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What comes to mind when you think about the 4th of July holiday?  It is a long weekend for many of us, so that’s notable.  It is a time for celebration, family, picnics, three-legged races, parades and fireworks.

Some other thoughts came to mind as I was planning to put together this 4th of July post.  The state of the world right now seems to generate more thinking than usual.

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”                  ~John F. Kennedy

I don’t remember the exact speech where Kennedy made that statement, but that quote encapsulates the thought I had about the freedoms we share in America.  We’re certainly not perfect, but I am fiercely loyal, and quickly feel the fire of wanting to protect our way of life against all odds.

“A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The dictionary defines virtue in a couple different ways:  1. moral excellence; goodness; righteousness, and 2. conformity of one’s life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness.

(The last word in that definition is rectitude.  I decided to leave it out cause then I’d have to look up yet one more definition )

I do believe we’ve lost a lot of our virtue, and I’m hoping we get it back.  Before our liberty stops subsisting well. You know what I’m talking about.  The real estate industry has suffered a lot due to lack of virtue, also known as greed.

Earlier this year, CNN Money reported the following:

• According to the AFL-CIO, in 1980, CEOs at the largest companies received 42 times the pay of the average worker. In 2000 the gap hit a high, with CEOs making 525 times the average worker.
• In 2010, the gap narrowed with CEOs making 343 times the average worker…

“Back in the day”, companies really cared about their employees.  Management saw themselves as having a huge responsibility to make sure the company was not only profitable for its shareholders, but to make sure the employees were treated well, and to carry out their business in a way that served their customers honorably.

What every happened to that idea?  There are tons of examples.  Here’s the latest one I just came across as described in “Slate” magazine:

• A drug called 17P has been on the market since before 1962, when the FDA started requiring drug companies to test their drugs as part of the FDA approval process.  It is used to prevent premature births.
• The FDA is now asking companies making drugs that haven’t been tested before to complete that process.
• The testing for 17P was not complicated, and no research was required.
• Can you get 17P now?  NO!  The drug is now called Makena, renamed due to its FDA approval, evidently.
• The drug called 17p cost $15 per dose.
• The drug called Makena originally cost $1440 per dose, but due to a general outcry, the company reduced the price to $690.
• A full course of treatment using Makena still costs a wallet-busting $14,000.

Where is the virtue in that pricing structure?  Who does that benefit except the drug manufacturer?  And, who benefits within that manufacturer – you got it, the CEO, not the person working the line.

So, I’m hoping lots of people step back this 4th of July and think about virtue.

My last thought is about the military.  Well, hopefully not my last thought of all time, but at least about this 4th of July.

Our freedom has been won and protected by a long line of US military and their families, and I’m forever grateful.

I wish you all a very happy 4th of July!

Enjoy – And, Keep Thinking!!!!

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