Outsourcing

They called at a bad time. I've been reading Naomi Klein's Disaster Capitalism, which criticizes neoliberalism and its bad habit of "frontier capitalism." In other words, a disaster occurs (or is created), and in the ensuing chaos, the country's economy is deregulated, privatized, and downsized. This impoverishes the country while enriching its elite and those at the head of the corporations who were on hand to enjoy the bonanza. From Chile to South Africa to Russia to Thailand, corporations have pursued fast easy profits from markets pried open by IMF loan conditions, Chicago-educated economists, and U.S. financial advisers such as Jeffery Sachs and Milton Friedman. Big business and big government have teamed up to form capitalist imperialism, conquering markets rather than land.

It trained me to think in terms of "follow the money."

Anyway, I'm close to finishing up the book (the last chapter is the best) when I get a call. It's a telemarketer claiming I filled out a survey on Google a while ago about a way to work from home. I didn't remember this, but I did remember a very badly-thought out attempt to snag a free laptop by signing up for some online-type opportunities (learn Italian! Netflix! $3000 getaway to Georgia!). Needless to say, I did not follow through with it, as I would have had to actually take a $3000 getaway to Georgia. But it did disseminate my phone number to countless telemarketers, and potential monthly payments of $160 if I didn't cancel my free trials straightaway. Something from which I'm still working to untangle myself.

But I digress. The phone call about the google survey about some get-rich-quick scheme. I decided to play nice and hear the pitch. The telemarketer asked me a few questions--how much I'm looking to make, what I'm doing now, etc. My answers must have sounded pretty weird, since it revolved around the fact that I quit my job as a health care activist to live on a commune. This qualified me to hear a recorded pitch about the opportunities waiting me in this as-yet-unknown market.

The market? Advertising. Companies will pay me upwards of $25 an ad to "place" it. To be qualified to do this, the pitch vaguely states, involves four training sessions. The cost? Who knows, but if all goes according to plan, I will recoup my expenses fairly quickly.

The recording starts out with stating this is a billion dollar industry. And now companies are looking to outsource possibly THE most expensive aspect of being a company. Schmucks desperate for income will pay for training, then get paid on commission to place ads for companies. I have a feeling I know who will make the *real* profits from this venture.

My response? Let companies pay for their own brainwashing. I don't want to make it any easier for companies to convince humans to buy their product.