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The Real Employee Manual

Get Paid For More Than You Do

Whether you like it or not, you and your employer are natural adversaries. They want to get you to do as much as possible for as low a cost as possible. This adversarial relationship doesn’t end when you are hired. That is when it begins. I am going to refer to movies to illustrate some […]

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Moral Philosophy Politics The Real Employee Manual

Start With Freedom

Once upon a time company men signed on for life. They might have had frustrated inner lives like characters by Cheever, Bellow or Wilson, but they provided a nice living for a growing family on one income. They were mostly loyal vassals and were rewarded for loyalty by their lords, especially if they worked for […]

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The Real Employee Manual

The Real Employee Manual –Introduction

I am a veteran of various industry downsizing, right-sizings and debacles, having held management positions: In savings and commercial banks during the thrift crisis when banks rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic In advertising during two ad recessions when agencies failed to understand what the end of guaranteed 15+% commissions on media meant to […]

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Bookchat Moral Philosophy Screwheads Delenda Est

Who Is John Galt?

Ayn Rand is a polarizing figure. You may love her or hate her but she is hard to ignore. Rand was among the greatest champions of individuality in the 20th century, at a time when it was very much in vogue to believe that individuals count for little and have no rights other than what […]

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Moral Philosophy Screwheads Delenda Est

Remove Energy

The most impactful homily I ever heard in church came from a guest deacon at our local parish. He was a big bear of a man with a sonorous bass voice that he knew how to use to full effect.  His talk, which could not have been more than ten minutes long, impressed me deeply […]