I wrote last time about the inevitable collapse of the vastly over-inflated university sector ('degree mills', as some call them, '18-30 holidays with a library attached', as others prefer, or - most accurately in my opinion - 'Satanic finishing schools'). Although this will be sad for those who lose their jobs as a result, overall, I can't help but see this as a huge social plus.
This article has opened my eyes to the value of call centres. I’ll never despise being answered by someone in a call centre again, even if said call centre is in India or the Philippines rather than here in the UK. I already try to boycott self-checkouts, try to not transact solely online (but must do so less and go to things like farmers’ markets more) and nearly always insist on dealing with a person. But these actions don’t necessarily get through to the people who have made the decision to replace their staff with machines, the top brass. Still, at least it’s doing something and sending some sort of message. As a lowly staff member in my local M&S food store told me last year when I complained about there being no human manned checkouts and about the proliferation of self-checkouts, only two of which had the facility to pay with cash, ‘You should have rebelled against this trend long ago!’ Effectively she was telling me I was too late. We must continue to resist while we can though.
Very pleased to hear (re: value of call centres!), thanks Priscilla. And yes, we may not be able to reverse these sinister trends entirely, but we will keep doing what we can.
Catherine Austin Fitts also talks about the importance of people needing to be and feel productive and UBI is the absolute antithesis of productivity.
Having just returned from Cairo - what I consider to be a sort of bastion of The Real World - I saw, especially at the airport, how all people have the opportunity to be doing something even though the Western world won’t consider it strictly “productive”. Prior to 2020 I would’ve felt a vague irritation at the mess and apparent pointless bureaucracy.
Many moons ago, I arrived in London from far away on a working-holiday visa and can still remember the buzz of menial jobs, house shares and all manner of interesting experiences. I am living a blessed life because of that.
A question though: who exactly will be calling these AI supported call centres in future and for what purpose? There will be far less people around who won’t be travelling, buying machines with a guarantee or be allowed to complain about anything…
Thanks Johan, that's really interesting, and sounds very similar to my own experiences. Catherine Austin Fitts is absolutely right, of course (and as usual!).
Many call centres (and all those I've ever worked in) are actually outbound, e.g., calling members of the public to conduct market research, or to (as in the case of the mentioned Pell and Bales) fundraise. But either way, you're right - there will be less call for what they provide as all industries around them continue to contract and collapse.
A young couple who I recently met seem to know all about the lies and corruption of the world.
I was impressed until.........they announced that UBI would be "awesome". Right then and there I knew their "understanding" of what is going on is terribly flawed. They think that it is going to give them the opportunity to do what they want...ie go skiing, live in the mountain wilderness (whaaaat?, they are city people), travel around wherever they want without a care in the world. Unfortunately, this will be the mindset of many and they will probably fight for it and vote for the fake politicians who push it not understanding, as you so aptly wrote, the importance of connecting with other people, doing your best at the job and getting paid for your hard work. It will be a real downer to get the "dole" and do nothing for it, except perhaps getting health checks when 5G determines that you may be ill.
Thanks, Farleyboy, and you're absolutely right. The amount of naïveté around UBI is absolutely shocking. As they say, there's a reason why the cheese in a mousetrap is free.
Freud and Marx both view work as an important part of men’s self image—but what are they going to do when there is nothing to do?
They will have to un-modernize certain critical areas of society—in the US, farming and logging will be done with draft animals. They will improve both. Animal husbandry brings with it connection and attachment and humane concern.
I want to write one other comment, but I hesitate to write it as I don't want to appear negative. So please, Miri, take what I'm about to say as constructive criticism (I know you don't like people responding to you privately). I think you could possibly and beneficially considerably shorten your articles and get rid of some repetition. When I was at secondary school back in the 1960s, we were made to practice doing precis over and over again - we had to reduce and reduce things down to a given amount of words. This was excellent practice. If your articles were a bit shorter, they would be easier to read and, more importantly (especially for this aged almost-75-year-old), absorb. But I love them, they are fascinating, so please don't take this as anything other than positive.
Thanks Priscilla, I am aware my articles are too long for some (it is a occupational hazard of the online writer to be told "TLDR" - "too long, didn't read"), but they do go through careful proof reads and edits and I always take out everything I consider superfluous. I do sometimes emphasise the same point more than once, as I know from my own experience as a reader this is sometimes necessary to really get the point across.
My articles are pretty consistent in length (about 20 minutes to read out loud) and I don't foresee them getting much shorter - in fact, in my trajectory as a writer, I have gone from producing a larger quantity of shorter pieces to a smaller quantity of longer pieces, and the overall feedback I receive tells me this is what my audience generally prefers.
I also put all my articles out in audio form (generally the day after the written version) as I know some people struggle with reading longer pieces, and so can find them more digestible to listen to.
I do take all constructive criticism on board but ultimately, I have to make the call on what I think works best, and it comes back to the old maxim: "I don't know the secret of success, but I do know the secret of failure - trying to please everyone".
Glad to hear Miri. Please don't change because people can't seem to want to read anymore. You will never please everyone. I happen to like to audios as well as the ability to read your posts and can't wait to receive them.
Thank you for your gracious reply, Miri. It's just that I have had a couple of friends say this to me. I do manage to read them right through but do notice repetitions. I don't like audio that much, I prefer to read or actually see someone!!
This article has opened my eyes to the value of call centres. I’ll never despise being answered by someone in a call centre again, even if said call centre is in India or the Philippines rather than here in the UK. I already try to boycott self-checkouts, try to not transact solely online (but must do so less and go to things like farmers’ markets more) and nearly always insist on dealing with a person. But these actions don’t necessarily get through to the people who have made the decision to replace their staff with machines, the top brass. Still, at least it’s doing something and sending some sort of message. As a lowly staff member in my local M&S food store told me last year when I complained about there being no human manned checkouts and about the proliferation of self-checkouts, only two of which had the facility to pay with cash, ‘You should have rebelled against this trend long ago!’ Effectively she was telling me I was too late. We must continue to resist while we can though.
Very pleased to hear (re: value of call centres!), thanks Priscilla. And yes, we may not be able to reverse these sinister trends entirely, but we will keep doing what we can.
Catherine Austin Fitts also talks about the importance of people needing to be and feel productive and UBI is the absolute antithesis of productivity.
Having just returned from Cairo - what I consider to be a sort of bastion of The Real World - I saw, especially at the airport, how all people have the opportunity to be doing something even though the Western world won’t consider it strictly “productive”. Prior to 2020 I would’ve felt a vague irritation at the mess and apparent pointless bureaucracy.
Many moons ago, I arrived in London from far away on a working-holiday visa and can still remember the buzz of menial jobs, house shares and all manner of interesting experiences. I am living a blessed life because of that.
A question though: who exactly will be calling these AI supported call centres in future and for what purpose? There will be far less people around who won’t be travelling, buying machines with a guarantee or be allowed to complain about anything…
Thanks Johan, that's really interesting, and sounds very similar to my own experiences. Catherine Austin Fitts is absolutely right, of course (and as usual!).
Many call centres (and all those I've ever worked in) are actually outbound, e.g., calling members of the public to conduct market research, or to (as in the case of the mentioned Pell and Bales) fundraise. But either way, you're right - there will be less call for what they provide as all industries around them continue to contract and collapse.
Excellent article to give a lot of thought to.
A young couple who I recently met seem to know all about the lies and corruption of the world.
I was impressed until.........they announced that UBI would be "awesome". Right then and there I knew their "understanding" of what is going on is terribly flawed. They think that it is going to give them the opportunity to do what they want...ie go skiing, live in the mountain wilderness (whaaaat?, they are city people), travel around wherever they want without a care in the world. Unfortunately, this will be the mindset of many and they will probably fight for it and vote for the fake politicians who push it not understanding, as you so aptly wrote, the importance of connecting with other people, doing your best at the job and getting paid for your hard work. It will be a real downer to get the "dole" and do nothing for it, except perhaps getting health checks when 5G determines that you may be ill.
Thanks, Farleyboy, and you're absolutely right. The amount of naïveté around UBI is absolutely shocking. As they say, there's a reason why the cheese in a mousetrap is free.
Freud and Marx both view work as an important part of men’s self image—but what are they going to do when there is nothing to do?
They will have to un-modernize certain critical areas of society—in the US, farming and logging will be done with draft animals. They will improve both. Animal husbandry brings with it connection and attachment and humane concern.
Thanks, Hugh, and I agree - de-modernisation is the only solution (as evidenced by the remarkable success and expansion of the Amish!).
As so often Miri is insightful and objective.
Thank you, John.
I want to write one other comment, but I hesitate to write it as I don't want to appear negative. So please, Miri, take what I'm about to say as constructive criticism (I know you don't like people responding to you privately). I think you could possibly and beneficially considerably shorten your articles and get rid of some repetition. When I was at secondary school back in the 1960s, we were made to practice doing precis over and over again - we had to reduce and reduce things down to a given amount of words. This was excellent practice. If your articles were a bit shorter, they would be easier to read and, more importantly (especially for this aged almost-75-year-old), absorb. But I love them, they are fascinating, so please don't take this as anything other than positive.
Thanks Priscilla, I am aware my articles are too long for some (it is a occupational hazard of the online writer to be told "TLDR" - "too long, didn't read"), but they do go through careful proof reads and edits and I always take out everything I consider superfluous. I do sometimes emphasise the same point more than once, as I know from my own experience as a reader this is sometimes necessary to really get the point across.
My articles are pretty consistent in length (about 20 minutes to read out loud) and I don't foresee them getting much shorter - in fact, in my trajectory as a writer, I have gone from producing a larger quantity of shorter pieces to a smaller quantity of longer pieces, and the overall feedback I receive tells me this is what my audience generally prefers.
I also put all my articles out in audio form (generally the day after the written version) as I know some people struggle with reading longer pieces, and so can find them more digestible to listen to.
I do take all constructive criticism on board but ultimately, I have to make the call on what I think works best, and it comes back to the old maxim: "I don't know the secret of success, but I do know the secret of failure - trying to please everyone".
Glad to hear Miri. Please don't change because people can't seem to want to read anymore. You will never please everyone. I happen to like to audios as well as the ability to read your posts and can't wait to receive them.
Many thanks, Farleyboy, much appreciated as ever!
Thank you for your gracious reply, Miri. It's just that I have had a couple of friends say this to me. I do manage to read them right through but do notice repetitions. I don't like audio that much, I prefer to read or actually see someone!!
I never use the "pig pen" checkouts at Supermarkets because I want to interact with a human not a machine!
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