The Thing about Highways...
A worker needs to be Healthy, Educated and Able to get to work. Those should be state responsibilities; privatization of any of them is self-defeating.
For example, why would privileging the right to an education HELP business? Does it create a smarter worker force when fewer workers are able to go to school? Be educated? Are an elite coterie of the really smart supposed to be able to ‘run’ businesses? That actually means there are smart FEWER smart people from which to choose, with the result incompetently run businesses. Not picking on Premier Ford of Ontario, but DECA has problems because inherited wealth does not mean inherited genius….with no business experience, Ford thought it was a good idea to expand south; it was not.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/doug-ford-at-deco/article21067584/
Anyhow, about 3 years ago, 2 Canadian comedians appeared on an interesting show called ‘Renegade,’ hosted by RT:
https://renegadeinc.com/stand-up-and-think-for-yourself/….(link to site but video no longer works—proof the show did exist)
Christian Reilly and Craig Campbell discussed the health of political comedy and the level of censorship that the media now imposes on it (from site); in particular, they discussed the internet and how it was a vast, ever expanding shelf of opportunities and, as much as government and private industry, try to control it, they can’t.
The analogy has always interested me. I’ve since tried to reconcile it with the ‘internet highway’ idea. The internet is an unending road. As much as the internet is governable, like we think it is, the existence of hackers proves it is not. Like the real highway.
The Autobahn exists, there are highway hitchhikers, speeders, killers—lots goes on on the real highway.
Ways to thwart its rules. Same with the internet.
Make me wonder if telecommunication should be nationalized: work is done on-line, so access is a government responsibility.
Anyhow.
I got thinking about this because Elon Musk’s first email at Twitter, apparently, was telling workers they could no longer at home.
Henry Ford KNEW he had to pay workers enough to buy the products, cars, they made (contrary to the truism, Ford did not invent the assembly line; the unusual thing was the wages. The man hated Unions, but he wasn’t st—-.). Ford added to how one could travel on a road. Was enriched by a government facility. He MADE money enhancing a government service. Does this make sense?
Musk is literally THWARTING the usage of the internet. The government created the internet and Musk’s product relies on it. Inhibiting people’s usage of internet technology to goof off by limiting usage of the internet, working from home, Musk is reducing the usage of his own product. Does that make sense? Where do people access Twitter more? At home or at work? Where do they use the internet more? At home or at work?
I keep thinking of PT Barnum and Trump and Musk…show men, not really businessmen. Musk sees a profit in popularity, people paying for blue checkmarks. I haven’t been on Twitter enough to even see if anyone I follow has a blue check mark. Stephen King, apparently does, and will pay for it. Why? How is Twitter enhancing anything for him? He sells books independent of Twitter. Are enough people even on Twitter to see it as an advertising opportunity?
Like Premier Ford, Musk is a product of inherited wealth; his father made money in Diamond mines. Maybe he really is a smart guy? But, electric cars have been around for a century; Mrs. Henry Ford bought one in 1908:
https://cars4starters.com.au/henry-fords-wife-drove-ev-but-it-wasnt-his/
So, he certainly didn’t invent them, and he bought into Paypal
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061015/how-elon-musk-became-elon-musk.asp
Which affirms my showman view of him.
Maybe returning to offices is a good idea?
I don’t see why WORKERS would want to return to a situation that REQUIRES the following responsibilities independent of work obligations: child care, transportation responsibilities (car or public), attire. And, the idea a paycheck from Twitter guarantees it, is nonsense. Musk fired half his staff last week; I bet 100% of them are looking elsewhere for opportunities rather than deal with such a capricious boss.
People who know how to navigate the internet are invaluable. Like the Canadian comics recognized, the opportunities on the internet are endless. And, it’s a whole new world recognizing them. I suspect crony capitalism is over. A driver on the internet highway is their own boss. Why have a big tech one?
Musk might see it, too:
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-says-twitter-loses-4-million-dollars-a-day-2022-11
Kind of inevitable….