Many people believe the world is moving toward a complete mechanization of labour. As machines become increasingly complex and able to execute more specific and complex work, the cost of investing in the machinery declines with increased manufacturing, and the economy of machine over human labour is increased. For instance, it is enormousley advantageous to have robots build computer chips: size, detail and precision can be replicated multiple times quicker by maching and program than by human. But are there some tasks which will always  be more economical to have human labour perform? 

I have just had a baby a few weeks ago. I'm in love with the little being and am loving watching here adjust to the outside world. I think this is a wonderful time and am glad to be able to enjoy it with her away from work. I believe most of us think of childhood and babies as an integral part of a family. But what if you look at a baby's development from the eye of a financial officer^

A baby takes years to develop into a "contributing" member of society.  what if there were a way to hasten the process^ And what if that way was cheaper than another way of producing your goods? Could it be genetically possible to maintain a lifespan but hasten the developmental process? 

The "best" part of this scenario is that it fits with the global capital system. If, for instance, textiles remain better suited to human than machine labour, the same developping third-world markets that we take advanage of now could be taken advantage of by genetically speeding up the growth process, enabling longer lifespan contribution. This will be the topic of my next novel. 

Well well, stranger...what do we have here. I'm back from my stay in hypersleep and am relieved /ravished/famished to be back. Not 30 anymore and no longer in Korea, I've got a real job (a career even!), a spouse, a house and a new baby. I feel like it might be time to get back into some writing. Yeah, life is filing me with existential crises again. Not on account of anything that I have in my life now: I love my partner and my baby and am most pleased with. Rather, my issue is with what I do. I'm a teacher. And that's a pretty great job; holidays are amazing, the work day is very reasonable and I even like some of my students. Salary is good. Benefits are even better. So what could be the problem, you ask? Well, it feels like a few things.

First, it doesn't excite me. I know, I know, work for the vast majority of the world is not excitng, and they don't have the benefits that we teachers. True, and maybe I've watched too many movies in my time, but I like to feel thrilled by what I do; because it's physically hard and grounding, becaus it's cutting edge in terms of ideas, because it opens new doors in my mind I hadn't been through yet (or didn't know were there). To me, the pragmatic realities of school are sensibly the same as they were 20 or 30 or even 50 years ago, despite the changes in technology and fashion: teach your curriculum, manage the behaviour of 20-30 teenagers, correct, plan, photocopy, be on time. And note, that by fashion, I mean the fashion of what is acceptable and desirable as much as the fashion of clothing and appearanc.

Second, the lack of intellectual rigour and stimulation. There is no improving, because every step forward requires an disproportionate amount of paper work and effort (like a not-salmon swimming upstream). Also, people at work seem either stuborn, set in their ways or just stupid enought to not understand the progress involved in an idea. It doesn't fire people up. I really want gainful employment that pays me well and ttreats me well for doing intellectually stimulating work that is sharp and critical, constructive and productive.

Thirdly...was there a third thing?   I'm full into wingeing mode now. I want more say in what I do. I want more flexibility to spend time and or effort on the projects I'm interestd in. I want those pojects to amount to something, to go somewhere. I want an ecclectic variety of projects. In trying to obtain a house and some level of financial stability, I seem to have sacrificed all my values , the ones I was so proud to posit to the world on the topic of using one's life, using one's time and being an individual in relation with the world around you. I'm feeling that I'm letting time go by when I should start taking my own advice. But now, this can't be reckless, because I have a family and responsibilities.

It seems that my use of this blog may, in fact will, in large part be to clear my mind of upsetting thoughts by getting them out on paper. Digital paper.

Oi!

KUDOS to Big Hominid for what should be common sense to any motherfucker with an ounce of observational power of world outside his/her ass. Drawn from a discussion about who'll make the best next president of the U.S. of A., Hominid states:

"... do we really expect our politicians to evince a sense of integrity ...I'll settle for visible signs of commitment and goal-orientation, accompanied by financial and foreign policy acumen."

Time to smell the carbon emission, my lovelies. What kind of animal does it take to bob and weave, dodge and dance, kiss and run their way to the top of the most powerful, most elaborate and competitive political and economical hierarchy in the world? It ain't a butterfly, my friends. Those end up in the Peace Corps! Even jackals, hyenas and tigers are much too straightforward in their need-to-action strategies, brutal as they may be. No, what were are looking at when we see the pretty, well-dressed and well-spoken heads of state are finally tuned strategists and connivers, backstabbers and handshakers. I have nothing but awe for the level of game play that is demanded. I would not, however, try to fool myself into believing that the suggested foreign policy, medicare plan or tax break is a result of the politicians big heart and sense of morals and values. Their duties are to please the big business interests behind them and to please more than 50.1 percent of the voting population (ideally!)

Nice is a selling point. It's a marketable quality, much like Alec Baldwin's character in The Departed identifies marriage as being: it makes you seem responsible, a family man...it lets them know at least one other person can stand you and that your dick is still working. So, if we're mature enough recognize that the illusion of humanity, conscience and concern are the window dressing of the successful political candidate, why can't we just accept that if we had that much power, we too would be getting a blow job under the desk 6 times a day? As long as they are adequately representing the best interests of the state (in all of it's complexities) and fulfilling with the best possible skill and knowledge the responsibilities of their post, bring in as many interns as they need.

a sliver of the dial of a watch

Our lives. I'm obsessed of late with how temporary we are. No matter how big we're imagined. As big as we can be, we remain nothing. Our best idea supported by grants and government and private approval will be a date in an old handbook that someone's grandkids read ./ of course you won't be recognized because there's no reason for them to register your name. i am not a nihilist, yet how the fuck do you feel the breeze when you know it'll be gone in an instant, and you will too. All the effort for a blink. And in geological time, the human race itself will be lost in a single layer of dust and mud a couple of feet thick. \~how grand this all is.

Fired from the Education program?

I never would've thunk it, but it seems I'm no longer welcome at the school of my practicum. The situations I get myself into! It was logistically perfect for me to get to school from here, yet, I've managed to seem so unhappy, unsociable and rude that the soft and pokeable teacher I'm associated with seems to be havnig a nervous breakdown in m presence.

Alright

I just locked into YouTube for the first time, and this in order to locate the Janet Jackson video, "Alright". I remember loving it when I was a young teenager; it made me feel so fantastic and warm and fuzzy all at the same time. Watching it again is a bit of a wake-up call: I really didn't realize how early nineties it was - I mean shit, if it hit the radio today, Gawd would it ever be dull. The video, however, is sitll the coolest one I think she made, and I still love it when Cab Calloway gets out of the limo and when he hands her the watch at the end. Super smart, super cool choreography, but god am I glad we're out of the nineties.

News

People can actually write. Journalists, I mean. And sometimes, just sometimes, a writer is able to succinctly put into words ideas that are structurally foundationnal to getting current events. I just discovered John Caspar's articles on the financial section of Sympatico's webpage. Hats off to this guy: clear, short, sweet, direct and conveying one well supported, well articulated point of opinion per article.

Take for example this quote: "The news is in the business of reporting what’s new. That means that it reports the daily movement of the stock market, out of context to the average investor."

I'm writing this on my blog for the simple fact that some ideas deserve to be read and re-read, in as many locations as possible. I doubt that I'll invent anything dramatically unique on here, but if I can at least regurgitate the kinds of info, i'm a happy camper.


Cheers to articles whose key quality is to be informative.