One Mile at a Time [OMaaT] discussions [merged]
#3302
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,272
The key for Ben, very simply, is whether the blog would still thrive if he wasn't travelling, because long term it isn't sustainable. I have no doubt that it is, either with travel reviews shared out among a broader team or the blog simply losing that element of it (which is a small percentage of the articles anyway).
#3303
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
Today in unawareness/entitlement - in re threats of imprisonment for people who support Qatar in the UAE, no criticism whatsoever of totalitarianism, just a post with no actual judgment, just " Hopefully it’s okay that I still consider Qatar Airways’ new business class to be slightly better than Emirates’ business class. ��"
Yes, this whole situation is so funny, Ben. All those people who will be arrested or imprisoned are cute, but you like the new lie-flats.
Yes, this whole situation is so funny, Ben. All those people who will be arrested or imprisoned are cute, but you like the new lie-flats.
He seems to have awareness about the systems in which he operates.
Publicly expressing judgmental opinions in the most explicit way someone else may desire isn't a necessary requirement to have judgmental opinions. But not being so explicit may be a way to stay out of trouble, even in places like Denmark, France, Germany, Turkey, the UK, the US, or many other such places where verbal or written expressions can attract adverse law enforcement attention and action.
Some could take his mention about QR being better than EK and whether or not that may be ok in the current environment as part of a dig against the UAE's crackdown on people defending Qatar against attacks of sort coming from Trumplandia, the KSA and the UAE.
Last edited by GUWonder; Jun 8, 2017 at 4:38 am
#3304
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,272
The UAE isn't a totalitarian state; it's an authoritarian state with a federal system run by a collection of monarchs and the favorite family members and friends of such. What does OMAAT gain for its business by cannon-balling into a pool of domestic or international politics? How does the publicly-identified principal's self-interest in travel get advanced by engaging in acts that may cause the individual a problem during travels to or via a place?
He seems to have awareness about the systems in which he operates.
Publicly expressing judgmental opinions in the most explicit way someone else may desire isn't a necessary requirement to have judgmental opinions. But not being so explicit may be a way to stay out of trouble, even in places like Denmark, France, Germany, Turkey, the UK, the US, or many other such places where verbal or written expressions can attract adverse law enforcement attention and action.
Some could take his mention about QR being better than EK and whether or not that may be ok in the current environment as part of a dig against the UAE's crackdown on people defending Qatar against attacks of sort coming from Trumplandia, the KSA and the UAE.
He seems to have awareness about the systems in which he operates.
Publicly expressing judgmental opinions in the most explicit way someone else may desire isn't a necessary requirement to have judgmental opinions. But not being so explicit may be a way to stay out of trouble, even in places like Denmark, France, Germany, Turkey, the UK, the US, or many other such places where verbal or written expressions can attract adverse law enforcement attention and action.
Some could take his mention about QR being better than EK and whether or not that may be ok in the current environment as part of a dig against the UAE's crackdown on people defending Qatar against attacks of sort coming from Trumplandia, the KSA and the UAE.
As for what business purpose it would have served for him to express any sort of thought about how that is wrong? I have more respect for businesses led by people with a moral compass. And I patronize them more. Of course, your post presupposes that Ben is not a travel writer, with any responsibility to objectivity or the truth, but9 rather a purely self-motivated businessman.
I agree I misspoke with my reference to totalitarianism instead of authoritarianism, which makes no difference. People with audiences have a moral obligation to condemn injustice. If Bens business relies on his systematic silence and acquiescence to significant human rights violations, then that is sad. It's not like Ben's business is something like a food or energy producer where you can argue there's an inherent value. He blogs about getting treated nice by airlines and hotels.
Sometimes you do things because they are right, even if they aren't good for business. That's kind of a sign of a good human being.
Last edited by Adam1222; Jun 8, 2017 at 7:08 am
#3305
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
He chose to write a blog post about the risk of imprisonment for speaking. He didn't have to do so.
As for what business purpose it would have served for him to express any sort of thought about how that is wrong? I have more respect for businesses led by people with a moral compass. And I patronize them more. Of course, your post presupposes that Ben is not a travel writer, with any responsibility to objectivity or the truth, but9 rather a purely self-motivated businessman.
I agree I misspoke with my reference to totalitarianism instead of authoritarianism, which makes no difference. People with audiences have a moral obligation to condemn injustice. If Bens business relies on his systematic silence and acquiescence to significant human rights violations, then that is sad. It's not like Ben's business is something like a food or energy producer where you can argue there's an inherent value. He blogs about getting treated nice by airlines and hotels.
Sometimes you do things because they are right, even if they aren't good for business. That's kind of a sign of a good human being.
As for what business purpose it would have served for him to express any sort of thought about how that is wrong? I have more respect for businesses led by people with a moral compass. And I patronize them more. Of course, your post presupposes that Ben is not a travel writer, with any responsibility to objectivity or the truth, but9 rather a purely self-motivated businessman.
I agree I misspoke with my reference to totalitarianism instead of authoritarianism, which makes no difference. People with audiences have a moral obligation to condemn injustice. If Bens business relies on his systematic silence and acquiescence to significant human rights violations, then that is sad. It's not like Ben's business is something like a food or energy producer where you can argue there's an inherent value. He blogs about getting treated nice by airlines and hotels.
Sometimes you do things because they are right, even if they aren't good for business. That's kind of a sign of a good human being.
I have been provided no evidence that OMAAT's founder is a bad human being. I do find that a lot of the personal criticism speaks poorly of the critics as it seems to be but an attempt to bully someone to act in a way that isn't necessarily all that natural to a person. Perhaps bullies are all great human beings?
Last edited by GUWonder; Jun 8, 2017 at 7:43 am
#3306
#3309
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: DL PM; IHG PlatAmb; Hilton Dia; Marriott Plat; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 7,272
That's something that perhaps reasonable people can disagree with - moral obligations are, by definition, based on one's own code of morals. But it's hardly a radical opinion that people who have platforms in media should use them for things other than their personal gain. It sounds trite, but I've taken to heart something a teacher wrote in my high school yearbook 20 years ago, "From those whom much is given, much is expected."
GUWonder, you are really setting up a strawman here, and ignoring my point. ONCE BEN MADE THE DELIBERATE DECISION TO POST ABOUT CENSORSHIP IN THE UAE, it is nowhere close to the suggestion about talking about airlines based in Georgia and an obligation to post about unrelated issues.
The more apt comparison would be if a blogger were to make a post about the death penalty in Texas, and without saying anything critical about it, made a joke "hope I don't get electrocuted when I drop by the United Club!"
I would consider that person to be amoral.
As for the suggestion that I am a bully for critiquing a public blog post for making light of the repression of free speech, that's kind of inane. Really, that's an insult to real victims of bullying. If anything, you're bullying me for daring to critique a public, commercial post and suggesting that businesses should be held to a standard of corporate responsibility. Holding Ben accountable for his public acts with pretty well-thought-out reasons that you happen to disagree with isn't "bullying," snowflake.
Raffles, Ben could not support his lifestyle on $100k in revenue per year. (Putting aside that the links in old content don't stay good forever, and 5/24 plus market saturation contradict this theory.)
GUWonder, you are really setting up a strawman here, and ignoring my point. ONCE BEN MADE THE DELIBERATE DECISION TO POST ABOUT CENSORSHIP IN THE UAE, it is nowhere close to the suggestion about talking about airlines based in Georgia and an obligation to post about unrelated issues.
The more apt comparison would be if a blogger were to make a post about the death penalty in Texas, and without saying anything critical about it, made a joke "hope I don't get electrocuted when I drop by the United Club!"
I would consider that person to be amoral.
As for the suggestion that I am a bully for critiquing a public blog post for making light of the repression of free speech, that's kind of inane. Really, that's an insult to real victims of bullying. If anything, you're bullying me for daring to critique a public, commercial post and suggesting that businesses should be held to a standard of corporate responsibility. Holding Ben accountable for his public acts with pretty well-thought-out reasons that you happen to disagree with isn't "bullying," snowflake.
Raffles, Ben could not support his lifestyle on $100k in revenue per year. (Putting aside that the links in old content don't stay good forever, and 5/24 plus market saturation contradict this theory.)
Last edited by Adam1222; Jun 8, 2017 at 10:44 am
#3313
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: STR, RSW
Posts: 75
While I agree that the lounge employee overreacted in this situation, I find it fascinating that it didn't cross Lucky's mind to use a public restroom outside the lounge..
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...athroom-drama/
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...athroom-drama/
#3314
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,103
While I agree that the lounge employee overreacted in this situation, I find it fascinating that it didn't cross Lucky's mind to use a public restroom outside the lounge..
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...athroom-drama/
http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...athroom-drama/