Skip to main content

Unions Under Pressure

I remember my dad getting temporarily laid off as an unwilling victim of a walk out by the then popular worker's right activist union.  As a counter point to the capitalist ideology there has been the socialist or communist movement and it led to significant wars in recent history.

At the heart of the communist movement is the notion of a Union; that of securing the vote of the downtrodden and giving them a fair share of the available pie.  To an extent that philosophy works to ensure that the greedy have a check point on what they can amass.  Today in the western world the gap between executive pay and the average worker is often used as a metric to highlight that point.  In America it is the worst with approx ratio of 450 times.

That said free enterprise thrives when there is a chance of maximum reward.  To that degree any artificial restriction on the flow of money either through taxation or social policies that hinder progress are an anathema to the entrepreneurial spirit.

Folks that were feeling pressured to share their wealth in Britain with the less performing parts of the EU as a modern day socialist idea got pissed to the point where they have decided to leave this man made union.

Now we will see how the remaining strong parties in the leftover union act.  Germany - was machen sie heute?

As the old joke says - there is a difference between capitalism and communism.  In the former man exploits man.  In the latter it is the other way round.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk  My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...

A few good books

 On an informal mission to read one book a week as long as the eyes allow for such ambition. Fiction or non is not important as long as it entertains and /or educates. To that end the past few weeks have brought a bounty in the form of some wonderful and then not so engaging literature. Among the notables are - Non fiction category: 1. Good arguments by Bo Seo (how to handle a dispute or debate the most efficient way possible) 2. Genesis by Eric Schmidt (and former US Secy of State Henry Kissinger, who recently passed) - how AI might affect our lives as we know it 3. One in a billion - Zarna Garg (an autobiographical look at an Indian born American woman with a bindi narrated in a standup format - yes it is at times cliched but still funny) Fiction: 1. Personal by Lee Child (a vigilante story with Jack Reacher the giant, nomad protagonist of Child's novels goes hunting for a sniper) 2. Ramayana unraveled by Ami Ganatra (she might disagree about it being a work of fiction but oh wel...