Today many businesses are disconnected in a connected world. Corporations seek customers. Potential purchasers can access concisely presented persuasive information. Clients are sold products. Support? Some may be available sometimes . Web pages are Marketing Tools. No real relationships emerge let alone evolve. Technology used serves the organization. Commerce has too little concern for consumer needs. Executives and enterprises pay less attention to what is authentically desired. Conversation. In the search for potential patrons companies ignore what is right in front of their faces and in their hearts; people are gregarious.
Humans are social animals. We each crave a connection. Facebook and Twitter founders understood this. The statistics overwhelming show this. Yet, rather than embrace what is real, organizations opt for what causes a break-up.
Might we delve deeper into the world of technology. The Ethernet, once ethereal now exists in every avenue of our lives. We have heard the terms; Internet, Intranet, and Extranet. Might do these mean to us personally and professionally? Perhaps, it is best establish a working definition for each of the platforms. Countless experts have written on the topic, the features within the various systems, and the variance in use. Steven L. Telleen, Ph.D., Researcher and former analyst with Giga Information Group in Santa Clara, California explains the distinctions most succinctly. In The Difference Between Internet, Intranet, and Extranet Dr. Telleen writes, "Today I think of Intranets, Extranets, and the Web as collections of content. An Intranet is a set of content shared by a well-defined group within a single organization. An Extranet is a set of content shared by a well-defined group, but one that crosses enterprise boundaries." In an earlier observation, Telleen, stated, "The Web, in contrast, is an unlimited group." In his more recent characterization, that element is unchanged. He does however, assert, "These terms may continue to evolve in meaning."
What is most true, and particularly evident in the Ethernet, change is a constant.
Change and Cyberspace Comes to the Corporate World
Today, in our travel through time and cyberspace, I hope you will appreciate, as I have come to; the study of electricity is analogous to the Ethernet. Each validates the notion transformations are invisible to the human eye. Turn a switch on or off and things happen. Instantaneously, it would seem, if a toggle were moved in one direction the room is filled with light. In another position, darkness pervades. An engine starts or stops. Press the power switch on your computer, or click on your Internet browser, and the world (world-wide-web) opens up and lets you in. We do not necessarily see what occurs; nay understand it. Yet, our personal universe is altered.
In commerce and cyberspace, change occurs in every moment. Internet, Intranet, and Extranet conversions occur all around us and metamorphosis surrounds us. Whether or not we are aware of these evolutions, the progression will affect us. Indeed, it has. Please consider your own corporation and communications within. Electronic mails are ubiquitous. Employees in your office likely scan, share, and collaborate on files. Most companies have a website. More have begun to acknowledge what is inescapable in modern-day societies, Facebook directs more online users than Google.
For but a moment, whilst the Group of 20 [G20] met in London's ancient financial capital, ,"The City," the roars of remorse, could be heard. Words of woe had been whispered in hushed tones for quite some time. Scholars spoke of various possibilities on occasion. Whether Senior Economic Fellows from various think-tanks thought a system to be dead, alive, or near doomed, there was perhaps a bit of agreement. "I see what you mean. It is broken," Economist Mark Thoma mused more than a year ago.
Wherever Americans turn, they are asked the same question; what issue is most important to you. If you could, what would you tell the President of the United States to do? What do you think must be his priority, or the country's greatest concern. Television commentators turn microphones on citizens. Radio announcers inquire; what does the audience think. Newspapers poll. Organizations count survey ballots. Legislators look for constituent answers in electronic mailboxes. Each attempts to usher in a new era. They want the common people to help shape the discussion.
A child shrieks. Her fever is high; it has been for days. As the time passes, her condition worsens. Blood, sweat, and tears roll down the little girl's cheek. Her mother gently, strokes the tot's forehead. The loving parent, who lost her job a month earlier, knows there is little else she can do. Spare dollars, she has none. Change has not come. Without health insurance or an income, this woeful woman believes she can only lean forward and say, "Honey, everything will be all right." The free market will take care of us.
Weeks ago House Representatives refused to award the auto industry a blanket bailout or even a bridge loan. Policymakers insisted they must see a reasonable plan to revamp a business near bankruptcy. The legislators set a deadline for delivery of the proposal, December 2, 2008. This same date was reserved for another auto review; in Florida a delayed vote on emission regulations would finally be realized. The two tales may seem separate; certainly, the cities where Congresspersons will meet are far apart. Nonetheless, the sagas are inexorably connected.
Never spend your money before you have it. ~ Thomas Jefferson
I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared. ~ Thomas Jefferson
Tis Sunday, September 28, 2008. The weather is warm and word on the streets is warmer. Fire from Hades, fervor, and fury heat the debate heard on the streets and in the halls of Congress. Businesses fail. Banks do too. Bailouts are planned and these too falter. Those in the White House are red hot with concern. People in Treasury Department and within Secretary Henry Paulson's office sense the burn. Many fear they too will be scorched. The flames are intense on the Hill. Yet, on American avenues many feel, while inflamed by the rhetoric, chilled at the prospect that this immediate need for a bailout is but a hoax or perchance, just hype.
I understand that deregulation, greed, and mismanagement are major factors in the current economic crisis. But why are so few of the "experts" talking about a war, fought on credit, that's already cost hundreds of billions - and that some believe will have a total economic impact of more than $3 TRILLION? It's insane. This week's toon, "Dollar Wise," (Archive 0833) pokes at that question.
It's not the actual destruction that makes us fear terrorists, it's the chaos they introduce into the system. So imagine what the rest of the world thinks of the "First-World Terrorist," (Archive 0832) who, driven by a radical faith in greed, lays waste to financial markets and threatens prosperity everywhere. Too bad Bush and his cronies didn't launch a preemptive strike against those bastards.
He is ninety years young. Born in 1918, Alexander recalls the Great Depression. He understands why some thought the Bush Forty-One years were worse than the days after the crash in 1929, although no one ever admitted to that. Now, near two decades later, denial of economic despair remains intact. Alex wonders if only history paints a truer picture. Possibly, when he was but a boy, people did not accept that the crash was the big one. In retrospect do we realize . . . Alex wonders aloud; for in recent months, each evening he dreams of realities that were during what was defined as the most dramatic, worldwide economic downturn.
In 2007, the State of the Union was not as we were told it was; nor is it as we were told it would be. Each year, and for eight long years, George W. Bush promised to unite us, and perhaps he has more so than most other Presidents. Collectively, Republicans and Democrats alike understand that as a nation we are not strong.
Candidates having been raising millions of dollars and traveling (or private jets) around the country in luxury buses, arguing over who has the most 'experience' - who is a Mormon (therefore disqualified) - who's not a true Republican (Ron Paul) who's picking on Hillary (Edwards) - who can grab the Evangelical vote - who is totally ignored (Kucinich) - who claims 911 makes him the protector of us all etc; the real story of what is happening in America (evictions - foreclosures - unemployment) is being totally ignored!
You'll never meet these folks. They represent the hundreds of thousands who have been kicked to the curb these past years (from Clinton's NAFTA in '94 until the current time). A 'restructuring' company (better known as hatchet men) took over their company in 2004 with lofty promises of Jobs etc. Fact is - these companies buy and resale companies. They were informed right before Christmas that they (122 people) no longer had a job by Watermill (International) Ventures. The company only decided to give two weeks severance pay due to the Governor's intervention. Naturally, all their health benefits etc went out the window. Some of these folks had worked at this DECENT paying Modular Home Company for decades. They bought homes here (Claremont) and have children in college. These employees were highly skilled.
The Corporate Destroyer is a peculiar mutation of man. It is known for its inactivity in the practice of any virtue. He is found in several different forms throughout the government, business, and nations. The fruits of his labors can be seen throughout the earth in 'greed, sloth, pride, wrath, avarice, envy, lust, and gluttony'. Absent conscience or allegiance to any land, this mutant will use any means necessary to feed his insatiable appetite.
'Tis the season to be jolly. From Thanksgiving Day to the dawn of the New Year, Americans are encouraged to eat. He, she, you, and I are expected to fritter our fears away. We will worry not of weight gain, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, strokes, or diabetes. Citizens in celebration will gorge on and gulp down millions of morsels. Americans will eat, drink, and be merry with reckless abandon. There are some expressed concerns for food safety, especially after a year of scares; however, for the most part we will dine with delight.
Few realize that America, the America of old, is rusting away, and being sold off to transnational companies/ speculators. These mutants are loyal to no land and no people. Their sole reason for existence is profits and power. Isolated as we are, one from another, the folks in the Florida Keys for example; have no knowledge of the paper mills in northern NH closing down putting hundreds out of work or of the numerous foreclosures in Michigan and Ohio. Who has paid the slightest bit of attention. as the steel mills, textile, mills, ship yards, and manufacturing jobs disappeared?
Mother Nature is replete with resources. Americans, with infinite ingenuity, wish to reap the rewards the planet offers. We, in this country, claim the riches the land affords us; we do this well and often. For us, every moment is an opportunity to give and receive stuff.
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