AI Weaponized.

On By southwerkIn business ethicsLeave a comment

As technology moves forward with often amazing speed, the law struggles to keep up. New offenses never even thought of before are happening every day. One tragic trend is the posting of fake nudes of high school students and there are many others. The internet is a massive information super highway of fraud, deception and filth. I don’t need to tell you in any detail because you see and experience yourself the horror of what the internet has become.

This case detailed in the links below alleges that Dazhon Darien used AI technology to imitate the Pikesville high school’s principal. The fake recording had the principal disparaging minority students and teachers. It was spread about on the internet. Darien was under accusation of having billed the school illegally for about $2000. It seems the motive was revenge.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/25/maryland-teacher-ai-principal

A quote from the article above:

Using cloning technology, Darien forged an audio clip in which it sounded as if the principal was frustrated with Black students and their test-taking abilities, police wrote. The recording also purported to capture the principal disparaging Jewish individuals and two teachers who “should never have been hired”.

The AI attack was very successful. The principal was temporarily replaced as complaints flooded in. This was a truly vicious unprincipled attack. There are many disturbing elements, the main one being this is a first use case. There will be others and the results are likely to be at least as tragic and probably much, much worse.

We must as a society find ways of dealing with these issues of technological criminal innovation much more quickly. AI is a revolutionary technology. To say that it could be used to kill is not an exaggeration. And I while I am seeing a great deal of concern and discussion, I’m not seeing much legislative and administrative action.

Our legislatures, our Governors, our federal system are all creatures of the past with long and storied histories. But they were developed in the age of the horse as the main instrument of travel and the written letter, the primary medium of communication. Let me just give you an example, in the great majority of states, Corporate law requires the Board of Directors to meet annually and keep records of that event. This is directly from an era in which they traveled by train and horse. Isn’t it obvious that the corporate board be regularly involved, meeting often and having some kind of regular contact with the company? Yet the law requires no more than that single meeting a year. And we’ve had the internet, automobiles and telephones for quite some time now and we have not adapted the the statutory law to mandate more contact in an ongoing business. And that is the story across the board in the United States. The laws are based on circumstances that have become obsolete.

I suggest that the Justice Department create a division devoted to technological innovation and crime. This will give the government a slim chance of getting ahead of the curve of these new kinds of crime. We really don’t want to wake up one morning and find that AI had killed, destroyed reputations, collapsed companies and crashed infrastructures without legal recourse for the victims or the government.

We need to act. We must act now. Because the wicked actors both here at home and overseas are not resting. They are actively plotting and will given any opportunity take advantage of these new technologies.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-school-principal-faced-threats-after-being-accused-of-offensive-language-on-a-recording-now-police-say-it-was-a-deepfake/ar-AA1nJhWo

From the article above.

On January 16, a Gmail user known as TJFOUST9 sent an email to three teachers, including Darien, at their school email addresses. The subject line said, “Pikesville Principal — Disturbing Recording.” A sound file was attached. A man could be heard speaking. Among other disparaging comments, including one about two teachers and another about Jewish people, the man said Black students couldn’t “test their way out of a paper bag.” The recording proliferated. A teacher who didn’t get along well with Eiswert admitted to sharing it with a student “who she knew would rapidly spread the message around various social media outlets and throughout the school,” the report said. The teacher also sent the recording to media outlets and the NAACP.

A Borderline Tragedy

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I’m sure most of my kind readers are of the law abiding type. I would like you to imagine what it would feel like to be surrounded by heavily armed policemen who believe that you are a dangerous felon right in the middle of committing a crime. Watch the film below to get the details of what happened to Jamie Rodgers in that same situation. God forbid anything like this should ever happen to you!

Rodgers’ car was in the shop at the dealership. He was given a loaner car so he could drive to work. The dealership mislaid his paperwork and reported the car as stolen. The police stopped him on the highway, surrounded his car with heavily armed officers. He was finally released when the situation was clarified. It is only a matter of chance and luck that he wasn’t killed or seriously injured.

I’m flabbergasted at this error. Is it just routine to report cars as stolen? I did some internet searches looking for dealerships who had reported loaners as stolen but all I got were references to the current case. So, apparently this is far outside the norm.

In my opinion the dealership is liable for pain and suffering. It was a very serious error and they have to be responsible for what they did.

The more I thought about the case, the more I saw the similarities to “swatting.” A bad actor can use the police to harm enemies with this kind of report. Fortunately, there was none of that here. But the strategy of “lets you and him fight” has been a regular ploy throughout all recorded history. Of course, I’m just a cynic. Let’s hope that nothing like this every happens again.

https://hoodline.com/2024/04/orange-county-man-sues-huntington-beach-dealership-after-mistakenly-held-at-gunpoint-by-deputies-over-stolen-car-report

Rodgers, who was on his way to his job as an athletic trainer, told KTLA, “I’m thinking I’m going to get shot. I’m a Black man being pulled over in Orange County. … I’ve heard too many stories of this happening.” A fleet of sheriff’s patrol cars had tailed him, leading to suddenly being stopped and faced with about a dozen officers aiming their guns at him, as they had been mistakenly informed that Rodgers was armed and dangerous.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-sues-dealership-loaner-car-130202906.html

Royal Nonsense.

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By Jr JL – This file was derived from: Duchy of Lancaster-coa.png:, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39911069 —- This was found on wikipedia and I gratefully acknowledge their kindness in letting me borrow the image. As you can see I have quoted in full the attribution they wished attached. JP

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68882308

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/24/royals-william-kate-camilla-honours-monarchy-archaic

Recently, the King of England has decided in his infinite wisdom to hand out honors. Awarding honors to the deserving is an important function of all mature and intelligent societies. We wish to encourage and recognize acts of bravery, benevolence and sacrifice.

In the course of human events, many are called to heroic deeds. An examination of the news over a period of a few days will disclose people who selflessly risked their lives. For instance, just last week a teacher, Darrell Campbell, at Amman Valley School in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, responded to a stabbing in which three people were injured and wrestled the knife away from the attacker and then subdued the attacker. That is courage worthy of recognition and honor. (The news story is linked to below.)

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/12540784/major-incident-ammanford-school-police

But the King’s ceremony and the award of honors wasn’t for him. You see, the King realized that he knew very well who was deserving of honor and recognition in the name of all that is royal in the realm of Great Britain. The honors were awarded to his wife, Camilla; his son, William; and his son’s wife, Kate.

(From the article:)

Prince William becomes Great Master of the Order of the Bath. Catherine is now a Companion of Honour, which recognises achievement in arts, medicine, sciences and public service. And the Queen becomes the Grand Master of the Order of the British Empire, once held by the King’s father, Prince Philip, and grandfather George VI.

So, the King decided that while there were undoubtedly thousands of people who deserved honors for the great deeds, it was his wife, son and daughter in law, who merited these attentions. As Mel Brooks announced with great joy in “History of the World, Part One,” — “It is good to be the King.”

Apparently it is also very good to be married to or be an offspring of the King, because the money, the property and honors never stop flowing like an endless stream of benefits paid for by someone else.

Great Britain is similar to the United States in some ways, a semi-common language and some customs. However, the founding fathers directly placed in the Constitution a prohibition against this kind of thing. To quote from the United States Constitution:

Clause 8 Titles of Nobility and Foreign Emoluments No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

And so we don’t in general have this kind of nonsense. And God be praised that we don’t.

We now live in the 21st Century and the idea that there are Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses is a relic of an illiterate, ignorant and moronic age, an age where people actually believed that God had ordained some people to be rulers, not on the basis of any moral or mental quality but simply by accident of birth.

Darrell Campbell, an actual hero, is far more representative of the greatness embodied in the British people than any of these bejeweled fops lauded daily in the press and possessed of incredible wealth and influence taken from the people of the empire. In any society with a shred of dignity or intelligence or judgment, it is he who should stand before the nation and be given honors for his deeds.

It is time for us, all of us, to stop paying attention to these silly royals who have stuff just because of who their parents were.

We should be valued by our own merits as demonstrated in our own lives because that is what is just, and true — and, indeed, worthy of honor.

Ethics Roundup, Week of April 14 to 20

On By southwerkIn business ethicsLeave a comment

This last week was crowded with business ethics disasters and issues. Let’s get started. Above you’ll see a short You-Tube video that I liked and included.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/21/louisiana-state-university-oil-firms-influence

Louisiana State University is offering corporations the ability to influence research. The University has, it seems, offered up its intellectual integrity for a price, a very good price. In their defense I have to point out they aren’t selling themselves cheap (maybe it’s more of a rental?). Let me quote from the article above:

For $5m, Louisiana’s flagship university will let an oil company weigh in on faculty research activities. Or, for $100,000, a corporation can participate in a research study, with “robust” reviewing powers and access to all resulting intellectual property. Those are the conditions outlined in a boilerplate document that Louisiana State University’s fundraising arm circulated to oil majors and chemical companies affiliated with the Louisiana Chemical Association, an industry lobbying group, according to emails disclosed in response to a public records request by the Lens.

This is a pivotal moment in the history of the energy industries. I believe they are in the midst of a almost revolutionary pivot. My perception of what is currently happening is that they are attempting to build a huge infrastructure of “carbon capture” industry. The companies ability to limit and influence research would be invaluable when you are an organization that created in large part the global warming crisis and now intend to profit like bandits from that same crisis.

That is just what I think.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/18/splenda-diabetes-lawsuit

A quote from the article linked to above.

(Elizabeth) Hanna, a registered dietitian nutritionist and certified diabetes care and education specialist with “16 years of experience in the field of medical nutrition therapy”, according to the lawsuit, says the ADA and in particular Nicole Johnson, the ADA’s vice-president of operations for the science and healthcare division – “a former Miss America who has traded upon the dreams and aspirations of people with diabetes to reach fame and fortune” – pressured her to endorse what she believed were unhealthy and unethical claims.

If you’re teaching ethics or business ethics or any of a number of business courses, this is a lengthy article laden with serious business ethics issues, you should use this. “How much deference should an organization pay to its donors?” is a recurring issue we constantly see over and over again.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/17/nestle-adds-sugar-to-infant-milk-sold-in-poorer-countries-report-finds

(A quote from the article above.)

Nestlé, the world’s largest consumer goods company, adds sugar and honey to infant milk and cereal products sold in many poorer countries, contrary to international guidelines aimed at preventing obesity and chronic diseases, a report has found.

This is the latest in a number of controversies regarding the products international corporations sold in developing countries. Stay tuned. I will probably get to return to this issues again.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/17/canada-elephant-seal-relocation-attempt-failed

I have heard economics described as the “dismal” science. Well, that is not true, it is business ethics. Greed, death and human stupidity are big parts of the field.

So, from time to time, I take a break. This is a fun story.

Here we have an elephant seal who declined to accept relocation.

Last week, gun-wielding conservation officers stuffed a 500lb elephant seal in the back of a van, drove him along a winding highway in western Canada and left him on a remote beach “far from human habitation”.

That beach was 126 miles away. The elephant seal known as Emerson declined to accept relocation and came right back. I side with the seal but I very much want the public to give the fellow a safe distance. He’s got a lot of muscle on him and he’s not in anyway tame.

It wouldn’t be standard week in 2024 without Boeing getting a headline or two. And for Boeing while the headline isn’t friendly, at least parts didn’t fall off of plane or bunch of people die.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/decisions-making-going-end-smoking-182931894.html

I have addressed the Boeing issues before and no doubt will return to the topic in the future. Good article though.

In the United States, politics is something of a business but according to some including our former President, not as much a business as it should be. Trump is asking for five percent of all donations received from candidates who use his likeness in fund raising.

That is a very solid transformation of political relationships into purely business relationships. Every down ballot candidate becomes something of a financial subsidiary. It’s in a real way revolutionary. Here is a link.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-strategist-reacts-trump-unconventional-142447663.html

From the link, one gets the impression, that this “request” is not going over well. Imagine my surprise at this!

Elon Musk has been in the news but he is always in the news much like bad weather and air accidents he figures in our national consciousness. But this is a special occasion. He’s not saying anything stupid or bizarre. Have a look at the link below:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tesla-ask-shareholders-reinstate-pay-112125798.html

From the article:

Tesla is asking shareholders to restore a $56 billion pay package for CEO Elon Musk that was rejected by a Delaware judge this year, and to shift the company’s corporate home to Texas. The changes, to be voted on by stockholders at a June 13 annual meeting, could be a tougher sell than when it was first approved in 2018. The Austin, Texas, electric vehicle maker is struggling with falling global sales, slowing electric vehicle demand, an aging model lineup and a stock price that has tumbled 37% so far this year.

So, all Tesla wants is to reward Elon Musk for what some might call leadership by restoring his 56,000,000,000 dollar pay package voided by that meany of a Delaware Judge. They also want the company headquarters moved from Delaware to Texas to escape the aforementioned judge.

You know I was really going to pound Elon Musk for his many missteps but do I really need to? He does not deserve the money. He has acted foolishly and every company and cause associated with him has suffered. Enough said. For another good read on the subject, go to the link below:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/the-clock-has-struck-midnight-for-tesla-and-elon-musk-145446735.html

Needless, Pointless, Cruelty

On By southwerkIn business ethicsLeave a comment

In Great Britain, austerity was imposed on the public and lasted for many years. The decline in the quality and quantity of the infrastructure, schools, public facilities like libraries and medical care has been very hard on the population and is considered a major factor in British economic decline. . It also was cruel and it seems both in fore and hind sight to be unnecessary. But the Tories basked in their “get tough” attitude toward the public. They has showed themselves to be “manly” men, willing to put hard limits on the disorganized mob of citizenry always “looking for a handout.”

The Tories in Britain are watched closely by their American counterparts and the Americans bounce ideas between themselves and as far as I can tell, almost all right wing think tanks and a good number of right leaning politicians find these ideas compelling.

So, all over the United States, Republicans are doing cruel, obnoxious and borderline evil acts to prove that they too have the cojones to deprive the public of important things. So, we have cuts in food to school children, laws against giving water to waiting voters, regular attempts to gut child labor laws and finally — and our topic for today, denying municipalities the right to require water and shade for workers.

Florida under the “leadership” of Gov. DeSantis have a adopted a law banning municipalities from requiring heat protections for worker beyond those provided by state and federal law. This follows adoption of a similar law in Texas. You would think that heat isn’t much of a problem if two legislatures feel that nothing needs to be done locally but people do die: (link below)

https://www.yahoo.com/news/heat-killed-florida-sugar-farm-175931833.html

A sugar cane worker on a work visa from Mexico died just the other day. Is that the only death? I very much doubt it but I don’t know of any data base I can find more extensive data from. The sugar cane worker death made the news because they’re contesting the OSHA fine. I suspect that foreign worker deaths rarely make the news.

A study from the University of Florida shows that heat deaths in the stare are on the rise with the changes caused by global warming. (Link Below)

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AE558

What do Republicans say about these cruel measures. Well, let me quote:

Republican Rep. Tiffany Esposito of Fort Myers, who sponsored the House version of the bill, told reporters that her husband has worked in South Florida’s construction sector for two decades and that she knows the industry takes worker safety seriously. “This is very much a people-centric bill,” Esposito said. “If we want to talk about Floridians thriving, they do that by having good job opportunities. And if you want to talk about health and wellness, and you want to talk about how we can make sure that all Floridians are healthy, you do that by making sure that they have a good job. And in order to provide good jobs, we need to not put businesses out of business.” (This quote is from the link below.)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/florida-joins-texas-in-banning-local-heat-protections-for-outdoor-workers/ar-BB1lGzFk

“People-centric.” Sometimes you get the impression that the Republican Party is actually some sort of satirical variation on an actual political party. Dead workers are not a demonstration of people centered legislature. And the idea that companies will go out of business if they have to follow heat rules is nonsense.

So, in conclusion, the cruelty is the point. Although there is a certain element of corporate boot licking and servile obedience to the construction industry, inflicting pain on workers is a considered a mark of virtue in the current Republican Party and I am appalled by this pseudo-masculine nonsense.

It is better to feed children, protect the weak and maintain worker protections from danger than to aspire to some kind keyboard machismo.

James Alan Pilant

https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-baffles-experts-banning-local-215200502.html

A good comment comparing student athlete protections to worker protections.

Let the Valedictorian Speak Her Mind!

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The University of Southern California has canceled a brief remark (3-5 minutes) scheduled to be given at the graduation this year by the class Valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, on “public safety” grounds.

I may be getting old and cynical but the University’s concern over public safety strikes me as nonsensical. This is the United States of America. From time to time, people have differences of opinion. I promise you Americans are not going to melt like a chocolate bar in hot summer sun if Ms. Tabassum says something many people disagree with in her 3-5 minute remarks.

I also might point out that Ms. Tabassum stated that she had planned to talk about hope although I don’t think after this pitiful controversy that I or anybody else can expect her to continue with that topic.  

In terms of business ethics, if USC is a private business, they have every right to cancel any part of the ceremony for any reason whatever. But they are a public university. If recollection serves, they are one of the land grant universities, one of President Lincoln’s ideas. Public institutions are supposed to respect the rights of Americans, particularly the right to political speech, the most protected form of speech under American Constitutional Law.

What the University should be saying loud and clear is that our new Valedictorian has the right to speak her opinion. We may not agree with that opinion but it is better to live in a nation where people have a right to express their thoughts than one where thought, opinion and speech are proscribed in case they offend the public or the government.

Now, I suppose some readers will accuse me of being Pro-Palestinian. To be honest, I don’t side much with anybody in this Middle Eastern mess. The Palestinians deserve the right to live, work and exercise voting rights. Their property must be protected. The Israeli’s have the right to exist and to be free from attack. Lots and lots of people have died and suffered sexual assaults. Hamas has done a bunch of killing and Israel with its indiscriminate use of firepower has done an even bigger bunch of killing. Do you see why I find both sides problematic?

But while elements of this dispute have traveled to the United States, we are neither Israel or Palestine. Most of us are neither Muslims or Jews. We can hear both sides strident as the voices may be and make up our own minds as Americans are supposed to do.

James Alan Pilant

https://www.yahoo.com/news/let-her-speak-usc-campus-100043988.html

University officials chose Tabassum, a biomedical engineering major with a minor in resistance to genocide, as valedictorian from a pool of nearly 100 applicants with GPAs of 3.98 or above. The title comes with an invitation to deliver a 3-to-5-minute speech to an audience of about 65,000 at the campuswide commencement ceremony on May 10.

Caitlin Clark Gets Less than One Percent! Wow!!

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

If you’re like me, you are surprised at the disparity between the pay for the first round draft pick in the WNBA as opposed to the NBA. Those amounts are 76,535 dollars (Caitlin Clark) and 10,500,000 (Victor Wembanyama).

I am well aware that the NBA makes a lot more money than the WNBA but the disparity is pretty incredible. It is most fortunate that Clark can still get extra money from endorsements but it does bring to mind how we value women as opposed to men.

Women’s sport have been in a long, long climb toward substantive budgets and attention. Women get less money at a every step in the ladder. Now, I am rather old and I can remember when women’s college sports had virtually no measurable budget at all. So, there has been a lot of progress but I absolutely sympathize with those that find the current numbers appalling.

One person upset by the amount paid the new WNBA draft pick was the President of the United States. Here are two quotes and the links to the articles.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/president-joe-biden-weighs-wnba-182940790.html

US President Joe Biden has called for female athletes to be “paid what they deserve” amid ongoing outrage surrounding Caitlin Clark’s rookie contract with the WNBA.

https://sports.yahoo.com/joe-biden-calls-fair-pay-195103809.html

On Tuesday, Biden wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “women in sports continue to push new boundaries and inspire us all.” “But right now we’re seeing that even if you’re the best, women are not paid their fair share,” he wrote. “It’s time that we give our daughters the same opportunities as our sons and ensure women are paid what they deserve.”

Although there is a great deal of controversy over the salary. Caitlin Clark was rightfully full of pride and jubilant on her drafting. Here is what she said and a link to the quote.

“I think the biggest thing is I’m just very lucky to be in this moment and all these opportunities and these things, they’re once in a lifetime,” she says, reflecting on a whirlwind couple of months. “When things might get tiring or you have to do stuff, I think the biggest thing is look at it just as an opportunity. This isn’t something everybody gets to do. It’s once in a lifetime, and just trying to soak in every single experience because I know how quick of a turnaround it is, and I have a lot of people helping me.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/sport/caitlin-clark-indiana-fever-wnba-draft-spt-intl/index.html

It is important that you have faith in my numbers. Here is my source for the salaries listed above.

https://www.vox.com/24132057/caitlin-clark-wnba-draft-2024

Despite her record-breaking performance in the NCAA and the energy that she’s generated for the sport, Clark’s base salary will be $76,535 as a rookie. In the NBA, meanwhile, the first draft pick is expected to make roughly $10.5 million in base salary their first year.

In 2022, the NCAA reporting on expenditures in College Sports showed the stark difference in investment between males and females.

https://www.npr.org/2022/06/24/1107242271/the-ncaa-says-that-funding-for-women-in-college-sports-is-falling-behind

The report, released Thursday and entitled “The State of Women in College Sports,” found 47.1% of participation opportunities were for women across Division I in 2020 compared to 26.4% in 1982. Yet, amid that growth, men’s programs received more than double that of women’s programs in allocated resources in 2020 – and that gap was even more pronounced when looking at home of the most profitable revenue-generating sports: the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top tier within Division I that features the Alabamas, Ohio States and Southern Californias of the sports world.

So, here we have the stark disparity between female and male sports. You can see it in Caitlin Clark’s salary and in overall investment between the two in colleges and universities across the United States.

What do we do? I’m sure there are those who would claim we’re making progress and isn’t that enough? Much, probably, almost all of the money invested in college sports is public money or income derived from public money. And this suggests that simple fairness demand equal investment in both sexes.

Further, we have to not just be astonished at the salary disparity but commit ourselves to action, commit ourselves to change. Accepting the status quo is not the path to justice, fairness and the full development of human potential.

Think of the future that could be if we will it and invest our money in a new and better world.

James Alan Pilant

Jesse Watters Can’t Count or Can He?

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/nearly-choked-coffee-fox-news-201830195.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jesse-watters-math-backfires_n_661ced3ce4b0f709554b39b4

Actually it may just be that he doesn’t want to. In his job as a “Newsman,” he wanted to overstate the effect of the $20 an hour California has mandated for fast food workers in some sectors. So, he implied that a single worker would make a 100,000 dollars a year on that salary. Surprisingly there was someone there who correctly stated the actual income.

So, he than claimed that a couple working fast food would earn a 100,000 dollars a year, only to once again be corrected.. Watters found the real figure of 40,000 dollars to be horribly unfair. I’m less sure about this. Let me quote a paragraph from the article:

Someone making $40,000 a year in California brings home about $32,000 after taxes, or about $2,666 a month. Meanwhile, according to Zillow, the state’s median rent sits at $2,790 a month. 

While he may believe that these workers are living lives of unearned luxury, the dollars amounts seem much less impressive against the cost of living and taxes.

Middle and lower class wages have been stagnant for about thirty-five years and the current minimum wage is pitiful. Yet, Watters and Fox News wants to portray these workers as the undeserving while portraying the owners of these huge chains as poor victims of state overreach. But the industry has been recording record profits over the last several years.

I think what the financial press is troubled most by is the empowerment and electoral clout of these workers being effective. In the past wage increases, like those in Washington State have not proven to be the disastert predicted.

And the simple fact is – paying working American a decent salary is a key element of economic growth and simple fairness.

James Alan Pilant

Is Beauty a Business Ethics Value?

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

One man’s artistic wonderland, created secretly in rented apartment, given protected status (msn.com)

A U.K. Home Filled With Surreal Outsider Art Receives Protected Status (artnet.com)

When you drive down to the mall or along the city strip where the fast food stores lurk, you are often struck by the sterile sameness of it. You’re looking at a kind of scenery duplicated thousands of times all across the United States and to a lesser extent across the world. A great deal of end stage capitalism is devoid of creative and artistic merit because all values aside direct monetary value have been long ago discarded.

More than twenty years ago, I spent a year working the legal department of the Wal-Mart Home Office in Bentonville, Arkansas. You are no doubt well aware of the utter sameness of the store designs. They have a very distinctive look. So, you might assume that all the stores look the same. But you would be mistaken. While I was there Wal-Mart wanted to put a store in a particular city in California but the building codes did not allow for the typical design. So, they had to create a store to meet those codes. The design department was very proud of their new building and big beautiful drawings of the new store were placed on easels for employees to admire.

The new building was surrounded by shrubbery and extensive green lawns well back from the main drag. To drive to the parking lot you had to navigate meandering zig-zag roads designed to keep you at a very low speed for pedestrian friendliness. The building itself was red brick faced or actually brick in design, very elegant looking something like an upscale bank.

So, even Wal-Mart was willing to spend the time and money to build a good looking store, a tribute to the community, a recognition that there are community values beyond simple profit. I’m sure they didn’t like it being who they are — but they complied.

It is important the we realize we don’t have to live in sterile sameness. We don’t have to live in pedestrian hostile environments. We don’t have to live in a community that looks just like the community up the street and everywhere else in America.

We can live where people can walk in safety, where bicyclists can ride to work without fear. We can live in an environment full of flowers, trees, healthy shrubs surrounded by nature. And above all we can do our buying and spend our time in buildings full of art and beauty.

There once was a fellow named Ron Gittins. He lived in a apartment for many years and during her time there he built it into a temple of beauty. The links are above. Look at what he did. This is now a protected site. It is in Britain. We in the United States would do well to create protected sites like this.

Why did he transform property that he didn’t even own in such a dramatic way? I tend to believe that he couldn’t stand the ordinary, that his life and his soul yearned for greater things. And you might realize at this point in the essay, that you too desperately yearn for high values and greater things. We all do.

The pursuit of profit, the bizarre and troubling worship of the free market, is a wrecking ball to many of the values in this nation. Our churches have become “mega-churches” where political power and connections are pursued. Our colleges and universities increasingly build dorms and facilities to attract a higher paying customer as if learning and a life of learning was only valuable if it could be immediately turned into a salary. I see ad after ad talking about art as the newest safe investment for retirement. I see young men and women looking for mates based on their lifetime earning potential and while I was in law school observed the my male comrades were actively planning to to trade up wives just as soon as the money got good. It is depressing.

We don’t have to live a life as money grubbing barbarians. The liberal arts, an appreciation of painting, sculpture, music and architecture enriches not only our lives but every other life we touch. We might also actually cultivate friendship and love based not on economic advantage but actual honest relationships. Just saying.

Think of Ron Gittins. He didn’t make art in his apartment for money. He created because humans, the whole, developed kind, need to create and to make value.

That the pursuit of money at all costs would deny the creation of the whole human being, so important to our civilization is one the strongest argument that we must develop a more nuanced economic system. And we need to start creating it now if we are going to preserve the values of real importance in our society.

James Alan Pilant