Strands of Genius: Buybacks, Hustle Culture Died, Enshittification
Plus: the Matrix as a 90s sitcom
WRITING FROM | Atlanta, GA
WORKING ON | new business onboarding, preparing a workshop program, conference prep
LOOKING AHEAD
Jan 19-Feb 16 | Atlanta, GA
Feb 16-20 | St. Simon’s Island
Feb 20-26 | Nashville, TN
Feb 26-March 10 | Long Beach and New York, NY
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
The sky is very Monday this Monday, gray, sluggish and thick. January is ending (already! we gasp), resolutions have fallen by the wayside and Equinox is accepting new members again. The year begins in earnest. Just as each decade only really begins a few years in, the earliest 80s being essentially still in the 70s and so on, each year begins after the shock of the new wears off. When we stop writing last year’s date on cheques (yes people still write cheques {sorry, checks} in USA in 2023).
We are in the south (HOTlanta, although the weather here seems to fluctuate wildly, temperatures bounding ten or twenty degrees in a day) and prepping for upcoming remote and in-person (hooray!) gigs. You are receiving this on Tuesday, January 31st 2023 and you are going to have a great day. Although you may open it on a different day, savoring Strands for when you have time, in which case we hope you enjoyed the great day you had on Tuesday.
Stay hydrated, check in with your parents.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Rachel&Mike&Chase, Colin&Morgan, Alex&Collin, Jandies, Madison, Stargirl, trundle beds, Elea&Josh&Leona&Julian, 90s music videos, world markets, bagels, pad see ew, Xanth, definitely NOT the unplayable Goldeneye re-release on Nintendo, real Christmas trees, street art & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
WHAT THE HELL ARE STOCK BUYBACKS?
Until the 1980s it was illegal for companies to buy back their own stock because it was considered a form of market manipulation. The Reagan administration dismantled that and gave executives broader permission to use them. In the last ten years companies have spent more than 6 trillion dollars buying back their own stock, essentially as a form of financial engineering to change earnings per share and stock prices - this is Goodhart’s Law in action. To take a topical example, between 2014 and 2019, the 4 major airlines carriers collectively spent 96% of their cash flow ($39.1bn) on stock buybacks. This means they didn’t invest in upgrading technology or paying their staff more. (theHustle)
HUSTLE CULTURE IS DEAD DON’T MOURN
The backlash against the toxic productivity of hustle culture has been long in the making and this piece covers a lot of ground, highlighting similar trends around the globe in reaction to it. “The pandemic held up a mirror for us to peer at our own mortality. It shifted our perspectives: do we want to spend our lives on autopilot? It changed our priorities: when a contagion can upend the entire world, isn’t time better spent enjoying today instead of striving for tomorrow? It untethered our identities: who are we outside of what we do? To have a purposeful life, do we need to be productive 24/7?” (MediaCat)
THE ENSHITTIFICATION OF PLATFORMS
“HERE IS HOW platforms die: First, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.” (Wired)
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rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
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@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based in Tennessee where our company is registered, our admin extraordinaire is based in Playa del Carmen, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
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