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livingdebI have been greatly tickled by two cartoons this week.
Because I am how I am, I enjoyed yesterday's xkcd:
Will I remember these lines at the next opportunity? If so, will I repeat them?
I hear the last line to the same tune as Paul Simon sings "I know what I know."
A while ago an executive said, "Could you make this simpler?" and my thought was, "not if you want it to actually work." So, of course I enjoyed yesterday's Dilbert:
Everybody loves kittens. They help!
Quote of the day - "In the Ancient world, most work was considered undesirable and best fit for slaves. The ancient solution to this problem was to own slaves.
"How crude!
"Today we have developed a much more sophisticated system which accomplishes more or less the same thing. This system is called 'financing' ... Now, writing unfunded checks is obviously very profitable which is why it is illegal for normal people. However, banks can do it and they do it every time they give someone a loan, that is, they credit his account with the money and they write a matching amount in as an asset. The bank now owns his ass, effectively. There are some legal niceties involved in that the bank does not have to feed or clothe this newly induced slave nor actually put him to work and manage his labor. The clothing and feeding is the slave’s own responsibility and this ability to self-direct consumption is seen as freedom. Consumption is even seen as highly desirable freedom. Ah, the juicy irony of this. The management of the labor is largely outsourced to corporations many of which are in exactly the same situation; they’re owned too." - Jacob of Early Retirement Extreme
I normally don't like when people compare things to slavery (or The Great Depression) because there's really no comparison to something that profoundly horrible. But this idea is also interesting.
Because I am how I am, I enjoyed yesterday's xkcd:
Will I remember these lines at the next opportunity? If so, will I repeat them?
I hear the last line to the same tune as Paul Simon sings "I know what I know."
A while ago an executive said, "Could you make this simpler?" and my thought was, "not if you want it to actually work." So, of course I enjoyed yesterday's Dilbert:
Everybody loves kittens. They help!
Quote of the day - "In the Ancient world, most work was considered undesirable and best fit for slaves. The ancient solution to this problem was to own slaves.
"How crude!
"Today we have developed a much more sophisticated system which accomplishes more or less the same thing. This system is called 'financing' ... Now, writing unfunded checks is obviously very profitable which is why it is illegal for normal people. However, banks can do it and they do it every time they give someone a loan, that is, they credit his account with the money and they write a matching amount in as an asset. The bank now owns his ass, effectively. There are some legal niceties involved in that the bank does not have to feed or clothe this newly induced slave nor actually put him to work and manage his labor. The clothing and feeding is the slave’s own responsibility and this ability to self-direct consumption is seen as freedom. Consumption is even seen as highly desirable freedom. Ah, the juicy irony of this. The management of the labor is largely outsourced to corporations many of which are in exactly the same situation; they’re owned too." - Jacob of Early Retirement Extreme
I normally don't like when people compare things to slavery (or The Great Depression) because there's really no comparison to something that profoundly horrible. But this idea is also interesting.
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no subject
on 2011-09-03 05:58 am (UTC)no subject
on 2011-09-03 08:59 pm (UTC)