Culture of entitlement

[desA]

A recent example:

1. A large group wants to divest out of a particular product line.
2. A small consortium (closed corporation) is formed to manufacture the product & sell it into this group, who then focus purely on marketing & selling said product.
3. In order to build a trading profile & eventually spin the CC into a standalone venture, it uses an existing CC to do its invoicing & payments (an incubated venture).
4. Members as follows : invoicing CC - 100% member A; incubated CC - wife of member A / member B / member C
5. Wife of member A is a qualified book-keeper & keeps the books for the invoicing CC.
6. Member C calls for a Trial Balance of the incubated CC's books - takes some 4 months before figures are released. Major irregularities obvious.
7. Presses for clarification, to allow tax year-end closure, only to be told after some 5 months of trading that business is 'dormant'.
8. Keeps pressing for further clarity - cannot penetrate through the wall set up by invoicing CC's (member A) & incubated CC's wife of member A & member B.
9. All trading funds have never reached incubated CC's bank account, but remained in invoicing CC.
10. The invoicing CC's Member A has essentially hijacked the incubated CC - in total - with the assistance of his wife & member B of the incubated CC.
11. The story gets more involved... for another day.
12. The matter is now being resolved by attorney/advocates.
13. SA law is an ass & has no reasonable remedy to solve the matter.
14. Court cases would take up to 3 years to complete.
15. A clear case of fraud you may say? Well, even if a full docket was presented to SAPS by an independent consultant, it is unlikely it would even be opened in 3 years - if at all.

The absolute irony of the whole situation is as follows:
a. Member C of the incubated CC is a technology guru, who has now with-held further technical support until matter resolved.
b. Incubated CC now dying - leading to loss of jobs.
c. Member C had a raft of new technologies about to be implemented in the incubated CC - these have been shelved.
d. The incubated CC is now dying, since, without member C, it cannot design new systems, or quote on said.

Attempting to run a high-tech operation in SA is fraught with incredible difficulties. A total waste of time. Spooning from the edges - indeed...

Was the invoicing CC's member A entitled to the moneys from the incubated CC, or was he merely marauding? This fellow has actually convinced his wife & Member B of incubated CC, that he is entitled to the moneys he has hijacked. He really does...

Miro Bagrov, you are correct - in my view.

[Dave A]

The progression of the argument from entitlement to marauding is an eye-opener

Yep - my thought exactly.

In fact it was your first post in this thread that really introduced the uncomfortable thought - even though the connection wasn't immediately obvious at that point.

I'm probably going to put this badly, but this is about the best way I can think of to explain what I see has gone wrong here:

Getting robbed is a miserable, unfair experience.
There's a clear fork in the road when it comes to the product of this experience.

You can either go:

• "I have been a victim of this unfair event - this is so unfair and miserable, I'm not going to do this to anyone else and be the cause of similar suffering to others" and conduct your affairs accordingly, or
• "I have been a victim of this unfair event - this is so unfair and miserable that I am therefor entitled to do the same to others" and conduct your affairs accordingly.

During the Rainbow Nation period we seemed to have chosen the first option.
But we've steadily drifted across to the second option.
And by ever increasing degrees.

It starts out as "it's OK to compensate for your losses this way", but it's the thin edge of the wedge and over time has grown in ever more vicious circles to a perfectly valid way to get ahead.

[desA]

It starts out as "it's OK to compensate for your losses this way", but it's the thin edge of the wedge and over time has grown in ever more vicious circles to a perfectly valid way to get ahead.

Is this trend reversible? If so, how would this be done?

I have the impression that many folks have considered that the point of no return has been passed some years ago.

With a SAPS that is totally incompetent, & disinterested - with a legal system that is an ass - with a country with little, or no social contract & ever-decreasing moral/ethics - how would this trend be reversed?

[Dave A]

Is this trend reversible?

Miro's first post in this thread shows anything's undoable...

If so, how would this be done?

... although hopefully not through the anarchy he points to

Ultimately it was my concern that there's a growing list of things that might only be undone with significant social upheaval that got me raising the issue in the first place. I foresee a "Thatcher vs the unions" level moment as a bare minimum.

I have the impression that many folks have considered that the point of no return has been passed some years ago.

Let's hope not. At the very least, if we're to stand a chance of reversing the trend without too much social distress, we need to stop the rot as soon as possible.

And the first step is to haul out the problem and where it's coming from into the light.

[Didditmiself]

I was at the Securex Expo at Gallagher Estate on Wednesday. Besides all the innovative companies there, what caught my eye was the number of Chinese ones. Why is it that if you have a business, you are compelled to employ a certain amount of people from the different race groups otherwise you can forget about tendering for state and quasi state enterprises. But it looks like the Chinese don't seem to have this problem. I don't know of any of them that are BBBEE rated, yet the majority of stuff the government purchases is Chinese and the companies' in SA only seem to employ Chinese? And there is no sense of entitlement with the Chinese or Asian or European. But only African.
What can be done to reverse the tide (as Dave asked)? It seems not a lot because in the minds of the culprits, the sense of entitlement is so entrenched that it will lead to all out confrontation (read civil war). It starts at the top; if we were to have a decisive leader who is unblemished, unafraid and determined to lead the country to prosperity and not go into politics for his/her own end, it would go a helluva long way towards solving the problem. No cadre deployment. Severe penalties for corruption. Quick firing of lazy and wasteful employees etc etc. Look at the female President in (I think it's in Kenya) who got rid of her executive jet and now flies in a state aeroplane. Or David Cameron who travels by bicycle to work. But Zuma must have a new jet because it's got 500 hours on the clock. 500 hours! Bloody things' hardly run in. Sense of entitlement. Nkandla costing millions and millions of tax payers' money. Entitlement. Increase in salary despite poor work performance. Entitlement. The whole of the ANC Cabinet is filled with a sense of entitlement - there are one or two exceptions, of course!
Blurock you say just blaming others does not change anything, you say it starts with me. I think it starts with the leader. And then the others will follow the change. It's no good if we change but the leader stays the same but is too greedy to change.

[Blurock]

I know of a startup business, manufacturing SABS approved equipment used by local government. They are creating local jobs and skills, yet the monkeypalities prefer to buy an inferior product at the same price imported from China. Is it because of the built in bribe?!!

[SSS100]

Yes, go ahead and expose them..its killing the ecomony

[Dave A]

I suppose here's as good a place as any to post this...

Kenny Kunene’s letter to Zuma

[Blurock]

I suppose here's as good a place as any to post this...

Kenny Kunene’s letter to Zuma

It is sad, but I have to agree that people are starting to realise that the emperor has no clothes...

[vieome]

It is sad, but I have to agree that people are starting to realise that the emperor has no clothes...

In my humble opinion that never really matters in Africa. For the emperors soon start to send their dogs to keep the poor subjects in order and always seeing their imaged cloaks. For over 30 years a naked emperor has ruled one African state. The Baton is mightier then the truth.

We eat for you, we live for you, we think for you, we drink for you. All you got to do is, stay ignorant and vote for us. We are the entitled, we are so entitled that we don't have to take any responsibility for your suffering, cause our fingers will always point to the true cause of your suffering, the past.

[adrianh]

We eat for you, we live for you, we think for you, we drink for you. All you got to do is, stay ignorant and vote for us. We are the entitled, we are so entitled that we don't have to take any responsibility for your suffering, cause our fingers will always point to the true cause of your suffering, the past.

Did you pen this yourself?

[vieome]

Did you pen this yourself?

Most of it, except the the following 2 lines We eat for you, we live for you
That is from some Russian Cartoon that was in some History book I read,

[adrianh]

I think that it is absolutely brilliant. I'm going to add it to my collection of quotes.