Every few years in seems people treat other people very badly and for various reasons decide the best action is to eliminate them. Governments assist in the elimination and things go on in the country. For people similar to me, in seems odd that you would want to kill your neighbour just because they have a different religion, tribe, etc. In the old Star Trek series there was a group that had their faces painted black and white and one of the characters asked why are they against the others and he said to the effect I am black on the right side and white on the left, the others are white on the right side and black on the left. To the Star Trek personnel, they both looked the same. In the last 20 years the world has seen many examples in Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Cambodia and many other countries have either eliminated or did their best to do so.

In the genocide in Europe where Hitler’s forces implemented the final solution or the elimination of Jewish people, as well as those that were not deemed strong enough for the new race – handicapped, those with epilepsy (full disclosure as a young person I took drugs for epilepsy), mental problems, etc. The German policy towards the social services was likely not good if you were a patient. One of the few who helped saved hundreds of Jews avoid the concentration camp was Oskar Schindler and trying to understand why has been a great mystery. A book called Oskar Schindler and the His List edited by Thomas Fensch, Paul S Eriksson Publisher Forest Dale, Vermont, 1995 tried to answer some of the questions. Many people such as myself had heard or knew the name Oskar Schindler through the film Schindler’s List. We went to watch and thought it was was good that someone did something and went back to our lives. When we hear of the genocides in the world, sometimes we wonder would we do something? would we have participated with the approval of the government? In the book, Mr. Schindler is not a flattering character he was pro-Nazi, owned a plant to gain government contracts to both enrich himself and use “slave or very inexpensive” labour. However he ended up saving the lives of over 1,100 people and no one really knows why. Perhaps that is good thing, for it shows all of us that we can use the resources we have to do the right thing.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, as a shareholder you want the company you own shares in to make a profit and pay the dividends. In many companies the salaries expense is a large one and finding efficient and productive means to lower it is a very worth while goal. In the company the author works for we have share bonus program which the company contributes to what we buy in owning shares, perhaps that is a good method not to go after the slave labour market. All companies must balance the information they receive and the demands of the world, and every year it seems to get both easier and more complex, but doing the right thing is a good thing.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions