Creative destruction is one of those terms that seems to be thrown around like confetti these days. But I think the term is often used interchangeably with what I like to call "wage destruction". They are different although the net impact of both can be distressingly similar on workers as well as technical professionals. Both creative destruction and wage destruction are equal opportunity disrupter of employment. It spares no one save CEO's and hedge fund manages. Anyone who works for a living, whether they be a Ph.D. or in a service industry is vulnerable to job dislocation.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
We don't need no book learnin'...
The complete and utter lack of respect for education in some conservative circles is part of the problem our nation is having in many science and engineering disciplines. This issue was brought to violent life (once again) when Rick Santorum made his now famous remarks about "smart people". You can hear the comments and Stephen Colbert's take on the Santorum remarks in the video below.
God forbid that facts might get in the way with dearly held beliefs! That's the trouble with facts, they are pesky things that tend to stick in the craw of those who will believe that global warming is a myth even as their home becomes beachfront property in Iowa.
The difficulties for our nation are obvious. Critical thinking is on the back burner. Evolution has to be taught with Creationism - which is NOT a science. This loops back to further instill ignorance in the next generation.
For those who think that the willful ignorance permeating the right-wing could never take root within the majority of the populous, guess again. I have a friend who is a historian. He once commented that "history does not always move in a forward direction". We need look only as far as Western history to find that this is true. Remember the Dark Ages?
© 2012 - http://reinnovatingamerica.com - All rights reserved.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Values Voter Summit Gaffe | ||||
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God forbid that facts might get in the way with dearly held beliefs! That's the trouble with facts, they are pesky things that tend to stick in the craw of those who will believe that global warming is a myth even as their home becomes beachfront property in Iowa.
The difficulties for our nation are obvious. Critical thinking is on the back burner. Evolution has to be taught with Creationism - which is NOT a science. This loops back to further instill ignorance in the next generation.
For those who think that the willful ignorance permeating the right-wing could never take root within the majority of the populous, guess again. I have a friend who is a historian. He once commented that "history does not always move in a forward direction". We need look only as far as Western history to find that this is true. Remember the Dark Ages?
© 2012 - http://reinnovatingamerica.com - All rights reserved.
Wage Destruction - the GOP wants expand visa program for grads in STEMfields.
This is nothing new, but when I see something like this I want to scream. In the midst of 8%+ unemployment with plenty of qualified engineers, scientists and tech workers under or unemployed - what we really need now is more immigrants in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields...NOT!!!!
The sad fact is that academia and industry are 100% addicted to dirt-cheap labor from abroad. God forbid they might have to pay competitive salaries with benefits to qualified Americans.
The notion of a skills mismatch is a myth - at least for the time being. Of course, if we continue to pay sub-par salaries combined with sweatshop working conditions there will be a skills mismatch because people will wisely stay away from these fields...but I digress. For the time being, there are plenty of people in high-tech fields that are sidelined. Some of these people are qualified Americans and goodly number are immigrants who now understand how poorly they are being paid. (It generally takes a few years experiencing our cost of living for that to sink in.) The glut in my field is so severe that the postdoctoral logjam is about 10 years in length.
We've all seen the literally Byzantine attempts to justify the need for going abroad...job descriptions that no one on the planet could possibly fulfill unless they were struck by lightning. So- the reasoning goes - there is obviously a skills mismatch!!
This stuff is ludicrous. Here is a link to the report on Politico. I don't know if it is available to non-registered users - but here is a link to the comments section - which will give anyone with any doubts an earful.
The sad fact is that academia and industry are 100% addicted to dirt-cheap labor from abroad. God forbid they might have to pay competitive salaries with benefits to qualified Americans.
The notion of a skills mismatch is a myth - at least for the time being. Of course, if we continue to pay sub-par salaries combined with sweatshop working conditions there will be a skills mismatch because people will wisely stay away from these fields...but I digress. For the time being, there are plenty of people in high-tech fields that are sidelined. Some of these people are qualified Americans and goodly number are immigrants who now understand how poorly they are being paid. (It generally takes a few years experiencing our cost of living for that to sink in.) The glut in my field is so severe that the postdoctoral logjam is about 10 years in length.
We've all seen the literally Byzantine attempts to justify the need for going abroad...job descriptions that no one on the planet could possibly fulfill unless they were struck by lightning. So- the reasoning goes - there is obviously a skills mismatch!!
This stuff is ludicrous. Here is a link to the report on Politico. I don't know if it is available to non-registered users - but here is a link to the comments section - which will give anyone with any doubts an earful.
Monday, September 17, 2012
The scientist and engineer as a working stiff...
To understand why we have lost our innovative edge, we have to understand what it is like to be an innovator. Innovators that change the world with new technologies, innovators that make truly earth shaking discoveries are generally not great business people. Sorry to disappoint, but most of them are working stiffs.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Labor Day....its SUPPOSED to be about workers - but Eric Cantor hasn'tbeen notified...
Eric Cantor's gaffe on Labor Day showed his true disdain for American labor when hetweeted...
Today, we celebrate those who have taken a risk, worked hard, built a business and earned their own success.
Huh??? - Labor Day is supposed to be about employees not employers!
Friday, September 14, 2012
America the unexceptional...
Sorry to disappoint those that think American "exceptionalism" is a birthright. But - American "exceptionalism" is gone. Dead and buried somewhere between 1970 and 2012. We have run the gamut from exceptional to barely mediocre in a matter of 40 short years. Less than a blink of an eyelash in evolutionary terms. It took Rome centuries to fall, but at the rate we are going we will be lucky to get another half-century.
If you are a poll-watcher - this isn't news. The majority of Americans have been giving a thumbs-down on the right-direction/wrong-direction question that pollsters love to ask for what seems like an eternity. I think the last time I remember that number being consistently bullish Clinton was still POTUS. We feel that we are on the wrong track; we feel it in our bones.
The point here is that we feel it, something has gone terribly wrong. I was born into a decade where we landed a man on the moon. We had a can-do attitude back then. If you like old movies, nothing brings that can-do, gung-ho attitude to life like the movie Apollo 13. In spite of monumental odds, NASA and the crew members of Apollo 13 never gave up. They pushed ahead and improvised a mission that brought those astronauts in their badly damaged spacecraft back home to earth safely.
Imagine that happening today? I can't. In about 40 years we have managed to lose our mojo. Our edge is gone, the can-do attitude withers while we slash and burn the very institutions that brought us to the moon and beyond. Put simply - our mojo is flat on its face and we seem completely incapable of pulling ourselves out of our funk.
Truth be told, America has gone from exceptional to barely mediocre with frightening speed. How it happened and how we can reverse course is what this blog is all about.
© 2012 - RGHicks - http://reinnovatingamerica.com - All rights reserved.
If you are a poll-watcher - this isn't news. The majority of Americans have been giving a thumbs-down on the right-direction/wrong-direction question that pollsters love to ask for what seems like an eternity. I think the last time I remember that number being consistently bullish Clinton was still POTUS. We feel that we are on the wrong track; we feel it in our bones.
The point here is that we feel it, something has gone terribly wrong. I was born into a decade where we landed a man on the moon. We had a can-do attitude back then. If you like old movies, nothing brings that can-do, gung-ho attitude to life like the movie Apollo 13. In spite of monumental odds, NASA and the crew members of Apollo 13 never gave up. They pushed ahead and improvised a mission that brought those astronauts in their badly damaged spacecraft back home to earth safely.
Imagine that happening today? I can't. In about 40 years we have managed to lose our mojo. Our edge is gone, the can-do attitude withers while we slash and burn the very institutions that brought us to the moon and beyond. Put simply - our mojo is flat on its face and we seem completely incapable of pulling ourselves out of our funk.
Truth be told, America has gone from exceptional to barely mediocre with frightening speed. How it happened and how we can reverse course is what this blog is all about.
© 2012 - RGHicks - http://reinnovatingamerica.com - All rights reserved.
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