What’s An Acceptable Loss?

Years ago, when I was earning my degree in business, I did quite a bit of studying how businesses operated; what drives them, what sustains them, and how they go from good to great. It’s all very fascinating. Seeing how businesses operate can be truly eye-opening. It will often excite you to the point of desiring to have your own or cause you to dread the thought of ever working for one. The reason for this can be found in the case studies that reveal how many of them think. Businesses can reveal the heart or minds of their leadership. The impact that they can have on the community in which they reside can be a great blessing or a great curse.

In studying some businesses, I learned something called “cost/benefit ratios.” It’s where a business will do an analysis within the organization to determine whether something is worth continuing or if they’re better off ending it to do something else. An example of this is the case of the Ford Pinto. Back in the 1960’s, Ford faced an issue with the Pinto which was one of their compact vehicles which were low-cost to consumers. The issue involved a design flaw that did not meet the safety standards set by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

It’s well known that at that time, not every business had an established policy for ethical standards. Ford happened to be one of these companies. They weighed the cost of making the necessary upgrades for making improvements to the Pinto versus the cost of human safety and loss. They decided then that it was more to their benefit to not make those upgrades and pay any punitive and compensatory damages.

The issue that Ford faced became a learning curve for them as a corporation and a topic for ethical debates for business students for decades to follow. However, we must continue to raise the question of “What’s an acceptable loss?” It’s horrible to think that companies like Ford would or could put a price tag on the potential loss of life for consumers and their families. However, it is something that needs to be pondered considering recent events.

If you have been paying attention to current events, you can see that there are many companies in both the healthcare industry and Big Pharma that have obviously done their own assessments as it relates to situations surrounding medical practices and vaccinations. Former President Barack Obama admitted that the public was used as guinea pigs to clinically test the vaccine.

If that weren’t enough, the companies that many people work for decided that they were willing to sacrifice employees that did not wish to have the companies they worked for dictate their health choices and decisions. There are over a dozen food suppliers that have experienced massive fires and other forms of destruction to processing plants this year which all coincide with existing increased energy expenses, global energy shortages, and global supply chain issues.

You must ask yourself whether the reports of these food industry fires and other destructive incidents are intended as a matter of corporate assessments of an acceptable loss to continue an agenda or simply a massive coincidence. However, if you err on the side of coincidence, you must then ask yourself how many incidents must occur before the number of coincidences becomes statistically impossible?

Yet, ask yourself, what is an acceptable loss for you? Are you willing to accept what others deem acceptable or do you believe that a higher ethical and even moral standard must be required? The recent ruling by the Supreme Court to overturn Roe V Wade was an opportunity to let the states determine what is an acceptable loss of life. Thirteen states immediately announced on that same day that they will not accept abortion as an acceptable loss.

It’s interesting to note that it was 13 states that initiated the reformation following the Judicial decision. It was the same number of states that began this nation strongly believing that it should be “one nation under God!” Although it is not the same 13 states, it is a signifying number representing a foundation for a change to the status quo. It’s time that we determine to shift the culture in a direction that says there are certain things that we refuse to accept as an acceptable loss.