Going to get even more glaring before it stops. To the point where the thumb rests on the other side of the scale become too big for everyone to ignore.
The Northwestern “story” is particularly sad as the woke grifters have the school “targeted” to get the Admin to back out of all Division 1 sports, for a slight fee. Not shocking that Rep. Jan Shakowsky (Mrs. Robert Creamer) is dead silent about it. NU is the test case for what’s coming to the NCAA biz “model”. Lawfare, Inc.
"An entrepreneurship professor at NYU was chiding Elon on Twitter and worrying about wealth inequity in the United States. He tweets “When a private citizen can pay $44 billion for a media company " yet has no problem when Jeff Bezos buys the Washington Post, official outlet of the deep state...
another example. I received an email with this headline "Ethical AI, B2B, “Future Of Work” SaaS Product Investment Opportunity". What's ethical???? I prefer Marc Andreessen's essay on AI and also counterpoint that with Elon Musk's concerns about it. That's a REAL conversation. Objective.
First, I think almost all of this is just noisy virtue signaling. They are responding to the intensity of Marxism and current American issues du jour. It's an insurance policy for vulnerable startups and entrepreneurs. True believers doing this purely for ESG won't last long -- the market will take care of that. The rest will just shift to the next fad, and project whatever the money wants them to project.
Second, stepping back, I think a lot of this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how wealth is created and functions. I've noted over the years that Marxist Democrats believe that wealth is a zero sum game. They believe that when two parties enter into a transaction, one party wins and another loses, e.g. the "little guy" getting taken advantage of by wealthy robber barons. It's bullshit.
They fundamentally don't understand that more voluntary transactions equals greater wealth for all. The pie grows larger, and everyone has a better standard of living.
So when our esteemed "professor" cites the usual Leftist trope of "someone having too much money" he fundamentally lacks an understanding of what wealth is. It is not money. Money is a unit of exchange. Wealth is when someone makes everyone better off and money is the accreted value of that endeavor. It does not take or "steal" from someone else to create it (assuming that it was a lawful and good faith transaction).
The key to understanding wealth is to understand that it does not force anyone to do anything. If a billionaire wanted to pay anyone $1 million to push rocks around his yard and no one wanted to do it, well then...no one does it. My point is that money is only good when someone else is willing to transact it in the belief that the transaction can create more wealth. Otherwise they wouldn't do it. So each successive transaction creates something for both parties and everyone is better off. It is not some coercive instrument of oppression.
It may sound overly simple, but that's it.
The final part of all this, I believe, is that some cultures don't like the advancement of others for fear of falling behind or missing out. It is a common human trait. So they shift the narrative to "community" to eliminate competition and anyone "getting ahead." It's just envy.
Amen, amen. I can barely understand corporate-speak anymore now that's even further obfuscated by DEI lingo. The worst is getting touchy feely answers from a customer service bot which of course doesn't relate to your question at all!
And to my actor/writer friends who are now decrying the greed of good old capitalism, just wait till you live under socialism!
I love the Actor/Writer strike. I read about it and I think they have a point. What this is really about is a change in a business model, and an argument over consumer/producer surplus. This is a great argument to watch and I don't think it will be demonized. It's capitalists vs capitalists......although they do a lot of woke shit in LA so it's hard to feel empathy for them
I'll be out picketing next week. It really is a sea change with, like you say, valid arguments. We SAG voted 99% for the strike, and we are all in. And alot of the workers are (secretly) non-woke!
I think this is a great strike and would love to see more transparency from both sides on negotiations. A friend of mine is in music, and musicians are woefully underpaid from streaming. But, you can't get rid of streaming!
Yes, big universal issues here, and a big oversupply of creatives, so we shall see. (Btw musicians from their union came and serenaded everyone picketing last week!)
https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=405449 this is interesting......streaming services don't want to release their data to actors/writers because maybe NO ONE IS WATCHING....
I can't remember the comedian who tweeted that the strike in Hollywood is a circular firing squad because streaming platforms can't show their numbers because the stock price is based on some "future value" not actual revenue! It's a form of corporate suicide. A lot like the virtue signaling VC's Mr Carter writes about!
Oh yes, big secret. The trend of starting a new subscription channel for every new show is kind of over. People don't want to pay to watch 30-year-old reruns. There was a big burst of creativity a few years ago like Mozart in the Jungle type shows but no more. And I am not even sure who keeps track of residuals now, but mine are so small I just cash the check.
Amen to musicians woefully underpaid! Not just in streaming. The reset that the "record companies" business model went through might be a guide to what this entertainment branch is undergoing! Musicians used to slog through tours to sell records and now they practically give away their music to sell the far more lucrative live tours. The difference in the recording side is there is no major label taking most of the money anymore! Thank you technology! But great entertainment can find an alternative path. "Sound of Freedom" anyone?!
Jul 25, 2023·edited Jul 25, 2023Liked by Jeffrey Carter
Incantations of virtue-signaling are the hallmark of the new fascist overlords. Today in Coeur d’Alene Idaho I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said: “The driver of this car would rather live and work in a walkable community.” And I thought to myself: “what the actual Fuc* is stopping you from doing that? GTFO!!!” Probably some bad orange man, or something. Because we are not responsible for the choice we make!
Nah. Colorado is really nice. Move to New Orleans. Or Detroit. A person like that only lives here because they are subsidized by Marxists (usually non-profits) that are trying to take over North Idaho by force.
Funny it was a bumper sticker as this "rather be in a walkable community" person clearly doesn't see the irony of his/her/its own message. Some people clearly don't see the idiocy of their, well, idiocy.
I think they know perfectly well the irony. It’s a troll move designed to get a rise out of people like me, and wink to their friends about being in on the joke. They are propagandists for Marxists and the oligarchs. It’s not hypocrisy (or irony, if you want to call that) if the technique is a means to an end. Sowing division by acting ironic and hypocritical has its own rewards for these people.
The Hypocricy, or Irony . . . like the ne'er-do-wells of the WEF talking about how the commoners need to make all the sacrifices "for the planet", while they continue to jet around the globe with their carbon footprints and eat filet mignon and live in their 47 different mansions. Apparently Klaus and Bill and Justin and Emmanuel and Larry, etc. care so much, they are willing to let US take the hit so they may continue "living their best lives".
Jul 25, 2023·edited Jul 25, 2023Liked by Jeffrey Carter
Well said, Mr. Carter--especially your penultimate paragraph which should be the mantra of any graduate or undergraduate business program. It cannot be reinforced too often.
What you say about the location of your summer home is true of the entire north shore, especially Duluth. They see themselves as leaders of the wokeness movement. The running joke in Duluth is "The blizzard has me housebound, but the bike trails are plowed before the snow even stops falling!" The latest thing for them is Northern Lights Express, a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. The state just allocated $195 million dollars to "capture" another $800 million federal dollars - just to get the line running. It will require additional government subsidies to operate in perpetuity. Or at least until some level of reason kicks in.
Imagine an "entrepreneurship" professor who's a socialist. How is that even possible? The grand irony is that the pinhead teaches at a school that charges $78,000 annually (including room and board.) Why would anyone send their kids there to be taught by such numbskulls.
truth be told I didn't read anything beyond that. I just had to laugh out loud. I mean does that mean that they keep a social worker on call in the event of fumes bothering somebody or a possible violent crime, or heaven forbid, stale candy sold?
"Community focused gas station" is just where all the degenerates tend to hang out these days cuz they have nothing else to do. I can think of 2 or 3 in Chicago alone, and probably more. Replaced the long-ago town square, back when people who cared about their community and interacted amicably with their fellow residents (regardless of color, gender, religious affiliation, country of origin, profession, etc.) used too congregate. Now it's just "people hangin' out cuz they got nothing else to do" . . . at the gas station. At least they have quick access to their sodas, vapes, and scratchers.
But there are other headwinds too. The USA can't build anything anymore. TSMC says building costs in AZ are 150% of Taiwan. NIMBYs and NEPA are in control. At a military level the US is forced by law to build military ships in the USA. Unfortunately US is not competitive at shipbuilding either, in cost, quality, or delivery. The right answer is to let the Koreans and Japanese do it. But try getting that one past the populists and the crony defense contractors. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/02/asia/japan-south-korea-naval-shipbuilding-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html
They love their sinful behaviors and rebellious natures. I see it as nothing more than a control grab with the mentality of a 12 year old pissed at mom and dad's rules. There is zero wisdom in it. Can you imagine celebrating yourself for a month? A month long venue of drowning in your own specialness, while walking around 3/4 naked. Not a recipe for happiness.
I think there's a lot of history in that answer, but I think it is a cynical ploy for some to get advantages over things they cannot control, like merit and individual performance. I believe that it is the "not-so-good" trying to find a way to win the game.
Going to get even more glaring before it stops. To the point where the thumb rests on the other side of the scale become too big for everyone to ignore.
The Northwestern “story” is particularly sad as the woke grifters have the school “targeted” to get the Admin to back out of all Division 1 sports, for a slight fee. Not shocking that Rep. Jan Shakowsky (Mrs. Robert Creamer) is dead silent about it. NU is the test case for what’s coming to the NCAA biz “model”. Lawfare, Inc.
"An entrepreneurship professor at NYU was chiding Elon on Twitter and worrying about wealth inequity in the United States. He tweets “When a private citizen can pay $44 billion for a media company " yet has no problem when Jeff Bezos buys the Washington Post, official outlet of the deep state...
another example. I received an email with this headline "Ethical AI, B2B, “Future Of Work” SaaS Product Investment Opportunity". What's ethical???? I prefer Marc Andreessen's essay on AI and also counterpoint that with Elon Musk's concerns about it. That's a REAL conversation. Objective.
AI going to get real amusing when one program decides another program needs to be "defeated". Frozen internet in under 5 minutes.
First, I think almost all of this is just noisy virtue signaling. They are responding to the intensity of Marxism and current American issues du jour. It's an insurance policy for vulnerable startups and entrepreneurs. True believers doing this purely for ESG won't last long -- the market will take care of that. The rest will just shift to the next fad, and project whatever the money wants them to project.
Second, stepping back, I think a lot of this is a fundamental misunderstanding of how wealth is created and functions. I've noted over the years that Marxist Democrats believe that wealth is a zero sum game. They believe that when two parties enter into a transaction, one party wins and another loses, e.g. the "little guy" getting taken advantage of by wealthy robber barons. It's bullshit.
They fundamentally don't understand that more voluntary transactions equals greater wealth for all. The pie grows larger, and everyone has a better standard of living.
So when our esteemed "professor" cites the usual Leftist trope of "someone having too much money" he fundamentally lacks an understanding of what wealth is. It is not money. Money is a unit of exchange. Wealth is when someone makes everyone better off and money is the accreted value of that endeavor. It does not take or "steal" from someone else to create it (assuming that it was a lawful and good faith transaction).
The key to understanding wealth is to understand that it does not force anyone to do anything. If a billionaire wanted to pay anyone $1 million to push rocks around his yard and no one wanted to do it, well then...no one does it. My point is that money is only good when someone else is willing to transact it in the belief that the transaction can create more wealth. Otherwise they wouldn't do it. So each successive transaction creates something for both parties and everyone is better off. It is not some coercive instrument of oppression.
It may sound overly simple, but that's it.
The final part of all this, I believe, is that some cultures don't like the advancement of others for fear of falling behind or missing out. It is a common human trait. So they shift the narrative to "community" to eliminate competition and anyone "getting ahead." It's just envy.
My two cents on it.
The thing about wokeness is that -- in the educational arena -- it doesn't impart any real life sustaining skills.
I studied engineering in college because my parents said engineers survived the Great Depression better than other job slices.
We need to identify the life sustaining skills a young person leaves college with and double down on those.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Amen, amen. I can barely understand corporate-speak anymore now that's even further obfuscated by DEI lingo. The worst is getting touchy feely answers from a customer service bot which of course doesn't relate to your question at all!
And to my actor/writer friends who are now decrying the greed of good old capitalism, just wait till you live under socialism!
I love the Actor/Writer strike. I read about it and I think they have a point. What this is really about is a change in a business model, and an argument over consumer/producer surplus. This is a great argument to watch and I don't think it will be demonized. It's capitalists vs capitalists......although they do a lot of woke shit in LA so it's hard to feel empathy for them
I'll be out picketing next week. It really is a sea change with, like you say, valid arguments. We SAG voted 99% for the strike, and we are all in. And alot of the workers are (secretly) non-woke!
Thanks for your support!
I think this is a great strike and would love to see more transparency from both sides on negotiations. A friend of mine is in music, and musicians are woefully underpaid from streaming. But, you can't get rid of streaming!
Yes, big universal issues here, and a big oversupply of creatives, so we shall see. (Btw musicians from their union came and serenaded everyone picketing last week!)
https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=405449 this is interesting......streaming services don't want to release their data to actors/writers because maybe NO ONE IS WATCHING....
I can't remember the comedian who tweeted that the strike in Hollywood is a circular firing squad because streaming platforms can't show their numbers because the stock price is based on some "future value" not actual revenue! It's a form of corporate suicide. A lot like the virtue signaling VC's Mr Carter writes about!
Oh yes, big secret. The trend of starting a new subscription channel for every new show is kind of over. People don't want to pay to watch 30-year-old reruns. There was a big burst of creativity a few years ago like Mozart in the Jungle type shows but no more. And I am not even sure who keeps track of residuals now, but mine are so small I just cash the check.
Amen to musicians woefully underpaid! Not just in streaming. The reset that the "record companies" business model went through might be a guide to what this entertainment branch is undergoing! Musicians used to slog through tours to sell records and now they practically give away their music to sell the far more lucrative live tours. The difference in the recording side is there is no major label taking most of the money anymore! Thank you technology! But great entertainment can find an alternative path. "Sound of Freedom" anyone?!
Incantations of virtue-signaling are the hallmark of the new fascist overlords. Today in Coeur d’Alene Idaho I saw a bumper sticker on a car that said: “The driver of this car would rather live and work in a walkable community.” And I thought to myself: “what the actual Fuc* is stopping you from doing that? GTFO!!!” Probably some bad orange man, or something. Because we are not responsible for the choice we make!
Right. Move to Colorado.
Nah. Colorado is really nice. Move to New Orleans. Or Detroit. A person like that only lives here because they are subsidized by Marxists (usually non-profits) that are trying to take over North Idaho by force.
Funny it was a bumper sticker as this "rather be in a walkable community" person clearly doesn't see the irony of his/her/its own message. Some people clearly don't see the idiocy of their, well, idiocy.
I think they know perfectly well the irony. It’s a troll move designed to get a rise out of people like me, and wink to their friends about being in on the joke. They are propagandists for Marxists and the oligarchs. It’s not hypocrisy (or irony, if you want to call that) if the technique is a means to an end. Sowing division by acting ironic and hypocritical has its own rewards for these people.
The Hypocricy, or Irony . . . like the ne'er-do-wells of the WEF talking about how the commoners need to make all the sacrifices "for the planet", while they continue to jet around the globe with their carbon footprints and eat filet mignon and live in their 47 different mansions. Apparently Klaus and Bill and Justin and Emmanuel and Larry, etc. care so much, they are willing to let US take the hit so they may continue "living their best lives".
Well said, Mr. Carter--especially your penultimate paragraph which should be the mantra of any graduate or undergraduate business program. It cannot be reinforced too often.
What you say about the location of your summer home is true of the entire north shore, especially Duluth. They see themselves as leaders of the wokeness movement. The running joke in Duluth is "The blizzard has me housebound, but the bike trails are plowed before the snow even stops falling!" The latest thing for them is Northern Lights Express, a passenger train from the Twin Cities to Duluth. The state just allocated $195 million dollars to "capture" another $800 million federal dollars - just to get the line running. It will require additional government subsidies to operate in perpetuity. Or at least until some level of reason kicks in.
absolutely stupid. they should widen HWY 61 to four lanes
What?!? And remove my pleasure of being car 27 behind the oversized trailer pulled by an Altima?
Imagine an "entrepreneurship" professor who's a socialist. How is that even possible? The grand irony is that the pinhead teaches at a school that charges $78,000 annually (including room and board.) Why would anyone send their kids there to be taught by such numbskulls.
Haha
"Community focused gas station"
truth be told I didn't read anything beyond that. I just had to laugh out loud. I mean does that mean that they keep a social worker on call in the event of fumes bothering somebody or a possible violent crime, or heaven forbid, stale candy sold?
"Community focused gas station" is just where all the degenerates tend to hang out these days cuz they have nothing else to do. I can think of 2 or 3 in Chicago alone, and probably more. Replaced the long-ago town square, back when people who cared about their community and interacted amicably with their fellow residents (regardless of color, gender, religious affiliation, country of origin, profession, etc.) used too congregate. Now it's just "people hangin' out cuz they got nothing else to do" . . . at the gas station. At least they have quick access to their sodas, vapes, and scratchers.
Great observations again Mr Carter! Kind of shows that wokeness and entrepreneurship are a contradiction in terms!
A small counterpoint: corps seem to be laying off DEI staff. https://www.wsj.com/articles/chief-diversity-officer-cdo-business-corporations-e110a82f
But there are other headwinds too. The USA can't build anything anymore. TSMC says building costs in AZ are 150% of Taiwan. NIMBYs and NEPA are in control. At a military level the US is forced by law to build military ships in the USA. Unfortunately US is not competitive at shipbuilding either, in cost, quality, or delivery. The right answer is to let the Koreans and Japanese do it. But try getting that one past the populists and the crony defense contractors. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/02/asia/japan-south-korea-naval-shipbuilding-intl-hnk-ml-dst/index.html
the small dent in DEI is small......
Where did this obsession with wokeness come from?
They love their sinful behaviors and rebellious natures. I see it as nothing more than a control grab with the mentality of a 12 year old pissed at mom and dad's rules. There is zero wisdom in it. Can you imagine celebrating yourself for a month? A month long venue of drowning in your own specialness, while walking around 3/4 naked. Not a recipe for happiness.
I think there's a lot of history in that answer, but I think it is a cynical ploy for some to get advantages over things they cannot control, like merit and individual performance. I believe that it is the "not-so-good" trying to find a way to win the game.
Human nature at its finest.
It started with everyone getting a trophy in youth sports and not keeping score. Only a bit of tongue in cheek.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com