Welcome to the October 2021 edition of the reading (and watching) list! Here are some things I’m reading (and watching) lately, as we move fully into the fall. Hopefully this gives readers some ideas for what to pick up as they lose fall leaves and prepare for colder weather.
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I’m sure some readers know about the planned ‘general strike’ on October 15. Or is it a fake strike? At least, many know that a group claims it’s planning one. Is it really planning one? Maybe. Probably not. Will there be a general strike on October 15?
No.
And that’s my topic for today. In fact, the October 15 event looks like a fake strike. I want to talk for a bit about the ‘fake strike‘: why it keeps happening, what it means, and what it says about the left.
It’s an older term, but it checks out. ‘Slacktivists.’ Those of us who used the Internet in the 1990s know it as a term for the kids who signed online petitions and then…did nothing. That’s it. They didn’t follow up or take part in any other political actions.
And then along came social media. Maybe slacktivists still sign online petitions. I can’t tell. At least we know they went all-in on the Facebook likes and shares.
I live in Iowa City. Among other things, it’s (by far) the most liberal part of a purple state. Look, Iowa’s a lot more red than it used to be. But I grew up in Indiana. We’re still doing better here in Iowa than over there. And we’re doing better in Iowa City than anywhere else in Iowa.
Living in a liberal oasis of sorts affects our local politics. For one, the GOP is basically a non-entity. All serious politics at the city level takes place within a political space we might describe as ‘to the left of Joe Manchin.’ Within that broad space, we have all flavors of Democratic, leftist, independent, and even libertarian factions.
So, many of us already know that the concept of ‘generations’ is just something marketing agencies cooked up to better sell products and services. Companies needed to understand broad trends. Trends tend to vary by age. Then, toss in some science and buzzwords. Stir. Out comes ‘Baby Boomers,’ ‘Millennials,’ and so on.
But companies also use this wicked troll to sell business ideology. And they do it through creating those fun little listicles. Here’s a link to one that I’ll use as my starting point for this one.
Let’s suppose you’re a manager of Millennial workers, and they’re catching on to your bullshit. What can you do about it?
