Editorial #125 New World Leaders
When I first heard the statement “the meek shall inherit the world” we made it a joke by saying “the meek really don’t want it”. What Christ meant by those words was those who are kind, gentle and giving will go to heaven. But if one looks closer at his statement, maybe he was referring to the information technology experts of today better known as our “computer guy”.
The tech nerds, of which we all know one, are typically meek, quite, reserved, gentle and soft spoken. But they are becoming the most powerful people in the world. Practically nothing happens unless these IT specialists keep our computer systems running. All financial, medical, communications, transportation and security systems of the world would stop when computer systems fail. We have backup energy systems to power them, but if the computer fails we are almost paralyzed.
Our parents had a dentist, doctor, plumber and mechanic but now we also have a “computer guy” that fixes any glitch in our computer.
They are never paid what they are worth, but if we look at the money they save us through financial controls, record keeping, communications, on line buying and researching not to mention appointment scheduling without a secretary, they are worth every penny of $100/ hourly. Warren Buffet said he would be ten times richer than he is now if he had a computer with internet he started.
1972 was the last year engineers completed their studies with only a slide rule and we were better engineers for it. With a slide rule we had to guess at the answer before we did the calculation. Hewlett Packard made a hand held device that completely replaced the slide rule. We no longer needed to think before getting the answer. That was also the beginning of the personal computer age that opened the Pandora’s Box where thinking was no longer necessary to get the right answer. Math teachers would not allow calculators during tests saying: “You will not always have a calculator around”…..boy was she wrong.
In Editorial #75 I said: “ignorance may be bliss” because what one doesn’t know usually won’t hurt you with most of our concerns something about which we have no control. I was quickly corrected with the statement: “Knowledge is Power”. Today the “Computer Guy” has all the power because we depend on machines to do our thinking for us. It is no longer necessary to know the importance of reasoning and self-sufficiency. The one who figures things out first will still make the most money, with the only difference today: we will still need a charged battery or electricity to keep our computer running.
This is Keith Kube wishing you the best in making the world a better place.
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Keith has a regular commentary on WJAG 780 radio at 7:40 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Check his website www.keithkube.com for past editorials.
