Image gratefully appropriated from www.mikedawsoncomics.com

Yesterday I woke up to a report on Diary of a TSR (Telephone Service Representative), a self-published diary by a telemarketer. It's a story of a 31 year old guy who graduated from school, needed money and spent 5 years as a telemarketer i.e. dead-end service work.

So right away, I empathize, cos that's me as well. (Apparently the physical resemblance is uncanny too.) He details the stress, abuse by managers and hopelessness of the job, and workers' attempts to cope with alcohol. In 5 years, he made a top wage of $11.50 an hour.

Then, for 'balance', the CBC found a telemarketing VP to interview. She dashed around the cubicles with such "high energy" that the reporter found it hard to keep up with her. The reporter asked why a telemarketer might describe her industry as stressful, hopeless and the cause of drug abuse.

In her snappy, can-do, way she answered how a lot of their employees have graduated from school and are at a "complex" time in their lives. They're not used to answering questions from customers. As for the alcoholics, there are lots of people with stressful jobs who don't become alcoholics, so that's not the industry's fault.

This being the CBC, the reporter didn't challenge her - perhaps that's unCanadian? Here's what I would have asked her:

A) Does the "complexity" have anything to discovering yourself & the world around you when in school, then finding one's world reduced to a two-page script and the struggle to make ends meet?

B) Do you think it's 'natural' for people to learn to follow orders and put up with harassing customers? Is that something they should grow into?

C) If your workers can aspire to $11.50 an hour at best, with no benefits, security or union protection, do you think that has anything to do with hopelessness? If they can't afford therapy or hope on their salary, do you think that has anything to do with alcoholism?

D) You, who'd chip your manicure on a keypad if you ever set foot in a cubicle (which you haven't), are rich enough to set your own life goals. You have an army of assistants to shield you from obnoxious people. You can afford vacations abroad, nice cars and good food. Your job allows you control over what you do. Do you think, if you didn't have those things, you'd last 15 minutes as a telemarketer?

E) Your job depends on exploiting others. When they realize this and the revolution comes, would you prefer to be:

1) put up against a wall
2) thrown off a bridge
3) forced to work 10 hour shifts in an airless, flourescent-lit room, breathing in toxic fumes from the carpet, fielding hotel bookings from irate customers?

More on Marxist cults

The origins of left groups is like exegesis: intricate and not entirely relevant. You have to know how ideologies, people and world events combine in very particular manners. But, like murder mysteries, there's a protagonist, numerous bad guys and something big at stake (world revolution, natch.)

So, here's the continuation on the Mojahedin E-Khalq I was writing about. I asked how their ideology arose. A Marxist researcher came to my aid:

Islamic Socialism [was] (born out the 50's iranian modernized and pro-modernity islamic trend). Their [the Khalq's] ideology hade a lot of similarities with Ali Shariati, and since they could not openly print their literature they sometimes used the "legal" books of Shariati for propaganda.

Then in the 70s the Mojahedin had two splits: the first over whether to turn to Marxism (in which one leader died); and the second, conducted by their imprisoned cadre, over Maoism or Stalinism. The current group comes from the Maoist branch.

Apparently, the complete story is in this book:



Happy sect-hunting.

Still Number One!



American neo-cons have created a '10 worst books' ever list. I'm happy to report The Communist Manifesto was at the top, and Das Kapital is #6. It shows that Communism can still put fear in ruling class hearts. In fact, eight out of 10 books on the list are atheist or left-wing (they had to put Mein Kampf in, cos neo-cons hate it when fascists go too far, too fast.) Lenin, Adorno, Sorel & Gramsci place in the top 25. So, in the grand tradition of knowing who your friends are by listening to your enemies, check it out.