Lots of slashdotters are arguing about the technical things, like whether it is secure, possible, appealing to the consumers, etc. These things are nice to talk about but compared to the big picture, they are so secondary and unimportant.
What's the big picture? The big picture is that the idea of purposefully creating an artificial shortage is totally bankrupt.
It's the thought that counts, and the thought of that industry totally sucks.
All in the name of economic development. Things like this doesn't create value, instead it subtracts value. The sole purpose of such an idiotic idea is just to move money from one place to another, i.e., to the pockets of the already wealthy.
The problem is that it is not so simple. Because often when you join them, there is a great possibility that you become them, or subscribe to their ideology, or get beaten up and never recover, or never really quite succeed with them enough to be able to make any difference.
. . . see what a despotic government is really like (hint: not like ours.)
I think that depends a lot on which side of the fence you are in. If you are on the wrong side, e.g., Vietnam, Philipines, Mexico, natives American Indians, non-VISA'ed workers from Africa, El Salvador, Laos, Cambodia, stoopid Iraqi GI with lots of career options, recent Afghan civilians with US sponsored fireworks in very close proximity, Palestine, Nicaragua, infantry producing military factories in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden. And so on.
True, the Brits used a Big Stick up the collective American poop hole. And after removing the said Big Stick, the US of A turned around and in turn used it on some other poop holes. Kind of a they-f**ked-me-I-f**k-you-smaller-guys S&M going on. Not pretty and not right.
Why? There is only one good answer: to make a profit out of nothing. Same type of zero cost revenue generating scam^H^Hheme as selling domain names and SSL certificates, where the cost of producing the goods is virtually zero. It is like selling air.
Are you implying that a person on H-1B can just say to company A "screw you", pack, take the same H-1B visa to comapny B and continue to work? Then
you need to consult your immigration lawyer.
If the H-1B visa holder wants to change employer, the new employer will have to reapply for the H-1B visa.
Log in, anonymous coward. Or maybe you don't want to be identified because you look so stupid yourself? Moron. Gotta be a right wing apologist.
I used to buy all my hardware from mwave.com and liked them a lot for the good deal and fast delivery. So I recommend everyone who asked to buy from them. Until one day my brother had a busted CPU from them, and they put him through hell before they would send him a replacement.
Paying off retention bonus (mostly to execs and top managers) while laying off like mad? I don't care if she still have a job at the end of the year. She definitely doesn't need a job.
Why is no one talking about the expanding gulf of earnings mentioned in the review? 80%(!!!) of Americans have their effective income reduced by
19% in about 20 years (about 1% per year average), yet the "top managers" have their income increased by 19 % in 10 years (about 2% per year). And we are talking about US of A, the most powerful state in the world, ever. We are not even talking about some other much sorrier places.
I find this trend very alarming, but not unexpected. The top dogs make the rules, and guess whose benefit are the rules for? This is really the same situation throughout the history of civilization, which is exploitation.
Exploitation?! How can that be? Why not? It is the trend in human history, it is what a person in power does to keep his advantage (in general). Except that in an "advanced democracy" like USA, the exploitation assumes a more advanced form. It is not done with guns to the head, it is done with more legal means, which is threat of loss of income. Wait till the high tech "globalization" hits you (and I think it will be much sooner that 10-15 years), and your job is now being done someone else in India or China (no disrespect to workers in that country at all!). Then you sit there and wonder: what the hell happened? Then you think and remember who benefits from all this, and who makes the rules, and how come the rules seem right, but the outcome feel so damn wrong?
There is no simple answer, really. Just interesting to watch the world whirl along. A few people get the carrot, a wast majority just keep chasing thinking that they can get the carrot. I think it helps to know what is going on, even though one can't realistically change the situation.
1. 60-70% Did that number come out of your ass? In any case, if getting a computer without Windows means that I have to build my own, or I have to reduce my choice of vendors drastically, then that points in the direction of MS having a monopoly.
2. How much is Apple's market share? Besides, it is your opinion that Jackson is wrong. I happen to think that Jackson is correct. And since you have been shown to pull number out of your ass, by default I am the better person, and so your opinion is dismissable. How do you like some of your arbitrarily subjective rationalization applied to you?
3....stopped doing so because their was no consumer support... Maybe because MS has a monopoly?
I don't think you have any capacity to clear anything up.
It is not that easy to choose where or who a person wants to work for, even if the dirty little secrets of the companies are known. Most average joes are really wage slave, that's why losing one's job ranks up there in stress level. What with the car payment, rent, morgage, child care, medicals, what not.
Factor in "corporate moral" as one of the requirements for a company to apply for work in, and the list gets shortened pretty quickly.
I am not saying that one should not try. I am just saying that it is not easy to most people to take this kind of moral stand--the consequences are not light!
And when's the last time there was a non-leftist slant on any issue here by the editors?
Uh... maybe because that is the conclusion any thinking and feeling human being inevitably comes to? And those kinds of logical and moral conclusions are labeled as leftist by right wing nuts?
How come the right wing nuts always post as anonymous cowards?
If the people of Anniston simply stopped buying products from Monsanto, then they could use their "market forces" to stop this kind of activity.
The problem is that how can you make the people of Anniston do that? It is not easy at all.
You have to tell them about this.
That means you have to use the media to inform people, but guess who has bigger clout in controlling the media?
They have to understand the issues.
People also have to be smart enough to understand the issues. For stuff like Monsanto, it is perhaps not so hard to make an emotional case (easiest to appeal to emotion) with the skinless fish, but often it is not easy to make a case. And the media does play a huge part in making people not think hard.
They have to care.
People also have to care enough. But I think the NIMBY attitude is very strong, conditioned by media from young. Take Afghanistan for example, where the civilian collateral damage has pretty much risen up to about the same as the number who perished in the WTC and Pentagon attacks, but how many Americans are crying over that? They don't care in general because it is NIMBY.
So I think it is not as easy to marshall market forces like that to make a correction on an immoral act like that. For Monsanto, all it takes is to convince the few board of directors/execs that, yes, that dumping crap in the river will save you this much $$$. It is harder to try to make 10,000 people understand that it is crap in their river, and that it is bad for them ultimately, and that only they can do something about it, and that they have to do something about it or it won't stop.
Waiting for market forces to clean up the monsantos, well, I think in practice it doesn't happen very often. Look at how difficult it is even for the government to make GE clean up the PCB in Hudson river. Also, the PCB is already in the river, the damage has been done. By the time the market forces gets moving in the direction that is moral, if it ever does, it is often way too late.
(I do think that those who control the media do exert a lot of control what people thinks, and that indirectly give a lot of control over other things. Individually, it is not as effective/guaranteed as pointing a gun to a peroson's head. But collectively, especially in a large population, it is extremely effective in making people do what you want them to do.)
Slashdot Mirror
Depends on your gender, it might not be a big deal at all...
8^)
Cheers,
e.
Here's something that might not be new to you:
You are stoopid.
Cheers,
e.
Ah... The mentality of the average slashdot modders:
Wheeee!!!
Mod this guy up. Someone need to say the important things around here.
Totally agree.
Lots of slashdotters are arguing about the technical things, like whether it is secure, possible, appealing to the consumers, etc. These things are nice to talk about but compared to the big picture, they are so secondary and unimportant.
What's the big picture? The big picture is that the idea of purposefully creating an artificial shortage is totally bankrupt.
It's the thought that counts, and the thought of that industry totally sucks.
Creating a self destruct DVD? What a nice way to:
All in the name of economic development. Things like this doesn't create value, instead it subtracts value. The sole purpose of such an idiotic idea is just to move money from one place to another, i.e., to the pockets of the already wealthy.
If you can't beat them, join them then beat them.
The problem is that it is not so simple. Because often when you join them, there is a great possibility that you become them, or subscribe to their ideology, or get beaten up and never recover, or never really quite succeed with them enough to be able to make any difference.
. . . see what a despotic government is really like (hint: not like ours.)
I think that depends a lot on which side of the fence you are in. If you are on the wrong side, e.g., Vietnam, Philipines, Mexico, natives American Indians, non-VISA'ed workers from Africa, El Salvador, Laos, Cambodia, stoopid Iraqi GI with lots of career options, recent Afghan civilians with US sponsored fireworks in very close proximity, Palestine, Nicaragua, infantry producing military factories in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden. And so on.
True, the Brits used a Big Stick up the collective American poop hole. And after removing the said Big Stick, the US of A turned around and in turn used it on some other poop holes. Kind of a they-f**ked-me-I-f**k-you-smaller-guys S&M going on. Not pretty and not right.
Why? There is only one good answer: to make a profit out of nothing. Same type of zero cost revenue generating scam^H^Hheme as selling domain names and SSL certificates, where the cost of producing the goods is virtually zero. It is like selling air.
Cheers.
Are you implying that a person on H-1B can just say to company A "screw you", pack, take the same H-1B visa to comapny B and continue to work? Then you need to consult your immigration lawyer.
If the H-1B visa holder wants to change employer, the new employer will have to reapply for the H-1B visa.
Log in, anonymous coward. Or maybe you don't want to be identified because you look so stupid yourself? Moron. Gotta be a right wing apologist.
Bill Gates has even more money. Can we call be like Bill? Since Bill did it, can we all do it? Why not?
One data point proves nothing, except that it is possible, which we already know. It doesn't say anything about being probable.
the concept of the Church punishing a feudal lord for failing to provide for his serfs is... romantized
That's probably true. Fast forward to the 21st century, and it still mostly applies:
the concept of the goverment punishing a corporate entity for failing to provide for its employees is... romantized
Things didn't change too much,huh?
Cheers.
Too true, unfortunately.
Any moderators not up to their eye balls with capitalistic propaganda want to mod parent up?
I used to buy all my hardware from mwave.com and liked them a lot for the good deal and fast delivery. So I recommend everyone who asked to buy from them. Until one day my brother had a busted CPU from them, and they put him through hell before they would send him a replacement.
I now buy from Champaign Computer.
Cheers.
Latest Red Hat CD in the mail every month. Free! Woo hoo!!!
Paying off retention bonus (mostly to execs and top managers) while laying off like mad? I don't care if she still have a job at the end of the year. She definitely doesn't need a job.
Welcome to Club Enron. 8^)
More opportunity for the rich and powerful, more risk for the lower lifeforms. As usual.
Unfortunately, that is too true. :-(
Why is no one talking about the expanding gulf of earnings mentioned in the review? 80%(!!!) of Americans have their effective income reduced by 19% in about 20 years (about 1% per year average), yet the "top managers" have their income increased by 19 % in 10 years (about 2% per year). And we are talking about US of A, the most powerful state in the world, ever. We are not even talking about some other much sorrier places.
I find this trend very alarming, but not unexpected. The top dogs make the rules, and guess whose benefit are the rules for? This is really the same situation throughout the history of civilization, which is exploitation.
Exploitation?! How can that be? Why not? It is the trend in human history, it is what a person in power does to keep his advantage (in general). Except that in an "advanced democracy" like USA, the exploitation assumes a more advanced form. It is not done with guns to the head, it is done with more legal means, which is threat of loss of income. Wait till the high tech "globalization" hits you (and I think it will be much sooner that 10-15 years), and your job is now being done someone else in India or China (no disrespect to workers in that country at all!). Then you sit there and wonder: what the hell happened? Then you think and remember who benefits from all this, and who makes the rules, and how come the rules seem right, but the outcome feel so damn wrong?
There is no simple answer, really. Just interesting to watch the world whirl along. A few people get the carrot, a wast majority just keep chasing thinking that they can get the carrot. I think it helps to know what is going on, even though one can't realistically change the situation.
Cheers.
1. 60-70% Did that number come out of your ass? In any case, if getting a computer without Windows means that I have to build my own, or I have to reduce my choice of vendors drastically, then that points in the direction of MS having a monopoly.
2. How much is Apple's market share? Besides, it is your opinion that Jackson is wrong. I happen to think that Jackson is correct. And since you have been shown to pull number out of your ass, by default I am the better person, and so your opinion is dismissable. How do you like some of your arbitrarily subjective rationalization applied to you?
3. ...stopped doing so because their was no consumer support... Maybe because MS has a monopoly?
I don't think you have any capacity to clear anything up.
It is not that easy to choose where or who a person wants to work for, even if the dirty little secrets of the companies are known. Most average joes are really wage slave, that's why losing one's job ranks up there in stress level. What with the car payment, rent, morgage, child care, medicals, what not.
Factor in "corporate moral" as one of the requirements for a company to apply for work in, and the list gets shortened pretty quickly.
I am not saying that one should not try. I am just saying that it is not easy to most people to take this kind of moral stand--the consequences are not light!
Don't you think you're being a little harsh?
No.
Disclaimer: I own Monsanto stock[yahoo.com]
Lucky for you you posted as anonymous coward... :-)
And when's the last time there was a non-leftist slant on any issue here by the editors?
Uh... maybe because that is the conclusion any thinking and feeling human being inevitably comes to? And those kinds of logical and moral conclusions are labeled as leftist by right wing nuts?
How come the right wing nuts always post as anonymous cowards?
If the people of Anniston simply stopped buying products from Monsanto, then they could use their "market forces" to stop this kind of activity.
The problem is that how can you make the people of Anniston do that? It is not easy at all.
So I think it is not as easy to marshall market forces like that to make a correction on an immoral act like that. For Monsanto, all it takes is to convince the few board of directors/execs that, yes, that dumping crap in the river will save you this much $$$. It is harder to try to make 10,000 people understand that it is crap in their river, and that it is bad for them ultimately, and that only they can do something about it, and that they have to do something about it or it won't stop.
Waiting for market forces to clean up the monsantos, well, I think in practice it doesn't happen very often. Look at how difficult it is even for the government to make GE clean up the PCB in Hudson river. Also, the PCB is already in the river, the damage has been done. By the time the market forces gets moving in the direction that is moral, if it ever does, it is often way too late.
(I do think that those who control the media do exert a lot of control what people thinks, and that indirectly give a lot of control over other things. Individually, it is not as effective/guaranteed as pointing a gun to a peroson's head. But collectively, especially in a large population, it is extremely effective in making people do what you want them to do.)
The dude didn't say anything about communism or becoming communist society. Maybe you should wonder why you jump to conclusion so quickly?
And if you have nuts, try not to do AC postings...