Other people say that their parents are the same way whenever there’s bad news from whatever patch of dirt they came from, but being common still doe… - John Barnes

" "

Other people say that their parents are the same way whenever there’s bad news from whatever patch of dirt they came from, but being common still doesn’t mean it makes any sense. After all, it was twenty years ago, and if the adults were going to get so upset about having everything smashed up, they shouldn’t have had a war or tolerated AIDS for so long that they gave it the chance to turn into mutAIDS, or allowed the climate disequilibration to get so far out of hand. Honestly, they remind me of the three-year-olds in the nursery, smashing things to bits and then crying because they’re broken. I certainly hope I’m not that kind of a moron when I’m that old.

English
Collect this quote

About John Barnes

John Barnes (born 1957) is an American science fiction author.

PREMIUM FEATURE
Advanced Search Filters

Filter search results by source, date, and more with our premium search tools.

Related quotes. More quotes will automatically load as you scroll down, or you can use the load more buttons.

Additional quotes by John Barnes

See, if you're on top, it's easy to think that what's good for you is what's good for the organization. In the short run it might even be—a company does better if it gets more work for less wages paid, or if it spends less on health and safety.
"In the longer run, though, workers do the work. Management doesn't. If workers are sick, hurt, pissed off, or broke, they don't work as well."
As Papa's daughter, I'm a pretty good debater myself, and cross ex is one of my strong points. "But then there's no problem. Doesn't the company have an interest in keeping the workers working?"
"Sure—but for as little as possible. Suppose a manager got us all to work two extra hours per day for half pay. Who would get the added profit?"
"NAC," I admitted.
"Well, that's what I'm trying to say. Management works for the employer, and at least in the short run your employer's interests are exactly opposite yours. No matter how nice a guy your manager is, he still gets paid to be your enemy.
"But that's not the whole story. Otherwise I suppose they just make slaves of us or we'd kill them. The fact is, they don't dare win—because if they destroy the worker, who will make the product or buy it? The union limits how much management can win. So in a sense the union looks after the long run. Or justice, which might be the same thing."

Loading...