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I was flying in from San Jose yesterday (went there for 2 days to repair a network, way cool) and I had plenty of time for my mind to wander, as it often does lately. I reflected over the past few years of my life and realized that most of the things that were difficult or "grueling"; were that way because I made them that way.
A little back ground on recent history: I graduated a 10 month tech school in October. I have passed over half of my certifications, and I am returning to college in January. Now I know that's a bunch of info about the editor that most could care less about; but just hang with me, it will give you some insights into my views later.
During a recent attack of the "conspiracy theory" mood, I was thinking about how things work. You see, I view the business world as such. because of an over population and general everyone for themselves attitude we have lost the unity that is required to overcome the economic boundaries that lie before us as a country. Think of it this way, in the 50's America was on an up swing and small businesses thrived and the average employee felt secure and enjoyed their day (well most of them, Imp sure work sucked then to). The 60's came and to tell you the truth, it's hard to track the general way businesses developed during that time because of all those dam hippies (I always did feel I was born a little after my time, I defiantly would have been a hippie profit, scary huh?). The 70's, hell, Disco, that's enough to kill any economy. At this time business is trying to advance, but most workers maintain a secure relationship with their employer (all of those that survived the layoffs thanks to a few bad ideas by a lot of stupid people, republicans). Then the 80's, it had its up's and downs, but here we are seeing 401k's more prevalent, healthcare packages and retirement plans, you are pretty sure you will retire from the job you are in. Then the 90's, not much change till the later end. The dot com crash comes and big business gets nervous. They drop everyone and start looking at the bottom line. During this time our population is growing and the wave of baby boomers are of age. High income, highly educated, and ready to develop the future. This is all great, but it creates an imbalance in the standard of living. So here we are 2002 almost 2003, and due to the growing population, we as a society have lost the ability to recognize someone as an individual. By this I mean, that your chances of seeing someone again are very slim, this develops into really crappy driving habits. Who cares if you almost killed that guy, or cut him off, you'll never see him again, right? Onward it grows into being out for yourself and screw everyone else. Here in lies the problem; these people are running all this shit. Your no longer Bob or Jim you 06885 and 44532, this tends to make it easier when you have to cut some numbers to make that bottom line. The inhumanity of it all. The thing that discusses me most is that these assholes can't pay the janitors last check and yet they get huge parting bonuses and other perks. It's not that they got all the cash; hey I would love to have it, but earn it guys. Take pride in your work and company. If it goes bankrupt, make sure your employees are taken care of. This pisses me off to no end, and there is no stopping it now. Companies learned not to long ago that they can work the hell out of people and lay them of or get ride of them after 5 years or so, this way they dodge the retirement, 401k, and benefits. This all filters back to your employees, creating a fuck it attitude and the knowledge that they need to always be looking for something better. Thus creating a lack of quality, we have noticed it because our work force is the most educated it has ever been; just think of where we would be if corporate cared about its employees like it did in the 50's. Now to top it all off, the next generation is coming up, and this less work more pay attitude has been fed to them their whole life. The meaning of loyalty to job is lost, and why not, on the business side they are cutting you to pay for a new vice CEO of pen and pencil management. So we are left with the lack of interest to stand out and excel at work, due to the fact that you are just another face in the crowd and to promote (and sometimes to keep or not) is lost in the paper shuffle, another number crossed off a list.
I'm not trying to bitch about this, I am mearly pointing out my view (a defiantly shortened version, because I can't type as fast as I can think. I am happy to see the government stepping in on behalf of the little people, yes the Republicans have really stepped up to bat, thank you Mr. Bush. The corporate embezzling has to stop. People work there whole live and loose it all in the blink of an eye and this guy goes to the Bahamas, it's not morally right, and that is what we as a country have lost, that moral guide to ethics that promoted a group environment and spurred growth.
Where will we go from here? Well, it won't be to long before something big happens, that is what it is going to take to level the playing field. It's pretty hard to afford an $800,000 house, (San Diego pricing for something you would want to buy) unless your one of the top guys making the big dollars. So I defiantly see something coming that will have to bring them down or the bottom up. Mind you by the way that the "bottom up" plan crushes the middle class, keeping the upper class even higher. Hmmmm, this is a tuffy.
Well it's late and I have tried to express my thoughts as best I can in this forum. I do admit that there would be another couple of dozen pages of this if I tried to detail it, but I don't think my fingers would survive the pecking. Put a face to the person in the crowd, say hello, and think about what actions your decisions have on them, or the car next to you, or the number on the cut sheet. Most times I can see a group effort solution prospering over a cut it to the bottom line solution. Peace be with you my friends, and killer journeys to you all.