[consulting] Unionizing Drupal

[Sami Khan]

On Sat, 07 Aug 2010 19:52:09 -0400, Jeff Greenberg <jeff at ayendesigns.com>
wrote:
> "Both communism and socialism are failed experiments in perpetual 
> motion, the latter fueled by the inertia of propaganda, and the latter 
> by other people's money." -Ben Avram

I am against ideological totalitarianism and this quote to me seems
excessively
totalitarian. Ideas can be framed in terms of ideologies or can stand by
themselves.

I prefer to consider each idea, rather than dismissing important ideas
such as
wealth redistribution and reduction of economic disparity as being
socialist or
communist. 

Many failed ideas have their place and time to do some good, if used
wisely. 
Dismissing such ideas as being failed experiments by associating them
with certain expressions of ideologies that have failed is the home of 
sophists and populists, not philosophers or the wise. Further, I have
learned through experience what it means to be poor, then you don't
have as much appreciation for socialism and a safety net in case you fall.

Also, in many ways capitalism itself without socialist ideas and
collectivist reforms is a failure.

Examples:
- Industrial revolution.
- Modern China.


> Unions serve their purpose, which is primarily to protect workers of 
> rote. Unions have never been a force in fostering outwardly-facing 
> innovation. 

That's an over broad generalization. 

For instance: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Petersburg_Union_of_Artists

There are trade unions, but there are also creative unions...
Unfortunately, the examples are Russian/Soviet.


> Most Drupal developers, and most freelancers in general, are 
> innovators, not rote programmers.

Straw man.

> 
> Odesk seeks to treat programming as a commodity, an hourly wage for an 
> activity no longer differentiated by talent or innovation, so ensured by

> keeping framed diaries of activity that must fit into the single-tasking

> mold rather than a value-priced product. The Odesk model applied 
> elsewhere would have us pay for a meal based solely on the time spent 
> preparing it.

http://99designs.com/custom-wordpress-themes/contests

Wordpress themes for as little as $400.00, and many people who create them
don't even
get paid.


> 
> I am an artist, not a manufacturing line worker or a plumber. Like 
> painters, sculptors, writers and architects, my rate is based on the 
> final product, the innovation, quality and skill I bring to its 
> creation, not how many lines of code I generate per hour, and that's 
> what clients here prefer.

I agree with you about being an artist. However, there are millions of
artists in China and India too. Art has become a product, as Andy Worhol
so aptly pointed out. Now let's all enjoy a bowl of hearty Campbell Soup.

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