Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Yesterday I was interviewed for the fourth time since my unemployment began. One thing I have noticed during my job search is the amount of intrusion Corporate America is granted into our personal lives. They want personality profiles, credit reports, drug tests, skill assessments, multiple personal and professional references, FBI and police background checks, and a vial of blood and/or semen (just kidding). Am I being initiated into the Sopranos or just trying to get a job? I don’t even know anymore.
One of the most disturbing trends is the new Big Brother policy involving the Internet. Just about everyplace I have visited has WebSense or a similar device, which monitors and regulates Internet and email traffic. One such company even limits the amount of time spent on the Internet to only 5 hours per week.
As an IT worker my lifeline to technology is the Internet. I use it to solve problems, evaluate new technology and to remain informed of cutting-edge technology. I cannot imagine losing this valuable resource in the middle of an important project or when I need pertinent information quickly to rescue a downed device. Imagine being in the middle of a multitude of fires like those only to be denied Internet resources because some troll has decided 5 hours of Internet is all you need.
We are in the beginning of a new era with Corporate American heavily regulating our lives. If we consider how past erosions of our liberties began, we can easily see the beginning of this trend.
Take the seat belt laws for example. About 10 years ago most people were NOT in favor of seat belt laws. Most people saw these laws as an unneeded intrusion into their life by the government. But the legislatures were sneaky and convinced America these laws would only be enforced as a tack on to a moving violation; hence nobody would be pulled over and ticked specifically for violating the seat belt laws. People accepted this.
Yet this year as people forgot about losing their choice to wear seat belts, the laws were then enhanced so police could now issue a citation ONLY for a seat belt violation. What “they” do is start a law in its most unobtrusive form to gain acceptance. But then, over time as we forget about losing a choice or a freedom, they tighten the regulations further so the liberties are forever lost.
Corporate America is beginning a new campaign of regulating behavior, morals and laws by: monitoring employee’s Internet connections, giving drug tests and personality tests and a host of other unnecessary intrusions. I remember when there was a heated debate over drug tests. At first, they were only to be administered for jobs involving public safety but nowadays drug tests are as widely accepted as illegal government wire taps. We lost a lot of privacy by allowing corporations to intrude into our personal lives and test our bodies for foreign chemicals.
In reality what you do in your free time is your own business, but not anymore. And as time goes by these liberties will erode even further. How bad will it get? Imagine a corporation investigating your medical records and not hiring based upon an illness or a possible genetic illness which could occur in your future. Imagine NOT being hired based upon a credit report or an investigation into your television viewing habits uncovers you watch adult films. Imagine NOT being hired based upon the company monitoring your home email account or home Internet account and discovering you read a lot of left wing propaganda when they are a right wing organization. Imagine NOT getting a job because you smoke or you’re overweight. Laugh if like, but remember, we laughed in the 1990’s when the uninformed liberals told us “they” would not stop until “they” tested EVERYBODY for drugs.
Where will the line be drawn? As future generations adjust to the idea of corporate regulated intrusions, they probably won’t even notice how many freedoms they have lost. This line will slowly creep into the danger zone until corporations completely regulate morality, behavior and the laws by controlling and ultimately ending careers. Why incarcerate people when it’s cheaper to ostracize them from society by taking away their livelihood. This is almost worse than jail in one respect because you will still loose your social and economic status but you will not even have a cell to sleep in at night.
Another liberty we are slowly losing is our right to have a defense in court for an alleged crime. Certain municipalities have installed cameras at traffic signals to ticket people who run the red light. The camera takes a picture of both the license plate and the car but NOT the driver, and then a citation is issued through the mail. This citation cannot be challenged in the courts because you are guilty and your only choices are to pay the fine or go to jail. What if you were not the driver of the car? It could be your spouse, your kid, a friend you lent the car to, it could be anybody. Who cares – you’re guilty!! Will people adjust to this and then allow an automatic guilty verdict for other alleged events?
Innocent until proven guilty is one of the most important values in our country but yet not in these cases. So if people get used to an automatic guilty and not getting the right to a constitutionally guaranteed defense, then they could be treated the same way in other crimes. Again, our future generations will never realize how things used to be as the changes dissolving their liberties are slowly taken away over time. One day you wake up and they’re gone.
Did you ever file for bankruptcy? Imagine a new future of being excluded from Corporate American and never being able to find a job for filing for bankruptcy or late payments on bills. This is a perfect check and balance for corporations to finally ostracize and punish these people. Who needs the uncertainty of courts or the expense of buying judges when corporations can now take care of their own?
Conservatives suggest limiting our freedoms is necessary to live in a more secure country. I say gaining a more secure society is never worth sacrificing our liberties. If we sacrifice our liberties then the terrorists, criminals and bad guys will truly win. Once freedoms are lost they can only be regained with blood. Much blood has already been spilled by our grandparents for the freedoms we enjoy today. Don’t dishonor their sacrifice by sitting idle as our liberties are slowly drained away.
When will Americans awaken from their slumber and begin to take back their country? When will we realize what is happening? Will it be too late? As long as the Super Bowl, American Idol and the sex lives of celebrities garner more attention than these more important issues, we will quickly lose our country to fascists without a dissenting word. When our grandchildren awaken into a society completely controlled and regulated by the richest 1% of America, they can thank us for getting everything started.
One of the most disturbing trends is the new Big Brother policy involving the Internet. Just about everyplace I have visited has WebSense or a similar device, which monitors and regulates Internet and email traffic. One such company even limits the amount of time spent on the Internet to only 5 hours per week.
As an IT worker my lifeline to technology is the Internet. I use it to solve problems, evaluate new technology and to remain informed of cutting-edge technology. I cannot imagine losing this valuable resource in the middle of an important project or when I need pertinent information quickly to rescue a downed device. Imagine being in the middle of a multitude of fires like those only to be denied Internet resources because some troll has decided 5 hours of Internet is all you need.
We are in the beginning of a new era with Corporate American heavily regulating our lives. If we consider how past erosions of our liberties began, we can easily see the beginning of this trend.
Take the seat belt laws for example. About 10 years ago most people were NOT in favor of seat belt laws. Most people saw these laws as an unneeded intrusion into their life by the government. But the legislatures were sneaky and convinced America these laws would only be enforced as a tack on to a moving violation; hence nobody would be pulled over and ticked specifically for violating the seat belt laws. People accepted this.
Yet this year as people forgot about losing their choice to wear seat belts, the laws were then enhanced so police could now issue a citation ONLY for a seat belt violation. What “they” do is start a law in its most unobtrusive form to gain acceptance. But then, over time as we forget about losing a choice or a freedom, they tighten the regulations further so the liberties are forever lost.
Corporate America is beginning a new campaign of regulating behavior, morals and laws by: monitoring employee’s Internet connections, giving drug tests and personality tests and a host of other unnecessary intrusions. I remember when there was a heated debate over drug tests. At first, they were only to be administered for jobs involving public safety but nowadays drug tests are as widely accepted as illegal government wire taps. We lost a lot of privacy by allowing corporations to intrude into our personal lives and test our bodies for foreign chemicals.
In reality what you do in your free time is your own business, but not anymore. And as time goes by these liberties will erode even further. How bad will it get? Imagine a corporation investigating your medical records and not hiring based upon an illness or a possible genetic illness which could occur in your future. Imagine NOT being hired based upon a credit report or an investigation into your television viewing habits uncovers you watch adult films. Imagine NOT being hired based upon the company monitoring your home email account or home Internet account and discovering you read a lot of left wing propaganda when they are a right wing organization. Imagine NOT getting a job because you smoke or you’re overweight. Laugh if like, but remember, we laughed in the 1990’s when the uninformed liberals told us “they” would not stop until “they” tested EVERYBODY for drugs.
Where will the line be drawn? As future generations adjust to the idea of corporate regulated intrusions, they probably won’t even notice how many freedoms they have lost. This line will slowly creep into the danger zone until corporations completely regulate morality, behavior and the laws by controlling and ultimately ending careers. Why incarcerate people when it’s cheaper to ostracize them from society by taking away their livelihood. This is almost worse than jail in one respect because you will still loose your social and economic status but you will not even have a cell to sleep in at night.
Another liberty we are slowly losing is our right to have a defense in court for an alleged crime. Certain municipalities have installed cameras at traffic signals to ticket people who run the red light. The camera takes a picture of both the license plate and the car but NOT the driver, and then a citation is issued through the mail. This citation cannot be challenged in the courts because you are guilty and your only choices are to pay the fine or go to jail. What if you were not the driver of the car? It could be your spouse, your kid, a friend you lent the car to, it could be anybody. Who cares – you’re guilty!! Will people adjust to this and then allow an automatic guilty verdict for other alleged events?
Innocent until proven guilty is one of the most important values in our country but yet not in these cases. So if people get used to an automatic guilty and not getting the right to a constitutionally guaranteed defense, then they could be treated the same way in other crimes. Again, our future generations will never realize how things used to be as the changes dissolving their liberties are slowly taken away over time. One day you wake up and they’re gone.
Did you ever file for bankruptcy? Imagine a new future of being excluded from Corporate American and never being able to find a job for filing for bankruptcy or late payments on bills. This is a perfect check and balance for corporations to finally ostracize and punish these people. Who needs the uncertainty of courts or the expense of buying judges when corporations can now take care of their own?
Conservatives suggest limiting our freedoms is necessary to live in a more secure country. I say gaining a more secure society is never worth sacrificing our liberties. If we sacrifice our liberties then the terrorists, criminals and bad guys will truly win. Once freedoms are lost they can only be regained with blood. Much blood has already been spilled by our grandparents for the freedoms we enjoy today. Don’t dishonor their sacrifice by sitting idle as our liberties are slowly drained away.
When will Americans awaken from their slumber and begin to take back their country? When will we realize what is happening? Will it be too late? As long as the Super Bowl, American Idol and the sex lives of celebrities garner more attention than these more important issues, we will quickly lose our country to fascists without a dissenting word. When our grandchildren awaken into a society completely controlled and regulated by the richest 1% of America, they can thank us for getting everything started.
Labels: Politics
posted by DarthImmortal at 5:05 AM
4 Comments:
I agree that a 5-hour limit is not only assinine, but counter-productive to the average IT worker. I certainly hope that remote connections to diagnose and troubleshoot problems is not included in that limit as well...eeek!
The only way to change issues like this in corporate america is by getting the word out so that people just don't want to work for that company.
Unfortunately companies both public and private can have ridiculous policies and there is nothing that employees or future employees can do about it except let thier feet do the talking.
I am horrified when I hear that someone has lost their job because their employer or co-worker finds your blog. As you know, my original blog didn't contain anything about my job or the people I worked with. Because I mentioned my companies functions or tell the reader what I did on the weekend, my former co-workers threw a fit and made my life miserable for weeks. I no longer write on my original blog.
I know a guy who lost his job for having a MySpace band page! He has a band. Something he does on his off-hours. He didn't talk about it to his students but someone found out and contacted the school...
I am not looking forward to going back to the job market.
Darth,
The drugs tested for in a standard test are for *illegal* or *abused* drug use. I present to you (2) questions:
1 - If the drugs tested for are *illegal*, and candidateX is using them, he is breaking the law, cut and dry. Are you saying that an employer is expected to trust that person with confidential data or processes *critical* to the life and operation of the company? Do you not see a problem with *trusting* a person who openly breaks the law? Does the fact that a person doesn't agree with the law excuse them from obeying it?
2. What does the employer do if he hires candidateX, spends money to train him, loads him up with TONS of responsibility, positions him into the critical lifeline of the company only to find out one day he is out of work for 6 month after being arrested for illegal drug use? What does the employer do? Is it really fair that a person gets to do *whatever* he feels like doing, legal or not, but the employer doesn't?
I've lost interviews due to a bankruptcy and not having a college degree, both of which are total crap! I agree with you on those, but I feel a bit different on the drugs issue and was curious about your thoughts...
Agreken,
I completely disagree with you. I do not want corporate America enforcing the law; that is the government’s job. I could make the same argument like you did for a variety of other reasons.
Should a company be allowed to inspect your home computer for evidence of copying movies or monitor your internet traffic for evidence of downloading music? That is illegal and if you get caught you will face jail time? I can already see corporate profits shrinking because of this.
Should drinkers be discriminated against? They could get into a drunk-driving wreck and go to jail. Think of how much money the company would waste on an employee if this happened. Again, the corporate coffers are a bit leaner because of this miscreant.
Should a company be allowed to give a lie detector test to see if you have ever stolen a pen from a previous employer? The loss of office supplies is a big problem.
These are not illegal activities but you can still use the same argument:
Should the company be allowed a blood test to screen out people who don’t eat right or have high cholesterol or some other illness? They could die or maybe have a heart attack or need a bypass and be forced into a hospital. Think of how much money the company would waste training those employees only to have them die. Health insurance will also be more expensive because of them.
Should smokers be discriminated against? They could die from lung cancer or at least need an extended hospital stay, costing the company lost time. They will also cost the company more in health insurance.
We need to draw a clear and distinct line against this behavior. What you do away from the office is none of the company’s business, even if it is against the law. This is just one of the risks of doing business.
Post a Comment
<< Home