Figmentations

References:

Larry Elder Show: http://larryelder.warnerbros.com/

Ad Council Partnership: http://www.everydaychoices.org

Study: Corporations Donate Millions for Quake Aid Article

I happened to catch a recent episode of the Larry Elder Show, where Larry focused on what he pointed out to be his favorite topic…personal responsibility. He focused on excessive lawsuits, and his position was that even when a plaintiff had truly been wronged and had a strong winnable case, he still often objected to the excessive amounts that were being sued for. And depending on the circumstances, he pointed out that we should accept personal responsibility for the choices we as individuals make, and cannot feel we are entitled to compensation when damage to ourselves is caused by our choices, especially in the case of drinking and smoking.

That brings me to the topic of personal responsibility regarding the food we put into our body. In the above mentioned article, “Study: Fast Food Contributes to Obesity“, McDonald’s director of nutrition, Dr. Cathy Kapica, is quoted as follows: “The key is to work together to educate and empower people to make smart choices when dining and to encourage physical activity,” Kapica said. No surprise here that a corporate spokesperson is defending unhealthy menu options and playing the personal responsibility card.

That people should make “smart choices” is self-empowering. Even the Ad Council is working towards encouraging this. They have teamed up with the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association to do just this. Check out two of their taglines: “…you can significantly impact your health through your everyday choices. Protect yourself today.” and “Start protecting yourself from yourself.”

So, the recent outcry against unhealthy lifestyle choices is growing both at the corporate, non-profit, and individual level. Which will have the bigger impact? Does it matter as long as the impact, in a positive direction, is achieved?

But from personal experience, eating right and exercising regularly are hard habits and lifestyle changes to develop. They’re simply not that convenient. I consider myself educated. And, being that I’m writing this article and have collected these quotes and references, this shows that I’m also empowered to make smart choices. I don’t eat fast food or drink soda of any kind anymore, but I’m still overweight and struggling to drop those excess pounds.

On a separate, but related, note, as you may have noticed from past postings, I’m not always a fan of big business, and am sometimes conflicted because I do work for one. But in this case, I guess corporate America is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. Take for example a criticism of the big corporate donations made to tsunami victims. In the above sited article, it was stated that: “Among the growing list of donations were some companies that have suffered bad press recently….For a company that’s had negative PR, I think it will serve to soften the negative image,” said Rubenstein. “I would urge all companies, but especially anybody who has made an apology to the public or who has sustained broadside media attacks, to consider this. It’s another form of apology and goodwill. But also another form of doing right.”

So, that raises the Catch 22 dilemma, is big business capable and believable enough to be the ones to encourage healthier living? Won’t they always be perceived as being self-serving? Isn’t capitalism and profiteering generally driven by self-serving interests (or at least shareholder interests) that have public interests as a by-product? Does it matter which is the by-product of the other as long as both are taken into consideration? And that raises the further issue of how balanced or unbalanced is the corporate interest with the public interest, and due to personal responsibilty, does it even matter?

Reference: Business Week, 11/29/04, “Lessons From the Vioxx Fiasco”

There is a quote from the above sited article that triggered a few thoughts in my mind. Let’s see if it does the same for you. Consider the following: “…Often obscured in the advertising frenzy is the simple truth that many health problems are better solved by a change of diet or lifestyle than treatment with drugs. The result is that medicines are often overused….”

What would be the impact of a grassroots buzz that could significantly motivate a population to change diet and lifestyle? What if fastfood and junkfood companies all risked bankruptcy due to lack of demand? Could those big profit companies switch quick enough to adjust? Are they perhaps already adjusting to a shift which may latently be brewing below the surface? Is it even realistic that they’d actually stop producing their empty-calorie-laden wares? Would a newly enlightened society simply accept supplementation and fortification of what already exists (and is proven to taste good)? If so, is that newly enlightened society truly “enlightened”. How and who would even define what true health and fitness is?

Could the Fortune 500 companies survive a sudden large scale shift in demand? (Note the impact of the Atkins craze on the pasta- and bread-makers.) Is such a largescale shift even possible or likely? After all, health and fitness doesn’t achieve the instant gratification as easily as, say, wolfing down hamburgers and snacks. What about the farmers and exercise gurus, could their career paths take new turns? Would the Fortune 500 companies just eat up these new income sources? Would these new income sources allow themselves to be eaten up by big business?

But realistically, can such a diet and lifestyle change on a more massive scale (no pun intended) even be sustainable in a overworked and timestarved society? Can, could, or would society make the adjustments necessary to sustain a healthier environment? How long or quick could that take to achieve? What would the profits and benefits be?

Just makes you kind of wonder what kind of a landscape change is possible and/or even likely. And this one is up to us. I don’t see this being driven by big business, though I’m sure they’ll be there as soon as they perceive profits to be made.

Reference Article: ‘Friends’ suit takes on raw tradition



Based on a CNN (AP) article posted on www.cnn.com today (and referenced above), it seems that if you are a writer that works on a writing team, a team which discusses off-color or not-so-politically-correct topics — topics that a character could potentially say, think, or do — that these discussions can be considered workplace harassment….or so this lawsuit contends.

The main issue is understanding how to find or define a “balance between creative freedom and workplace protection”. I tend to agree with the point of view that a creative process, especially one that is called out early on as being potentially explicit, and that as long as the tone and intent is not “hostile”, should be acceptable and shouldn’t be restricted. Even just the fear of restriction or potential lawsuits, I agree, can significantly stifle the creative process. But then again, the assessment of the tone and intent is highly subjective, both on the part of the assessor and the assessee. It will be interesting to see how far this makes it in the court system.

On a somewhat related note, though, if early discussions of themes and character behaviors of some of our beloved hit TV shows are so borderline offensive in their development, it does kind of make you wonder about the people that are controlling (or significantly influencing) the message and innuendos of the prime-time programming that we all simply consider to be light-hearted family-friendly sitcoms.

Well, I’ve finally made the commitment to not just read the writing of others but to also contribute my own “words of wisdom” (…I’ll let the critics determine the accuracy of that figure of speech…). So, starting today, I will document my journey to become an author. The best way to start is to just write. So, that’s the plan.

Hmh….What to write about?….Let’s see….I didn’t think I’d be at such as loss so soon…….Hmh….Grrrr….It sure would help if I had something to say, wouldn’t it?……..(Sigh)……

For all the time I spend jotting down notes to myself, clipping articles, writing down story ideas, tieing together threads of “commonalities” between several seemingly unrelated observances……that now when it comes to trying to decide what to write about, I seem to be coming up kind of blank.

I thought that writing about writing would flow fairly easily. But, not quite so.

Well, that will be my next step. With tomorrow’s update, I will decide to write about more than just writing.