Topic ID #2544 - posted 12/10/2007 1:07 AM
heebiejeebie
New Topic: The Instantaneous Work Phenomenon. Why????
heebiejeebie
Hi everyone. Please pay close attention and give some serious thought to the subject I am about to raise. It is a very serious subject. If it has not already hit you in your workplace, it probably will sometime soon. Some sort of sociocultural “sea change” has occurred in the work environment across American society. It seems to be present in both blue collar and white collar jobs of all kinds these days. My boss and I talk about it frequently over lunch, and both of us are at a complete loss to explain it. My boss manages multi-million dollar projects. I work on those projects and often supervise and coordinate the work of other people on those projects. These are NOT archaeological projects, but they sometimes involve archaeology. For those of you who are anthropologists like me, I would appreciate it if you could think about this subject both as an American worker and as a trained anthropologist looking to establish anthropological insights. To the best of my knowledge, this phenomenon does not have a formal name; therefore, for the utility of this discussion, I will give it this one: “Instantaneous Work.”
In our discussions over lunch, we have pretty much agreed that this instantaneous work phenomenon did not exist (at least in our line of work) until about the year 2000. Because the nature of our work is broadly interdisciplinary, we are fairly sure that it was not like this elsewhere prior to around this date. As the characters in a Star Wars movie might say, “A mysterious and profound shift towards the dark side of the force occurred in about that year.”
What is “instantaneous work”? In its simplest terms, it is the managerial concept that a truly extraordinary amount of work should be able to be completed in an extraordinarily small amount of time. Moreover, on the next project after that one, there is the firm belief that the same amount of impossible work can be completed in half the previous time on the next project---and that it can be cut down to 25% of the original time on the next project. Now, I would like to issue a caveat here, lest there be some misunderstanding about what I am saying. I am not talking about the classic 1980s or 1990s “aggressive” schedule project where the crew has to work one weekend at the end to meet a very tight but achieveable deadline. We have all been there and done that. This is not “instantaneous work.” Instantaneous work is different kind of animal: grim, dark, oppressive, and totally unreasonable from the very beginning.
It is a little hard to explain instantaneous work, but I tend to use this extreme example just to get the point across. Instantaneous work is when the Chief Marketing Executive for your company walks into a conference room, sits down at the table with the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Navy, and other such folks and lays out a very serious plan to build a super aircraft carrier from scratch and have it ready to sail in 3 weeks (it takes years to really build aircraft carriers). To make matters worse, the Navy believes his company can really do it and awards him the contract. The company then proceeds to attempt the impossible by working their employees to the point of exhaustion (20 hour days, no weekends off, etc. If you have a wife/husband and kids, you had better just remember that they were never born.
My dad was a carpenter---and a damn good one. In his day, a house could be constructed in maybe 1 or 2 months. Today people expect it to be done instantaneously---as if by magic. The landscaping job that took quick, reasonable, and dedicated men and women 3 weeks to accomplish in 1993 had “...better get done in 2 days now or your ass is going to be in the unemployment line.” The waitress that could serve 6 tables during a heavy lunch hour run in 1997 is now expected to do 12 in half the time. A huge research project and a 5000 page report that took a whole team of intelligent people 3 years to do 10 years ago (and that was strectching it to the limit even then) is now expected to be finished with the same research and report in 3 months.
It is even happening in government. I personally recall a year 2000 NEPA environmental assessment (EA) that a low-level manager for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wanted a local company to do. It was a pretty large EA that would normally take about 1 year to complete. This DOE manager, who was seasoned and experienced, wanted a draft EA on his desk in about 7 days---and he was dead serious. Our project team was aghast because it was utterly ridiculous. Wisely, I refused to go any further with the project that day and walked away. A few years later, I heard that this EA was actually completed and approved in about 18 months---and this brings up another very important point that I see time, and time, and time again. These managers have an inability to learn from their past mistakes and flights of fantasy. True to form, this same guy would learn nothing from that experience and be out on the street the next day looking for a 7-day EA and remarking to himself “I must have just had the wrong lazy team. I know there is a 7-day EA out here somewhere, and I am going to find it.”
I would like to tell you that this insanity is confined to just a small handful of fantasy-entrapped companies and governmental bodies bent on killing their employees and going out of business overnight. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is already widely present, appears to be spreading, and is happening in highly reputable companies. The fantasy factor being put out there by corporate marketing executives is off the deep end and the gullibility factor by potential clients is equally off the charts. They have all bought deeply into the fantasy of “instantaneous work.” Any suggestion of reality by a worker or anyone else is met with instantaneous scorn and “...you better get your ass back to work and make this impossible dream happen because our whole future is riding on it.” It’s insane. It’s destructive. It’s downright weird. Nonetheless, IT IS REAL. It may even be happening in American archaeology as I write this.
Something in the American workplace SHIFTED around the year 2000. It was a quiet shift but a profound one to be sure---but it was also a very destructive and insane one. This is a cultural phenomenon and should be susceptible to anthropological analysis. We archaeologists are also anthropologists. Does anyone know what happened? What is behind this insanity? How did it get started? What is driving it?
I would be pleased to hear from any of you who might like to offer insights. Although you folks in Great Britain and other faraway places do not live here and may not have experienced this phenomenon first hand as I have, I would still be interested in your opinions.
Thank you very much for your help.
In our discussions over lunch, we have pretty much agreed that this instantaneous work phenomenon did not exist (at least in our line of work) until about the year 2000. Because the nature of our work is broadly interdisciplinary, we are fairly sure that it was not like this elsewhere prior to around this date. As the characters in a Star Wars movie might say, “A mysterious and profound shift towards the dark side of the force occurred in about that year.”
What is “instantaneous work”? In its simplest terms, it is the managerial concept that a truly extraordinary amount of work should be able to be completed in an extraordinarily small amount of time. Moreover, on the next project after that one, there is the firm belief that the same amount of impossible work can be completed in half the previous time on the next project---and that it can be cut down to 25% of the original time on the next project. Now, I would like to issue a caveat here, lest there be some misunderstanding about what I am saying. I am not talking about the classic 1980s or 1990s “aggressive” schedule project where the crew has to work one weekend at the end to meet a very tight but achieveable deadline. We have all been there and done that. This is not “instantaneous work.” Instantaneous work is different kind of animal: grim, dark, oppressive, and totally unreasonable from the very beginning.
It is a little hard to explain instantaneous work, but I tend to use this extreme example just to get the point across. Instantaneous work is when the Chief Marketing Executive for your company walks into a conference room, sits down at the table with the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Navy, and other such folks and lays out a very serious plan to build a super aircraft carrier from scratch and have it ready to sail in 3 weeks (it takes years to really build aircraft carriers). To make matters worse, the Navy believes his company can really do it and awards him the contract. The company then proceeds to attempt the impossible by working their employees to the point of exhaustion (20 hour days, no weekends off, etc. If you have a wife/husband and kids, you had better just remember that they were never born.
My dad was a carpenter---and a damn good one. In his day, a house could be constructed in maybe 1 or 2 months. Today people expect it to be done instantaneously---as if by magic. The landscaping job that took quick, reasonable, and dedicated men and women 3 weeks to accomplish in 1993 had “...better get done in 2 days now or your ass is going to be in the unemployment line.” The waitress that could serve 6 tables during a heavy lunch hour run in 1997 is now expected to do 12 in half the time. A huge research project and a 5000 page report that took a whole team of intelligent people 3 years to do 10 years ago (and that was strectching it to the limit even then) is now expected to be finished with the same research and report in 3 months.
It is even happening in government. I personally recall a year 2000 NEPA environmental assessment (EA) that a low-level manager for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) wanted a local company to do. It was a pretty large EA that would normally take about 1 year to complete. This DOE manager, who was seasoned and experienced, wanted a draft EA on his desk in about 7 days---and he was dead serious. Our project team was aghast because it was utterly ridiculous. Wisely, I refused to go any further with the project that day and walked away. A few years later, I heard that this EA was actually completed and approved in about 18 months---and this brings up another very important point that I see time, and time, and time again. These managers have an inability to learn from their past mistakes and flights of fantasy. True to form, this same guy would learn nothing from that experience and be out on the street the next day looking for a 7-day EA and remarking to himself “I must have just had the wrong lazy team. I know there is a 7-day EA out here somewhere, and I am going to find it.”
I would like to tell you that this insanity is confined to just a small handful of fantasy-entrapped companies and governmental bodies bent on killing their employees and going out of business overnight. Unfortunately, this is not the case. It is already widely present, appears to be spreading, and is happening in highly reputable companies. The fantasy factor being put out there by corporate marketing executives is off the deep end and the gullibility factor by potential clients is equally off the charts. They have all bought deeply into the fantasy of “instantaneous work.” Any suggestion of reality by a worker or anyone else is met with instantaneous scorn and “...you better get your ass back to work and make this impossible dream happen because our whole future is riding on it.” It’s insane. It’s destructive. It’s downright weird. Nonetheless, IT IS REAL. It may even be happening in American archaeology as I write this.
Something in the American workplace SHIFTED around the year 2000. It was a quiet shift but a profound one to be sure---but it was also a very destructive and insane one. This is a cultural phenomenon and should be susceptible to anthropological analysis. We archaeologists are also anthropologists. Does anyone know what happened? What is behind this insanity? How did it get started? What is driving it?
I would be pleased to hear from any of you who might like to offer insights. Although you folks in Great Britain and other faraway places do not live here and may not have experienced this phenomenon first hand as I have, I would still be interested in your opinions.
Thank you very much for your help.
Post ID#4885 - replied 12/10/2007 12:53 PM
Windustsearch
Nowadays they have classes and work shops to teach anyone to at least fake a type A personality. They learn about management practices and a whole psychology behind it. They teach you about things like action items...and TPS reports.
Hey Peter, uhh, whats happenin?
Hey Peter, uhh, whats happenin?
Post ID#4889 - replied 12/10/2007 5:17 PM
Dmack89
Its the computer age - internet - instant messaging ......
all of which get us used to the concept of instant gratification. Yes there has been something of a change -
BUT - there have always been those individuals that want it done yesterday and thought they could get it just by yelling louder. Unfortunately today there seem to be even more of them. The process has been helped along by unscrupulous or lets say - inexperienced - individuals and firms that promise to have such things done - and then deliver somehow, even if it means cutting the corners that affect quality.
I could go on, but thats probably enough to get my point acorss.
DM
all of which get us used to the concept of instant gratification. Yes there has been something of a change -
BUT - there have always been those individuals that want it done yesterday and thought they could get it just by yelling louder. Unfortunately today there seem to be even more of them. The process has been helped along by unscrupulous or lets say - inexperienced - individuals and firms that promise to have such things done - and then deliver somehow, even if it means cutting the corners that affect quality.
I could go on, but thats probably enough to get my point acorss.
DM
Post ID#4894 - replied 12/10/2007 9:15 PM
mcleodm
Moderator
Yes I have seen it come and it appears to continue. Why? I think the instant gratifaction expectation has a lot to do with it such as digital photography (remember when you had to take your film in to get it developed?), E mail, text messageing, the proliferation of cell phones. the lsit goes on.
The other thing that happened in 2000 is Bush and his team came to power (I did not say elected). They had an agenda to make things more competitive in the Federal workforce and get more Federal dollars into the private sector. They also expected the impossible of our military by limiting the number of troops in Afghanistan (13000)and later Iraq.(13000) Then they wonder why 6 years later things havnt turned out how they wanted or expected. And they didnt want to listen to anyone who disagreed with their numbers or expectations. I think this administration has a lot to do with setting a national tone for demanding the impossible on the cheap.
Any other thots?
CMM
The other thing that happened in 2000 is Bush and his team came to power (I did not say elected). They had an agenda to make things more competitive in the Federal workforce and get more Federal dollars into the private sector. They also expected the impossible of our military by limiting the number of troops in Afghanistan (13000)and later Iraq.(13000) Then they wonder why 6 years later things havnt turned out how they wanted or expected. And they didnt want to listen to anyone who disagreed with their numbers or expectations. I think this administration has a lot to do with setting a national tone for demanding the impossible on the cheap.
Any other thots?
CMM
Post ID#4904 - replied 12/11/2007 1:09 PM
Archaeovagrant
My boss told me of a client of his who wanted something done right now. When told he would have it tomorrow, he told my boss, "If I wanted it tomorrow, I'd have asked for it tomorrow."
So yes, I know what you mean. We arein the middle of a large seismic survey which we got in October, and they wanted or hoped, at least, to have it done by the end of the year. Well, good luck with that. Even though the snow held off as long as it could, we are only a fraction of the way done with the 900+ miles we need to do, sites to record, and the report to write up.
So yes, I know what you mean. We arein the middle of a large seismic survey which we got in October, and they wanted or hoped, at least, to have it done by the end of the year. Well, good luck with that. Even though the snow held off as long as it could, we are only a fraction of the way done with the 900+ miles we need to do, sites to record, and the report to write up.
Post ID#4908 - replied 12/11/2007 2:28 PM
moorele
Heebie, you are correct that a fundamental shift has occurred in American society. It is the reason I wrote a forecast series in the Society for American Archaeology newsletter. The shift is part of a well documented social cycle that, unfortunately, is not widely known. Most social scientists and social historians still ascribe to the linear view of life and time. The truth is that life is both linear and cyclical. The particulars of history do not repeat but the cycles do. What occurred around 2000 was 9/11 that moved America into a new phase of life, into a secular crisis that is still developing. The outcome is not good. The meanness you sense today has been expanding since the mid 1980s; it was the basis of the culture wars. Compare the fun humor of Johnny Carson to the subtle meanness of Leno and Letterman. Our reality shows (Survivor, etc.) are nothing more than blood sport and ritual killings.
Secular crisis is one part of a four part cycle, the four seasons of American culture. The post war years, 1945-1965, was spring, the cultural high of American Modernity (the second rational Enlightenment started by the Progressives at the turn of the 20th century as they replaced the late Gilded Age). The 1960s-70s awakening was summer, a time of spiritual and cultural renewal (the challenge to Modernity). The 80s-90s was autumn, the culture wars that unraveled the late Modern era. Our current secular crisis is winter the eventual death of modernity to be fully replaced by the “post modern” romanticism (the new Gilded Age). When the crisis climaxes our institutions and society will be completely transformed. Spring will come again.
Our culture is now dominated by intuitive thinking, romanticism, and fantasy; ghosts, witches, science fiction etc. rule popular culture. Our politics, government, and business life has become authoritarian. Intuitive eras are more volatile than rational ones, and they demand instant gratification (your instantaneous work). The polarizing Boomers are also retiring, being replaced by Gen Xers whose management style is a hard hitting get-R-done and take no prisoners one; take a look at Michelle Rhee at DC public schools who is willing to fire all unproductive teachers regardless of tenure or union contracts. With intuitive thinking there is no planning or continuity. It’s about make something happen now even if it turns out to be wrong. Segmentation is the result and if you do NEPA then you know that that is not the way to do the process.
Romantic eras can be fun and fanciful; they also have dark sides that are overt (whereas in rational eras the dark side is covert). In the forecast series I did not discuss the dark side of our times. I emphasized the fun opportunities ahead for archaeologists. But these times are dark. Secular crises are very real and dangerous; our political leadership is primed to deliver Armageddon. There is plenty of precedence for what you feel today. Previous crises have been: the late 17th century Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, the 1850s slavery disputes thru the Civil War, and 1930s-40s depression-World War II. From start to start each crisis is roughly four generations from the previous one. The Glorious Revolution and the Civil War were fought during intuitive romantic eras (the other two were fought during rational eras); today’s America is very analogous to America circa 1858, on the eve of revolution.
About our dark times see:
Dean, John W.
2006 Conservatives without Conscience. Viking Press, NY.
Strauss, William and Neil Howe
1991 Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, William Morrow, New York.
1997 The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy, Broadway Books, New York.
Start with the Fourth Turning, then read Dean; see also the discussion blogs at http://www.fourthturning.com/
For how this crisis affects archaeology see my essays:
2007 Opinion: The End of Prehistory. Society for Historical Archaeology Newsletter 40(1): 26-28.
2006 Toward a Still and Quiet Conscience: A Study in Reflexive Archaeology. North American Archaeologist 27(2): 149-174.
The forecast series was:
2007 Archaeology’s High Society Blues: Reply to McGimsey. The SAA Archaeological Record 7(4): 11-14, 32.
2006 Going Public: Customization and American Archaeology. The SAA Archaeological Record 6(3): 16-19.
2006 CRM: Beyond its Peak. The SAA Archaeological Record 6(1): 30-33.
2005 A Forecast for American Archaeology. The SAA Archaeological Record 5(4): 13-16.
Good luck
Larry Moore
lemoore59@yahoo.com
Secular crisis is one part of a four part cycle, the four seasons of American culture. The post war years, 1945-1965, was spring, the cultural high of American Modernity (the second rational Enlightenment started by the Progressives at the turn of the 20th century as they replaced the late Gilded Age). The 1960s-70s awakening was summer, a time of spiritual and cultural renewal (the challenge to Modernity). The 80s-90s was autumn, the culture wars that unraveled the late Modern era. Our current secular crisis is winter the eventual death of modernity to be fully replaced by the “post modern” romanticism (the new Gilded Age). When the crisis climaxes our institutions and society will be completely transformed. Spring will come again.
Our culture is now dominated by intuitive thinking, romanticism, and fantasy; ghosts, witches, science fiction etc. rule popular culture. Our politics, government, and business life has become authoritarian. Intuitive eras are more volatile than rational ones, and they demand instant gratification (your instantaneous work). The polarizing Boomers are also retiring, being replaced by Gen Xers whose management style is a hard hitting get-R-done and take no prisoners one; take a look at Michelle Rhee at DC public schools who is willing to fire all unproductive teachers regardless of tenure or union contracts. With intuitive thinking there is no planning or continuity. It’s about make something happen now even if it turns out to be wrong. Segmentation is the result and if you do NEPA then you know that that is not the way to do the process.
Romantic eras can be fun and fanciful; they also have dark sides that are overt (whereas in rational eras the dark side is covert). In the forecast series I did not discuss the dark side of our times. I emphasized the fun opportunities ahead for archaeologists. But these times are dark. Secular crises are very real and dangerous; our political leadership is primed to deliver Armageddon. There is plenty of precedence for what you feel today. Previous crises have been: the late 17th century Glorious Revolution, the American Revolution, the 1850s slavery disputes thru the Civil War, and 1930s-40s depression-World War II. From start to start each crisis is roughly four generations from the previous one. The Glorious Revolution and the Civil War were fought during intuitive romantic eras (the other two were fought during rational eras); today’s America is very analogous to America circa 1858, on the eve of revolution.
About our dark times see:
Dean, John W.
2006 Conservatives without Conscience. Viking Press, NY.
Strauss, William and Neil Howe
1991 Generations: The History of America’s Future, 1584 to 2069, William Morrow, New York.
1997 The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy, Broadway Books, New York.
Start with the Fourth Turning, then read Dean; see also the discussion blogs at http://www.fourthturning.com/
For how this crisis affects archaeology see my essays:
2007 Opinion: The End of Prehistory. Society for Historical Archaeology Newsletter 40(1): 26-28.
2006 Toward a Still and Quiet Conscience: A Study in Reflexive Archaeology. North American Archaeologist 27(2): 149-174.
The forecast series was:
2007 Archaeology’s High Society Blues: Reply to McGimsey. The SAA Archaeological Record 7(4): 11-14, 32.
2006 Going Public: Customization and American Archaeology. The SAA Archaeological Record 6(3): 16-19.
2006 CRM: Beyond its Peak. The SAA Archaeological Record 6(1): 30-33.
2005 A Forecast for American Archaeology. The SAA Archaeological Record 5(4): 13-16.
Good luck
Larry Moore
lemoore59@yahoo.com
Post ID#4910 - replied 12/11/2007 3:02 PM
FireArch
Moderator
9/11 that moved America into a new phase of life, into a secular crisis that is still developing
I would argue, rather, that it has move us into a socio-religious crisis whereby Judeo-Christian ideas are assumed to be paramount to any other theology, and democracy is forced upon a given population, in strict defiance of the ideals of the Monroe Doctrine and Wilson's Self Determination policy.
I would argue, rather, that it has move us into a socio-religious crisis whereby Judeo-Christian ideas are assumed to be paramount to any other theology, and democracy is forced upon a given population, in strict defiance of the ideals of the Monroe Doctrine and Wilson's Self Determination policy.
Post ID#4911 - replied 12/11/2007 3:34 PM
moorele
The four season model only reminds us what season we are in. If it is winter then prepare for cold weather, winterize your car, etc. If we are in a crisis era then be prepared for extended trouble. Winter can be mild or severe.
The model says nothing about what the particulars will be. However, it does seem that the Christian right is the aggressor in this case. Dean’s book describes the mentality of the right wing authoritarians and their desire to dominate all of us. You could say “God help us” but that feeds into their way of thinking.
The model says nothing about what the particulars will be. However, it does seem that the Christian right is the aggressor in this case. Dean’s book describes the mentality of the right wing authoritarians and their desire to dominate all of us. You could say “God help us” but that feeds into their way of thinking.
Post ID#4926 - replied 12/12/2007 1:24 PM
gabybonney
It's also referred to as Capitalism.
Post ID#4927 - replied 12/12/2007 2:01 PM
FireArch
Moderator
^ Which brings us back to Heebie's observation; instant gratification. Unregulated capitalism cares nothing about schedules and constraints, it wants everything now, and cheaper than yesterday.
Post ID#4928 - replied 12/12/2007 3:51 PM
BAJR
Good post that one... damn good post
I saw it here too...
In 1983 I worked with 70 (yes seventy) other archaeologists over 5 months on a Roman Fort in Scotland, it then took 23 years to produce teh final and definitive report (a bit long that !) the rest of the area not excavated back then (around 1/4 of teh size) is up for development... so rough maths suggests take 70 diggers over 5 months and divide by 4... so roughly 15 diggers for weeks...
OR the reality
1 digger 1 JCB and 2 days ( yeah... that'll work!) I have to confess that has now been upped to 5 diggers for 2 weeks
Instant work.... <sigh>
I saw it here too...
In 1983 I worked with 70 (yes seventy) other archaeologists over 5 months on a Roman Fort in Scotland, it then took 23 years to produce teh final and definitive report (a bit long that !) the rest of the area not excavated back then (around 1/4 of teh size) is up for development... so rough maths suggests take 70 diggers over 5 months and divide by 4... so roughly 15 diggers for weeks...
OR the reality
1 digger 1 JCB and 2 days ( yeah... that'll work!) I have to confess that has now been upped to 5 diggers for 2 weeks
Instant work.... <sigh>
Post ID#4929 - replied 12/12/2007 8:44 PM
heebiejeebie
I'm not a pinko Commie. However, a few years back, I read an article that made an interesting point. It noted that both government and business in the United States were more generous with the general population and its workers when the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an adversarial death grip. They went on to say that this generosity was necessary to prevent the foment of grass roots revolution from within by an unhappy population. The article then noted something else. When the Soviet Union came tumbling down, the Berlin Wall fell, and the Cold War ended, American business (unofficially of course) declared an "open season" on the American people. The government then stepped aside and let loose every nefarious predator in the book loose on the American people (and the world for that matter) for a never-ending, all-you-can-eat buffet. The article ended by observing that the Soviet Union and Cold War were actually a valuable "check and balance" against the excesses of capitalism in a free country.
No, I did not get that out of Pravda or from the American Communist Party. I actually saw that in something like Newsweek, Time, or maybe Cosmopolitan about 12 years ago. It occurs to me that Instantaneous Work is part of the seemingly mindless predation syndrome that the author observed and came about almost with the force of Kroeber's "Superorganic."
No, I did not get that out of Pravda or from the American Communist Party. I actually saw that in something like Newsweek, Time, or maybe Cosmopolitan about 12 years ago. It occurs to me that Instantaneous Work is part of the seemingly mindless predation syndrome that the author observed and came about almost with the force of Kroeber's "Superorganic."
Post ID#5067 - replied 12/22/2007 5:38 PM
Classarch
[quote:="heebiejeebie"]I'm not a pinko Commie. However, a few years back, I read an article that made an interesting point. It noted that both government and business in the United States were more generous with the general population and its workers when the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an adversarial death grip. They went on to say that this generosity was necessary to prevent the foment of grass roots revolution from within by an unhappy population. The article then noted something else. When the Soviet Union came tumbling down, the Berlin Wall fell, and the Cold War ended, American business (unofficially of course) declared an "open season" on the American people. The government then stepped aside and let loose every nefarious predator in the book loose on the American people (and the world for that matter) for a never-ending, all-you-can-eat buffet. The article ended by observing that the Soviet Union and Cold War were actually a valuable "check and balance" against the excesses of capitalism in a free country.
No, I did not get that out of Pravda or from the American Communist Party. I actually saw that in something like Newsweek, Time, or maybe Cosmopolitan about 12 years ago. It occurs to me that Instantaneous Work is part of the seemingly mindless predation syndrome that the author observed and came about almost with the force of Kroeber's "Superorganic."
Makes perfect sense! There are no checks and balances today. There is also a reason why the minimum wage remained so low for so long. Think about it, the last time the minimum wage was raised was just at the end of the Cold War in I believe 1991.
No, I did not get that out of Pravda or from the American Communist Party. I actually saw that in something like Newsweek, Time, or maybe Cosmopolitan about 12 years ago. It occurs to me that Instantaneous Work is part of the seemingly mindless predation syndrome that the author observed and came about almost with the force of Kroeber's "Superorganic."
Makes perfect sense! There are no checks and balances today. There is also a reason why the minimum wage remained so low for so long. Think about it, the last time the minimum wage was raised was just at the end of the Cold War in I believe 1991.
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