Posted by Laura - Fri, Dec 9, 2011, 8:37 A

Free cell phones

Very good points, Patrick, and this is why I for one haven't been doing cartwheels over Steve Jobs's and Bill Gates's contributions. They represent a mixed bag at best. I have worked with the general public long enough to acknowledge that not everyone has the capacity for or interest in highly-skilled occupations, and we're exceedingly foolish to deny such people a productive and self-sufficient role in our society. The #1 solution to this, if I were running the country? A concerted back-to-the-land / small family-farm model movement spearheaded by our gov't. It would solve virtually of our public health and economic problems in a fell swoop. Sometimes, less really is more in life and that's what small farms represent. Just ask the Amish ....

Not all of us have jobs that allow us to work from home. You really shouldn't be scratching your head over this. My family bothers because we need to eat. That's our top priority. We resisted the 80-hour weeks for a decade+ and continue to keep our budget priorities very clear, but eventually math wins out. Stronger unions with a viable voice over scheduling in customer service fields would be the answer to parents not missing sports events, school concerts, etc. But given that union membership plummeted as women entered the workforce in droves, this opportunity was lost. Any "special requests" around scheduling is seen as undue interference with the running of a business. Consider yourself very fortunate that you are able to make your own schedule.

Finally, Marx predicted all this .... if we hadn't been dumb enough to follow the lead of the sorry likes of Earl Butz, Ronald Reagan, "Kenny Boy" Lay, Ray Kroc, etc, a lot of this could've been avoided. If you really like capitalism, you need to hold your nose and read Marx as a cautionary tale if nothing else.