PRIORITIES

     We all live our lives by the priorities we set for ourselves. Government, business, animals, an athletic team, and almost anything imaginable function based on priorities. It is what life is all about.

I.   PROFITS
II.  POLITICIANS
III. PEOPLE

     PROFITS - Business is in business to make money. Many corporations' top priority is profit. If you do not make a profit, in all likelihood, you will not be in business.

     One and a half million Ford Pintos were recalled following numerous lawsuits which questioned the safety of the car. Some of the older model Pintos were prone to burst into flames when involved in rear-end collisions. This was due to the poor location of the gas tank. In a document prepared for the Federal Government, the Ford Motor Company presented these statistics, in an effort to avoid being forced to move the location of the gas tank. Ford claims that the values on the figures compiled were set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (whoever they are). The statistics were figured on the following basis:

     ESTIMATED VALUE OF A HUMAN LIFE LOST = $ 200,000

     ESTIMATED VALUE OF A LIVING BURN VICTIM =$ 67,000

     180 fuel tank related deaths X 200,000 +
     180 fuel tank related burns -X 67,000 = $49.5 Million

     COST TO MOVE TANK -

     $11 X # of cars needing change = $137 Million

     Whatever Ford's motives, whatever their reasons is obvious, that unless forced to recall it would be financially beneficial for Ford not to deal with this problem. This material was obtained entirely from the CBS show, 60 MINUTES.

     Nestle is the largest processor of food in the world. The company is based in Switzerland and is not governed by United States law. Nestle profits incredibly from its sales of powdered baby formula to parents living in the Third World. An American Medical Association report in 1978 stated that research has proven that mother's milk is the best source of nutrition for infants. The AMA report went on to say that, besides the fact that breast feeding helps infants develop emotionally, "the mother's breast secretes antibodies to some intestinal microrganisms and this may help protect breast-fed infants from enteric (intestinal) infection."

     Despite the AMA's report, Nestle continues to give free samples, and send women, dressed in nurse-like uniforms, to promote sales of their powdered baby formula. Many mothers who buy this formula, without the benefit of clean water, proper sterilization procedures, or refrigeration, find their children susceptible to disease and death.

     In addition to powdered baby formula, Nestle markets the following products: Berringer Bros. Wines, Crosse-Blackwell Products, Crunch, Decaf, Libby and Libby-McNeil Products, Loreal Products, Nescafe, Nestle Chocolate, Nestea, Souptime, Stouffer Products, Stouffer Restaurants, Taster's Choice Coffee, and more.

POLITICIANS


     It is the duty of politicians who are paid to serve their country to be responsible,not only to the people whom they represent but to themselves. Many times, a high priority is given by elected officials to being re-elected. If he or she is not re-elected, he or she may become an ex-politician.

     The following excerpt is the conclusion of President Carter's State of the Union Address made by him to Congress on January 23, 1979. His words:

     "As long as I am President, at home and around the world, America's example and America's influence will be marshalled to advance the cause of human rights.

     To establish these values, two centuries ago a bold generation of Americans risked their property, position, and life itself.

     We are their heirs. And they are sending us a message across the centuries.

     The words they made so vivid are now growing faintly indistinct, because they are not heard often enough.

     They are words like justice, equality, unity, sacrifice, liberty, faith, and love.

     These words remind us that the duty of our generation of Americans is to renew our nation's faith -- not focused just against foreign threats, but against selfishness, cynicism, and apathy.

     The new foundation I have discussed tonight can help us build a nation and a world where every child is nurtured and can look to the future with hope -- where resources now wasted on war can be turned toward human needs -- where all people have enough to eat, a decent home, and protection from disease.

     It can help us build a nation and a world where all people are free to seek the truth and to add to human understanding, so that all of us may live our lives in peace.

     Tonight, I ask you to join me in building that new foundation -- a better foundation -- for our country and our world."

PEOPLE


     A.  Individually and collectively, people's top priority is good health.


     B.  Next we wish peace which will, in the long run, safeguard our health.


     C.  In order to maintain our health and in order to protect the peace, it is in the people's interest to let those nations who face off like bullies and throw threats at each other fight their battles on some other planet or in some other solar system, where life as we know it does not exist. Many do not recognize what military and government leaders think is their right -- TO PLAY WITH OUR LIVES ON OUR PLANET.


     It is in the people's interest that all underground nuclear testing be stopped. Everyone knows that there is enough nuclear capability available to blow up the earth. It is time for the militarists to take their toys elsewhere. THIS IS NO GAME! We are not chess pieces. In the name of the countless pawns that have died, it is time for irresponsible leaders to realize that our lives are not to be played out by madmen!

PROFITS

     Peter Drucker was born in 1909 in Vienna. He moved to Frankfurt, Germany in 1929, later receiving his degree from the University of Frankfurt. Leaving Germany in 1933, he apparently turned down a job offered to him by the Nazis in the Ministry of Information. Drucker left England in 1937 and sailed for the United States. He has become the most important living figure in the shaping of corporate society. He has written a great deal, and is known and widely read in corporate circles. Drucker lives in California, teaching at Claremont Graduate School. He does not grant interviews, nor does he appear on radio or television.

These are words and thoughts from Peter Drucker:

PROFITS A.  The first function of a governing board is to allocate big priority decisions. You can make the right decisions if you have the right priorities. B.  Drucker has designated the corporation as the "representative social institution." The corporation is not just an economic entity. Its purpose is the creation of legitimate power. C.  Profit is not a reward, it is the life support system of enterprise. For on its economic performance depends the very survival of the enterprise, and like every other institution, the enterprise must put first its self-preservation. D.  Civilization has been based on a concept of supremacy of economic values.

PEOPLE A.  Your priorities and our priorities are not the same, nor are they remotely similar. B.  Your power is understood, but we certainly do not recognize its legitimacy. C.  We are living life. The enterprise does not breathe. The survival of the living must take precedent over what exists on paper. Our preservation is more important than profit -- although both have existed for centuries. D.  Life, and consequently civilization, is based on the concept of moral -- not economic values.

PROFITS E.  The individual who lacks status and function is not only unhappy; he is dangerous. Lacking a fixed (though not immutable) place in the order of things, he is a destructive wanderer through the COSMOS. F.  The only basis of freedom is the Christian concept of a man's nature; imperfect, weak, a sinner, and dust destined unto dust; yet made in God's image and responsible for his actions. G.  When the governing body, or the legislature, lays out priorities, people will accept them.

PEOPLE E.  While we may be dangerous to what you value and worship, we are not destructive, and it is you who wander through the cosmos. F.  Drucker, realizing the potential danger of Christians with a clear conscience, cleverly incorporated Christianity as a major policy of corporations. This foresight hoped to avoid future confrontations. However, there is right and wrong, and you will not be judged by what you claim to be. G.  For Mr. Drucker's clarification, since he is foreign-born, we the people elect the governing body in this country. We will have something to do with the priorities that are laid out.

POLITICIANS - PRESIDENTS


     The last seven U.S. Presidents elected in a year ending with a zero have not lived out their elected terms.

     A.  1840 - William Henry Harrison, the 9th President, ran on the slogan, "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too". President Harrison appointed a cabinet headed by Secretary of State, Daniel Webster. On March 17, 1841, Harrison called for a meeting to be held March 31st to act on the country's depressed financial situation. Harrison took ill, developed pneumonia and died April 4, 1841 after being President one month. He was the first Whig Party President and was succeeded by John Tyler.

     B.  1860 - Abraham Lincoln, our 16th President, was assassinated April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth.

     C.  1880 - James Abram Garfield became the 20th President after receiving his party's nomination on the 36th ballot as a "dark horse" candidate. He was shot July 2, 1881 by Charles Guiteau and died seventeen days later.

     D.  1900 - William McKinley, our 25th President, was shot by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, on September 6, 1901. He died September 14, 1901.

     E.  1920 - Warren Gamaliel Harding was our 29th President. It was during President Harding's term that the infamous Teapot Dome scandal occurred. Harding's Secretary of Interior, Albert B. Fall, was later convicted of taking a bribe for leasing naval oil reserves to private interests. An aide to the Attorney General, a man named Jesse W. Smith, committed suicide following another alleged scandal. Harry M. Daugherty, our U.S. Attorney General, escaped conviction. Some reports say Harding ate a bad meal and was food-poisoned. In any case, complications developed and he died August 2, 1923. There was no autopsy.

     F.  1940 - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, our 32nd President, was the only man to be elected to this high office four times. He died April 12, 1945, about a month before Germany surrendered in World War II.

     G.  1960 - John F. Kennedy, our 35th President, was assassinated November 22, 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald.

     In 1980, the Presidential nominees will carefully select their Vice-Presidential running mates. Instead of the normal balancing of the ticket, the Vice-Presidential candidates will reflect ideologies and goals similar to those of the top man on the ticket. They will attempt to campaign and function separately, while working together. If the 1980 President-elect encounters problems passing legislation in Congress, that could be alleviated in the 1982 elections.