Another Case of the Rich Getting Richer
I was just catching up on some of the details behind the writer's strike in an article by Todd Holmes. See below if you are interested ++.Quite honestly I really don't have a lot of sympathy for the business side of Hollywood. In my opinion actors, producers / directors, studios, and celebrities in general have always been overpaid for what they do. Some so-called celebrities have essentially done nothing but indulge in porn, get "caught" on video, and then make millions from it. Others became celebrities merely spreading gossip about other celebrities.
However none of it would happen without the creativity of writers. I suspect their future is dim. The same thing happened in the music industry. Studios made fortunes on the talent behind the music - writers, vocalists, and instrumentalists - for decades. In the end, just as they are doing with movies and TV, studios turned to streaming content. Royalties began to plummet.
I interpret this as just another example of owners trying to make more profit through technology, automation, and now A. I. Welcome to free enterprise. It should be called "unbridled exploitation." The rich have always gotten richer on the backs of the poor whose poverty then increases.
We have been exploited by: the oil industry; the pharmaceutical industry; the gun industry; the real estate industry; the fashion industry; or the food industry to name a few? Notice the consistent use of the word "industry." As an adjective, industrious means hard working. Hard work is supposed to result in reward - for the hard workers. Too often it does not.
You would expect people at the top to be clever enough to realize that the energy which keeps enterprises and obscene incomes thriving is jobs and workers. If these continue to disappear who will buy the goods and services? Who will fill the stadiums and theatres or purchase new vehicles?
My immediate conclusion has to be that those at the highest levels - the "haves" - just don't care. Bigger profits mean bigger executive salaries, They have enough money to live wonderful lives until they die and then it is no longer their problem.
Average people do not push back enough - myself included. We take the increases and the job losses. There are things we can do about prices (not so sure about job loss). After all if a company can make something cheaper they can sell it cheaper. They just don't. Shareholder and executive incomes increase instead.
Over and over we keep watching the movies. We keep attending the sports events. We keep idolizing the celebrities on screens, fields, and rinks. We keep buying the clothes, the fuel, the phones, the large TVs etc. We are guilty of APATHY.
For one or two weeks we could car pool and take public transit - however inconvenient that is. Then watch the drop in gas prices. We could refuse to go to any live sports event. Then watch the ticket prices fall. We could keep our current phones, TVs, and cars that are still perfectly functional. Then watch the new item prices fall. We could vacation at home; put alcohol consumption on hold; put meat consumption on hold etc.
But we don't and corporations know it.
History is the great teacher. Nations and societies have been destroyed when the masses were forced to take matters into their own hands just to live. We are headed there. Smash and grabs and other forms of violence are one small indication that it is already happening. People are living in the street. Food banks have become the norm. Very few can afford a home or even rent.
Are there any avenues of hope? Perhaps a few.
1. Many should forget general college or university degrees unless they are targeting a particular profession. There will always be a lot of high income jobs in the trades. What is more important, status or a job? The wealthy will always need you to fix or renovate their homes. Natural disasters mean thousands of homes and infrastructures must be re-built.
2. With the environment becoming so destructive, there should be a ton of jobs as we fight it by electrifying the economy, in particular the car industry. Obsolete industries will require years of effort to be shut down cleanly and permanently.
3. Nurses and teachers are in very short supply. The pay is good.
4. Think about history. Gas engines virtually obsoleted steam engines and the horse and carriage trade but the new industry employed millions of people. FM radio replaced AM and thrived. Jetliners replaced most propeller commercial aircraft and created a new industry. Cell phones have almost totally replaced land lines. Somehow society managed to continue.
As a final thought, necessity is the mother of invention. People should consider a business themselves. Find something you enjoy doing and do it. There are very few employers upon whom to rely. They will use you and dispose of you.
You could always write a blog but I haven't made a dime.
#thebrewsterblock
