the power of the strike
power among the people
a couple weeks ago, the port workers went on strike, agreeing as a union to not go to work, leaving ships with imported goods astray and unable to dock.
as the clock was ticking and food was perishing, the U.S. gov stepped in to increase their wages.
port workers define the prices of goods in our stores. if items aren't able to be brought in by ship, we all suffer. with less supply, demand increases and so do prices in stores.
in less than a week they won.
last year the writer's guild went on strike for 148 days against the use of AI in taking over their jobs, the longest it has had in history. in those 148 days, socal's economy had an estimated loss of $6.5 billion. they won.
it's in these turning points that make me wonder: what will happen when software jobs finally go down? without a union to protect workers, what will happen when the ship finally sinks?
tech workers have so much power. each and every one plays a role in defining the giant quilt of the internet that we've constructed. when things tech workers don't work properly, planes are grounded, websites break, "AI" literally stops being "AI" when data isn't labeled, and the rich stop getting richer.
during the steel era, henry frick, on behalf of andrew carnegie managing the homestead steel mill, cracked down on the homestead strike of steel workers as negotiations of the union wavered. in the last straw against the strike, andrew carnegie pressured henry frick to launch the pinkertons (the state militia) against its own workers in the ultimate U.S. version of china's tiananmen square massacre, pitting the american business against the american worker, as the chinese did but with government vs. civilian. workers were shot, frick was shot, but the workers ultimately won. andrew carnegie was under fire.
it was in that moment that they defined history, setting the precedence that people were above businesses in the U.S.
and that precedence can continue to be set now.
it's a shame how hard it is to come to understand this history today and how companies continue to make pilgrimages to career fairs, bribing unsuspecting students with their grandiose promises fattening them with internship after internship, trapping them in their propaganda so they relinquish their power to be another code or box plumber. it's this harvesting of soul and knowledge that has led so many of my close friends into helplessly packaging their dreams down to "hobbies on a friday night"
a couple years ago i read abolish silicon valley and i didn't really understand what wendy liu was talking about with tech worker strikes and unions. when i was in high school and the teachers went on strike my mental picture of the world was far too small to realize what was happening. it couldn't be more clear now that history is merely repeating itself.
what i've been up to
I FINALLY MADE STICKERS. you can get them here :D
its my fall break and i went to seattle! a much needed weather and mental break from the last 100 days of over 100 degrees in phoenix…
i went to dubhacks this weekend to do a workshop with my friend luna and we attracted a lot of uw students with a very enticing title slide to appeal to today's youth
i tried the new snapchat spectacles and they are literally a very early version of black mirror's playtest glasses..... but they were fun to see people basically looking like they were hallucinating as they tried them
i went to the connection museum in seattle and it was absolutely crazy seeing the history of the telegraph, then telephone, and how we somehow got signals from one end of the world to transfer to the other side with mechanical signals, then wirelessly, then later on the internet
i watched the wild robot for the second time and still cry every time i listen to 'kiss the sky.' the theme of belonging and never feeling like you really fit in but still fitting in really resonated with me. it made me realize that looking like someone doesn’t necessarily mean fitting in
i went to a workshop led by mark rosman and he live-directed a scene of the farewell and it was so magical seeing a real director in his habitat before my eyes
two months ago i watched didi, a film literally filmed on the streets of where i grew up in fremont, ca. seeing my childhood on a big screen and hearing the laughs of strangers in a theater viewing it as if it was fiction was one of the most cathartic experiences i've ever had and has made me think more about how i can share those stories too and translate them in a way that touches others. i didn't realize that in the creation of a film, you're not only sharing your story, but you're sharing a story on behalf of all of those who want to share the story too
i tried a mocap suit and it was so fascinating seeing how much of a story we can infer/piece together just from body movement. when i was at the phoenix airport and walking around udub in transit, every passerby’s movement became inspiration for the way i thought about story, and how pace and gesture play a role in forming one’s character
i made a billionaire money tree thing for penelope scott’s ‘rat’ with touchdesigner
i made dumplings and learned to grow mushrooms :3
thanks for reading <3
love didi <3 first time ive watched a film that felt like it was made for me