"Now, that notion of doing the minimum possible, skinning every saving and penny profit in the immediate moment, contracting customer service to low-bid entities whose job is to shield the company from the customer, and make sure the customer knows he is an annoyance after making that purchase, all that is considered "good business", business based on immediate profit and the investor/owner rather than longterm relationships, repeat business potential, and the customer held in respect as the income source."
As I think about it, this really is a reflection of the social shift of the 21st century as a whole.
It even started earlier, as far back as when Gen X was young and fully entering the white-collar workforce in those heady days of the 1990s. Where we and the generations before us looked at our employ as a long-term commitment with one employer, a vertical career path, they were the ones who really started the notion of jumping employers at a profit, head-hunting, &c. In the process, they sacrificed that company pension goal for immediate wealth. Those who were smart enough to do it replaced that pension plan and symbiotic employee/employer relationship with the CD, the 401k, the self-held retirement portfolio. Those that weren't lived well in the moment and are probably pretty scared of retirement now. In fact, we are seeing older GenXers setting a trend of not retiring at all.
That was the first symptom of the fundamental shift from long-term relationship to instant gratification in society, not just in that arena but in its approach to anything. Things like buying a product for the cheapest price at the moment and tossing it versus considering its longevity in the determination of quality and value for money, replacing iPhones on a revolving instalment plan on a bi-annual or even annual basis, immediate profit margin versus the cultivation of customer loyalty as cited above, buying it instead of building it...
Even our relationships with each other are brutally brief. Immediate digital reaction is far more efficient than a long-term reaction on a ramping basis; discussion and debate, romance, building friendships, the evening's social gathering, even a meal out with friends. All have been replaced by immediate full-throttle reaction once the stimulus can no longer be ignored in self-imposed isolation with all interaction being by internet or social media, e-commerce vs. the High Street, just as examples.
If that stimulus does prod one from hiding, one of different viewpoint, then the reaction is immediate and extreme. We no longer invest the time in discussion, debate, compromise. It takes too long, it seems. Today, the expression of differing ideas is brutal but efficient. Victim culture, cancel culture, violent protest, mass shootings.
The change in speed of social interaction has manifested itself pretty much across the board, from the professional through the financial, romance, debate, all the way to art. While the expectations are probably pretty much unchanged, the full on-off digital nature has increased the efficiency of our relationships with each other, but certainly hasn't enhanced the quality of life with each other.
Thus the social-commentary muse for today.
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