“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.

BRING THE BOY BACK HOME!

Where is Freda Payne when you need her?

This is something the music business can get behind. This is something that can be done quickly. This is something that even Jason Aldean might deign to sing on. You deport an innocent man without due process and you ignore the court decisions and are in cahoots with the President of El Salvador and…NOTHING IS HAPPENING?

Imagine yourself in said prison. Hell, you saw “Midnight Express.” But in this case, Kilmar didn’t smuggle any dope. His only offense was having the wrong nationality.

“First they came for the Communists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews

And I did not speak out

Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me

And there was no one left

To speak out for me”

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Be afraid, be very afraid.

That’s the nation we now live in, one akin to Chile, where they DISAPPEAR PEOPLE!

This is not about left or right, Democrat or Republican, this is about human rights.

Especially if you’re MAGA… You keep saying you believe in FREEDOM! What about the freedom to live your life peacefully, pursue wealth and happiness and retain the ability to speak your truth. Now THAT’S freedom. And if you commit a crime, or are suspected of one, you’re entitled to DUE PROCESS UNDER THE LAW!

Aren’t we a nation of laws? That’s what I always thought.

But we’ve got Steve Bannon on Bill Maher insisting that not only does Donald Trump have the right to run for a third term, but HE’LL WIN! Sure, we need to talk to our adversaries, but when they spew B.S. like this it’s okay to denigrate them. The Constitution means nothing to Bannon, THERE ARE WAYS AROUND IT!

All you people who supported Native Americans, starving people in Africa, you can’t stand up for this victim of illegal procedure?

So you still think he’s a criminal. Fine, but read the above by Pastor Niemöller, eventually you’re the target, if you don’t take a stand for others, no one will be left to take a stand for you.

Which is why seemingly every Jew, including myself, is against the incarceration without due process of the Columbia graduate student. Because we know the wind could change and it could be us.

This is kind of like saying the murderer can’t be culpable for the death of his victim because he’s already dead.

This is the kind of gobbledygook Trump and his team are spewing in court, they’re twisting not only truth, but the law. They interpret everything narrowly, always claiming an exception, and when the court rules against them, THEY STONEWALL!

Don’t you get it?

If you’re not a lawyer, you probably do not. Victory in court means nothing without enforcement. There’s a law on the books combatting bots, but it has no effect on ticketing, because there’s no enforcement.

Even worse, TRUMP IS IN CHARGE OF ENFORCEMENT!

Trump was legally elected, he is President. I own that, however I’ll never forgive Biden, Harris and the Democratic brass for cocking this up, almost anybody else could have defeated Trump.

But the President is not a dictator, he must obey the law. But Trump believes we’re in an emergency situation and he can bypass procedure. Collateral damage? Well, Kilmar Abrego Garcia is only one person.

And back to that due process. You’re entitled to a defense. Charles Manson was entitled to a defense. But good luck getting a first tier law firm to defend you if Trump is after you, they all settled with the man to protect their pocketbooks. Watergate lowered the estimation of lawyers in the public consciousness, Skadden and Paul Weiss put a stake in the heart of the profession. I had to take an ethics exam to become an attorney, didn’t these people? Or are they so tied up with corporations that they do what’s expedient and…you wonder whether the same lawyers capitulating to Trump are perverting the justice system on behalf of their clients.

But one single guy who did nothing wrong. This is unheard of in America. We can’t even kill people on death row, but they flew this guy out of the country and there’s nothing we can do about it?

As for Bukele… Yeah, his hands are tied… He made a deal with Trump, otherwise he’d return Kilmar in an instant. It’s like Putin, who says one thing and does another. No, he did not blow up Prigozhin’s plane…

This is when protests in the street make a difference. Because it’s not that heavy a lift for Trump to change course and bring Kilmar home.

We must express our outrage. This cannot happen in the United States.

And, once again, those who are in favor of deporting supposed criminals with no due process, no hearing…

You could be next. And believe me, you’ll want the full protection of the law.

So if the courts can’t save us, WE MUST SAVE OURSELVES!

Once again, rights, belief in the Constitution…those are 101, everybody believes in those. This is not a red or blue issue. This is a human rights issue, and last time I checked we were all human.

Hell, just get Freda Payne and everybody who can sell out an arena to rerecord “Bring the Boy(s) Home.” Doesn’t matter if radio is too scared to play it. We make the hits these days, we can stream the song ad infinitum.

And that’s just the first step. If Kilmar isn’t returned immediately, or god forbid dies in prison like Navalny, we need to tighten the noose.

And there are so many ways to do this.

Our hands are not tied.

We need to show Trump who’s boss.

US!

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0eTHDwSe6gbZcRMLnsfSa4?si=86613b294fb740ac

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–fFhunuUJM

Is a cheap way for poor people to get rich.

Skill helps, but is not necessary. Art is all about inspiration, which usually arrives like a lightning bolt. To be inspired, you must be stimulated. Talk to any real artist, they’ll tell you when they’re stuck they take a break. Your best ideas come when you’re doing something else.

Is not a competition, and therefore they come up with ways to quantify it that don’t really square with the truth. There are concert grosses, sales/streaming charts, Grammy/awards… It’s always nice to be recognized, then again they usually miss you the first time around, they recognize you after the fact.

Does not pay as well as you think it does. Manufacturing went overseas and riches went to the techies and financiers. Only a thin layer of musicians make millions. If you don’t, you’re just a journeyperson, welcome to the club.

Shortcuts shorten careers.

Identity is everything. If you’re just a vessel, no one can believe in you. Your identity/feelings must come across in your music as well as the penumbra…social media, interviews, etc.

Does not have the power that it did in the pre-internet era. The internet opened up many more avenues for the public’s interest. To be top of mind, you must be different and great and stand for something…unfortunately this is very few.

Just because your mother likes your music, that does not mean anybody else will.

The easier it is to do, the more competition there is and the lower your odds of success. Anybody can rap. Well? I’ll leave that for you to decide. But not everybody can play the violin well enough to be a studio musician, never mind play in the philharmonic.

You know it when you hear it, but people are swayed by repetition and peer pressure.

Everybody wants to hear something new and different, but this is anathema to record labels and radio and…they want the tried and true, they’re not built for the new and different, that’s too heavy a lift, that went out the window when the internet came in.

Just because you know how to play, that does not mean you’re worth listening to.

People resonate with the visceral, the sentimental…edgy and emotional wins.

Everybody says their music is great, but very little is. Conversely, if you don’t say your music is great people will ignore you, because they don’t have time to check out that which is not great.

Your genre is dormant just waiting to be invigorated. George Benson had huge success during the height of rock and rock could triumph in today’s world if…it had the elements of yesterday’s rock…then again, today they call that country, and it’s burgeoning.

The system doesn’t want you to succeed. Because the system is invested in its own priorities and doesn’t want the apple cart to be upset.

Live by the hit, die by the hit… But today you don’t need many to sustain a career. If you have a few, you can tour forever, more than ever before.

You need help. But you will only get it when you build it yourself.

Dumb is easy, smart is hard. Truly dumb can succeed, but smart always has an audience…this is the essence of Steely Dan.

1. HEALTH

Without it you’ve got nothing. My father used to start our conversations with “How’s your health?” (And after that, “How’s your car?”) I brushed it off, but at this late date I know it’s the only important thing. You can’t be too scared to get healthy, that’s what someone told me once, and I try to live by it. Don’t be afraid of going to the doctor, don’t be afraid of getting surgery, the other side is always better, even though the exceptions they tell you about before surgery, the odds you won’t have a perfect result…for some reason I always fall into that camp.

2. LOVE

No man is an island, and no woman is either. At the core we are just animals. Here to eat and reproduce. I’ll let you decide whether to have kids, I don’t and I don’t regret it, and I’ll let you decide whether to get married, I’ve been with my girlfriend for 20 years and we are not, but you need someone in your life. That’s what life is about.

3. WORK

Life is meaningless without it. You may think you want to sit home and lounge, but you don’t. I get it if you retire from a job you hated, then again, do your best to find fulfilling work. Forget the old aphorism “Do what you love and the money will follow.” That’s complete horsesh*t. Not that work for cash is the only work there is, but the bottom line is you must have a purpose. You may think you want to be rich and live the life of leisure, but I know people like that and you don’t. Too many devolve into alcohol and drugs and…

4. EDUCATION

It never stops. Learning is fun. You don’t have to go to school to learn, and there is a plethora of information available for free at your fingertips on the internet.

5. PASSIONATE INTERESTS

a. Don’t be a couch potato. Unless you’re invested in television, which today is more fulfilling than movies and music. Just like people were addicted to film in the sixties and seventies, you can be addicted to streaming television today. But just like in that era there was tons of mainstream dreck, ditto re streaming television. But if you are a student of the game and do your research, there’s a plethora of great stuff, especially foreign, subtitles are your friend.

b. Don’t work out because you’re supposed to. Some people love going to the gym and lifting weights, I find it boring. There is some physical activity that will titillate and entice you, find it. Not because your body is a temple, which it is, but because it will make you feel good! It’s one of the few free highs. And you feel good about yourself. But don’t believe you must run or swim or do what everybody else does, there’s a physical activity built just for you, you’ve just got to find it.

6. NEW THINGS

They’re de rigueur when you’re a kid, but as you age too many people become complacent. Doing something different, going to different places is stimulating and educational.

7. EAT

This can be one of your passionate interests. In any event, never has food been better in the U.S. (and U.K!), both at grocery stores and in restaurants. Food can be a cheap high, but beware of cheap food. I’m not saying to never eat a doughnut, but the dirty little truth is when you get older you’ll regret all that fried food you ate.

8. EMBRACE THE FUTURE

a. It’s coming down the pike 24/7. This does not mean you must wear the clothing of the youth, but it does mean you need to keep up on popular culture and the news and… You don’t want to be a Luddite, don’t be proud of this. All the people who e-mail me they don’t have a smartphone…the joke is on them, the smartphone delivers so much information and makes your life easier. And don’t hate on social media. It’s here to stay. People have a built-in need to connect, and that’s what social media provides. Sure, bad comes with the good, the future leaves good things behind (vent windows in cars?), but generally speaking progress is just that, it goes forward. You don’t want to age in place.

b. Be willing to challenge your precepts, don’t be afraid to learn and change your mind. Those who are moribund are marginalized.