Hank.Walker@GAUSS.ECE.CMU.EDU (11/11/86)
If I buy a car, is it okay for me to have a mechanic inspect it first? If I buy a house, can a contractor look it over? When I make an investment, it seems only reasonable to me that I should be able to inspect the goods sufficiently to satisfy myself that I'm getting what I'm paying for. In some cases we rely on trust and past experience. I don't taste a Coke before buying it. On the other hand, I don't know this job applicant from Adam. I am about to make a major investment in the applicant, so I think I have the right to find out whether they have AIDS, terminal cancer, are alcoholic, use drugs, or any other habits that will increase the risk of my investment. These conditions may not affect the performance of the person on the job, but they may mean that I can't amortize my investment. -------
jon@seismo.CSS.GOV@gaia.UUCP (01/02/87)
Hank.Walker@GAUSS.ECE.CMU.EDU writes: > If I buy a car, is it okay for me to have a mechanic inspect it > first? If I buy a house, can a contractor look it over? This, in my mind, implies that you are treating people the same way you treat cars and houses -- as property. A car has no privacy to be invaded. When you buy a house, you have done just that: *bought* it. You own it. I suppose that if you regard an employee as another object to be owned, then your point of view makes a little bit of sense. I don't know about you, but I am not owned by anybody but me, and the details of what I do with my body are my own business. > These > conditions may not affect the performance of the person on the job, > but they may mean that I can't amortize my investment. While you're at it, you had better check up on the state of their marriage; you never know what might happen during a divorce. I guess you really should make sure they don't do anything crazy like mountain climbing or bicycle-riding -- people die that way all the time, and you may not be able to "amortize" your investment. Check their driving record -- speeding kills too. Make sure they don't have any enemies. This sort of list can go on forever, and I really don't see where you draw the line between this sort of snooping and drug testing. The local Anheuser-Busch (sp?) brewery is instituting drug tests. Given the business that they are in, can you really imagine that drugs concern them? -- Jonathan Corbet {hao | nbires}!gaia!jon -------
zhahai@seismo.CSS.GOV@gaia.UUCP (01/05/87)
Hank.Walker@GAUSS.ECE.CMU.EDU writes: (In support of drug testings, AIDS testing, etc. for prospective employees): > > If I buy a car, is it okay for me to have a mechanic inspect it > first? If I buy a house, can a contractor look it over? <...> If you buy a person, isn't it OK to check them out? Why stop at drug tests, do a personality test, political check, racial background check, etc. to protect your investment and make sure you can amortize it. I really do appreciate you being so clear about your attitudes, since all of your analogies are with objects without civil rights; apparently the only difference between hiring a human and buying a coke is that you have a better idea how the coke is going to turn out. I think your frankness is wonderful; you have expressed the true core of your differences from those who promote human and civil rights better than any opponent would have dared, in fear of slandering you. Zhahai Stewart -------