ethics vs. profitability

[JohnMc]

so what you're trying to say it that you fully believe in a buyer's beware market and think that it's ok for people to be shelling out false figures and that it's the consumers fault for falling for it?

yes i do get the nigerian emails, but some people do fall for it, other wise they wouldnt exist. is it dumb, yes. but don't you think something should be done about it?

Damon, you are hoping for a society that has never existed. Many have tried, all have failed. Many varieties of evil roam the world and the best we can do is create awareness that it exists. No level of force short of death can eliminate it from the hearts of some men.

Should something be done? You can't regulate fraud away. The crooks will always be one step ahead of the law man. Sadly, in most cases in the act of attempting to stifle the endeavors of crooked men, only the honest are hampered by the laws put it place. The best that can be made is an educated public.

If profit is made unlawful, then only outlaws will have profit. The equity of exchange is between the buyer and seller. No third party can determine that fairly. If some exchanges are inequitable that is a danger society faces.

So yes I am afraid the burden is on the buyer AND the seller. You don't think some sellers aren't defrauded as well in some cases?

[JohnMc]

ande,

If I had not set up a barrelponics system a while back and toyed with ratios I would be pretty easy pickings. But I could also say that about hydroponics as well.

What I think Damon overlooks is the varibility of result. If Green Power in one crop year out of 5 did reach 1m in crop production is that fraud? I argue no. Conventional Ag has is own ups and downs year to year. If it did not there would not be much need for a commodities market.

[Damon]

john, what you just said is my basic point. trying to stop these people is pointless. the only way to help is by putting up discussion in the public eye about the scams that we are currently facing hoping a passerby sees them.

i havent tried to stop the friendly aquaponics farm after they profited off of my labor without paying me, but what i have been doing is putting my experience as to what happened to me while i was there out on the internet to warn others. have i stopped all of the people who've talked to me from going to them? probably not? but have i cost the Friendly Aquaponics farm a bunch of money in the form of people not buying their products? yes, my count just went over $100k last month... has it stopped them from trying to ensnare other people? sadly no it has not... every week or so i get emails from people that see my posts that are all over the internet in various forms just a few weeks too late, telling me that they wish that they had seen them sooner...

im not here to force them to stop, what im trying to do is 1. warn people about others that will promise facts, figures, and profits to people and leave them hanging... and 2. build threads where people can see, discuss, and bring fourth their bad experiences with those that do things unethically in the world of aquaponics.

like i've been saying and like you've just said in your last comment, it's all about awareness. you cant spank the butt of the unethical like some angry parent figure, but you can slow their stream of income down so far as to make it not worth their while to continue.

[seadogBill]

I agree with you Damon. I am basically a newbee to this technology, but I always research thourghly on any venture that I take and in all different forms of business there will be that type of ethics. I have been in Marketing for 10years and I have been a chef for the past 40 years and it is all the same. It just boils down to, just how honest you are. When we see these things happening as a christian I have to put my two cents in and even if you are not one there is still a form of ethics and integrity that everyone should show to get along with others. No matter what is done I believe in the old saying" what goes around, comes around" and it will come back and either bless you or bite you in the after life (hea! Hea!) Great Post

[GaryD]

Hi,

The important thing about holding people/corporations/politicians/institutions ethically accountable is to hold all of them accountable.......equally.

Some people want to hold some people/corporations/politicians/institutions accountable for their conduct while ignoring the ethical behaviour of others.

Such people remain part of the problem......rather than being part of the solution.

Gary

[JohnMc]

Gary on equal treatment I can certainly agree. Sad really. when communities are small and people tend to know everyone elses business and foibles steering clear of the frauds is reasonably straightforward. Simple word of mouth will do. As communities turn into large cities the paradigm does not scale. Wish it did.

[GaryD]

Hi John,

I was actually thinking about a small community......the aquaponics community.

If you do the rounds of the various AP forums, you will see forum operators (or their camp followers) accusing some people of various types of misbehaviour......while remaining silent on other equally visible misbehaviour by friends and allies......or their own misconduct.

That's what separates APHQ from the other forums. We do not discriminate when it comes to outing the bandits, the dogmatists and the bullshi*t artists.

As a fledgling industry, the aquaponics community is well-positioned to agree a code of conduct for aquaponics businesses......and to separate the voodoo from the science.

Unfortunately, some of its most influential business players are those that engage in the shoddy business practices and misinformation that make broad acceptance of such a code of conduct unlikely.

Perhaps we should collectively develop a draft Code of Conduct......and see who attaches themselves to it.

Gary

[JohnMc]

Perhaps we should collectively develop a draft Code of Conduct......and see who attaches themselves to it.

Gary

Yes, or alternately a Best Practices for Technical Excellence approach. Fellows like Dr. Lennard and Dr. Rakocy, as well as others, could point the way on that score.

[keith_r]

six sigma