Having spent almost my entire life in business environments, I've known for many, many years that there's a huge chasm between government's operation and the real world. Yet, even fully understanding the fact that bureaucrats have no idea how the working world works, and having no expectation of their comprehension...one of the president's latest steps really floored me.
Because, in a scrambling effort toward job creation Thursday he invited a group to get together in California that included some of the biggest names in the high-tech corridor to confer on jobs and innovation. He was attempting to get the leaders from companies like Google and Apple behind his push to keep spending on high-tech initiatives even as Republicans are trying to slash the budget.
Also in the group were Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, along with the heads of Twitter, Yahoo!, NetFlix and Oracle, and the president of Stanford University.
Now, as I sit here and type, I'm looking at my computer screen and considering the fact that I can do this all alone. And at the same time, I can periodically check my email, websites of companies I do business with, monitor the stock market, look at my bank accounts and keep up with the news. I can check inventory, contact suppliers and do countless other tasks with my fingers with no need for human contact and without ever leaving my chair. And, should I need to actually talk to someone on antiquated equipment, like the telephone, I can jump to their number in one of my databases or, if I don't know the number, an on-line directory will likely have it.
The point of all this is, the reason I'm able to function by myself, replacing who knows how any people I might have needed to employ for these tasks before, is because of innovation and technology created by the very folks the president's looking to for advice. And, they're in exactly the opposite position of his objective. These guys live their lives replacing people with keystrokes, bringing down operating costs, and providing the population of the world with technology allowing them to function perfectly well alone. So, perhaps his plan is to ask them to stop creating innovative solutions for work completion, and unplug all their equipment so zillions of folks can go back to pencils and paper.
And, on that subject, I've no doubt that there won't be any noticeable decline in the knowledge level of kids when all the teachers actually quit. Because between the Web, and instant communication amongst themselves, when today's kids need information they have access to significantly more resources than whatever they'll get from any of their "teachers."
So, what it all boils down to is, the folks who are supposed to be leaders in politics have for many years had the same problem. By the time they wake up to reality the party's over, and the only ones who really want to follow them are the ones who like to walk into walls.
That's it for today folks.
Adios
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