Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
Cara Carleton Sneed Fiorina has lived the American dream. She started as a secretary, rose through the ranks, and became the head of one of the world’s largest technology companies. As CEO of Hewlett-Packard, Fiorina engineered that company’s $19 billion merger with Compaq in 2002. A turbulent relationship with the board of directors, however, led to her dismissal only three … >>
Imagine that the basic needs of everyone on Earth were taken care of. What would society be like? American futurist Jacque Fresco, who turned 98 last week, has spent his life thinking about this. Needs are at the root of capitalism. You have something that somebody else needs; that person has something that you need; you trade these things directly … >>
During the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan had some frank words for the American people. The manufacturing economy, he said, was on its way out. Rather than try to keep it alive artificially, the US would cultivate a service economy. This was an excellent use of semantics. “Service” sounds good. It carries an air of politeness and efficiency and wish fulfillment. … >>
For a week now, much of America has been obsessed with two questions. These questions are not “What has happened to Mitt Romney?” (he has hardly been seen since the election) nor “Will Barack Obama’s second term be different from his first?” No, what many Americans want to know is: Will they still be able to buy Twinkies? And if … >>
Bargains are easy to find in the United States. But among the bargains, there is one super-bargain. For only 44 cents (€0.34), you can send a letter anywhere within the US or its territories — as far as from Maine to Guam. If you send the letter to a military address, you can even send it around the world for … >>
The word of the moment is “occupy”. It means so many useful things. You can ask someone: “Is this seat occupied?”, meaning “Is someone sitting here?” Rooms in a hotel can be occupied (meaning used or inhabited), as can office space in a building: “The Pilewski Tower has 70 percent occupancy.” You can be occupied, meaning you have something to … >>
Every classroom contains a few kids who are bored and like to cause trouble. When I was in school, our teachers would threaten them by saying, “This will go on your permanent record!” The threat was effective: none of us wanted to be prevented from going to college or from getting a job. It was also credible: we had no … >>
Of all the e-mail I’ve received, this was the strangest. It read: “Hello, Mr. Pilewski. Would you like to order a pizza?” I was half expecting the sender to be a Nigerian pizza chef who needed help smuggling lots of dough out of his country. But instead, it was an old college acquaintance. Years and entire continents had separated us … >>
“Do you want to try it?” I couldn’t believe my ears. My mother, who is at an age when people start to fear change, was inviting me to do something new. We were at a large supermarket in Pittsburgh, standing in front of 20 checkout counters, four or five of which were staffed. The lines were fairly long, so she … >>