Likely more of my usual paranoia, but:
Something tells me we Americans need to reverse our entire paradigm of how we got Here. "Here" being - among myriad other blessings - Covidiotic paralysis, a bipolar nation at the heart of a supposedly unipolar world, an increasingly post-human global surveillance capitalism, and all the other exciting milestones of our unfolding Pinkerian Utopia.My central question is, What if we trusting Yanks didn't just sleep-walk, in our usual touchingly naive fashion, into the vast utopian maze of trying to liberalize - or even democratize - Red China? What if the crux of the matter wasn't nearly so much something we had meant to teach the mainland Chinese - about capitalism, human rights, the Open Society, etc - but rather Something Else, that we were determined to make ourselves learn? Or - and rather more likely, I should think - something our wise Beijing-worshiping global elites had already pre-determined to pound into the otherwise stupidly nationalistic heads of us unwashed masses. Whether by hook or by crook.* A certain Something about Who Really Counts in any business, trade or technology transaction. And in case there's anyone still unsure of just who I mean by Really Counts, may I submit what I hope is a decisive clue: It ain't the end user.
* Then again, why not get our best wisdom direct from the Source - again, our true Masters in All Things Productive and Profitable, those beneficent human gods of Beijing?
Something tells me, the better we understand this missing piece, the better we shall grasp the really distinctive and defining traits of our Twentyfirst-Century American Capitalism (TFCAC). And so the better our chances of getting ourselves out of its present rut. In short, we need to understand what truly drives and motivates TFCAC: not just the tangible and quantifiable rewards of profit, but even more so the intangible, immeasurable rewards of a sense of power, superiority and advantage. And in particular the advantage of being on the designing, building and selling side of the counter. As opposed to the unworthy inferior schmucks waiting on the customer's side.
Neither do I think our much-vaunted traditions of American customer service need stand in the way of this "new" vendor-centered mindset. I mean, wasn't it we bold trailblazing Yanks who pioneered use of the word store (however small or modest) in place of shop? And more recently, cellular instead of simply mobile phone? Because that's the standpoint that really counts, right? - that of the needs and demands of those mighty John Galts we all depend on, be they inventors or designers, producers or distributors. Honestly, what could be more vital to the appreciation of any new product, innovation, system, paradigm, etc, than sensitivity to the requirements of those who most truly make them happen? As opposed to the hopelessly muddled, useless perspective of any mere end user.
Call me a spoilsport, amidst all this rational, producer- and creator-centered exuberance. But something tells me, the sooner we "get" this - the sooner we understand that the great undoing of our modern, (more or less) Beijing-ized, "communistified" capitalism is not just profit-mania, but mania for POWER and advantage - the sooner we shall get to the heart of our current economic (i.e., our socio-economic) difficulties.
And perhaps even get out of them?
Something tells me, the better we understand this missing piece, the better we shall grasp the really distinctive and defining traits of our Twentyfirst-Century American Capitalism (TFCAC). And so the better our chances of getting ourselves out of its present rut. In short, we need to understand what truly drives and motivates TFCAC: not just the tangible and quantifiable rewards of profit, but even more so the intangible, immeasurable rewards of a sense of power, superiority and advantage. And in particular the advantage of being on the designing, building and selling side of the counter. As opposed to the unworthy inferior schmucks waiting on the customer's side.
Neither do I think our much-vaunted traditions of American customer service need stand in the way of this "new" vendor-centered mindset. I mean, wasn't it we bold trailblazing Yanks who pioneered use of the word store (however small or modest) in place of shop? And more recently, cellular instead of simply mobile phone? Because that's the standpoint that really counts, right? - that of the needs and demands of those mighty John Galts we all depend on, be they inventors or designers, producers or distributors. Honestly, what could be more vital to the appreciation of any new product, innovation, system, paradigm, etc, than sensitivity to the requirements of those who most truly make them happen? As opposed to the hopelessly muddled, useless perspective of any mere end user.
Call me a spoilsport, amidst all this rational, producer- and creator-centered exuberance. But something tells me, the sooner we "get" this - the sooner we understand that the great undoing of our modern, (more or less) Beijing-ized, "communistified" capitalism is not just profit-mania, but mania for POWER and advantage - the sooner we shall get to the heart of our current economic (i.e., our socio-economic) difficulties.
And perhaps even get out of them?
