MissMittens
One Too Many
- Messages
- 1,628
- Location
- Philadelphia USA
This is why I buy locally-grown food where possible, use a diesel as my daily driver, and buy used furnishings and computers.....and always pay cash
OK, so that's three you applied to, (perhaps more if I am reading the ellipses correctly) but you said two banks turned you down. What happened at the third?
I don't know if I understand your question. For example, many pencil pushers just do stuff like work for the phone company and send out the bills. Or take customer complaints etc. The point is that for Joe average pencil pusher, there isn't any opportunity to change someone's life. It that is the problem you are referring to, it might not really be a widespread problem...
This is true to a point - no single cog in the machinery can control the overall outcome. Corporate work is designed that way specifically - for good reasons, and otherwise.
Say you're talking about a health insurance claim -
1. Doctor renders service
2. Nurse interprets and files notes
3. Claims Coders file claims
4. Data Entry clerk keys claim
5. Provider Credentialling Department ensures active provider contract for claims submission
6. Membership Department verifies active member contract
7. Claims Examiner interprets any denial edits and payment codes
8. Claim Adjudication/Financial Clerk processes any payments and to whom, checks are cut
9. Mail Services/Printing Warehouse issue payment and remittance advice
10. Customer Service Call Center Clerk fields any questions regarding claim adjudication
11. Medical Records Review requests and processes any records for adjustment of denials
12. Special Investigations Unit investigate suspicious patterns...
And the list goes on. That is a machine with many moving parts. A membership clerk cannot be expected to override a medical records denial - it's outside of their scope. Yet, they may have the power to grant/deny coverage based on "pre-existing conditions". You see what I mean?
The way I resisted was by never going into that line of work in the first place. Sure you make more money by living the corporate life, sure a mortgage broker will always make more money than a small-town theatre manager, but at what cost?
Ideally, I would like to be a full time writer one day, but that's probably not realistic. Either way, in my eyes, success was best defined by Bob Dylan: "A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to." That is what I'd like to accomplish. It has absolutely nothing to do with the size of your house or what car you drive or how "cool" you are.
Yes. This is what I want to do, too. If I can swing it, I want to work at home most of the time as a writer, and maybe get a part-time job or work as a volunteer at a museum just to get out and around people. Will it happen? Who knows. I don't need or want a fancy house or a fancy car or name-brand furniture. Doesn't matter to me in the least. What DO I want financially? The ability to pay my bills without wondering which ones I should juggle around for the month, the ability to travel, and a nice nest egg. I really don't care to be a millionaire. Though if I win the lottery, I won't complain!
This discussion reminds me of the typical plot of a Frank Capra movie. A bit naive but charming and very very idealistic.
[video=youtube_share;UP0MSt5g5WQ]http://youtu.be/UP0MSt5g5WQ[/video]
By an odd coincidence today at the public library I started reading a book on honesty or trust and prosperity. The conclusion was that the countries with the highest level of honesty and trust were the most prosperous and the countries with the most corruption, bribery, crime and general crookedness were the most backward and poor.
Economists who have made a study of the subject claim there is a direct correlation. Where public trust is lacking, business is stymied at every turn. People are less happy, less efficient, more suspicious and pretty much worse off in every way.
American banker J.P. Morgan considered character the number one criterion for making a loan. There were other criteria of course, but if character was lacking there was very little chance of him approving a loan no matter what else the borrower had.
Unfortunately if public trust is the indicator of the prosperity of the nation, a lot of developed nations' governments and corporations are in deep trouble.
Indeed. A man who made his early fortune selling defective guns to the Army, and bought his way out of the Civil War is hardly qualified to judge anyone's character.