Just in Case it Matters to You
Weekly Report 21-83
- RECRUITING & RETAINING GOOD EMPLOYEES IS BECOMING TOUGHER, as workers have spent “intense time at home, now questioning why they need to resume ‘business as normal,’ particularly if it comes from the top without asking. They’re feeling stressed, anxious, burned out, facing more change & uncertainty, looking for ‘something more’ from employers – especially logic for why and how much they should need to work back in an office, without at least flexibility to decide which days/hours are necessary.” Today’s workers have a very different perspective than their leaders, to whom work has represented a “disproportionate amount of their identity, often ignoring life-balance considerations. Millennials generally believe that “as long as work & outcomes are getting done,” it shouldn’t always matter when and where they do it, with focus on things like: “What my bosses stand for; Company culture; Do I feel valued, acknowledged, a sense of belonging, teammates who I like to work with; autonomy in my workspace – even beyond compensation, benefits and potential for advancement… To keep talent in the fold, leadership styles must actively focus less on controls and more on culture & connections.” [McKINSEY – 11/3/21]
- “THE ERA OF BIG GOVERNMENT IS OVER,” announced President Bill Clinton 25 years ago. He was rather wrong, both as to the proportion of GDP which increased dramatically to unimagined Deficit & Debt levels, and as to the number of federal Regulations (involving environment, construction, health, safety, licensing, etc.) which have doubled since the 1970’s. The grasp which bureaucracies continue to strengthen stem from: (1) Communications technology; (2) Wages which rise to levels of the most productive sectors to prevent workers quitting; (3) Voter’s appetite, especially for health, education and elderly protection; and (4) Absence of opposition from career politicians. “Stopping the ongoing growth of government over the coming decades will be close to impossible. The most important debates to come will be about the State’s nature, not its size.” [ECONOMIST – 11/20/21]
- “COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME THE MOST POWERFUL TOOL OF GOVERNANCE ON EARTH, as policymakers utilizing surveillance, security and social media software have produced a systemic culture of misinformation & misperception, which has led to surprises, humiliation and a staggering display of core incompetence…With artificial intelligence increasingly employed to direct our attention or determine public policy, the elitists’ endgame is a social credit system that confers privilege or ostracism in accord with those commanding the digital swarm… enabled by each person now carrying a permanent digital device in their palm – essentially becoming cyborgs – while Silicon Valley titans and intelligence agencies create detailed models of individual personalities, manipulated to conform to their ideal simulation… Our greatest threat is digital dissolution by electric phantasms that enshroud our minds & imagination while eroding our memory, separating us from our own biographies and deep cultural heritage.” [FEDERALIST – 11/19/21]
- THE MOVE TOWARD CASHLESS ECONOMIES HAS REATED POWERFUL INCENTIVES FOR CYBERCRIMINALS, “compromising online payments, mobile banking, internet applications, and providing criminals access to expertise with sophisticated tools for illicit goods & services ranging from drugs to murder-for-hire to kidnapping to human trafficking… Services can be purchased for user/rental fee or percentage of criminal profits, utilizing malware, ransomware, phishing facilitators, sniffers, skimmers and distributed denial-of-service attacks. Almost anything imaginable is accessible through Google, including tools to use crypto-currency for money laundering… Europol reports that criminal groups are now increasingly undermining the EU economy and it’s society.” Cybersecurity has become an absolute critical factor in business today. DCG can help and/or see SecureTheVillage.com for guidance. [THREATPOST – 11/12/21]
- THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: “The Universe is made up of Protons, Electrons and Morons.”
“In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible… Some political acts are too brutal for most people to face, and… do not square with the professed aims of political parties. Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.” – GEORGE ORWELL in 1946
“The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny lies in keeping them ignorant… Ours may become the first civilization destroyed, not by the power of our enemies, but by the ignorance of our teachers and the dangerous nonsense they are teaching our children.” Teachers, who, along with their powerful Union, kept schools closed for over a year and majorly influenced CDC mandates on re-openings, are the #1 ‘’DNC donor-reported occupation” this year, according to Democratic Party postings on Twitter this month.