LOOK! SQUIRREL! IS THE JOKE IS ON US?

LOOK! SQUIRREL!  IS THE JOKE IS ON US?

LOOK! SQUIRREL!  IS THE JOKE IS ON US?

Whoever out there is driving the news feeds and thinking up stuff to get people whipped up over have been having a great time this year.

I'm assuming everyone is aware that in the past week all of the tech wizards everywhere are warning of an AI Apocalypse. 

But this got me thinking about how we're so easily distracted.  Instead of "worrying" or considering REAL problems because this causes a deeper side of anxiety and stress, it's almost like we allow ourselves to move to another topic (that we really have no control over....at least daily).

There's a "boil the frog" problem that I believe is now well-rooted and slowly squeezing all of society at the exact same time.  And it's getting worse. 

One is called SaaS.  SaaS is "Software as a (pay for) Service".  Beyond software, there's a zillion variations of it on most everything.

My impression is that "subscription" payments have been adopted by the youngest part of the working generation like getting free ice in your Coke.  It's just there.

But just like that "free ice", you're losing more Coke.

Car companies have started flirting with, for example, making you pay a monthly subscription for your heated seats to work.  Tesla famously charges for their autonomous driving.  Many companies have GPS embedded in the infotainment systems but, sorry, you need to pay for it to work.

Just about everywhere you can find a friendly paid subscription for everything.  This includes online clothing rental, dog food, cigars, movie theaters, online streaming, etc., ect., etc.  EVERYTHING!

And it's growing.

Even my grandparents who were born in the early 1900's warned of being "nickel-dimed" with extras.  But we're beyond extras.  Just about everything is pay-to-play.

By the way, this isn't some sort of genius.  Corporations simply noticed how our local and federal government has been doing this for 250 years now.  The Boston Tea Party participants were ticked off about 3% tax.  All of us now forfeit over 50% of our earnings for one thing or another the government spends our tax money on. 

I believe our society will see the SUBSCRIPTION APOCALYPSE before the AI machines turn us into slaves.