“Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism” by Sarah Wynn-Williams

https://rb.gy/a3qb2x

Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are scumbags.

But you already knew this. So do you have to read this book?

Well, the shark story is almost worth it unto itself. Then again, I borrowed this book from the library, should you lay down your cold hard cash?

What we’ve got here is a New Zealand lawyer who has a fledgling career in international diplomacy who gets hooked by Facebook and wants a job there.

So she works the connections to get an interview and…

Facebook doesn’t care. They don’t need an expert on international relations, whatever Sarah Wynn-Williams says.

But then, just when she’s given up hope, and this endeavor takes more than a year, they offer her the job.

And she is thrilled. So thrilled that she doesn’t even discuss compensation.

And she goes to work.

Well, Zuck is wet behind the ears. He knows nothing about international diplomacy, he just wants to make sure Facebook is in every country extant, especially China. But after Trump gets elected and countries are aware of the power of Facebook, they’re wary. Wouldn’t you be? But Zuck believes if he gives developing countries the internet for free, which will really just be a scaled-down Facebook, they will not be able to refuse the offer. Needless to say, they do. And Zuck can’t understand this.

Concomitantly, international leaders are becoming aware of the power of Facebook, and they’re sidling up to Mark. He’s just staying the course, but the power dynamic is shifting, like when a band goes from bars to arenas. And Sarah tries to leverage this power at conferences and meetings but the diplomatic community is wary and Obama even disses Mark and…

Sheryl and “Lean In.” If you didn’t know this was a con from the outset, you certainly will after reading this book. Sheryl may be more worldly than Mark, but she’s got her demands too. Like getting into the right parties at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It’s about being seen, collecting the badges of success, because no progress, no meaningful discussions will take place at these affairs.

And she’s got Facebook employees working her book. And one of the best quotes in “Careless People” is:

“‘Don’t take the book seriously. It’s just a way to make you feel bad about yourself. Which is what Sherly does.”

Bingo!

And she’s not the only one. It’s the nature of power and celebrity. They want you to believe they’re different from you and me, that they’re specially anointed, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Then again, as this very readable book unfolds, you start to get disillusioned with Sarah. Why doesn’t she QUIT?

She says she doesn’t have another job and she needs the health insurance, meanwhile she keeps doing the company’s bidding. It becomes tiresome.

But then…

Comes China.

This is the heart of the book, even though the story doesn’t come until the very end, even though it’s foreshadowed earlier.

Zuck is like a rock star, he’ll do ANYTHING to be in China. Cooperate with the government, give them access to users and…

The most revelatory point is THEY LIE ABOUT ALL THIS! OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!

Forget obfuscation, forget Trump’s bench saying they’ll facilitate Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia’s return to the country if he shows up at the border. No, Facebook lies, outright. And not only once, but again and again and…

It’s one thing for the government to not understand tech, but what hope do we have for regulation when the companies lie? And if Facebook does, you know the rest of the Fortune 500 does too.

And you learn a little about advertising. But what is truly shocking is they literally target ads to vulnerable people. When they’re depressed, after a breakup… We hear more about the posts, but the scary part of Facebook is the advertising.

And there’s a trial right now where the goal is to break up Facebook. But the government already approved the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp, so I don’t expect those enterprises to be spun off.

But what you really learn in this book is these are self-mythologizing amateurs, drunk with power. It’s a club, and good luck gaining admission if you didn’t go to Harvard. And these people are not fully-developed, but they are rich, filthy rich. And if you work for the company you can become rich too, with stock options.

And truth, justices and the American Way are irrelevant, not even considered. Sarah delineates sexual harassment and…the guy skates.

So…

Sarah Wynn-Williams stopped working at Facebook a few years back. So this book is not up to date, then again, it’s not like these people have changed their behavior, but Sheryl is no longer there and…

You get in bed with the devil and…

You either pledge fealty or you’re out.

And it’s not only Facebook. It’s record companies. All kinds of corporations. The bosses don’t care about the truth and they don’t want to hear contrary opinions. Are you built for this?

Well, somebody has to do these jobs.

And if you’re just a worker bee, you’re at the whim of these maladjusted titans who may know less about the world than you do. Hell, they had to be single-minded to achieve the success they have!

Ain’t that America.

You will not be shocked by “Careless People,” but it will confirm your feelings…that these are bad people who only care about you to the degree they can extract money from you, and they do this by tricking you into paying attention, and subjecting you to advertising.

But if Facebook didn’t do it…

Some other equally flawed company would be dominant.

Nature abhors a vacuum.

You’d like to believe reasonable people can win, but in truth these giants consider you a sucker if you’re not down and dirty just like them. Hell, this is what they respect, when you’re evil and two-faced.

Meanwhile, the hoi polloi are bragging about their travails on Facebook, not realizing they’re tools of the platform.

But WhatsApp? The thing is if you’ve never left the country you don’t understand its power. It DOMINATES! Forget the iMessage blue bubble controversy… This is one of the main reasons you travel, to learn stuff like this.

Then again, who is more evil, Mark Zuckerberg or Donald Trump?

I’ll let you decide.