h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sad but true. I saw a figure earlier today of 780,000 comments to the FCC on the matter. Naturally, since it was on Twotter that could mean absolutely anything, but I know that feeling is running particularly high. And that big money usually gets its way.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/10/18/vote-all-you-want-the-secret-government-won-change/jVSkXrENQlu8vNcBfMn9sL/story.html?event=event25

So, even American government is like Yes, Minister. Just not funny at all and very depressing.

This article gives the best description of what passes for Democracy in America today. There is no democracy. Both major political parties serve their corporate masters. Voters just swing from one to the other to punish the party in power.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-u-s-elections-bi-partisan-vote-buying-corporate-pr-campaigns-deja-vu-all-over-again/5412293

yeah. sucks. But look at some of the ballot measures. Somehow we managed to strike down this most wicked 3-strikes law, by making lots of things not federal offenses.

If politics is a game, the deck is stacked against us. I would love to live long enough to see 80% voter turnout though. The Owners would positively themselves if they thought people were paying attention.

The Owners must be looking at The Dress and rubbing their hands with glee, safe in the knowledge that they've managed to distract the population with so much triviality that the chances of any kind of revolution or protest are diminishing into the far distance.

Well, probably Twitter in general, and Buzzfeed too, rather than just one silly story.

Yep. Bernie Sanders agrees with you. Where is the news coverage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

Not Another NAFTA: http://youtu.be/beOJtXLSQyc

And again http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/ed-miliband-is-growing-a-beard--has-he-finally-broken-his-silence-to-back-jeremy-corbyn-10463583.html

We're doomed

Well, that's news for ya.

http://youtu.be/9U4Ha9HQvMo

"and free-associate about what's going on."

Once again, The Owners must be handing out cigars and patting each other on the back, congratulating themselves at how successfully they've managed to distract so many people from what they're doing with... a puddle of water http://twitter.com/hashtag/DrummondPuddleWatch

Well, it certainly better than American news with its round-the-clock Trump coverage.

Yeah, it was nice over the Christmas/New Year period with only minimal political news. But we're back to normal now And it's just going to get worse the closer we get to the election.

I'd vote for that Newcastle Puddle before any of the republican contenders.

I just finished reading this. I started it a few days ago and read bits of it when I could. It's definitely food for thought.

Summary: While the American Dream isn't dead yet, maybe it should be. It does more harm than good. The idea that success and worth are equivalent, that good things happen to good people and everyone can be successful if they just try hard enough isn't just wrong, it's harmful.


http://markmanson.net/american-dream

Have you seen the King of the Hill episode where Bobby gets a job selling drinks at the local speedway? Here's the IMDb synopsis:
"In order to make Bobby learn the importance of hard work, Hank gets Bobby a job at the local race track as a drink-boy, under the management of an incompetent boss. Bobby desperately tries to convince his father that his boss is an idiot, Hank is convinced Bobby simply is isn't applying himself enough and makes him continue working for the man. Descision [sic] and an oversight, on Hank's part, that may put Bobby's life in dire jeopardy."

It's not one of my favourite episodes but it's one that I remember most clearly because it embodies a lot of what's in the piece you linked to. The more Bobby tries to explain that his boss is exploiting him, the more Hank instils in him that the Hills aren't quitters. His boss keeps urging Bobby to work harder and harder with the promise of making him his "can-do" boy (I'm doing a lot of this from memory by the way - I haven't seen the episode for a few years), so Bobby runs himself ragged and gets the promotion, but whatever he does it's just short of good enough, and it's all so the boss can make more money - he uses people for his own ends.

It embodies that concept of getting what you deserve/deserving what you get by working hard, never quitting and always having a can-do attitude. I loathe both the never quit and the can-do attitudes.

The first simply flies in the face of logic and common sense. Never giving up is okay up to a point. There's no doubt it's resulted in some Good Things, but there is always a time to say okay, this isn't working, let's knock it on the head and move on. Following any dogma regardless is, well, there's that saying about a sign of madness being the tendency to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I think.

Can-do effectively condemns people to constant exploitation because they have to do whatever their superiors and employers ask of them. As with any other area of human behaviour, once something has been happening for a certain period of time it becomes the new normal and the previous way of doing things is either forgotten or seen as old-fashioned. Any deviation from this new normal is something that's wrong and not acceptable.

It's one of the many thoroughly despicable ideas that corporate capitalism - which is now at the heart of the American dream - has come up with to enrich itself at the expense of the people who actually do the work, robbing them of their dignity, free time, lunch breaks, time at home with the kids... their life outside the company in general. Got to be answering your emails and phone calls/texts 24/7. Guilt is frequently used as a tool by telling people that if they don't give themselves over to the team 101% they're letting everyone else down, and is another new normal.

The team... I'm not going to get started on that concept and spend another 20 minutes ranting, when I need to be going to the shops

I've seen every episode of KotH several times. I love that show. And I remember that particular episode quite well. (Bobby's boss ends up convincing Bobby to sell drinks on the track while the cars are racing past.)


I'm feeling particularly bitter right now as I am watching my budget after that pay cut I took with this latest contract. (I'm re-estimating up from a 10% cut to at least a 15%-20% cut as I factor in the increased out of pocket medical spending I now have with our new, high deductible insurance.) They cut my pay while I'm personally responsible for work that brings money into this contract that pays the salaries of others that didn't get pay cuts.

I definitely do not feel motivated to increase my productivity ever again.


I remember films from my youth like Gung Ho, that (accurately?) portrayed American workers as less productive than Japanese workers. But that is no longer the case. American workers are reportedly the most productive in the world and yet have seen stagnant or lower wages as their reward.

That article really resonated with my viewpoint of the state of affairs these days.

This, and so many television programmes on British television recently that include the word 'benefits' in their title, says much about the current attitude regarding work. The harder you work the better person you are. Stand still for a moment to look at the sky or the trees or have a moment to your self - you're a slacker.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-37822027
Orkney sheep farmer with 20 jobs dubbed Britain's hardest-working man