The economy has, I swear, addled the brains business people. It's gotten so bad that it's going to take something short of an act of God to turn us around, I'm afraid.
Ok, enough of the editorializing.
I've been watching a disturbing trend in business and a precipitous slide in the quality of our very existence.
Somewhere along the way, companies took on lives of their own…they accumulated all the rights of personhood and precious few of the responsibilities or liabilities. Their reason for being – no longer focused on serving their communities – is to make money – and lots of it. To accomplish this corporations started looking at the bottom line – and started trimming. They soon discovered that automation and outsourcing to third world countries was a whole lot less expensive than paying people educated in the States and dedicated to pursuing careers, those who had to make a living adequate to sustain the ever increasing cost of living here at home.
Ever hungry for more profits, those same Corporations, automated their production, delivery and customer services. Who needs people to answer the phones when a machine can be programmed to direct customers through a maze of menus?. Let customers find their pre-recorded answers. Once the messages were programmed the people creating the messages and programming the recordings could be jettisoned. Who needs writers to ensure the accuracy and clarity of documentation when copy and paste and photocopy were quite good enough. Need a report? Copy what's already done, there's no point in reinventing the wheel The cheapest possible labor was all that was needed to accomplish quick fixes. And so experienced, seasoned workers were let go and the jobs were shipped overseas.
A set-it-and-forget it mentality seemed ideal. But it didn't stop there. Let the customers pump their own gas, build their own pre-fabricated furniture, process their own purchases online. A subtle shift in perception was taking place. Where once companies existed to serve and deliver products to people, gradually that focus changed.
People became a necessary evil. American people were soon put in their place. Their reason for existing was to buy the products and services the companies decided people need. The corporate bottom line was king. But people can't be totally jettisoned. While people were expendable in production and delivery of products, they have a critical role to play…consumption.
And the games began. In order to woo the customers, all sorts of incentives enticed them to but NOW.
It worked – for a while. These new "persons" were able to accumulate massive wealth.
But, people can't continue to buy when they don't have money…and they normally don't get money without jobs.
Corporations may be heading for a collapse…after all, who will they sell to when we're all gone?
What do you think?