[PLUG] [OT] Who is John Galt?

[Ken Barber]

On Wednesday 28 May 2003 21:27, Dylan Reinhardt wrote:
> Ed Sawicki <ed at alcpress.com> wrote:
> > The specific group
> > of people being harmed are those people who have strong
> > technical skills but now have difficulty finding work
> > because technical knowledge and technical excellence is
> > no longer in high demand.

Amen, Ed.

> Again, I feel the best explanation is that much of the the open
> source talent pool simply isn't offering what the market is
> looking for.
>
> The market is not looking for free (as in freedom) nor free (as
> in beer).  The market is looking for easy (as in to use) and
> familiar (as in brand names). Technical excellence will not
> carry the day... stronger focus on human factors in
> communications and product design will.

Amen, Dylan.

In other words, competence no longer matters.  One's skills, 
knowledge and ability to do a particular job no longer matter.  
What matters is how socially well-connected one is:  who one 
knows, and how well one knows them.

This is the very kind of world that Ayn Rand warned against half a 
century ago in her novels "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" 
and now it's coming to pass in the high-tech sector.

I got into this line of work two decades ago because, among other 
things, it was one of the few remaining fields where excellence 
still mattered -- and I practice excellence in everything I do.

There are certain places (such as a state agency where I once 
worked) where this makes me unpopular.  Sometimes I wonder if 
I'll ever find work again....

<sigh>  Oh, what's the use?  Who is John Galt?

Ken
-- 
"The creator's concern is the conquest of nature.  The parasite's 
concern is the conquest of men."
	-- Ayn Rand, "The Fountainhead"