I've just read your article in reply to lance in America. I believe in freedom of speech, which is why I was in Court every day for the Appeal in the McLibel issue. I believe that the libel laws (as do many, many top barristers in this country) are archaic, only for the rich (although yesterday it was announced that contingency fees have now been given the go ahead, and one top firm has taken on 32 new cases under this scheme from not-so-rich people.) Many articles are wrote in libel saying that it should be changed, and you never know, one day we may have it.
However, your article was a rather abusive one. Lance, although I feel slightly misguidedly, wrote what he felt, what he believed. He has that right, as he is a member of the human race, and has a computer. His article was the exactly the same as yours, trying to tell others what to think.I am a capitalist. A big one. The same as I am a very big meat eater. I would NEVER have the ordacity to try and tell others what to think, let alone try and become abusive about it. I'm sorry, I know you believe strongly in what you were saying, but the whole point to this web site is to pass on information, try and educate others, AND LET THEM MAKE UP THEIR MINDS.
I grew up a catholic. I still consider myself a catholic. However, I would never let any one try and stand and preach to me about what I should, or should not do. I'm gay, and I believe in birth control, especialy the condom in the face of HIV. That is why I would never go back to the catholic church.
I'm a capitalist. I always have been. I believe in letting people have a dream of making a better life for themselves. This can include opening a business and making it big. Making a better life for them, and their families.
I hate what Ray Kroc has created. Its wrong that many people are abused by the practices employed by McDonalds. For instance, THE DAY I fractured my back at work, I was asked to come into work that night because they had to change all of the shortening (fat) in the fryers because they were stopping selling Beef (Due to the BSE crisis here in the UK.) That is what I call abusive working conditions. They moaned when I had a cardiac arrest and had to take two weeks off work when I had a pace maker implanted (at 23 years old.) They had a big visit from head office. That is abusive. So, no I don't like what McDonalds is on the whole.
However, I trained a guy at McDonalds when I worked there the first time in 1990. He would have spent most of his life working in two bit jobs earning nothing. He's now a store manager, with the chance of getting a lot better jobs any where he wants. He wouldn't have been able to do that anywhere else. Most employers don't give people a chance to prove themselves and better their lives. That is one of the good things I see in McDonalds.
This is why in my last article I said that although most people would like to see McDonalds shut down world wide, I wouldn't. At a time when no one would employ me because of my heart condition, they did. I hated it, but I had a job, and didn't feel as though I was sponging off the state.
I like capitalism. Sure, its wrong for some people, but so is vegitarianism. You need a voice, and you need to believe what you believe, but please...DON'T GET NASTY ORDERING PEOPLE WHAT TO BELIEVE! Tell them what you think, and let them make up their own minds. We're all individuals, with individual ideas. If we weren't, this sure would be a crap place to be!
