HORSESHOE NEGOTIATOR
Once upon a time, I crossed the pathway of a conciliator in industrial relations. He portrays the middle-man. He is approaching to retirement and has worked in many industries. I simply call him the negotiator. He is essential in maintaining a harmonious environment between 2 parties in conflict. I wanted his input regarding ethics.
I asked: «Why choose industrial relations?»
He responded: «A very long time-ago, before the dominance of the digital world, we mostly heard about conventional jobs such as education, law and psychology. I had completed psychometric assessments in high-school but could not imagine myself in conventional jobs. One day, while I was still in my teenage years, there was a union strike and my bus transit took 4 times more than usual so it had impacted my entire day. It had me thinking how these people on the streets with flags advocating their rights had a direct impact on society. I was just a teenager and had no idea what unions meant. So, I spoke to the career advisor in high-school and she proposed that I pursue a bachelor to become a negotiator. Now, approaching to retirement, I look back at a career that helped me evolve in many ways.»
I asked: «What is the relationship between horseshoe and negotiator?»
He responded: «When I was a kid, I used to live in a village and our neighbor owned a horse farm. Back in the day, I became gifted at riding horses but it eventually became a very expensive upscale sport and I could not afford competitions. As I grew older as a teenager, I eventually wanted to explore other activities and sports so I let the talent go. I had learned something very valuable in my lonely world as a small kid in nowhere land surrounded by horses. How you breed and groom a horse will reflect your inner truth. I sometimes felt that I was dealing with my demeanor twin and a mirror reflection of my tantrums! It shaped my mind for my future career. As a negotiator, I always remind both parties that how you treat the adversary will be a mirror reflection of how you will get treated down the pathway. So, watch your mouth and your footstep before getting yourself kicked by a horseshoe.»
I asked: «Have you experienced aggression and hostile events?»
He responded: «Yes! I have moved around in various industries. I have witnessed aggressions in various forms: verbal, physical via attacks directed to a colleague or a manager, hostages locked in a manufacturing plant, barricades, blackmail, explosions, etc….There is a lot of action in my job.»
I asked: «Have about the technology sector?»
He responded: «Some technology subsections are relatively new with less data from academia and research firms regarding employee-organization and team-organization relationships compared to traditional job labor sectors. I do have friends who work for multinational tech companies and there are challenges just like any sector.»
I asked: «How does a nation keep its economy balanced in terms of job sector?»
He responded: «As a negotiator who has moved around in various sectors, a balanced economy relies on job diversification. We need jobs in various domains just like we need people capable of occupying jobs in these domains. There will always be shifts in job sectors depending on new advancements and developments but underfitting or overfitting jobs can lead to hazardous moves in the long-run.»
I asked: «As a man approaching retirement and a father of grown kids, what do you envision as a balanced nation?»
He responded: «I want people at work, I do not want kids on the streets, I want the vulnerable safe and offered social programs to lift them from their distress, I want healthy people at all ages, I want educational programs with placement, I want a society aware of what goes on in the world and I want people to feel safe and not have their freedom of speech jeopardized. I have a saying: If people are not mentally and physically occupied then they become preoccupied. To keep people productive, people need to have jobs and apt to keep their kids off the streets. I want a social system with little disparity that can be an example to all nations.»
I asked: «Do you believe in retirement?»
He responded: «Yes! In developed countries, we are privileged to have a system in place that leads to a form of retirement. The life pace is not the same as in other countries. I think it is good to eventually step back and groom the younger generation to take the lead. In some developing and emerging countries, there is often no retirement system in place. I am aware that the pace of life is not the same but one must always be aware of what goes in the world to not take anything for granted.»
I asked: «As a negotiator, how to do you view the current turmoil in the Arabian Peninsula?»
He responded: «As a negotiator, I abide by law. If international humanitarian law states this and that then I instruct the party to follow rules. I would have lost my job if I had used the claim that I have the right to defend myself while disobeying international rules. I see an action-reaction but no strategy: An assault group stamped as terrorists perpetrated a new country and the new country has promptly reacted but did not abide to wartime rules. I see a crisis situation declared war and I do not think countries can systematically respond to all crisis situations with wars. I have been through hostage, barricade and savage situations including explosives in my career but I always had to take a step back to verify studies regarding similar events and request expertise advice from committees to ensure that my response is proportionate and bound to international rules. I see a problem here because the crisis became the deadliest for international humanitarian civilians acting in bona fide. As a citizen in this country, I could not imagine disobeying wartime rules to blow up buildings that wipe out thousands of kids under the pretense that they gave their consent to play steel armors. Yes, both parties have faults but correcting a fault with another fault does not lead to a right strategy.»
He added: «Some wars have already been fought by previous nations which led to wartime rules. I do not see how a new country hiding under the mask of technology sector is ethically advanced when many international organizations declared it an apartheid state. I do not think it is designed to become a major player in the Middle East when millions of people are living on their streets and children, men as well as women are confined in prisons to be judged under military law. There have been terror attacks in developed countries and I think leaving millions on the streets is a catalyst to more attacks rather than less attacks. There is nothing ethically wrong in expressing one's view regarding a military strategy: It is neither antisemitic nor terrorist. Some words are easily pitched out.»
I asked: «Do you worry about the North-American liaison regarding its proximity to the Arabian Peninsula conflict?»
He responded: «As a father to grown-up kids and a senior-age man, I see the breeding of a wild horse gone loose! We can sarcastically blame the wind for it! One party will end up with a spine and hip injury while the other party ran loose to a trajectory not aligned with international rules. I personally see no consolation at old-age being thanked with a cane while my horse breaks loose to discover the world wildly with my retirement pension.»
I responded: «Thanks for a wonderful lesson in horseshoe negotiator!»