The worst news I've heard about in ages--Project Alcatraz

[TheTrainee]

Happiness and cheer in the world?! Bah, I say, bah! Nothing makes me sicker than positive news. I scoff at its hopefulness, its cheery attempt to tear me away from my pessimistic pedestal. I only want to hear how we're in a massive downward spiral. So, with that said, when I ran across this encouraging piece of propoganda of those disgustingly merry do-gooders my stomach churned.

Take this horrifically uplifting story.
The BBC is going soft on me. Bah!

Basically, here's how the fiasco started:

At first glance, the president's supporters might have considered the tall and fair-haired Mr Vollmer as just the sort of "rancid oligarch" that the rumbustious Mr Chávez regularly insists is plotting the overthrow of his leftist "revolution" for the poor. But, instead of grilling a hapless victim, Mr Chávez heaped praise on Mr Vollmer as a model entrepreneur. It would seem that Mr Chávez shares common ground with the high priests of Harvard Business School.
And for good reason: Mr Vollmer's management of Ron Santa Teresa, a rum company, is exemplary, both in turning round a near-bankrupt enterprise and in piloting it through a sea of social and political obstacles that would have left many businesses adrift.

Perhaps the biggest test came in 2003, when members of a local gang attacked one of Santa Teresa's security guards. Mr Vollmer's response was again enlightened: he proposed to two of the youngsters that either they work for three months without pay or they would be handed over to the police. The whole 20-strong gang turned up. To work.

and, to make matters worse,

The idea was christened Project Alcatraz, and adjusted to allow the youths to work in the morning and attend social values classes in the afternoon. Since Alcatraz's inception, four gangs have passed through - and the local incidence of crime has fallen by 35 per cent.
Pedro Gallardo, 32, who spent 18 months in Project Alcatraz, says: "Alcatraz has been fantastic. Your wallet wouldn't be safe in your pocket when I was around. I have learnt to be less of a rebel."
Alcatraz has now been expanded to include a housing construction workshop. "It is an issue of turning a crisis into an opportunity," says Mr Vollmer, who adds that while Santa Teresa invests about 2 per cent of its profits in the social projects, it has attracted about three times that amount from other sources.
The Andean Development Corporation, or CAF, was the first institution to back Project Alcatraz. Ana *Botero, CAF's director for cultural and community development, says it is a model that should be *replicated elsewhere. Mr Vollmer has already been invited by Colombia to advise on its programme to return guerrilla fighters to civilian life.
Experts are also convinced that the model adopted by Santa Teresa is not just prudent politics, but also the most appropriate blueprint for business success in places with multiple problems such as Venezuela.
"The management of Santa Teresa has wisely recognised that its viability and profitability are dependent not only on its ability to produce a superior product, but also to generate social value for its surrounding community," says Professor James Austin of Harvard Business School's Social Enterprise Initiative. "Generating business and social value synergistically is the new paradigm for success throughout Latin America."
Mr Vollmer is certain Mr Chávez would agree.

Needless to say, I'm disgusted by all of this. Things were looking great, but recently then things have sadly started looking better. Oh corporate world, how quickly thou hath fallen from thy pristine position, and now to me thrown this. Bah! Thankfully I shouldn't have to wait too long until something truly awful happens.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I don't think I could be at a lower low, so if you have something nice to say, some positive news, do it now. Things can't get any worse.
But, if you ask me, the media shouldn't even report this stuff. Its distortion of how truly hopeless and terrible everything is will bring no good, no good at all.

[Phier]

Tried to hard. A better approach would have to have come off more intellectual. Coming off as evil for evils sake is very cliche even in bad fiction writing. You should have stressed how these short term gains would surly backfire and how simply getting a job for a few weeks doesn't suddenly turn a hooligan into a model citizen. I would have then gone on to say that Mr. Vollmer would find himself better served by donating to local law enforcement and having the criminals who assaulted his employee properly punished instead of given a slap on the wrist.

[Каие]

You should have stressed how these short term gains would surly backfire and how simply getting a job for a few weeks doesn't suddenly turn a hooligan into a model citizen.

I don't think that was the intention. He said it himself... ''I've learned to be less of a rebel''. That's better than clogging up the prison system and then coming out even more radicalised and, god forbid, converting to Islam while they're in there.

[TheTrainee]

Tried to hard. A better approach would have to have come off more intellectual. Coming off as evil for evils sake is very cliche even in bad fiction writing. You should have stressed how these short term gains would surly backfire and how simply getting a job for a few weeks doesn't suddenly turn a hooligan into a model citizen. I would have then gone on to say that Mr. Vollmer would find himself better served by donating to local law enforcement and having the criminals who assaulted his employee properly punished instead of given a slap on the wrist.

Thanks for the constructive advice.

[Hotspur]

"Generating business and social value synergistically is the new paradigm for success throughout Latin America."

Somewhere, a puppy just died....

Of course, with an inflation rate of nearly 30% and government mandated price controls, I wonder where all these newly minted model citizens will find a job...

[RussoAmiTurristo]

Lulz, they have a a revolution to overthrow a western-sponsered dictatorship for it to be replaced by a socialist dictatorship. It's a step up if you ask me but they are still screwed over.