America Is Not Even A Player - Anymore

 Back in the 90s, I read an article in Foreign Affairs about internet connectivity world-wide. The net message was that Asia, particularly South Korea was doing it at a breakneck pace, and the United States, due to its need to maximize shareholder value, was opting out of the game.  Even then it was obvious that GB and faster internet was the underpinning to the economies of the near future (even then there were 3D printers - if you wanted to print a new prototype back at HQ, probably conjured and designed in some employee's home, due to the fact that GB and faster obviously would eliminate the need for people gathering in congregate workplaces, you needed a way to get it to HQ). 

That being the case I was quite alarmed about Maximizing shareholder value and its future impact on our economy and our position in the world.  For example, when would we have landed on the moon if we had been maximizing shareholder value?

However, like Pogo, I said "my. my" and moved on.

I was sitting here just now with little to do, wondering the state of internet connectivity in South Korea today.

Here is a status report: "In South Korea, internet speeds are remarkably fast compared to the global average. Urban South Korean homes typically enjoy 100 Mbit/s services as the standard. Moreover, the country is rapidly rolling out 1 Gbit/s (1,024 Mbit/s) connections, which cost approximately $20 per month".

What are y'all paying Comcast for maximizing their shareholder value?

And for what "speed", speed being a contractual aspiration, not product feature in American ISP-land?

There is a day a'comin' when Americans are going to be heard muttering in unison "how did we lose world leadership, on all levels, from geopolitical to cultural to economic?"

Here's How: maximizing shareholder value, refusing the contributions - even trying to nullify the existence of - a young, vibrant, creative, risk taking and diverse population in favor of adopting delusions of the good old days, the 1850s when men were men, and they were mostly white, and consciously, at the policy level, moving the majority back to feudalism.

How's that for broken-field, non-sequitur ridden ranting?