ODYSSEY OR VACATION?

                                                                                 

During the last few days I have tried to raise awareness among my FB friends as to the deplorable state of services in our great nation; the scarcity of choices we have as consumers and the arrogance of corporate America; which, compounded with negligent politicians are parts of a lethal recipe.

As a fervent advocate of capitalism I'm convinced that this system does not only consist of a bunch of privileged individuals making a pile of money; but also of the inalienable rights of the people, the respect for human dignity and last but not least, our freedom to CHOSE, to decide what brand of shoes to wear, what make of car to drive, what destination to pick for our next vacations. If companies continue to disappear; if their founders sell them to banks or financial institutions, and these entities appoint presidents, general managers or CEOs that are nothing but yuppies with allegiance only to their bank accounts and a shameful lack of sensibility towards the consumer capitalism is mortally wounded. If America's proverbial and exemplary entrepreneurship drifts into mere greed and imposes the dictatorship of those who serve upon those who are supposed to be served capitalism is mortally wounded.

The infamous incident that involved United Airlines and one of its passengers has brought our attention to poor procedures; irrational methods and quasi Communist rules that we all accepted as normal. What is more; what I would call the sodomized customer syndrome is so persistent among us that even after viewing a video where the passenger is forcibly removed from the aircraft with a bleeding face a segment of the public opinion dwelled on the integrity of the customers; and the real objectives behind his stubborn refusal to be deplaned; the usual dirty trick a defense lawyer uses when his or her client is charged with rape; the defendant's attorney digs deeply into the victim's life trying to find as much filth as possible. I have even heard people I love and respect claim that albeit unfortunate, the incident is not such a big deal and that Mr Munoz, United CEO, should not be criticized for, at first, siding with his staff at O'Hare's airport only to conveniently shift his position to a more realistic approach when the pressure of the public reached a critical point. Some even say a successful career cannot be tarnished by one mistake. I have news for those friends: a brave American soldier makes one single mistakes and drives too close to an IED (improvised explosive device) he loses a limb or two and his life is ruined forever; he then comes back to the country he fought for only to find himself being pingponged from one bureaucrat to another in that torture chamber we call VA. For that brave soldier who risked his life and most likely ruined it for us there won't be a second chance; and he or she makes a fraction of Mr Munoz's millionaire salary; why should we give the arrogant CEO what life denies to our brave wounded soldiers?

It now seems that United will have a new person at he helm as of next year; yet, this article is not an attempt to assassinate someone's character, but to instill in all of us the sense of freedom and certainty that capitalism used to create in the citizenry. The sacrosanct vehicle of exchange is money; you pay for an object or a service and it becomes yours; no law or regulation should be above that criterion; the minute we allow other elements to enter the equation and challenge our ownership capitalism is mortally wounded. And in this struggle both parties are conspicuously absent. The Democrats suffocate us with thousands of regulations, Republicans oppose those regulations and probably impose some of their own; but neither party seems keen in making corporate America efficient, accountable and law abiding; or, to put it better: common sense abiding. It is time for us as consumers to fight for our rights and the true value of our hard earned money. 

In the second part of this article I will detail to my FB friends the type of nightmare two customers of mine lived after paying thousands of euros for cruising in Carnival's Glory. TO BE CONTINUED...