Home Work or Escape from Dilbert's Box
By Janusz Wyrwa
Posted Thursday, November 11, 2004
Mc WORLD AND RAGE AGAINST Mc WORLD
Mc World - that is a world in which we are living. Multinational corporations (more and more powerful, for instance thanks to fusions like Daimler-Chrysler, Star Alliance or Time Warner; beyond a democratic control and "famous" because of affairs similar to "virtual accounting's" issue of Enron) just like Mc Donald's launching fast foods rule the world and often possess more money than several countries of the Third World. What is more maybe tomorrow there will be hundreds of Mc Worlds. Narrator of David Fincher's "Fight club" (starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton; based on Chuck Palahniuk's underground novel) predicts (ironically), that after future exploration of deep Space there will be a Microsoft Galaxy, Planet Starbucks, IBM Stella Sphere!
On the grounds that gap between the rich, highly educated, technologically advanced and the poor countries is greater and greater: according to economist Paul Bairoch difference of income between the richest and the poorest was 1 : 3 at the Roman Empire times; 1 : 30 at industrial revolution times and like 1 to 180 nowadays! Famous Polish journalist and writer, author of the "Emperor" said that dwellers of the USA and Somalia seem to live on two distant and completely different planets (we could see that in "Black Hawk Down" by Ridley Scott). Those tensions are very dangerous (terrorist attack from the 11th September in New York). Fast development and expansion of predatory capitalism of globalization era and technological progress (so called information revolution - appearance of Internet, personal computers, palmtops, cellar phones, satellites, nuclear power plants, solar, wind, sea wave "clean" energy, industrial robots etc.) has enormous after-effects. It causes reduction of costs and salaries, later massive unemployment, social tensions and anti-globalists' protests (like in Seattle), great rage against Mc World.
BIG BROTHER
Your place of work is turning into a besieged castle, reality of a totalitarianism from famous George Orwell's novel "Year 1984" or simply a controversial, full of scandals reality show "Big Brother". I mean You are under perpetual control and supervision of Your boss, Your company's management. It is a common tendency to count employee's working time (for example cashiers in supermarkets; they even wear in some Quick-a-Mart's Pampers so as not to stop serving clients!). Thanks to GPS, magnetic cards opening doors, pagers and company cellar phones employer will nowadays find his employee or maybe slave everywhere. Management controls Yours e - mail, access to Internet, to web sites. For example to not chat in private matters and not watch pornographic web sites during the work time. In Japanese company toilets there are sensors searching for drugs in employee's urine! Cameras, scanners, so called open space (people working in one enormous room or in glass boxes so as boss could observe and supervise employees all the time, even search - these all invigilation ideas destroy Your privacy, cause psychic discomfort, reveal Your secrets to boss who is turning into Big Brother. We have to possess hope, that for instance political police, a real Big Brother will not achieve an access to those information. How to refuse humiliating procedures of invigilation and supervision of Big Brother?
ESCAPE FROM DILBERT'S BOX
All of us know famous gazette comic strip "Dilbert". Colleagues turned Dilbert's life into a nightmare. His labor is a perpetual struggle with boss (who is an imbecile and cretin), a shouting guy, sweet and irritating idiot, conceited managers and diabolique animals: an omnipotent personnel chief Catbert, stupid Ratbert and his pet, clever and cynic Dogbert. Dilbert is forced to work in poky box, all the time attacked by colleagues and nonsense boss' directives and orders. Millions of people read about Dilbert's frightening and funny adventures. They laugh through tiers. Their dream is to escape from that nightmare called bureau work, boring nine to five job or simply Dilbert's box.
Thanks to modern technology their dreams and wishes may come true. Thanks to modem, Internet, fax machine and a cellar phone so called home work is nowadays possible. What is more thousands of problems, like for instance sticking around in irritating traffic jams, crowded means of public transport (like subway in which there is no place for a breath), sexual abuse, bullying or mobbing, other forms of maltreating. Besides work without boss has many advantages. Your salary for example is greater, so as whole profit goes straight to your pocket. Boring X-mas parties, integrating camps and trips with singing around fire, softball or what is the worst thing - paintball, psycho tests and that whole staff with control and supervision of psychologists, personnel chiefs, your stupid and incompetent boss or cameras (look chapter titled Big Brother). Fallowing issues completely disappear: colleagues envious because of your promotion, chatting, gossiping, smoking pauses, desperately seeking of a parking place and finally, last but not least early waking up, work holism and that whole staff connected with boring nine to five job or simply Dilbert's box!
WORKING IN GLOBAL VILLAGE OR NEW BRAVE WORLD
We are entering a New Brave World of modern technology. After great technological revolution (similar to industrial revolution and beginning of am agriculture) thanks to Internet, cellar phone, palmtop and satellite communication You may work as good or even better than in bureau, in Dilbert's box at home or wherever You want. People from distant countries may be not only Your clients but also employers and employees. Cyberspace means the end of old Mc World and huge multinational corporations' dictate. Not cereal, steel or coal, not even cars or planes are the most important and most sought-after and searched consumer goods of future but information. Thanks to Internet everyone's invited to e - business, to that great gold mine of cyberspace's library. Every computer user may become an Internet guru and new Bill Gates. Competition is great, dangerous and even small distant countries like Finland are overtaking in that race United States. Even countries of former East Block, post communist like tiny Estonia and in greater degree Asian Tigers or poor India (but with plenty of computer scientists) thanks to new technologies develop faster and faster. Working in a global village is a great opportunity, a chance for escape from Dilbert's box - so don't waste it.
FROM MONOPOLY TO E - BUSINESS
You are a computer nut; playing "Sim City", Sid Meier's "Civilization", computer games from "Tycoon" series excites you? What is more You are a passionate of "Monopoly" and hundreds times You've become a virtual Rockefeller or Donald Trump?! Considering that You may establish a company similar to Microsoft o r Apple Computer. Possibly a success comparative with that which achieved Bill Gates or millionaires from the Silicon Valley is simply at the reach of Your hand. E - business is developing very rapidly. You may play at Wall Street, just like George Soros (transactions will last just few seconds). Equally it is possible for You to establish web sites, becoming web master, an internet guru. Self-home-work gives many advantages: freedom of choice of Your enterprise's activity field. What is more, great flexibility, possibility of fast adaptation to changes on the market and to conjuncture. Crisis is not a threat for You. The whole world (places where is an access to Internet) is Your target market. Regarding You may satisfy demands and needs of small consuming group in distant country, You may easily find a gap in market (technological cycles are shorter; new inventions live not 30 but 7 years - so there is a demand for Your products). Thanks to e - business it is possible to compare prices and invest simply everywhere. What is very important the initial costs of investing input are extremely low. You are Your own boss. In self-home-work You decide alone about working hours (even the sick, disabled, young mothers or pregnant woman may work) and Your work's pace.
To put it briefly it is a beginning of the New Brave World and global village at labor market, simply great and successful escape from boring nine to five job or Dilbert's box!!!
For more go to (www.HomeWorkeBayShelter.com).
About the Author
I enjoy sharing my knowledge and talents with small business newcomers and professionals to help them enhance their online presence. Get more at : (http://www.HomeWorkeBayShelter.com). janusz_wyrwa@wp.pl