Yushui Village in Lijiang, Yunnan, with snow mountain backdrop and cascading waterfalls.
3/29/2011
Is there a witch hunt going on?
Witches used to be burnt at the stake by honourable men in the medieval age. Today, with Harry Potter and his school of witchcraft gaining acceptance, the last thing we want to hear is the burning of witches. Witchcraft is a special craft practiced by a select group of very talented individuals called witches and wizards. Their skills are in great demand if they are good, like mediums and bomohs. The distinction is how good are they.
A really good witch or wizard can command any price as they are able to bring someone back from death. They have life and death skills and with the riches willing to pay to save their lives, the witches and wizards can literally write their own pay checks.
This is nothing new. In every profession, the so called very good ones are writing their own pay checks everyday. It is a free economy, laissez faire. What is wrong with writing your own paycheck on a willing buyer willing seller basis? It is pure business and contractual. If the buyer does not want the price go somewhere else. If a witch is that good, just name the price and tell the customer to take it or leave it.
There are no rules or regulations or norms to say a witch cannot charge a million or 4 million bucks. Is there? Did someone say cannot? 1 million or 4 million is too high a price to pay? If I were a very good old wizard, I will simply say this is how good I am, and this is my price. No further explanation needed, and neither do I need to give any excuses. As a good wizard, I can even charge 1m for a visit, no matter whether I dispense any medicine, advice or witchcraft. That is how good I am and I know that those who need my service will come to me.
Can or not?
Walau! This article kills two birds with one stone.
ReplyDeleteMe will not blame the witchcraft 'professionals' If they are not casting spells and or are the causes of the ills.
ReplyDeleteHowever, we do know that many willingly submit to the crafts of the witches(both genders). Some willingly pay with their bodies and or bodies of their kins, drink potion that cure or empower them etc. There are also many just not happy with what they have but want only the ultimate in kinds.
My conclusion as an atheist is that no witch can cast any spell, only bully and man with power to abuse can force others to submit.
Willing party with choices to pick but chooses to want the best cannot blame others for their own decisions.
patriot
"Laissez faire" and "free society" are values which require constant effort on the part of individuals to attain and maintain. They are not, and never have been: AUTOMATIC!
ReplyDeleteIt has always been my point to never any claim without evidence. This applies at the societal as well as the personal level in areas of opinion as well as claims regarding aspects of the economy.
Capitalism and liberal republican democracy require CONSTANT HARD CRITICISM, and thankfully that is possible because we have free speech on the internet, even if we don't in the real world.
Therefore I support any witch hunt -- which, if you remove the 'emotional language" means simply SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE TO JUSTIFY YOUR OUTRAGEOUS CLAIM
It is a given that those who earn big will defend their positions. It is also understandable that those who don't earn big and actually are paying for those "big-timers" will want some form of "justice" even if it only is "answers".
That's healthy -- both on the personal and societal levels.
Wah, fantastic.
ReplyDeleteOld witches hunting for new witches.
I am the best barber in town. My price is $1000 per cut. Customers can come and get their hair cut. Happy come back for more cuts. Not happy, don't come.
ReplyDeleteIt is just my style of cutting. What is there to justify. The value is in the cutting, which is subjective.
Tomorrow, I not happy, I raise my price to $2000 per cut. Want come don't want don't come.
Free enterprise at its best. You mean association is going to tell me that I cannot charge $2000? The customers are the ones who decide whether my price is reasonable to them.
No, the association is going to ask you to charge more, because the members can have a benchmark to follow. Every barber from the association will be very busy sharpening their knives and scissors.
ReplyDeleteJust like the medical and dental associations forbidding their members from charging below a certain amount. Why it is not good for doctors and dentist to charge lower fees, if they want to, is beyond my understanding.
A 'bawah sikit' haircut used to cost about $8. Then came the foreign barbers charging $3.50, with many outlets springing up all over the island. Now, the price of a 'lagi bawah sikit' haircut has dropped to $2.50, almost the same as the good old days.
Thank you for your support. Now I see why benchmark is important and why it is good to have high benchmarks.
ReplyDeleteActually ah, if I am so famous as a barber, oops, cannot call myself barber, should be crowning glory specialist, people would be willing to pay me just to have dinner with me.
Tiger Woods was paid something like US$2m just to play in a tournament or 16 hours of playing golf. Why no one complains that he is overcharging? Who is the authority to say someone is overcharging? The service of an unusual talent is priceless.
I hope we don't force our top talents to go somewhere else. Today it is all about how talented is the talent being able to charge. The higher the talent can charge, the more will be the demand for the talent's services.