fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
Automated Vehicle Regulations Are Picking Up Speed
By: David Deveau
Tags: Self Driving Cars, Traffic Safety, Automation Testing

After reading the WEF Safe Drive Initiative Community Paper (Oct.2020) it is understandable why the United States would favor a voluntary approach as compared to Singapore that is taking a strong government controlled approach.

Between these two extremes are countries like Germany who are still allowing innovation to drive itself but are controlling safety by creating a harmonized approach to data acquisition, definition and labeling.

Engineering Standards Are Official Guidelines

From an engineering perspective there are the SAE-J3016, ANSI/UL-4600, ISO-26262, and ISO/PAS-21448 Standards for AV Design but these are industry-based and policy makers are being advised to only be aware of them and to not use engineering standards directly for regulations.

It is very clear that engineers are liable to comply with design standards and especially safety standards. That voluntary self-assessments of non-binding guidelines in place of regulated engineering standards for the sake of inspiring innovation has always proven a deadly road of travel.

Creating Regulations That Inspire Innovations

There is one common theme introduced in the paper, that this writer took specific note of, it is of course evaluating conditions at maximum speeds.

I may be getting ahead of myself but the use of the 10 Star Speed Safety Ratings System Sticker by the NHTSA in the Federal Register is a sure sign that the United States while still allowing industry to drive innovation is also on the path of creating a harmonized approach to data acquisition, definition and labeling.

Through the NCAP Division of the NHTSA the United States and in all countries using NCAP to rate safety features, we can set a common Governmental Regulatory Oversight that each State or Region can use as a base-line to ensure public safety.

Generating Public Involvement Web Tools

Also after reviewing the NHTSA AV TEST Initiative Tracking Tool Web Site, I must say it is impressively comprehensive and engaging.

I can understand why it too is starting out as a voluntary tool. Primarily it is a means that encourages participants to advertise what they are doing in what vehicles and where they’re testing.

However as this evolves and reporting and labeling become more in-line with NCAP, it would be expected that this tool will also become a major part of requirements for the regulatory system specifically for all types of AV Testing on public roads.

References:

World Economic Forum: Safe Drive Initiative: Community Paper: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_SafeDI_creating_safe_AV_policy_2020.pdf

AV Test Initiative: Test Tracking Tool: NHTSA Interactive Web Site: https://www.nhtsa.gov/automated-vehicles-safety/av-test-initiative-tracking-tool

10 Star Speed Safety Ratings System: NCAP Sticker Examples: http://www.devco-design.com/design/dot/stickers/10-Star-NCAP-Progressive-Stickers.pdf
Cruise Automation — A Self-Driving Car Startup
By: Jeremy Cohen
Tags: Self Driving Cars, Robotics, Deep Learning, Autonomous Cars, Machine Learning

Self-Driving Cars in one image

This article will detail the Perception stack, and then briefly mention the rest.

Perception

In this interview from 2017, former Head of Computer Vision Peter Gao describe Cruise’s problem as tough and unpredictable.

Funny story, I looked for Peter Gao on LinkedIn and found a second Peter Gao, also working on self-driving cars… but for Waymo.

Cruise’s Perception system uses LiDARs, Cameras, and RADARs. Cameras and RADARs can be a good fit for highway autopilot, but LiDAR adds a lot of information when it comes to urban driving and pedestrian detection.

Let’s start with the camera…

In this article, I’ll mention a process called “Sensor Fusion”… the idea is to fuse data coming from different sensors (for example a camera and a LiDAR) and thus take advantage of both sensors. More on Sensor Fusion here.

How does the Computer Vision system work?

Computer Vision is everywhere in autonomous driving: to find lane lines, obstacles, or even traffic signs and lights… we need to use the camera and Computer Vision algorithms…

Cruise has a process working in 5 Steps:

Camera Calibration

Time Calibration — Sensor Fusion

Labeling — Active Learning

Big Data — Fleet Management

Perception Tasks — Detection, Tracking, …

Camera Calibration

Every camera needs calibration. It helps with 3D geometry, but also to get an accurate image.

Intrinsic Calibration helps with camera image rectification — removing the GoPro effect and thus having a rectified image.

— removing the GoPro effect and thus having a rectified image. Extrinsic Calibration is a camera/car calibration — it helps with Sensor Fusion and 3D projections later.

In the following image, you can see the results of extrinsic calibration. The closer the object, the greener.

👉 If you’d like to learn more about calibration, check my article Pseudo-LiDAR: Stereo Vision for Self-Driving Cars.

Time Calibration

One of the key aspects of Sensor Fusion is to match a frame from camera to a frame from LiDAR…but these must be taken at the exact same time!

Time Calibration is made using a process called phase locking: the LiDAR is scheduled to arrive at a certain point of the rotation at a certain point in time.

Labeling

There is a lot of Machine Learning at Cruise. Labeling is therefore an essential task.

2D Obstacles, tracking, lane lines, freespace, traffic lights and signs, hazard lights, and much more must be detected…

Big Data

Every vehicle generates hundreds of Terabytes every single day. If you’ve followed my course START WITH ROS, you know that a 20 seconds recording is already over 5 Gb.

The number of cars is set to grow exponentially, and the resolution of cameras as well…

Cruise uses Spark to aggregate data and do cool operations such as query or even multi-machine training…
What makes Artificial intelligence & Machine learning such powerful tools in self-driving cars?
By: Ismail Osman
Tags: Self Driving Cars, Intelligence, Autonomous Cars, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence

What makes Artificial intelligence & Machine learning such powerful tools in self-driving cars?

AI is anything that makes machines act more intelligently, and in this case is self-driving cars. Ismail Osman ·Nov 25, 2020

AI makes self-driving cars save than humans can drive.

We, humans, make mistakes when we drive a car, and as a result, we lose over a million people every year.

The reason is, we make the same mistakes over and over again.

But with self-driving cars powered by AI, if the car makes a mistake, it will learn from it, and so will other cars.

Including all future cars that have not been on the road yet will never make the same mistake again.

The lesson here that AI will evolve faster than people will evolve. Imagine that.

Image Credits: Chesky / Shutterstock
On quest to build Self Driving Cars in India
By: Minus Zero
Tags: Self Driving Cars, Artificial Intelligence, Minus Zero, Autonomous Cars

Source: Google

Founded in 2020 amidst the pandemic, Minus Zero is on a quest to build indigenous fully Self Driving Car in India by late 2023, competing with the likes of Elon Musk’s Tesla, Google’s Waymo and others in the industry. It’s not long before India will have its own ‘Made in India’ autonomous vehicle able to drive itself with zero human supervision in a challenging traffic like India’s. Being one of the most rising use cases of Artificial Intelligence, this can make India a leader in global tech ecosystem.

Minus Zero is a deep-tech start-up working to leverage the power of moon-shot innovation to an inclusive society at large. Building up on the vision of remodelling and reinforcing the harnesses of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Internet in India, they are engineering robust and affordable future with four major projects in their pipeline — Self Driving Cars, Cognitive Humanoids, Holo-Vision & 1000x Data Compression Codec.

This futuristic endeavour is led by Minus Zero’s founder and CEO, Gagandeep Reehal, a 20-year-old technologist, AI engineer and an author, presently involved in domain of Cognitive Artificial Intelligence, and Autonomous Vehicles/Robotics. “The biggest challenge in building a commercial Self Driving Cars is to make the system robust enough for stochastic Indian traffic where anything can happen anytime and one cannot fully trust a driver to abide by the rules here, and since this industry still needs a lot of research and development before launch, it is a real test of perseverance,” says Gagandeep. They have been gathering the best young minds from all across the country to work on these projects.

“Our country’s youth has immense brain power, it’s high time that we align it in the right direction, to a bigger cause of making our country a technology leader. The road is tough, but we need to start somewhere. There is a huge potential out there,” says Gagandeep.

This comes as a really promising news this year which everyone one might want to look up to.
A higher minimum wage might accelerate the replacement of workers with tech, but this will happen…
By: Russ Linton
Tags: Capitalism, Minimum Wage, Income Inequality, Technology

A higher minimum wage might accelerate the replacement of workers with tech, but this will happen regardless. It’s even happening as we speak due to pressures caused by the pandemic and the cost savings revealed by having employees work remotely.

With an impending retirement crisis and an increasing lack of jobs for unskilled, inexperienced workers just entering the workplace, we need both a living wage and a robust recognition of the technological changes being wrought on our economy. Sticking our heads in the sand can’t be an option.

The only ones served by companies being allowed to both pay wages below living standards and dodge providing benefits like health insurance and pensions are the massive corporations themselves. Arguing to extend that status quo assures the already out of control wealth transfer will continue until we drive huge swathes of the American public into inescapable poverty and corporate enslavement that will follow them from cradle to grave. I’m willing to allow a minimum wage might be a regional not federal concern, and that way equitable pay can happen on a more granular scale. But one must be enforced.

As it is, these corps will likely push to expand the vampiric practice of “gig workers” which will not only fix below minimum wages, but place legal burdens on individuals to provide what companies ought to provide their employees. My guess is more will follow Uber’s lead in this, even in the case of skillled professionals and especially those who can now work from home. If this happens, a minimum wage of even $20 an hour will be too low and the middle class will be annihilated. Without wage protection and benefits, we become a true oligarchy (and not just an aspirational one) where a fractional minority controls the citizenry through wages that will be less compensatory and more and more be composed of captive markets which provide basic health, food, and security.
Leo Panitch was frustrated because he was stuck in the old paradigm
By: Steven Welzer
Tags: Socialism, Bioregionalism, Leo Panitch, Green Politics, Capitalism

Leo Panitch kept getting encouraged and then discouraged:

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/12/leo-panitch-obituary-democratic-socialism

It’s understandable. His movement keeps experiencing recurring waves of decline and then apparent regeneration.

After initiation during the 1820s, the socialist movement built up to a peak of dynamism over the next century. It’s possible that a majority of people worldwide supported some form of socialism during the middle part of the twentieth century. That marked a plateau, and during the 1980s and ’90s the movement was unquestionably in decline, yet then came Occupy, Jeremy Corbyn, and Bernie Sanders; recently the growth of DSA here in the U.S.



The explanation for the apparent regeneration has to do with the fact that capitalism is pernicious. Waves of justifiable anti-capitalism become conflated with renewed support for a socialist alternative.

There will be anti-capitalist movements as long as the capitalist system continues to prevail. The left needs to come to recognize that the viable alternative is not, after all, socialism. The choice can seem binary, on the basis of an idea that society’s productive assets can be owned privately or owned publicly. If that’s the case, then the systemic choice can seem binary: capitalism or socialism.

Not surprisingly, it’s hard to break the left from that mentality. But the path forward requires it. Traditional leftism was wrong about (and remains stuck in a flawed paradigm regarding) the direction of history, the agency of social change, and the conception of a viable alternative.

Yes, the capitalist system is ruinous and we may need a period of eco-socialism to de-fang it, but the vision of a universalist system based on social ownership of the means of production (socialism as the “next system”) is chimerical. A green world would be characterized by decentralized polities exhibiting diverse economic relations. Bioregionalism is the “neither capitalist nor socialist” alternative.

Such notions would figure to be completely foreign and incomprehensible to the leftist old guard, as exemplified by Leo Panitch. But enough, already, with their adherence to misguided theory. The fate of the left is dependent upon a transition from Red to Green.
Convergence makes a certain sense, but it’s not ideal
By: Steven Welzer
Tags: Socialism, Convergence Of Systems, Left Right Spectrum, End Of History Theory, Capitalism

What’s been debated for two hundred years, left vs. right, has been socialism vs. capitalism.

There was a theory that, over time, as countries experimented with various mixes of public vs. private enterprise, a best mix would be determined. The fact that the arguments on both sides have some merit (leftist critiques of capitalism have surely been valid, but the rightist critiques of socialism have also been persuasive) could imply that the world is not headed toward any pure-system resolution of the debate, but rather toward some kind of optimal convergence. A survey of systems at this point in history might seem to bear that out.

The Soviet model of radical collectivization of the means of production with full national economic planning failed. Europe was prone toward socialism during the first half of the twentieth century, but backed away to settle for social democracy instead. The United States disdained nationalization of industries but has needed to amplify its public sector and expand governmental management of its mostly-capitalist system. This year was a case in point.

Thus “the end of history” idea re: liberal democracy and a mixed economic system within the paradigm of the modern industrial state; an ultimate “not perfect, but can’t be improved upon” consensus and: TINA (“There Is No Alternative”).

And I agree that there is no alternative, unless we’re willing to shift our thinking off the left-right spectrum and away from the industrial-statist domain.

The current paradigm is hegemonic because the system does work for some, and those people (some countries, some elites) dominate the discourse. The system privileges them, and they proclaim about how it provides growth and “progress.” They “manufacture consent” . . . yet an underlying, disquieting public secret is that the system is inherently unsustainable, both socially and ecologically.

* * * *

The convergence makes some sense.

But it’s not “the best possible.”

And the alternative is hardly yet contemplated.
Our intrinsic identity as nature
By: Christine Mcdougall
Tags: Capitalism, Socialism, Syntropic World, Syntropic Enterprise, Syntropy

In this great Southern land in which I am blessed to live, we have profited through recessions off the back of our abundance of fossil fuels such as coal and gas, and the extraction of wealth from the commons land. We as a nation have said yes to this continued form of money creation, even as we are also known for our abundance in sun, wind, waves.

The easy road to short term profit and money creation fails us all. We steal from he past to pay for the present at the cost of the future while a few grow bloated with monetary wealth.

Repeat this story around the world.

I came to the conclusion that the operating system of our society is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Create vast monetary and political wealth for a few at the cost of everything. Our home planet. The majority of people. Our glorious creatures. Certainly our future.

The operating system I am referring to is our capitalist, economic, legal, political, governance systems.

It is time we used the most powerful exponential potential gifted to humans. Collective minds working together synergistically to create solutions that place the increased well being for Earth and all her creatures as the central question.

Not socialism. Not capitalism. Not communism. These models are all past their use-by date.

Humans, cities, ecologies, economies that partner with, collaborate with, honour and respect our intrinsic identity as nature.

This is syntropy. It is towards this that Syntropic World is dedicated.

If this is your vision, please join us.

Photo taken December 27th 2020

#worldwithafuture #businessreimagined #syntropicworld #syntropicenterprise
Agree with the concept but not the practice.
Tags: First Responder, Income Inequality, Onlyfans, Sex Workers, Capitalism

Agree with the concept but not the practice. Your view implies people went into these professions knowing it was going to be an unlive-able wage. More likely they went into it with a sense that it is both an honorable profession and one that would allow them a modest life. Under your line of thinking everyone should understand the supply, demand and ordering of labor and wages by unknowable corporate entities at the time they study for a job. If you have that kind of wisdom please let us all know: what are these “sure thing" skills that will provide people living wages for the next 20 years? The entirety of working class America would love to know….assuming you can articulate a strong argument for why your view will prove correct. Look forward to seeing your response ☺
The Problematic Lessons of Rudolph the Differently-Nosed Reindeer
By: Bev Potter
Tags: Christmas, Capitalism, Environment, Humor

History would have us believe that the lessons to be learned from Rudolph the Differently-Nosed Reindeer are that we should accept and celebrate our differences; that everyone has value; and that passive resistance is the best way to counteract bullying.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Rudolph, as you may recall, was the youngest and smallest of Santa’s enslaved Rangifer tarandus who, as a result of extensive inbreeding, could fly.

Born out of wedlock and never knowing his real father (although scholars have long suspected that facial similarities, i.e., the red, bulbous nose, point toward Santa himself), Rudolph had no protectors at the all-boys school he attended, although he would eventually befriend an outcast elf who fancied himself an orthodontist and who was subsequently arrested for practicing dentistry without a license in Florida.

Underweight and smaller than his cohort, Rudolph was bullied on a daily basis, sometimes being hung by Christmas lights from the rafters of the gym while the reindeer below laughed and called him names.

Whereas some reindeer would have bulked up with weights and perhaps learned tae kwon do, or at the very least, the Brazilian art of capoeira, Rudolph instead found solace in alcohol, which he stole from Santa’s liquor cabinet at night, stealthily finding his way by turning his nose to 1, its lowest setting.

You might ask, “Where was Santa during all of this?” After all, he knew when they were sleeping and he knew when they were awake. But he conveniently had no knowledge of the brutal hazing that Rudolph experienced on a regular basis.

That is, until Rudolph’s value-add to the corporation, North Pole Inc. and its subsidiary, Santa Claus LLC, became apparent due to inclement weather patterns over the Bering Sea as a result of global warming.

Then, and only then, did Santa intervene and give Rudolph the encouragement and affirmation he so desperately needed to counter his body dysphoria. Glowing with self-worth, Rudolph was then able to express his true self and assume a leadership role in his team.

The other reindeer, who were emotionally-stunted cogs in the capitalist machine, could express love for Rudolph and shout out with glee only after they saw the benefit to themselves of timely completing their annual project, i.e., Christmas, and thereby collecting their bonuses.

Further examination is needed into Rudolph’s later years. Did he seek treatment for his alcohol addiction? Did he take advantage of his leadership role to radicalize the other reindeer and form an alliance with the elves to fight for better wages and healthcare? *

The historical record is silent. However, it may be enough to imagine Rudolph streaking through the sky, lighting the way over the melting polar icecap with tears in his eyes.

* Please refer to my prior work The Role of Collective Bargaining in Fairy Tales: From Hansel to Hoffa.
To Chip Or Not To Chip
By: Akshay Jayakumar
Tags: Lawsuit, Wacky History, Satire, History, Capitalism

©Jean Polanco

Pringles, created at Procter & Gamble, came into existence in 1968 to counter greasy, fragile potato chips that were available in the market at the time. And indeed, a lot of research went into it. The shape of each piece is a hyperbolic paraboloid — a three dimensional shape with two curvatures that intersect in such a way that the stress required to crack it is more than the generic potato chip. And the can is specifically designed to accommodate this unique shape without crumbling. So much research and technology goes into this delicious snack. But hold on!

What do you call this snack? If you say potato chips, you’re absolutely right!

No, you are, in fact, absolutely wrong.

Actually, I don’t quite know for sure. Well, I don’t think the creators know either.

Before calling this confusion my lack of knowledge and/or certainty on the subject, let us try to understand where I am coming from.
Escaping The Clutches of Crony Capitalism
Tags: Lifestyle, Sustainability, Life Lessons, Society, Capitalism

SOCIETY

Escaping The Clutches of Crony Capitalism

Photo by Max Böhme on UnsplaWsh

Over the past few months, many things have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’m interested in one of those changes.

Across the world, a lot of people have become heavier. Sitting at home due to the country’s lockdown restrictions has reduced the amount of physical movement that we usually do. Reducing daily physical activity such as walking or climbing stairs has led to an increased fat deposit in a lot of bodies.

Now that many countries are easing down on their lockdown restrictions, gyms that were inactive until now might begin their reckless marketing once again.

“Do you want to lose that lockdown fat? We are here to help.”

Most gym slogans might read a similar version of the above statement, while the hot receptionist is trying to convince you to extend the membership.

One thing has remained the same from the pre-pandemic era. The culture of consumerism isn’t fading away. You buy fatty foods because they are tasty, and then you have to buy costlier healthy foods because you want to lose the fat that you gained by eating those delicious but unhealthy foods.

This culture of consumerism doesn’t apply only to food products, but to every other mass-produced product. The legs of chairs will bend after a few years. The leather shoes will wither after a few months. The insurance won’t work once it’s expired. In this manner, we are inmates to the societal prison of capitalism.

We need money for every aspect of our lives. You need money to buy food, pay rent, pay bills, and whatnot. Whether it’s the hospital bill for a woman delivering or whether it’s the funeral bill, we are mentally incarcerated due to the concept of money and are free from it through death. There is no easier way to obtain freedom other than death. But that’s in a spiritual context, and not everyone wants to commit suicide.

Most want to live healthy and happy lives before they die a natural death. But how can we do it when the culture of capitalistic consumption has incarcerated us in a thought prison?

Through these meditations, I came across the case of one Mr. Rob Greenfield. Read his story below and judge it yourself.
Life Lessons From the Ancient Minoan Civilization
By: Nicola Bosch
Tags: Happiness, History, Greece, Consumerism, Capitalism

Life Lessons From the Ancient Minoan Civilization

Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash

Who Were the Minoans?

The ancient Minoans were a bronze age civilization that spanned through the ages, specifically from 3000BC to 1100BC. This once great civilization is said to be the first advanced civilization of Europe. They were the pinnacle of human evolution and technology and yet, we barely know anything about them.

The Minoans are what led to Europe gaining much of the technology needed for basic civilizations, and are accredited as being dubbed the “the first link in the European chain” by historian Will Durant. They had fortresses, great palaces, vast trade networks, their own writing system, and even plumbing.

In popular culture, they are known for King Minos, and the myth of the Minotaur. Most people have heard of this myth, based around the early history of the Minoans, where the great King Minos had a labyrinth built to keep the Minotaur in.

As great as their ancient civilization is, any historian will hit a dead end. Their language, a mixture of different ancient hieroglyphics, is still undeciphered today. We do not know much about them. Sure, we know about their great palaces, such as the one is Knossos, and their trade network, but we do not know about their decline.

Although the decline can be seen as a period of about 400 years, what I find astonishing is that one day, this civilization was the greatest in Europe, maybe in the whole world, but suddenly it all disappeared.

The decline started with possible Mycenaean invasions and also the eruption of a mega-volcano in Santorini, which all led to their demise. The volcanic eruption led to a period of economic hardship, making them vulnerable to foreign invasions. This is the most popular theory by historians in the 21st century, and could quite possibly be what led to their demise.
Excess Has a Permanent Address
By: Donney Rose
Tags: Covid-19, Stimulus, America, Poverty, Capitalism

12.23.20

i think i know where the money resides. the same place it always has. within the accounts & stocks & shares & retirement funds & blood-stained coffers of the advantaged. the etymology of working-poor was not mouthed from a place of contradiction. america literally makes allowances for you to work yourself to death. honor your contributions to its stockpile of revenue. then mail your loved ones a scant offering they have already paid into.
The Outsiders — Notes. CEOs have five essential choices for…
By: Sohil Gupta
Tags: Warren Buffett, CEO, Leadership, Management, Capitalism

in MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy
I would argue that Dr.
By: David Sackman
Tags: Race, Martin Luther King, Equality, BlackLivesMatter, Capitalism

I would argue that Dr. King was far more radical than even you acknowledge. He spoke to more than just a sense of injustice, more than just a desire to right individual wrongs, but a deeply religious view of the universe which is completely at odds with capitalism.

One of his early influences was Edward Bellamy. Bellamy is most known for his best-selling novel of a utopian (and unapologetically socialist) future, Looking Backward. His novel influenced a whole generation of activists in the late-Nineteenth and early-Twentieth century. Less well-known was a tract Bellamy wrote in his youth — The Religion of Solidarity. King discusses this tract in his early letters. Bellamy there expressed the (old) idea that we are not just individuals, but part of something larger, what he called the “Universal.” The realization of the Universal is what brings us together, and prevents us from hurting each other, which would only be hurting ourselves.

King expressed this view of the world throughout his writings and speeches. For example, he concluded his 1958 essay, An Experiment in Love (published in his book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Circle), with this:

Whether we call it an unconscious process, an impersonal Brahman, or a Personal Being of matchless power and infinite love, there is a creative force in the universe that works to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole.

Capitalism, in contrast, is based on the belief that we are separate entities, interacting only through discrete “market” transactions. This unity, this “harmonious whole” as Dr. King put it, is the true opposite of both racism and capitalism.
Farmers’ Protests: Who are the Arhtiyas, and why are they important?
Tags: Farmers, Capitalism, Politics, News, Protest

Criticism of the Laws

The opposition to these laws has been primarily in the form of concerns over new forms of exploitation of the farmers- now by the corporates, instead of the arhtiyas. The new freedom would deprive the farmers of security, creating a oligopsony, as described before.

The government has contended that the sales of the products would still be at the minimum support price, and thus the situation for all small farmers would not be any worse- they would just be free of the coercion by the arhtiyas.

The opposition has replied to this with contentions that farmers aren’t always in a position to hire legal counsel and negotiate a fair contract; moreover, the dispute-resolution mechanism itself is restricted to bureaucratic bodies, and not judicial institutions, thus violating basic checks and balances. As a result, there are concerns over the legitimacy of due process to be followed in cases of disputes. This, coupled with the weakness of anti-trust legislation in the country, has grown the cynicism over the laws, over potential collusion between corporates.

Lastly, however, one might argue that the devil on record is better than the devil off the record- that if corporates do violate the rights of the farmers, then there is scope for documentation thanks to their paperwork, as well as a clear set of people to file a writ against, and that is more than can be said for the current system, which muddies the boundaries between the state government and the arhtiyas, at least in the Northern states and Maharashtra.

All in all, this seems to be more of a battle between local centres of power against a central one- with Khattar and Badal against the centre on this, while the Centre continues the chain of events which began in 1991, to further de-regulate and liberalise the economy, and remove local controls.
Can we have companies whose ultimate goals are not to make money?
By: Angga Kho
Tags: Capitalism, Company Culture

Few weeks ago, Disney announced a sleuth of new TV shows and movies in an event called “Investor Day”. I found the event name to be rather strange. Do these investors care that the new Ant-man movie is called “Quantumania” as a reference to when the main character in the previous movie said “they really put quantum in everything!”? Do these investors care when it was announced that Hayden Christensen will come back as Darth Vader in the new Obi-Wan series? Or that Pixar is making a movie about the fake real astronaut who Buzz Lighyear the toy was based on? I don’t know about the investors, but I am very sure the fans went crazy about these announcements! So why wasn’t the event called “Fan Day” instead? Why do companies care so much about their investors anyway?

Well, as far as I can remember, the goal of corporations is always to make profits for shareholders. Some companies pride themselves as being customer centric, or innovation driven, or technologically advanced, but all of these ultimately serve to allow the companies to make as much money as they can. However, in the book “The Future of Capitalism”, in the chapter about Ethical Firm, Paul Collier argued that this was not always the case, and it doesn’t have to be.

The book talked about “Imperial Chemical Company” whose mission statement used to be “to be the finest chemical company in the world”, but later changed it to “to maximize shareholder value”. The switch proved to be disastrous to the company as its performance went off a cliff and was later taken over. Mr. Collier then posed this question: “Has any worker for any company ever got up in the morning, thinking ‘today I’m going to maximize shareholder value’?”. As an employee myself, I can’t help but agree with Mr. Collier: working for a company that is aiming to be the best company in the world is far more inspiring than working for a company whose sole purpose is to make more money for shareholders.

Mr. Collier then mentioned an idea put forward by the British Academy: profitability is not the objective [of corporations], it is a constraint that has to be satisfied in order to meet its obligations to its customers and its workforce on a sustainable basis. When I first read this sentence, I could not believe what I was reading. “Profitability is not the objective”; what heresy is this?? But then the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. Take Disney for example. When the fans are excited for future shows / movies, they create buzz and excitement that are infectious to other fans or future fans. This of course will drive profit for the company. And when the fans are not happy, even a massive franchise like Star Wars could stumble.

The statement does not say that profitability is not needed. It says that profitability is the mean not the end. Companies need to be profitable so that they can keep existing so that they can continue serving their workforce and their customers. What an enticing and radical idea! Perhaps if more companies embrace this idea, the world will actually be a better place.
How Consumer Culture Ruined Christmas
By: Ewelina Adamczak
Tags: Consumer Behavior, Capitalism, Consumerism, Christmas

When the ‘Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ took a turn for the worse

A few days ago, while I was re-watching one of my favorite documentaries, Generation Wealth, I had an epiphany.

American society has successfully killed the meaning of Christmas.

I mean, think about it.

Walk into any store, starting November, and you’ll be slammed with scintillating lights, fake Christmas trees, overpriced Santas, and tacky holiday decor. Surrounded by Christmas jingles, aiming to put us in a ‘Christmas spirit,’ we’re scrambling to find the perfect gift for everyone on our list, deluding ourselves into believing that this is what Christmas is all about.

What started as a religious holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus, has become a commercial exploit — enshrouded in pointless consumerism feeding America’s obsession with materialism.

Now how exactly did this happen? Let’s start at the beginning.
Catastrophic As Catastrophe Can Get
By: Ayesha I.
Tags: Careers, Indian, Stigma, Capitalism, Career Change

When asked to my father if I could change my future majors from Pre-Med to Psychology, I got a grunt in response. Father was adamant that all his children would choose a profession in Medicine as his long-lived dream was to build us all a hospital but, as one after the other, every child of his started careers in fields farther and farther away from the subject, all his remaining expectations landed on me, the youngest of five. As much as I had persuaded myself that my solitary goal in life was to become a doctor, the more I did not want to be one. It took plenty of effort and courage to come clean about my decision to my father who, even after 5 months of convincing and 3 months remaining for my high school graduation, still is under the delusion that I will be pursuing medicine. Ever since I can remember, I have always been a creative individual, something about my right hemisphere being more dominant than the other that lead me into choosing psychology as my vocation. During one of the arguments about my future, my father circled around the lack of scope of my desired subject and that brought my attention to the unfortunate fact of how we, as individuals have become such needy slaves to capitalism. It is as catastrophic as catastrophe can get. The reason I am writing this “blog” isn’t to rant about my daddy issues, although I have come to realize that the rant took up half of the said blog. The reason I am here is to show how, with whatever you are going to do with your life, you will never escape the pitiful spiral of capitalism, so, pick a vocation you will enjoy till the time you live and if I can (try to) convince my close knitted, conventional Indian family, so can you. You are the writer of your own life, don’t let someone else borrow your pen.
Cynical Sin
By: Noble Kovacs
Tags: Poem, Moral Issue, Problems, Capitalism, Deep

Dark desires of a mere mortal

creating eternal despair for others

Are they not aware for they have to leave soon

All for the ephemeral rush of ecstasy

Just for an ascendancy of power over others

Even their brothers

Fueled with pure hatred and jealousy

Striving only for glamour

Their children they pamper

While other's the plunder

They may have a manor

Maybe even a hangar

But what they fake is their manner

Gaija they call him, the one with Valor

A master planner

Nice he may seem

But on his team

You do not want to be

It may seem like a dream

Eventually you'll scream

Your self esteem? that will Gleam

At a high supreme

Step on peasants

To get you a new present

Let them starve

So that you may serve

It may seem as if you have all you desire

From mansions to designer

but a peaceful sleep you shall not have

That you shall crave
Dimond Rings are Stupid
By: Riley Lopez
Tags: Capitalism, Diamonds, Writing

You like it, so you put a ring on it. People all around the world think of a diamond engagement ring as a timeless symbol of love, but it turns out this “ancient tradition” was invented less than one hundred years ago by the De Beers diamond corporation. Before the 1930s, no one exchanged diamond rings or any kind of ring when they got engaged, but in 1938, the De Beers diamond cartel launched a massive ad campaign claiming that the only way for a real man to show his love is with an expensive piece of crystallized carbon (Kolowich) and people believed it.

Every element of the traditional American engagement was designed to make more money for De Beers. The “rule” that a real man who loves his woman would spend two months salary on an engagement ring is just an indiscriminate number from a De Beers ad campaign (Kolowich). This would be the most successful ad campaign of all time. It has completely shaped society and the way engagements work.

Diamond rings are also inherently worthless (Smith). Even De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer once said, “Diamonds are intrinsically worthless”. The only reason diamonds are even expensive is that De Beers has a global monopoly on diamond mining and they artificially restrict the supply to jack the prices up, but in reality, they have millions of diamonds. Which means the diamond engagement rings people blow their savings on has virtually no resale value (“Why You Will Lose Money Selling Your Diamond Ring”). That’s why De Beers wants people to think “a diamond is forever”, if one never try to sell it, they will never figure out how badly they robbed of their money when they bought it.

There is also nothing people can do about it. A century of advertising has embedded the idea of a diamond engagement ring so deeply that even knowing all the facts does not get people out of buying an engagement ring.
What China’s Zhang Xin can teach American Politicians.
By: Tony Forcucci
Tags: Politicans, Zhang Xin, China Business, Communism, Capitalism

Source: Internet

For a hundred years if not more we’ve seen what works and what doesn’t in trying to build a society, in trying to see growth in people and in standards or living. For some insane reason we (politicians and some head in the clouds individuals) keep trying to see to it that government is the one to plan economies, twist and turn the knobs and dials, see if maybe this time it will be finally possible to redistribute wealth and make everything “fair”.

So what does this have to do with China and a smart woman by the name of Zhang Xin? First of all her story in incredible. She grew up in the poor section of Hong Kong, worked in a garment factory at the age of 14 and managed to scrap together enough money to go to university and today is a billionaire real estate developer as CEO of SOHO China.

The knee jerk reaction from the redistributionists out there would try to point at her and say “see — centrally planned economies work and she’s the proof”, but let her tell her own story and her own view of how things are and what is the only way forward and then take some time to really reflect on her point of view.

When asked “what do you think of state run capitalism? Her responds was “I think that is the single biggest challenge China faces right now…bear in mind, how do we become economically affluent to todays level? It’s through the market economy”

Here is a Chinese self-made billionaire who came from nothing to become one of the largest real estate developers in the world who clearly sees the way economics work and which path is most likely to best serve millions and millions of people in have a shot at improving their lives.

American politicians would do well to heed her advice on this subject and let the free market flourish in the USA without their constant tinkering with the markets, employment, stimuli and whatever “actions” they try to take to stablize markets. The markets will always stabilize themselves thank you if politicians would simply go fishing most of the time.

Here’s the 6 minute interview.
The Peaceful Army of People — Standing Rock: Home Base
By: Michael Weddle
Tags: Standing Rock, Politics, Native American Tribes, Oil Pipelines, Capitalism

[Originally written as a Facebook Note on December 5, 2016]

Today we received news of a wonderful victory for the Standing Rock Tribal Nations and all who have supported them defending their water and their sacred lands. Today was also a victory for America’s Standing Rock veterans. It’s not often veterans step in and immediately win a war — but that’s what happened! Important because they know exactly what it is they are fighting for … and we truly value their service.

Three EPA agencies and now the Corps of Army Engineers have issued denials. The Dakota Access — subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas Energy Transfer Partners — relied on its own environmental assessment and choose to move forward knowing its permits could be denied a possibility of a halt order. It’s brutal security tactics — hiring TigerSwan whose namesake predecessor Blackwater fought the Iraq War — against the Native Americans will rival historical stories on how the Pinkerton Agency brutally busted up America’s early unions.

The pipeline profiteers will now wait for the presidency of Donald Trump, who has over two million dollars invested into the banking and oil-aligned project. With that much money invested one has to assume Trump has kept his eye on the corporate ball — both for himself and his co-investors — and he’ll likely attempt to figure a way to take the ball away from the Standing Rock Tribal Nations.

Thus, the valiant Rainbow Warriors must keep Camp. I think the camp should become permanent. Over future years, people all throughout our nation — perhaps even from other countries — could and should visit in the cause of social justice, to learn principles of non-violent resistance and protest, to advocate and fight for causes important to the good and well-being of our society.

Meanwhile, as the presidential transition plays out, I think a strong contingent of water protectors (veterans also) should now help the impoverished people of Flint, Michigan who had their entire water supply polluted due to corporate greed. It’s critical to keep this battle for clean water alive, active and deeply rooted within the public consciousness!

Yes, Standing Rock should now become a permanent home base for social justice and environmental advocacy. A nationwide network of citizens, much like The Underground Railroad during the days of slavery, should also be established throughout the country to help water protectors be transported easily anywhere in the country if they are called upon to help stand for the cause of people.

GOAL: 100% Renewable Energy !!!

The bottom line to what we must do — from the movie Network:

Please stay focused and help spread the word that this should happen!

Notes on Climate Change and Another Oil Battle at the Israeli-Syrian Border
Ho-Ho-Ho, ‘Fatman’ Brings You Guns and Ammo
By: Akos Peterbencze
Tags: Action, Christmas, Movies, Comedy, Capitalism

I’ll be honest with you; I wrote that headline before I finished watching Fatman. It was wishful thinking. I thought a B action flick, starring Mel Gibson as Santa Claus and Walton Goggins as a chain-smoking, fancy-clothed villain, must be a lot of bloody fun. I was wrong.

Fatman isn’t a good movie, neither a terrible one. On the one hand, it seems like a promising take on how capitalism exploits Christmas. On the other, it’s a bonkers revenge story of a man who leads a mission to kill Santa for not giving him what he asked for as a child. And there is the spoiled, rich, and irritating kid who throws a fit when he doesn’t get what he wants, too.

This unconventional Christmas movie doesn’t offer a profound view of either of those storylines. I mean, how could it be? It’s supposed to be a guilty-pleasure action-flick, but instead, it’s a snooze fest.

Where is the dark comedy that was promised by the trailer and the ridiculous plot? The Santa that shoots bean cans as stress relief is a good start, but there is no follow-up. The whole story becomes grim, forced, and tedious afterward. Weirdly, that does do some kind of justice to the holiday season we’re facing this year. Everything is somber, out of spirit, and dull. Merry Christmas to you, apocalyptic 2020!