Mike Pouraryan
The Workers vs. the Suites
The nature of work is evolving. There was a very interseting article in this week's edition of Time Magazine. It talked about how things are changing, that the old notion of Retirement is no longer valid and that all of us have to figure out have to somehow adapt to this. Like with all change, opportunities abound aroudn us.
Right now, as we're navigating through the worst economic calamity of our times, it appears that the guy on the street has no rights. What Naomi Klein is talking about here is something that must be thought of by all:
One of the things that I think is quite instructive in this segment is what Avi Lewis called the Financlization of the Auto Industry. Everything has been truly based on finance. Everything is based on the share price and the bounceback. Beyond that, nothing else seems to matter. Markets can be really brutal, unless you adopt what I call the "Google Principle", whereby you stay focused on innovation.
Barack Obama said that he would pursue a policy that would be truly inclusive. I always viewed him to be more of a centrist and a "realist", which meant that he wanted to pursue things that would work. Whether his policies work or not is an open question. What continues to be the case is how the President is getting it from both sides.
On a side note, I was quite disappointed about Barack Obama's answer to a Q&A on single payer. He said that the country is not starting from scratch and wanted to work on improving the healthcare. Of course, he also has to deal with the right and folks like Dick Morris who have said that US Healthcare is dying because single payer or a variant will mean the absence of choice. There is a concerted movement to swift boat healthcare reform which is led by Rick Scott, the guy at HCA. What The President fails to realize is that when 50 miliion people are without healthcare, at least 50 Million (maybe more) are uninsured then maybe there is time to blow up the existing structure and start from scratch. What was also laughable was how this supposed 2 trillion dollar savings pledge was debunked by industry. They want to do things "voluntarily". Right!!!
One thing that business teaches you is not to be married to a certain process. I understand that the Presdient does not want to do something that is 1/6 of the U.S. GDP. What is gratifying is how the workers have begun to speak up for their rights. This is probably the most fascinating of things to watch.
Right now, as we're navigating through the worst economic calamity of our times, it appears that the guy on the street has no rights. What Naomi Klein is talking about here is something that must be thought of by all:
Barack Obama said that he would pursue a policy that would be truly inclusive. I always viewed him to be more of a centrist and a "realist", which meant that he wanted to pursue things that would work. Whether his policies work or not is an open question. What continues to be the case is how the President is getting it from both sides.
On a side note, I was quite disappointed about Barack Obama's answer to a Q&A on single payer. He said that the country is not starting from scratch and wanted to work on improving the healthcare. Of course, he also has to deal with the right and folks like Dick Morris who have said that US Healthcare is dying because single payer or a variant will mean the absence of choice. There is a concerted movement to swift boat healthcare reform which is led by Rick Scott, the guy at HCA. What The President fails to realize is that when 50 miliion people are without healthcare, at least 50 Million (maybe more) are uninsured then maybe there is time to blow up the existing structure and start from scratch. What was also laughable was how this supposed 2 trillion dollar savings pledge was debunked by industry. They want to do things "voluntarily". Right!!!
One thing that business teaches you is not to be married to a certain process. I understand that the Presdient does not want to do something that is 1/6 of the U.S. GDP. What is gratifying is how the workers have begun to speak up for their rights. This is probably the most fascinating of things to watch.
