Another Company Trying To Do More With Less

And guess who pays the ultimate price of the corner cutting it takes to make this sort of process work?

I can assure you it is not the owners of the capital, who are making money turning work into dangerous garbage.

It is a throwaway process after all, with the workers, and whatever, other, collateral damage that happens, when overworked, disposable people, are made to do more than what we all know is humanly possible. But the really horrible thing is that the system has become so good at making people be desperate enough to feel lucky to have even this as a means to be someone who has at least some workable meaning in life. And for this we all ought to feel very, very ashamed.

Inside The Deadly World Of Private Garbage Collection

"More Information Doesn't Leave You More Informed'

The old saying that sometimes less is more is quite pertinent here because the very underlying fact of "information as commodity" insures we are not going to get less anytime soon.

The problem is the necessity of electrified outlets of various forms of info to keep churning out more and more faster because the clamor to keep eyes, and brains, focused on your content is only increasing faster and faster. And so the ongoing avalanche that results is always on the increase. And there you are trying to make sense of which parts are important and which is chaff, and which is outright, purposeful deception.

And when something important does comes out? And maybe you catch a glimpse of it, and you want to have the time to ponder it; maybe explore the ins and outs in some depth even?

Good luck with that... I mean trying to even think of thinking in depth; giving other considerations time to percolate around so that you might have a chance to consider related implications that could be at work here as well. Because this ongoing, ever increasing avalanche. just continues to churn with the process of burying you ever deeper into exhausted states of "I just can't keep up with it all" (and maybe in some circles that was the point; better even than simply confusing you with lies).

This is, of course, related to all the kinds of change that is in play now, technological change itself certainly, as well as everything social and political that gets wrapped up and also affected, and thus a part of that increase in pace. And if you think this is something that we can continue with indefinitely the pace of change has probably already burned out something important in that completely overstuffed thing you call a brain.

At the risk of stating what ought to be obvious let me at least reiterate something here: The pace of life is profoundly affected by the primary organizing principle of the dominant operating system. And if the main theme of the current system is "do it more, and better, than the other guy," because if you don't you lose audience share, or market share, or brand identification share, or whatever other notion that plays into being the best accumulator of counters, and that, of course, is the path to extinction.

So. When you see the phrase "breaking news" try to understand that this is also a simple declarative statement. This is so because we are actually breaking something very important here, and always trying to increase the flow is not going to fix anything; except our wagons as the wheels come off.

This horrible, monkey motor scooter, of an electrically accelerating system, that now prides itself in the feces it can throw out at ever better rates of throughput, is heading for only one outcome, and that is going over a very high cliff, to come down on the sharp rocks of one very rude awakening.

I guess the one good thing that will come of it then will be that the pace of change will certainly be corrected.

TRUTHINESS VERSUS FACTINESS

Breaking News

4 diggs reallifemag.com Media

Political news spins ever faster and the stories are always bigger, but more information doesn't leave you more informed

"But There Seems To Be Something Deeper Holding People In Place"

And thank the Gods for that (whichever ones you like, in any combination you like).

Christ, what is wrong with us that we don't understand why people feel a deep sense of connection to small communities; communities where people know each other; know how to work with each other to get things done; remember the things that tied them to the land their parents, and their parent's parents lived, and died on, going back so many generations. And the only thing that shocks us in these situations is that the people seem so unwilling to bend to obvious economic pressures.

Maybe the problem isn't with the people, and the deep connections that they were able to make, but the crazy economic operating system itself. A system so inured to the economics of scarcity; so preconditioned to not question the stupidity of letting insanely chaotic markets decide whether a people, in a particular place, are no longer worth anything; simply because they don't make anything the markets like cost effectively enough. And most of that, of course, simply because those who own capital are never satisfied with the last go around of them demanding, and then getting, ever larger profit margins for what they think is valuable (which anymore seems to be less and less about actual things people need, and more and more about the insubstantial; that which is not hard copy, but remains in the nether world of electrons and photons and sound waves; the very things that fantasies are so easily commoditized with, and oh so addictive as well).

If we had the sense to ditch this ridiculous system we could create our own sense of what is, or isn't valuable. And we could do that because we would be in charge of running our own towns; creating our own, locally effective, production methods to give us the lion's share of what we need. And all the while there would be no need to pay anybody anything for the knowledge we use because that already belongs to us; if for no other reason than we are civilization and without us there would have been no basis to create that knowledge in the first place.

The finders of things deserve credit, there's no question about that, of course. And smart communities will think of ways to incentivize their fellows to keep on finding more new ways of doing things. The point here is that people can live wherever they have the knowledge to build and maintain the things they need to live; and if we were to allow ourselves to get even moderately better at cooperating, we could expand that envelope without limit. We can do that you see because we live in a thing that is infinite in any human sense of more; even if you thought in terms of only one galaxy, because hundreds of billions of star systems will represent exactly that for more than long enough to allow for the next time our reach exceeds our grasp. As it most certainly will if we can find the right values to work for.

EXCEPT NOBODY WANTS TO LEAVE

America's Forgotten Towns: Can They Be Saved Or Should People Just Leave?

11 diggs Washington Post Economics

There are obvious economic barriers to moving. It's expensive and risky to leave a place your family has been living in for generations, and there's no guarantee the job you move for will still exist in a few years. But there seems to be something deeper holding people in place.

An Illustration Of Why Capitalism Can No Longer Be Reformed

Simply put, the collection of enough information to give you an even break of a chance of detecting naughty behavior, and/or critically unstable behavior, requires enormous effort; not only in just getting it either, but also through doing something effectively analytical as well. This, on top of information flow all entities try to conduct to engage in actual transactions of service, or product, for counters in vast arrays of complexly interconnected servers; triggering even vaster cascades of further needed transactions as one event output becomes another event's input.

And then they think they can keep growing the monster as well. Throwing in further checkpoints, and monitoring systems, to keep bad behavior within limits the owners of Capital have laughed at for decades. "Greed is good," as a once famous financier once said. It must be because these folks are making counters like never before, and it aint because we've succeeded in stopping them from being naughty. Too many ways to corrupt now, with too many counters to do it with; and a whole lot of addiction to keep the electrons flowing without even the need of hard copy output at all any more. What a deal.

A slew of new financial rules could make the big European firms even bigger

See Also:
[Post Note: This article about the EPA illustrates what William Greider made clear in his work on Capitalism; namely that even when you get legislation passed to control the actions of Big Money, it will always come back to mitigate, underfund, or alter any new rules. And let's be clear here, it's not just because of the greed. It is also because the fundamental insanity of Capitalism demands it; if for no other reason than the simple fact that it does little good to develop new cutting edge products if you can't throw them into the competitive fray in a timely manner. That this might cause other problems down the road is irrelevant to this obsolete operating system. J.V.]

EPA eases path for new chemicals, raising fears of health hazards

Is Marx Still Relevant?

Of course he's still relevant, that is not, or should not, be the point.

Here's the thing: he had great insight into the contradictions of Capitalism; especially in terms of how labor would be at a disadvantage power wise, but right now that is really not the most important aspect to be focused on. And I say that because it risks too much of the "rear view mirror thinking" that McLuhan used to talk about. That's the thing where you see too many things in terms of the old way of viewing the environment you currently operate in. It was the view he described as having people call automobiles horseless carriages when they first came out.

The bigger point here is the fact of electrification of information. The fact that this has created a completely new operating environment and we really ought to be accepting the fact that Capitalism is simply no longer relevant to that new environment. That, in fact, this new environment requires involvement in depth, with meaningful connection for all participants, instead of a clever few. As such, we must begin the process of creating something completely new.

Begging For Health And Begging For Justice?

As we wait to be blown up? Or our turn at being a defacto sex slave? And all the while the best our current "leadership" is able to do is brag about the size of his nuclear button.

We do need meaning and purpose, but this is sure one awful way to go about it. Why do so few of you see what is really wrong here. That the toxic waste pile that is our current economic system must be replaced.

WILL THE CROWD KEEP YOU ALIVE?

Sick. Uninsured. And Begging The Internet For A Lifeline

9 diggs Mother Jones Internet

Paying for health care is now a popularity contest.

See Also:

[Post Note: Apparently our best teachers have to do a lot of begging as well. J.V.]

YOUR KID'S TEACHER CAN'T MAKE RENT

Why Are Our Most Important Teachers Paid The Least?

13 diggs The New York Times Work

Many preschool teachers live on the edge of financial ruin. Would improving their training — and their pay — improve outcomes for their students?

CHANGE FROM CHANGE

This App Collects Spare Change To Bail People Out Of Jail

7 diggs Wired Criminal Justice

There’s growing concern that bail creates a two-tiered system for the 12 million people arrested each year, keeping those unable to afford it locked up. A new app is one small step to fight that inequality.

MAYBE JUST... DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT

When Will I Be Blown Up?

5 diggs theoutline.com Warfare

The doomsday clock run by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is now much closer to midnight than it has ever been in decades. We have returned to an age of full-on nuclear anxiety.

WE REALLY DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW

Trump: I Have A 'Much Bigger' Nuclear Button Than Kim Jong Un

8 diggs The Hill News

President Trump on Tuesday said that the nuclear launch button on his desk is "much bigger" and "more powerful" than that of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un — and that his button actually "works."

BUSTED BACCHANALS

'Oh My God, This Is So F---ed Up': Inside Silicon Valley's Dark Side

23 diggs Vanity Fair Technology

Not far from Sand Hill Road exists a private world of wild sex parties and "cuddle puddles." As one male investor put it, "You could say it's disgusting but not illegal — it just perpetuates a culture that keeps women down."

See Also:

HAPPINESS IS FLEETING, PURPOSE ISN'T

Finding Purpose Is Fairly Crucial To A Healthy Life

15 diggs The New York Times Health

Happiness has little to do with it. Research suggests meaning in your life is important for well-being.

Why Does The Media Continue To Call Dictator Tyrants "Strong Men?"

These are not strong men.

Let me repeat that. These are not strong men.

They are are butchers. Despots. Criminals. But they are most definitely not strong men.

Strong men do not need to lead by fear. Terror. Or any other means of intimidation. They also don't need to lie as if it were as natural as breathing.

No, they lead by strength of character. Strength of convictions formed in a thoughtful, loving sense of civil connections, and working, just, institutions. Formed as well from a culture of engagement, understanding, and a sense that people, working together for both their private aspirations, as well as the general public good; because such leaders understand that neither the individual, nor the public as a whole, can thrive, if both don't work together for the ongoing compromises that make a balanced life possible.

These are not strong men. Stop calling them that.

Donald Trump befriended these strongmen in 2017