• GENERATIONAL WORKPLACE CONFLICT CONTINUES TO INCREASE as Gen Zers in their twenties get hired. A recent survey of 1,300 Managers found two-thirds saying they have needed to fire younger employees, half attributing it to issues like lack of effort, poor concentration (often disrupted by their cell phones), too easily offended, obsessed with entitled promotions, and/or dismissive about assignments at odds with personal ethics or politics. From the Gen Zers perspective, complaints about co-worker & managers’ habits relate generally to their elders’: (1) obsession with job titles & hierarchy; (2) unnecessary phone interruptions for technology questions that could be answered by Google; (3) unwillingness to use or rely on digital technology which wastes time in unnecessary calls & meetings, as well as cumbersome & wasted paper; (4) needless micromanagement.  [NEW YORK POST – 4/25 & 6/14/23]
  • MAJOR CITIES ARE CAUGHT IN A SELF-REINFORCING ‘DOOM LOOP’ – on the way to “utter collapse, as crime causes stores & hotels to shut down, leading to less tourist traffic, less legitimate business and emptier streets, which combined with record-high office vacancy and public street conditions – from homelessness, defecation and a crime-friendly culture encouraged by leftist administrations – all push bored & shiftless youths toward shoplifting & carjacking, as the Loop continues.” This month, the owners of two major San Francisco hotels (Park Hotels & Resorts) bailed, after being appraised at 50% of their value seven years ago, walking away from their assets and leaving the troubles to their lenders. Chicago and Portland are headed the same direction. When is enough enough?  [WASHINGTON EXAMINER – 6/13/23]
  • IS GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE LIKELY TO RADICALLY ALTER THE LEGAL PROFESSION? According to a Goldman Sachs report, 44% of legal tasks could be performed by AI software, including scrutinizing documents, due diligence, research, and data analytics. The impact is reduction of big-firm manpower advantage, profiting from flat fee billings, and changing how many lawyers are needed as well as where they work.  “It’s hard to see how AI doesn’t dramatically reduce the number of lawyers the world needs and ratio of Associates to Partners, especially, since likelihood is that many consumers will opt to personally let AI resolve their legal needs, just as they now use software to do their own taxes.”  [ECONOMIST – 6/10/23]
  • DIVERSITY/ EQUITY/ INCLUSION CONTINUES TO BE THE MARCHING ORDER FOR FEDERAL AGENCIES. Latest examples: (1) The military Space Force now asserts that “recruitment of less-qualified officers will now result from candidates ‘not feeling safe for being themselves,’ after several Republican-led states are passing laws banning transgender mutilation of children, and that failure to affirm & embrace someone’s sexual identity is ‘bigotry and dangerous’; (2) The State Department has allocated over $20K tax dollars to promote Drag Queen Show Workshops in Ecuador, as a ‘cultural and creative expression’ for adolescents & young adults. When did drag shows become quintessential expressions of American culture?”  [PATRIOT POST – 6/19/23]
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK:

Latest Schwab Modern Wealth Survey reports that to be considered ‘wealthy,’ net worth in southern California needs to be above $3.5M and $4.7M in San Francisco, compared to between $2.1 to $2.5M in cities like Atlanta/Chicago/ Dallas/ Denver/ Houston/ Phoenix. Meanwhile nearly half of Americans say they ‘feel wealthy’ with average net worth around $560,000 – some 40% among Boomers & Gen Xers, but 57% of Millennials. // The MIT Living Wage Calculator reports that to live ‘comfortably’ in Los Angeles, a single person needs after-tax monthly salary of $6,400 and in San Francisco $7,000.

Former President Obama resurfaced in a podcast interview to call for “implementing Digital Footprints as a mandatory online requirement, to track & identify people who spread so-called misinformation… so consumers of news and information can know what is true and what is not true.” He neglected to mention who or how that determination would get made.

For Honkytonk dance aficionados: https://biggeekdad.com/2018/05/honky-tonk-dance/