Post-debate reactions-
Golfguy offers
an excellent summary. JohnWee provides
an analysis of group performance. Many people responded to the use of fear tactics. Some people felt manipulated by this and others wondered if it was a conscious strategy.
Sunfire
has an excellent post-debate analysis that includes the description of the concept of a living wage-
I was definitely surprised that in the debate, the "living wage" was not brought up. We had it in our rebuttal slide, but didn't use it because our counterparts did not bring it up in our debate. However, the 4th debate could have definitely thrown out this idea. The "living wage" stems from the fact that people working minimum wage jobs do not make enough to live. Minimum wage is $5.15 an hour and has been since 1997. I've seen two things recently that has made me think more about this issue - Chicago recently passed a law that would require Wal-Mart to pay a living wage of $10/hour by 2010. Wal-mart's response: build the store outside of the city limits where the law doesn't apply.
CNN has a story about this.
Walmart Watch is also following this story. So, why do people want Walmart to keep their super low paying jobs instead of automating? The other thing was a recent show on Oprah about minimum wage workers. The dude who did "Supersize me" lived in Columbus, Ohio for a month with his girlfriend on minimum wage. This one really hit home because I used to live in Columbus and it is one of the cheapest places I have ever lived. Their message was the same - it is nearly impossible to live on minimum wage. "
Nickel and Dimed" is also a great book on this topic. Barbara did the same thing as the Supersize me guy, but for longer and by herself. For those of us who are privileged to have good paying jobs, these are real eye-openers.
Bearcat says-
Now that the debate is over and I don't have to pick a side.......do people really think that their personal information isn't already floating around in space and won't be even more so in the future. I was surprised last night that there wasn't a bigger point made regarding the current use of online purchasing and/or simply credit card use. For some reason, people think they're being tracked more closely just because there's not a live person helping them check out at a store. That's strange. I concur with Derrick. If the loss of personal data is the fear factor for people, they're in trouble. There's virtually no way around it. Personally, I'm not even sure I care. Once marketing departments get really really smart, having my personal purchase history will make my life easier. However, right now, all I get is a bombardment of ads, specials, promos, etc. that are only slightly targeted. Figure out product placement, timing, quality, and price all at the same time and a store might actually be on to something.
PL Green
clarifies his position on automation and jobs-
believe that when technology changes a job or possible replaces a job its better to happen sooner than later. Let's be clear, I'm not for anybody losing their jobs. However, like one of the teams stated " THIS IS BUSINESS" and business is never personal. The company should communicate with the staff and give them ample notice so that the employee understands the situation and has the opportunity to find other employment. This also may be a motivating factor in ones future, to take the stance that they will no longer be a spectactor of technology, but they will want to participate in the advances of technology. If they participate and take the initiative to learn about the advances of technology, it decreases the likely hood of their future job being eliminated by technology.
