Public sector, private sector = non-digital, digital

It’s been an interesting week and it’s going to be more interesting, but I would suggest that I’m not alone when I say that I couldn’t give a shit about anything until Christmas is over.

Sod the credit crunch, damn the strikes and bollocks to the revolution, just let me open my Advent Calendar in peace, but that’s not going to happen until screens are turned down on the morning of December 23rd.

So while we’re still hanging on, let’s discuss this week’s public sector strike and how it connects to digital, or not as the case may be.

I didn’t cheer as I went past picket lines although I used to join them. I know people do amazing things in public service and anybody who chooses to help others has to be a good person, but something niggles me.

I’ve never wanted somebody to give me a pension, it sounds the same as somebody giving me a bollocking and I can’t understand why anybody would cite a pension as a reason for going on strike. I think I hate people who strike because of their pensions.

Let’s be honest, we’ve had it too good for too long. We are the richest people who have ever lived and consequently we’ve over-consumed and depleted this planet. We’re living almost forever and we retire way too early. Boo-hoo, I’ve got to work a few more years to get my big, f*ck-off pension.

A lot of public sector workers are the fat cats they are supposed to despise. Job security, no stimulus to work harder and those pensions. Over here in the private sector, that sounds like a good deal to me.

What is really happening here is the changing of the guard. For public sector, read non-digital, for private sector read digital. The public sector as we’ve known it is over, to survive it has to become entrepreneurial because we will all eventually become limited companies and it will be up to us to provide for ourselves.

In the private digital sector we know that the world has changed. We are bonded to our machines and we would never strike, would never walk out on our computers. We listen to them and connect with them and the jobs they give us just about all the time, even during mealtimes.

We are the future and we don’t think about retiring because we want to work and become like one of the 12,500 centurions in this country. We don’t want to stop working two-thirds of the way through our lives, we want to contribute to society, not help out for a bit and then suck the life out of it.

So, public sector people, let’s get digital. Whatever you do, you’re going to get thrown out of work and you can talk about solidarity and your comrades but what you really care about is money and how easy you can make your life, not how interesting you could make it.

Come over here where risks remain, where life isn’t scripted and where the good times always outweigh the bad times. Dump those placards and become entrepreneurial. Your family might be worried but you’ll be free, you’ll be happier and you’ll want to work, not go on strike to avoid it.

Monty (709 Posts)

Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.


This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , by Monty. Bookmark the permalink.

About Monty

Monty Munford has more than 15 years' experience in mobile, digital media, web and journalism. He is the founder of Mob76, a company that helps tech companies raise money and exit. He speaks regularly at global media events with a focus on Africa, writes a weekly column for The Telegraph, is a regular contributor to The Economist, Wired, Mashable and speaks regularly on the BBC World Service.