I am retired critical care nurse, started my nursing career in 1973, retired in 2015. I will be ever grateful to my profession, the changes I saw in those years was phenomenal . The atmosphere of working together however slowly disintegrated, by the time I retired the writing was on the wall. We went from a cohesive, well run unit to one plagued with management cuts, intrusiveness by management and an attitude of “ if you don’t like it , don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Fortunately, or unfortunately, I retired before Covid hit, actually thought about going back because I KNEW what my fellow nurses were facing. As we all know, it’s been a gradual decline in care, services, and I am so grateful I had my time when I did. My heart goes out to every single medical professional trying to do what they were trained to do. All I know, if you have someone in hospital, make sure someone is with them. Especially if they cannot advocate for themselves😞
You have eloquently expressed the nature of our greatest socio-economic problem. It is the economic side of a valueless society. Excuse me, I meant to say, a society which has as its sole value the accumulation of wealth. This value is now degrading the idea of productive labor, with the capitalist cost savings achievable by robotics and artificial intelligence. We are a species now rushing headlong into self-destruction by ignoring every common sense metric of happiness. We can't even learn about what is occurring in our world because reporting itself has become subordinate to wealth creation, whose sponsors have decided that knowledge is less lucrative and therefore less valuable than entertainment.
You are omitting from your list of money makers universities and colleges, which now function on "the business model', which means that the Humanities are dropped - history, foreign languages, English, Greek, Latin, no good, don't make money. Business depts. are expanding as Humanities are either pushed into basements or dropped altogether. And of course administrators are placed and paid ahead of professors. Where will this lead us if we produce an uneducated 'college' graduate?
Robert Reich hits the nail on the head as usual. Today, unlike 30 years ago, many academic publishers exemplify the new commercial mindset: quantity of output is nearly the sole determinant; the books are often priced too high for individual purchase. Books are now the outcome of metrics, numbers speaking to numbers. Most editors have no understanding of the books they publish - they don't have time to read them, just reader's reports - and they do not market or promote or advertise. Publishers intend to sell their books by the cartload to be downloaded from university servers for an annual fee which will reward shareholders, not the authors. It's a simple money-go-round.
It's interesting to think about how much the printing industry has changed over the years. It used to be that many Americans worked in the printing and allied trades, but with advancements in technology, we're now able to produce print in a more efficient and effective way than ever before. Despite this, there are still plenty of individuals who have a passion for producing print in limited quantities. It's clear that print is not dead and there are many printers and publishers who have succeeded by staying ahead of the curve and embracing new technologies.
Private equity is a concept that may seem like work to those who are involved in making money, but it has nothing to do with the hardworking laborers of America. For those of us who work with our hands and enjoy creating something from raw materials, it's clear that those who manipulate money for their own gain will never understand the satisfaction that comes from physical labor.
Unfortunately, many people in America are enslaved by the private equity market and those who profit from it. These individuals believe that their money manipulation schemes are in the best interest of the country and that the benefits will eventually trickle down to everyone. However, it's clear that this is not the case and that the continuation of private equity and money manipulation will only lead to negative consequences for America. It's hard to have hope or faith in a system that is so focused on profit over people.
Well, thankfully Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner's edifying book These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs and Wrecks America, where KKR figures prominently, got outbin time as published in 2023 by Simon and Schuster itself !!! Hey, maybe that is why..
Oscar Wilde said, "A fool is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." This process of hollowing out any remnants of meaningfulness in our society has had near-fatal collateral damage. Walk through any store, a supermarket, a drug store, a stationery store, a toy store, a hardware store, a coffee store, a car dealership; everything is wrapped in plastic, made of plastic, and laced with plastic. There is plastic in whatever they are selling, the goods and the food and the wrapping. It cheapens whatever you are buying, and it poisons the buyer. According to a World Wildlife Fund study, consumers are ingesting a credit card sized amount of plastic every week, in the air and in products. Even soil samples taken from our precious national parks found tiny plastic particles throughout. To counter this pervasive "leaching out of every other value" we have to be vigilant consumers and activists in support of important organizations like https://greenamerica.org/ . They encyclopedically comb through and provide stories of brave grass-roots groups whose meaningful, inclusive work serves as a vanguard and a guide to counter this hollowing out. Their energetic explorations serve as a beacon for people who insist on consuming from, growing, and investing in green projects that promote social justice.
In addition to Private Equity buying up larger firms, syndications are buying up the smaller, main street firms that in the past were the vehicle that individuals from the lower or middle class could work their way into ownership and create some capital. Due to the unfair pricing justified under "economies of scale", success and growth has been to get big or get out. Specifically, keep opening more locations to gain lower pricing to compete against the largest corporations. Now we are seeing industry specific conglomerates buying up independently owned car washes, dry cleaners, house cleaners, any local business that can benefit from having a chain of locations that can combine their purchasing power to create larger profit margins. This keeps individual business from competing on the sales price because the individual business costs are higher and their profit margins are much lower. Main Street Businesses are more and more owned by large corporations either through buyouts or creating franchises.
I'm a retired research scientist from one of America's most prestigious institutions you've never heard of, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST has *five* Nobel Laureates on staff; how many other organizations can make that claim? Two of them are personal friends of mine. An organization does not win Nobel prizes by taking the short-term profit path--"profit," in this case, being a quick return-on-investment (ROI) for whatever the stated "profit" might be. Only through long-term investment involving people who care way more about doing world-class science than becoming millionaires (maybe billionaires is now more appropriate lingo) is this possible. It seems to be harder and harder as things progress. If you haven't read Michael Lewis' "The Fifth Risk," you should: It explains in livid detail what Republicans in general and the MAGA crowd in particular are trying to do within the government as well as industry and commercial enterprises. When Steve Bannon calls for, "The Deconstruction of the Administrative State," his aim is to do away with organizations like NIST, which have over the last century or so (NIST was founded as the National Bureau of Standards in 1901 to promote American commerce) been the engine of US dominance in science and technology.
No science, no technology=no commerce and no dominance. I'm not exactly sure what their end-goal is--or if they've actually thought it through. My guess is they haven't; all they want is a quick buck.
The Health Care Business SHOULD NOT BE A BUSINESS It should be to provide GREAT HEALTH care and break even Shameful that its all about bottom line not letting humans live in good health and be good citizens
My wife owns a business and receives at least one call a week from private equity “prospectors”. She will no longer talk with them. She puts it this way: “Private equity has no soul.”
This is happening everywhere! They are risking our lives and our pets lives all for the love of money! They are buying every last Mom and Pop shop including Veterinary offices, local restaurants either closing them or turning them into something the community doesn’t want! It is also happening in development of a new thing putting warehouses wherever they can get away with it. In our backyards down grading housing prices for the owners that have these giant monstrosities to look at looming over their homes. It’s hard to make it work anymore for the majority of us who are at the low end of the totem pole as we watch the rich getting richer everyday. It will collapse if the greed doesn’t stop soon! It is sickening what money can get away with!
Corporations were chartered by governments to accomplish certain public goods, roads, bridges, railroads and more. Nineteenth century anti-monopoly law, as honed by the courts, observed that corporations are a creature of the state, therefore the state not only has the right, but the responsibility to regulate corporate activity.
I am retired critical care nurse, started my nursing career in 1973, retired in 2015. I will be ever grateful to my profession, the changes I saw in those years was phenomenal . The atmosphere of working together however slowly disintegrated, by the time I retired the writing was on the wall. We went from a cohesive, well run unit to one plagued with management cuts, intrusiveness by management and an attitude of “ if you don’t like it , don’t let the door hit you on the way out!” Fortunately, or unfortunately, I retired before Covid hit, actually thought about going back because I KNEW what my fellow nurses were facing. As we all know, it’s been a gradual decline in care, services, and I am so grateful I had my time when I did. My heart goes out to every single medical professional trying to do what they were trained to do. All I know, if you have someone in hospital, make sure someone is with them. Especially if they cannot advocate for themselves😞
You have eloquently expressed the nature of our greatest socio-economic problem. It is the economic side of a valueless society. Excuse me, I meant to say, a society which has as its sole value the accumulation of wealth. This value is now degrading the idea of productive labor, with the capitalist cost savings achievable by robotics and artificial intelligence. We are a species now rushing headlong into self-destruction by ignoring every common sense metric of happiness. We can't even learn about what is occurring in our world because reporting itself has become subordinate to wealth creation, whose sponsors have decided that knowledge is less lucrative and therefore less valuable than entertainment.
Nancy Bookidis, Mediterranean Archaeologist:
You are omitting from your list of money makers universities and colleges, which now function on "the business model', which means that the Humanities are dropped - history, foreign languages, English, Greek, Latin, no good, don't make money. Business depts. are expanding as Humanities are either pushed into basements or dropped altogether. And of course administrators are placed and paid ahead of professors. Where will this lead us if we produce an uneducated 'college' graduate?
All art is being destroyed for profit. Look what happened to journalism.
Robert Reich hits the nail on the head as usual. Today, unlike 30 years ago, many academic publishers exemplify the new commercial mindset: quantity of output is nearly the sole determinant; the books are often priced too high for individual purchase. Books are now the outcome of metrics, numbers speaking to numbers. Most editors have no understanding of the books they publish - they don't have time to read them, just reader's reports - and they do not market or promote or advertise. Publishers intend to sell their books by the cartload to be downloaded from university servers for an annual fee which will reward shareholders, not the authors. It's a simple money-go-round.
As all the money flows to the top companies they become more evil in how they treat the public!
It's interesting to think about how much the printing industry has changed over the years. It used to be that many Americans worked in the printing and allied trades, but with advancements in technology, we're now able to produce print in a more efficient and effective way than ever before. Despite this, there are still plenty of individuals who have a passion for producing print in limited quantities. It's clear that print is not dead and there are many printers and publishers who have succeeded by staying ahead of the curve and embracing new technologies.
Private equity is a concept that may seem like work to those who are involved in making money, but it has nothing to do with the hardworking laborers of America. For those of us who work with our hands and enjoy creating something from raw materials, it's clear that those who manipulate money for their own gain will never understand the satisfaction that comes from physical labor.
Unfortunately, many people in America are enslaved by the private equity market and those who profit from it. These individuals believe that their money manipulation schemes are in the best interest of the country and that the benefits will eventually trickle down to everyone. However, it's clear that this is not the case and that the continuation of private equity and money manipulation will only lead to negative consequences for America. It's hard to have hope or faith in a system that is so focused on profit over people.
Well, thankfully Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner's edifying book These are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs and Wrecks America, where KKR figures prominently, got outbin time as published in 2023 by Simon and Schuster itself !!! Hey, maybe that is why..
Oscar Wilde said, "A fool is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." This process of hollowing out any remnants of meaningfulness in our society has had near-fatal collateral damage. Walk through any store, a supermarket, a drug store, a stationery store, a toy store, a hardware store, a coffee store, a car dealership; everything is wrapped in plastic, made of plastic, and laced with plastic. There is plastic in whatever they are selling, the goods and the food and the wrapping. It cheapens whatever you are buying, and it poisons the buyer. According to a World Wildlife Fund study, consumers are ingesting a credit card sized amount of plastic every week, in the air and in products. Even soil samples taken from our precious national parks found tiny plastic particles throughout. To counter this pervasive "leaching out of every other value" we have to be vigilant consumers and activists in support of important organizations like https://greenamerica.org/ . They encyclopedically comb through and provide stories of brave grass-roots groups whose meaningful, inclusive work serves as a vanguard and a guide to counter this hollowing out. Their energetic explorations serve as a beacon for people who insist on consuming from, growing, and investing in green projects that promote social justice.
In addition to Private Equity buying up larger firms, syndications are buying up the smaller, main street firms that in the past were the vehicle that individuals from the lower or middle class could work their way into ownership and create some capital. Due to the unfair pricing justified under "economies of scale", success and growth has been to get big or get out. Specifically, keep opening more locations to gain lower pricing to compete against the largest corporations. Now we are seeing industry specific conglomerates buying up independently owned car washes, dry cleaners, house cleaners, any local business that can benefit from having a chain of locations that can combine their purchasing power to create larger profit margins. This keeps individual business from competing on the sales price because the individual business costs are higher and their profit margins are much lower. Main Street Businesses are more and more owned by large corporations either through buyouts or creating franchises.
I'm a retired research scientist from one of America's most prestigious institutions you've never heard of, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST has *five* Nobel Laureates on staff; how many other organizations can make that claim? Two of them are personal friends of mine. An organization does not win Nobel prizes by taking the short-term profit path--"profit," in this case, being a quick return-on-investment (ROI) for whatever the stated "profit" might be. Only through long-term investment involving people who care way more about doing world-class science than becoming millionaires (maybe billionaires is now more appropriate lingo) is this possible. It seems to be harder and harder as things progress. If you haven't read Michael Lewis' "The Fifth Risk," you should: It explains in livid detail what Republicans in general and the MAGA crowd in particular are trying to do within the government as well as industry and commercial enterprises. When Steve Bannon calls for, "The Deconstruction of the Administrative State," his aim is to do away with organizations like NIST, which have over the last century or so (NIST was founded as the National Bureau of Standards in 1901 to promote American commerce) been the engine of US dominance in science and technology.
No science, no technology=no commerce and no dominance. I'm not exactly sure what their end-goal is--or if they've actually thought it through. My guess is they haven't; all they want is a quick buck.
The Health Care Business SHOULD NOT BE A BUSINESS It should be to provide GREAT HEALTH care and break even Shameful that its all about bottom line not letting humans live in good health and be good citizens
My wife owns a business and receives at least one call a week from private equity “prospectors”. She will no longer talk with them. She puts it this way: “Private equity has no soul.”
This is happening everywhere! They are risking our lives and our pets lives all for the love of money! They are buying every last Mom and Pop shop including Veterinary offices, local restaurants either closing them or turning them into something the community doesn’t want! It is also happening in development of a new thing putting warehouses wherever they can get away with it. In our backyards down grading housing prices for the owners that have these giant monstrosities to look at looming over their homes. It’s hard to make it work anymore for the majority of us who are at the low end of the totem pole as we watch the rich getting richer everyday. It will collapse if the greed doesn’t stop soon! It is sickening what money can get away with!
As usual, good analysis and good insight.
Corporations were chartered by governments to accomplish certain public goods, roads, bridges, railroads and more. Nineteenth century anti-monopoly law, as honed by the courts, observed that corporations are a creature of the state, therefore the state not only has the right, but the responsibility to regulate corporate activity.