To an extent, they succeeded for that time. But capitalism has now shifted, given new technologies and globalisation, and it's time for a new progressivism. Some economic security, it seems to me, is appropriate given the wealth of our overall economy. I have been, since graduating from college, downsized, restructured, fired and quit from various jobs with various companies in various industries. I have yet to see a company that was managed properly in any way, shape or form.
Loyalty is dead.
Companies don't have it toward employees and vice versa. That's partly because in the new economy, consumers and investors can so easily switch to a better product or service, thereby leaving companies in the lurch. As a result, companies have to be far, far more flexible than ever before - readier to downsize or even leave a community at a moment's notice. It all begins with the extraordinary number of choices now open to consumers, and the remarkable ease with which we can get a better deal. The organization that existed as a buffer between us as employees and the marketplace will continue to thin out into almost nothing, and we all become free agents, completely on our own, looking out for ourselves.