DOES YOUR JOB WANT U ALIVE OR DEAD?

corporate owned insurance... also referred to as "dead peasants insurance" (dpi) or "janitor insurance".


its been going on for 50+ years but has been recently popularized by michael moore's 2009 doc, Capitalism: A Love Story. for those of u who haven't seen his movie, there is a portion of it that basically discusses how blue chip corporations like wal-mart and winn dixie have been taking out life insurance policies on their terminally ill employees (cashiers... tellers... janitors) without the employee's or their family's knowledge... when said employee passes, then the company cashes in. making anywhere from a few thousand to a few million. in the doc, moore talks with families who feel jilted cause they're left with numerous hospital bills & debt, while the big wigs are collecting from their loved one's death.

well, i've learned over time to question everything...

i began researching dpi and discovered its roots... the technical term for the type of ins that corporations take out on employees is: corporate owned ins (COI). it was created so that in the event of a major executive passing, the company wouldn't suffer any losses. the ins pay off would allow the company to make up for any profit loss the executive would've normally made, and it pays for the company to find & train a replacement.

but it begs the question: why take out ins on low level, low wage employees? who's passing doesn't cost the company a dime!

i found a discussion on this topic @ http://bsalert.com/artsearch.php?fn=2&dt=1&as=2556...
on it, one of the dudes who works @ an ins company that represents winn dixie gets to talking. his response to this article was the first i had found of its kind. everything else i found supports what moore discloses in his doc. but this guy, lawrence jay kramer, says that what i've come to believe is only half true. (i included my two cents to that website because i just can't keep my mouth shut)... in a separate blog that he wrote (http://tinyurl.com/yld2sfc), he basically tells us what he claims to be the whole truth...

* he agrees that corps. take out ins on their employees...

* because the money spent on ins policies are tax-free, he says that that is the only reason these company's take out COI...

* his claim is that company's like winn dixie and wal-mart actually benefit more the longer their employees are alive because of the tax breaks... because they don't actually get to keep any of the money that is paid to them as the employee's beneficiary, in the event the employee passes away...

* he states that the money awarded to the corporations as beneficiaries has to go back to the ins company in the form of more premiums (so basically this means that the corporation is forced to use the money to take out MORE COI on other terminally ill employees).

i don't kno if what this guy is saying is true... he could be full of poo for all we know...

i do, however, realize that what he's saying can be confusing so let me break it down differently:

in my example i, roxy, will be the corporation... lets say i hire a massage therapist... the massage therapist will represent the employee of the corporation...

i hire a massage therapist who has cancer... i take out life insurance on him because i know i'll get a tax break for doing so... i'm basically getting a back rub and tax breaks at the same time... seems like quite the deal so far. i can understand why the corporations want their employees to stay alive, lol...

my massage therapist passes away... my tax break goes away too... boo hoo!

as my massage therapist's beneficiary, i get a pay out because of his passing... but oh no! i'm forced to give the money back to the insurance company for more premiums =(

what should i do? i got it! i'll hire another massage therapist! and a manicurist too! i use the money from my 1st massage therapist to pay for the premiums on my new therapist and manicurist... wow... still extremely win/win for me because i'm getting double the tax break @ the price of my first employee =)

i'll never have to pay for another COI again... as my employees die, the insurance company gives me money to take out more COIs... so i end up with lots of fun tax breaks...


eh... so anyway... that's what i've found in my research of "dead peasant insurance", (btw, in lawrence's blog he talks about where he thinks that term was coined)

i think it sucks... even when employees are fully aware that they're are allowing their jobs to do this... i think there is a moral line that is being crossed... but this is america, so what's new...


let me know what u think =)

HMMMM...

RELIGION IS THE STRONGEST PRISON I KNOW

please... thank you... may i... ma'am... sir... excuse me... smile... hand shake... politeness... courtesy...

lived my life w manners... always believed that we, as only human, are allowed to feel differently about different topics... that no matter how stupid your opinion might be, its your opinion and u are entitled to it. i'd keep my ideas to myself in an attempt to avoid conflict. i'd never in a million years express my black sheep ideals and conclusions on what's going on in this world we're subjected to... just keep my place and hopefully blend into the background at the same time

well, after years of exploring my individuality w multiple hair colors, piercing, tattoos, music and jobs that would make some blush, i've developed a new outlook on things... a sort of elitist attitude if u will... i began to feel like i had this inside peek at the real reality of our times and began to seriously disagree w the institutionalized beliefs we've been force fed our whole lives.

i began to form strong opinions on politics... relationships... social conformity... and most importantly to me, religion.

i grew up a christian... even went to south bay christian school in san diego as a kid. always believed that the bible was the true word of god. became a real religious freak in high school. i believed what the church told me about speaking in tongues and catching the holy ghost. i devoted everyday of my life to staying involved with people who i thought were of god. ignoring all the adultery and theft that went on. all of the backstabbing behavior. damn, i lost my best friend after starting church full time. but even with all of that i thought there was something there. it wasn't until i started realizing how much money the church was making off of my 10% of minimum wage... started seeing that people of the church had totally divient lives outside of those four walls... something was not adding up...

a couple sundays, out of curiousity, i visited a mosque... and while i'm sitting in the service it hit me like ike to tina... here i am... among people who will die or kill for there religion... and next sunday when i'm back at my christian church i will again be among people who are willing to die or kill for a completely different religion... just doesn't make sense that god would be so shallow as to say that there is only one way to believe and that everyone else is going to burn eternally in this proverbial Hell.

years of self discovery and research later, and i find myself here... on this planet with crazy strong convictions and not afraid of pissing anyone off... and willing to shout on a mountain top that organized religion is a ploy by the government to gain power and money and to instill a false sense of security (and fear) to those willing to fall prey.

through my years of questioning and never being satisfied w the rehearsed answers, i've landed here on this blog.

i believe in a higher power, however, i do not believe in organized religion... it's called Deism. it was here before man started creating all of this hocus pocus scripture nonsense and it'll be here when all the aforementioned is long gone... if u believe in a higher power i can assure u that u will not find his (or her) word in a bound book of man written stories... there is nothing that can make me believe that my higher power would be so stupid as to entrust his word w man... leave it vulnerable to misinterpretation and and subject to alteration.

one of our founding fathers, thomas paine, says in his book "The Age of Reason":

"my own mind is my own church... all national institutions of churches, whether jewish, christian or turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize money and power.

i do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as i have to mine. but it is neccessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. infidelity does not consist in believing, or disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe."

and i agree...

listen, i'm not gonna start arguments with people who believe differently than i do, but if asked i have no choice but to be painfully honest about how i feel. there are other things more important than organized religion. and i'm glad i've realized that before its too late.

PROPAGANDA

The one you feed

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

(artwork from neurosis 2009 european tour)