Re:Problems Are Fundamental to Our Society (Score 1)

Strangely, the Fortune 500 company where I work is not dominated by jocks or preps, but by geeks.

I hated grade school. High school was OK, but that's because I went to an alternative school-- a place halfway between "Hippy High" and an intensive college prep. I hung out with trench-coat wearers and D&D players.

That was twelve years ago.

Somewhere along the line I decided that being alienated wasn't the point. Sure, it happens, because I'm an individual and I'm kind of weird. But I try to overcome those differences when I can, because I generally like people, and would rather connect with them than piss them off.

Occasionally I chafe at the fact that I can't wear my black vinyl trousers to work. Oh, I could, but no one would take me seriously. I find that there are battles worth fighting. Oh sure, power corrupts, but only absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sometimes you can get people to do the right thing.

Giving up does no good.

The ugly intimacy of corporate and state power isn't the best of worlds. But anarchy isn't the best or most natural alternative. Unless you mean the fabulous anarchy of the Open Source, Free Software, GNU folks. Which strangely enough sprang from the womb of the corporate-federal hegemony (MIT, DARPANET, anyone?) and still depends upon a huge network maintained by the likes of Sprint, MCI, ATT, IBM, the NSF..