Fear and Loathing in Las Vagus
Gonzo Capitalism in the Workplace
Fear and loathing register deep in the vagus nerve of your parasympathetic nervous system. The primal emotions spawn panic attacks that can lead you to suspect you're having a heart attack when it is only indigestion -- unless the cause of the nausea is a coronary arrest, which also stimulates the vagus nerve.
Either way, you feel like you're dying. One way, you are.
Trust Interrupted
As we emerge from the fever dream of the global pandemic, I sense growing fear and dread among candidates and among the executives who recruit them. While COVID-19 has become endemic, it appears something broke along the way -- trust.
Record Layoffs
A stunning number of top-performing technology executives who never before experienced unemployment are now struggling to find their next jobs. Many report applying to hundreds of jobs without receiving a call from an interested employer. Employers are risk-averse so hiring extends into multiple rounds of interviews -- longer than before.
It is hard to trust someone or something that has hurt us. It is hard to trust when one is pink-slipped, ghosted, and gas-lighted. It is hard to trust when our dollars don't go as far, jobs don't last, and greed thrives -- just because.
The Very Definition of Tripping Balls
When Hunter S. Thompson wrote Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, he did on mind-blowing amounts of narcotics, speed, booze, tobacco, and, of course, hallucinogens. He was tripping balls.
Tripping balls is defined as"a state of mind where one accepts that reality is no longer present, thoughts no longer make sense and that for the next couple of hours many absurd occurrences will take place. It is achieved when the individual surrenders to the madness generated by their brain to the extent where they are almost revelling in it, despite how utterly ridiculous things have become."
— Urban Dictionary
Gonzo Journalism
Hunter inspired a new style of reporting known as gonzo journalism. It put the reporter squarely in the center of the story and eschewed a just-the-facts approach for one that embraced satire, hyperbole, and shocking descriptions. Gonzo Journalism was a celebration of wretched excess -- a DUI joyride to Las Vegas. And yet, we all know how the story ended. Hunter un-alived himself. It turns out the Gonzo approach rarely ends well.
Gonzo Capitalism
Yet the fear and loathing of workers and hiring executives in drug-free workplaces are not drug-induced. It is more the result of Gonzo Capitalism, which prioritizes profits over people. Because Gonzo Capitalism has harnessed the power of technology, it operates at scale. Consequently, the impact on humans -- workers at virtually all levels and their families -- is incalculable. The fear and job insecurity is palpable. The dread of layoffs is everpresent. Fear and loathing are ubiquitous.
Fear and Loathing Are Rampant
For the past several years, workers have witnessed successive rounds of layoffs at a time when the U.S. Stock Market Index has reached all-time highs. Workers have responded by videotaping mass layoff events conducted on Zoom, speaking their truth to power on Tiktok.
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Unions Are More Popular
An AFL-CIO poll found an overwhelming majority of Americans supports unions and strikes, even majorities of Republicans and Independents. A whopping 88% of people under 30 years of age approve of labor unions and 90% of them support strikes.
With growing numbers of workers burdened by crushing student debt, skyrocketing housing costs, and runaway inflation at the grocery store -- it's no wonder they are organizing unions in record numbers. Even physicians are joining unions to protect themselves and their patients.
Unions Combat Abuses in the Workplace
2023 was a banner year for unions with more than 33 major work stoppages -- according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics it was the largest number since the turn of the century.
Last year, unions organized almost 100,000 workers in National Labor Relations Board representation elections, according to Bloomberg Law’s semiannual report on NLRB election statistics, the largest single-year cohort since 2000, and the fourth largest since at least 1990.
AI Hallucinates Without Dropping Acid
Another cause of fear and loathing in the workplace is Artificial Intelligence. Being told that AI will take some jobs, but not all jobs isn't exactly reassuring. Neither is interacting with AI chatbots that actively hallucinate without dropping acid.
According to IBM, "AI hallucinations are when a large language model (LLM) perceives patterns or objects that are nonexistent, creating nonsensical or inaccurate outputs. In other words, ChatGPT, Microsoft Co-pilot, and Google Gemini suffer from a kind of high-tech psychosis. And yet, it is all the rage, attracting hundreds of billions in investments.
Make Fear and Loathing our Motivation
Let our collective fear and loathing serve as motivation. Let it inspire us to stop being AI's bitch and start becoming more human. Yes, we can regulate Gonzo Capitalism until the Gonzo is gone. In the meantime, we can make ourselves worthy of trust by doing the right thing, instead of the easy thing. While we may not be able to stop the layoffs, we can make them less devastating by treating each other humanely and helping each other land on their feet.