| 99 Prescriptions for a More Ethical Society This surprisingly readable book identifies and explains the most flagrant ethical abuses fouling our society. But it also cuts new ground in presenting clear ways to rid ourselves of these abuses, and thereby make our society more ethical.
Other books just discuss ethical issues with no solutions in sight. This book offers concrete solutions to combat the causes of government/corporate governance abuse, to combat the lies and spins at the pinnacle of our society, to stop the give-aways to the powerful, to stop the suppression of vital information, and to curtail unjustifiable excessive executive compensation.
There is no sermonizing in the book about theoretical or philosophical ethics. The focus is on practical or applied ethics, aimed at getting things done rather than merely discussing what is wrong. The concrete suggestions are well reasoned, fully explained, and many are likely to be very controversial.
Recommended are the elimination of all stock options (that gives rise to unconscionable compensation and really steals from shareholders), the elimination all incentive compensation for CEOs (as if they wouldn’t do good jobs without it), forbidding inside directors other than the CEO (as they just give the CEO more votes on the board), limit severance pay of CEOs (to the same formula employees get), changing the basis for international taxation (to raise billions without a tax increase), forcing arbitration and whistle blowing disclosures (to reveal information you need), and bolstering the whistleblower statutes (which can really work to stop corporate abuse). These are tough measures, but they are right and needed.
This book is also a call-to-arms for the action-oriented, made necessary because no constituency for a more ethical society presently exists. Americans have always bonded together to advance just causes, but nowhere is there a group advocating a more ethical society and doing something about it. The 99 prescriptions are presented as a roster of workable solutions, not expecting any agreement on them or on any one of them. They are to be viewed as starting points. The action-oriented will choose what they will pursue, joining together to do what they can to make for a more ethical society. Hopefully, they will become the core of the sorely needed ethical constituency. The public will begin to observe that some people are actually combating ethical abuses, rather than merely going along with them in the pattern of the past. In the end, they might join the developing ethical constituency.
The aim of the book is not radial reform, but rather to clean up our society to some extent or, at least, stem the fouling. There are just too many ethical scandals on the highest levels of our society. Someone must take responsibly and do something about it so as to make for a more ethical society. If not you, then who?
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| John McCormack-Aris, Recitals And Songs John McCormack's career as an opera star was relatively brief, though it included a number of engagements at Covent Garden and the Met between 1907 and 1919. It was as a recitalist, from about 1910 until the mid-1930s, that he enjoyed his greatest success. Yet he might have ended up a footnote in musical history had it not been for one thing: the phonograph. McCormack's 791 surviving recordings, made between 1904 and 1942, cover a formidable range of material, showing what a versatile artist he was. His vibrant timbre and clarion brilliance--so refreshing to encounter, even in 70-year-old transcriptions--utterly annihilate the wimpy efforts of such popular modern-day "voices" as Andrea Bocelli. Here was someone who really knew how to sing, who cultivated a burnished beauty of tone from bottom to top, whose delivery sparkled. All of that can be heard on this three-CD compilation from Nimbus, with individual discs showcasing the Irish-born tenor in operatic selections, popular and Irish song, and recital repertory recorded with the violinist Fritz Kreisler. The choice of material proves thoroughly representative, and the remasterings are more than satisfactory. --Ted Libbey Price: $33.98 »» More Info / User Reviews / Buy From Amazon.com |
