Ethics, Power and Leading by Example…

It is very nice to believe that society has come a long way from the olden day of barbaric human behaviour due to lack of good education , training and general morals and ethics accepted by society. Each day i am encouraged reading about organizations, institutions, societies and schools boasting and promoting programs in building “ethic boards”, ethical training for strong leadership and better communities. This is all very nice but there is a flaw. As we open any newspaper or listen to any newscast, each is riddled with stories , very real stories of individuals , and collections of individuals just robbing us all blind. Where have we gone wrong? Are these just exceptions or have we accepted double standards.We teach good on one side but”you gotta do what you gotta do ” on the other . I am exhausted by the quantity of crooked dealings , the level of collusion every where…community , city , provincial, state, national politics and business.

In Montreal alone, because of a serious public inquiry, two mayors have resigned in shame, hundreds of city officials admit being on the take and more… is the problem that there is little consequence? after all, it is common that these individual thieves ( and hundreds of them) collude for years till they get caught.they get a slap on the wrist, perhaps spend a year in jail, then come out to claim their money offshore and live happily ever after..a little price to pay for a great deal..the Earl Jones, the Maydoffs, and hundreds around each of us who are difficult to “bust” since the legal system is not really set up for that. Are we too lenient, are we too complacive ? is honesty and ethical behaviour really supported or are we being set up as prey?

Why are we all not bringing down the house when great wrongs public and private take place ? why are we promoting only technology but not art …where are going with all this? we should not be afraid to call a spade a spade…meaning if someone cheated , did something illegal etc, we have a responsibility to advise others publicly …right or wrong? Is there something wrong with our media that criminals get front page stories when they are released from their jail time, allowed to write books to make more millions from us.. there must be something wrong that we support all this.

i vote that there should be moral , ethical standards set and respected with serious consequences…. we did get 10 commandments but those who opt out of applying them are hardly held accountable…. is this cool..i have doubts…we all know better but our systems have eroded our ability to do anything but to frown …sad …but let’s not give up.. as long as breathe, there are others who will agree with us and support us….it is important to be vocal about it and live by example.

solution to musicians getting paid for intellectual property and compositions

our music industry has quickly become a mockery of all things decent and of the business world. For centuries the world of music , concert goers, record industry depend on musical compositions to be enjoyed by all. until recent years, it was understood that composers were paid for their creations.It is after all essential to have musical works composed so they can be enjoyed as well as exploited by any group, organization etc.. for commercial use… in other words , without the creators , there is no creation. We have over the years received payment via our organizations such as ASCAP, SOCAN etc in royalty payment structures when our music was performed or used in commercial situations.

Since the internet has taken over our lives and taken us forward in the 21st century, the record companies no longer have the control of selling and paying composers via the established structures. folks download our works for free and everyone thinks it is ok..well, we are understanding that it is not ok. Who is to blame? Who is the bad guy now? well, this is an interesting question. The paradigm has shifted drastically and in a way that most of us had not clearly understood …that is until now.

It is the search engines that are making the big bucks today from advertising. Google makes $ 3 billion per month and shares NONE of it . folks who download news, music , etc… do not get paid for the content. This is hardly a fair business model . Google has figured it out .They have very smart in monetizing and creating a workable business model . However, it is hardly fair game that newspapers provide news, magazines provide stories , musicians provide music all at their own cost , get no compensation while Google and other search engines supply the consumer THIS content for free .It is not a problem to supply it for free but it is not theirs to supply it for free.

Google and all other search engines need to pay for the content .After all, they are making billions of dollars in revenue by selling advertising  by supplying our work . France has already figured this out and others hopefully will follow . Governments should study this and we should put in place new structures which will allow for all business to thrive ..not just search engines. The internet is a wonderful thing and it is developing in fantastic ways.The world has changed.We need to change with it.

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