MarkFord
“The job of the artist is to remind people of what they have chosen to forget.” – J.D. Salinger
“Who Needs Freedom” in Taki’s Magazine
This is an interesting little essay about a topic no thoughtful person can avoid: the conflict between freedom and regulation. LINK
I thought it was interesting because the writer, who seems to have a strongly right-wing view of most things, admits to the advantages of overly regulated western Europe. I’ve had the same thoughts. I’ve also had the experience of running businesses in Europe, and he makes good points on that, too, although I think his perspective is extreme.
Tess Mohr doing a bit of Marilyn Monroe…
I just read an article about a new trend in delivery services on Peter Diamandis’s blog, Abundance Insider. Here’s what he wrote:
Thousands of autonomous delivery robots are about to descend on US college campuses
What it is: Having just raised $40 million in its Series A round, autonomous robot delivery startup Starship Technologies is now targeting U.S. college campuses. In total, Starship’s self-driving delivery bots have traveled 350,000 miles, completing over 100,000 deliveries across 20 different countries. With extensive testing under its belt, the company plans to deploy thousands of its all-electric, six-wheeled bots for college food deliveries over the next two years. Already in action at George Mason University and Northern Arizona University, the robots can carry up to 20 pounds of cargo and make deliveries within a three-to-four-mile radius.
Why it’s important: Online grocery shopping is predicted to surge up to fivefold over the next ten years, and American consumers are expected to spend upwards of $100 billion on food-at-home items by 2025. While today’s human-conducted delivery services (think: Postmates and DoorDash) are on the rise, these non-automated options remain heavily subsidized, as labor costs far exceed those of robotized alternatives. By first targeting college campuses, companies like Starship can benefit from well-defined, easily navigable environments (not to mention an abundance of tech-savvy, young buyers) while building out an expanded business model for urban integration.
So what do we make of this? Automation, in general, is a trend that seems both inevitable and also fast-moving. That’s a good thing for consumers and for the environment and for the companies developing these tools. But what about all those people making a living today in jobs (such as delivery “boys”) that could soon be a thing of the past?
So far, technological evolution has created more, not fewer, jobs. Many relatively unskilled workers are now employed in the continuously expanding service market. But automation is insinuating itself in the service industries, too. Thinking like this puts the mind right into science fiction movies of 20 and 30 years ago. Will it be a world where everyone is working 2-hour days? Or will it be a world divided into fortified cities surrounded by wilderness where people in loincloths scavenge for food?
salvific (adjective)
Something that’s salvific (sal-VIH-fik) has the intention or power to save or redeem. As used by Michelle Huneven: “For many years now, my source for salvific chicken soup has been the Sanamluang Café on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard and Kinglsey Drive: crystalline broth, flecks of fried garlic, and a moist, steamed bird nesting on thick rice noodles and bean sprouts has stanched many a misery.”
The Amazon rainforest produces about 20% of the world’s oxygen supply – at least, it used to.
“Because one cause is bad does not make the opposing cause good.” – Fay Weldon
“PolitiFukt” – a very funny piece in Taki’s Magazine by the smart and obsessively persistent David Cole. LINK
An email from PW:
“It’s a bold claim… to make someone a millionaire in seven years or less… but Mark Ford (a.k.a. Michael Masterson) shows you exactly how to do it in Seven Years to Seven Figures.
“I’ve seen first-hand how he has transformed the financial lives of numerous people, myself included. Seven Years to Seven Figures is partly a diary of these real-life transformations… The book offers detailed case studies of how these ordinary people were able to make such incredible leaps in their financial life….
“I’d highly recommend this book to anyone who doesn’t want to wait a lifetime to get wealthy.”
Postmodern Jukebox takes on Blu Cantrell’s 2001 revenge anthem, “Hit ‘Em Up Style (Oops!)” back to the time period of the Frank Sinatra tune it samples, with Olivia Kuper Harris channeling Ella Fitzgerald in this tour de force vocal performance.