That’s Unamerican

Another coworker and I were busting a gut over the fact that one of the execs resembles Sam the Eagle from the Muppet Show. Avadon (this person deals with photos) stood there as I recounted my email tale. I also mentioned someone who knows policy said such nitpicking is grounds for a lawsuit. ACLU, anyone? NY State Labor board? Eyes rolled, jaws dropped between the both of us as we exchanged horror stories of how it is now and how it used to be. Fish tend to rot from the head down, and this place--even on different floors, I see--is no exception.

The rah rah "We're Part of the Team" bullshit continues. There is a clear distinction between those of us that remember the inner workings of each department and the current dysfunction. The digital team used to consist of many members. Now it consists of 3--just 3 people (all overworked and getting snippier by the minute) to cover international orders, photos, digital things, and domestic papers, including colleges. That's not counting baseball season, which will drop about 400 orders on my head in a space of one week. Who the fuck is going to do this work? Between me and them? That's 5 people. All this for a shit salary and not even a thank you? Oh, I'm gonna explode.

My name appeared courtesy of Vault.com in a recruiters offer from an Info Clearinghouse, so I clicked on the link in my email. It quickly sent me 21 names with mailing labels for $30. Hey, I'm up to my eyeballs in debt anyway, so I grabbed the Visa and signed on. 9 of them are in NYC. That's about $1.75 per name, good deal. Direct recruiters who specialize in headhunting for the fields I want to be in. Great. More emails to send and cover letters to fax out. Fabu!

I'm staring at a sea of empty offices. Two retirees, one who won't be replaced. This company continues to get worse. Who the hell's going to do this work? I predict a future where child labor comes back, but with a twist.

Former middle-class families who are now indentured servants to robber barons will raffle off their children starting from the age of 7 or 8. These children will be allowed to finish high school, but only certain subjects. Given their distinct talents or tendencies, corporations will choose who they want and pay the family directly. Upon graduation, these kids will be carted off to be used as slaves. One graduate will service the needs of about 10 Vice Presidents. One meal per day will be provided, and one bathroom break. The buildings will have no windows, all the air will be filtered in. Reproduction will be planned in a lab. New "children" will be harvested from Petri dishes. The indentured servants will be given a choice of who they'd like to "raise." Bar coding will track everyone. When the slave children reach the age of 40, they can "retire" and find a "family" to build. Life expectancy is greatly reduced since 18 hour days become the norm again. There are no unions. There is no healthcare. Choice means you are free to do as the Barons tell you. The dead are liquified as fuel for the labs and to run the buildings. Fossil fuels have been depleted. Should a slave child die before the age of 40, their "family" must choose again from the lab to restart the process. Drones and clones are what I see.
See what The Matrix does to me? Come on, kiddies, is it really that far from the truth? It's not too farfetched now.

Complacency leads to apathy. Apathy leads to fear. Fear leads to paralysis. Paralysis leads to someone else making your choice. Do you really believe they'd have your best interests? Of course not.

Welcome to the USSA.

You are free.

To Do.

As We Tell You.