RadioBanter - View Single Post

January 9th 04, 04:00 AM

In article ,
(Bert Craig) writes:

Not in my opinion. IMNSHO, folks are a tad too quick to remove the
character aspect from many daily activities, both professional and
personal. How many times have you heard "It's just business, nothing
personal" or "It's unfortunate, but it's the bottom line that
matters." Usually when you hear these words, it's in conjunction with
actions that are going to adversely affect somebody's life. I've seen
folks that have put in twenty plus loyal years of some seriously hard
work for a company and get released just so the bottom line showed a
ten percent profit margin as opposed to nine. (IOW, double instead of
single digit growth.) While there are many valid "business" reasons
that can be quoted to defend this, there are some moral or "character"
issues involved here. I know it wasn't always like this and at some
point in history loyalty was rewarded with loyalty at many companies.
That's a professional example.

This sort of thing is also why CC&Rs have proliferated, and are actually
*supported* by many people. It comes from the bitter experience of
having neighbors who do not have shared community values to take
reasonable care of their properties. But ordinances and CC&Rs cannot
replace the spirit of being a good neighbor.

At 5-wpm, I don't believe for one nanosecond that Element 1 is about
forcing people to become "proficient" in a mode, whether they plan on
using it OTA or not. Perhaps 13 or 20, but certainly not 5-wpm. The
FCC actually has some references to character, Jim, N2EY has provided
an example. I personally believe that *one of* the valid cases in
favor of retaining Element 1 is that it requires an individual to
demonstrate a certain level of self-discipline that is not achieved by
cramming a published Q&A pool.

That's one way to look at it. Here's another: There are very few prospective
hams who already know enough Morse Code to pass the test. And it cannot
be learned (in most cases, anyway) by reading a book or watching a video or
doing a bit of this and that here and there. So it takes a bit of "personal
investment" by the prospective ham, and the result is a skill specific to
amateur radio. I think that specificity is what bothers some folks.

Furthermore, I think that many of the folks want to do away with the
character aspect solely to remove a valid argument against the removal
of Element 1. ("But the FCC…, but the FCC…, but the FCC…")

FCC allows all sorts of things that are not in the best interest of the ARS. In
part this is due to lack of resources.

Does anyone think that BPL can't be bad for amateur radio because FCC is
allowing it?

Was it a good thing that FCC didn't go after that pop star or the network for
saying the F-word on broadcast TV?

Just like
the professional who don't want to feel bad about "making the
unpopular decision" or following "good business practice" while
legitimately shafting good employees. So now we have a whole
generation of young folks that are prepared to enter the workplace,
possibly "earn" their way into a position where they can do some harm,
but won't care because they were taught that it's ok to step on and
use others as long as it fits a prescribed business plan. What'll it
be like in another sixty or seventy years?

What's it like now? Remember Michael Milliken - "Greed is good"? Or how about
Enron, WorldCom, etc.? Those are just the folks who got caught.

It ain't so simple, Kim…at least not to this observer. Character means
something…in all of life's aspect. A hobby and/or service called
Amateur Radio is just one of them.

Exactly.

And to those who say "Who is to be the arbiter?" the answer is simple: Anyone
who proposes requirements - or the removal of them - is being the arbiter.

73 de Jim, N2EY