The current 5.7% inflation rate (indexmundi.com) may get out of control and then there will be no way for me to defend Costa Rica.

Morality has always been the ultimate gray area, a concept that instantaneously encourages debate. I believe that the true essence behind business ethics is not the debatable definition of what is right and wrong, but rather the question of when is it okay to “let it slide”, for the sake of business; when is it necessary to play dirty. Some moralists may state that there is no money, nor business, nor corporation above ethics. And some businesspeople may respond, that they haven’t been out there, that things are tough, and there is no time to be a saint. It’s survival of the fittest—isn’t?

Well, playing dirty is just not cool. And here’s my story about it:

Short after my dad started a business called Tauro, a factory that makes plastic bags, he received a call from the CEO of “Yamber”, his competition. This man was an acquaintance of my dad. My dad saw the call as an act of good faith; they talked about prices and costumers. Later on, my dad realized that the CEO of Yamber had lowered significantly the selling price of his product after learning at how much Tauro was selling. Tauro lost an important client, but kept going at its own pace…

Ten years after, Yamber went from being a monster in the industry to a failed company. Hmm… the results of playing dirty?

Conclusion: don’t play dirty. It ain’t nice.

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