There are two bright spots in the current horrendous landscape: Jerome Powell and Unions.
After 50 years of collaborating with the corporate demons, SOME unions are regaining their proper anticorporate gumption. (Or Gomption.) The Hollywood writers have achieved a remarkable victory, getting everything they really wanted. Earlier I was unsure of their tactics and destination, but it’s clear now that they were controlling publicity expertly. (I need to remember my own rule that secrecy is a normal and crucially necessary part of life, not a peculiar and evil innovation.)
In this Ankler podcast, Adam Conover discusses their strategy with beautiful clarity. It’s classic Mach, unite your own army and divide the enemy army.
AMPTP was formed 40 years ago to unify the studios. At that time the unity of purpose was real. All studios depended solely on entertainment. Now half of the producers are owned by Tech Tyrants and LBO hedge funds. For them, entertainment is a tax dodge. If movies and TV go away, the Tech Tyrants get a tax advantage and less hassle with Negative Externalities like products and profits and humans. The techies were forcing the older live-or-die studios to go along with a rigid stance that was designed to kill entertainment and enjoy ZERO TAX.
The union saw this natural divide and worked against it. They didn’t need to create fake divisions.
Polistra's Mill 