Victor Rozek
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As I See It: Unhappy Anniversary
March 5, 2012 Victor Rozek
… Read moreThere aren’t many days when I wake up deciding to annoy a lot of people. Nor is this one of them. But that’s the risk a writer takes when tackling any controversial subject: passions run high, tolerance runs low, and minds are usually made up before a single word is uttered. Over the years, few issues have been more polarizing than Affirmative Action, a program which is either: a) well-intended and successful, b) imperfect but still necessary, c) unfair and outdated, or d) outright racist, depending on your point of view.
Like it or not, Affirmative Action has been part
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As I See It: Overrated
February 20, 2012 Victor Rozek
… Read moreThere are places in Hawaii where paradise still looks like paradise should. Even on the Western side of the Big Island where massive lava flows blanket miles of once-verdant land, there are small surviving oases where blue water laps against white sand beaches dotted with arching palms. These are the spots coveted by luxury hotel developers.
One such beach is ringed by manicured lawns and flowering plants masking a discrete open-air restaurant with a full bar to help the wealthy keep their levels up. Behind lush greenery, bungalows rent for $4,000 a night, which is one reason I don’t belong
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As I See It: Failure Is Not Just For Executives Anymore
February 6, 2012 Victor Rozek
… Read moreIf you want to become successful, every few years someone will write a book telling you how. Just follow these three steps, develop these seven habits, add stock options and voila, you too can be a screaming success. Or, if that doesn’t work, it helps to have the good fortune to be born to rich, connected parents.
Success is all well and good, but given the number of “successes” who were once thought to be shining stars in the corporate firmament but turned out to be cheap fireworks instead, it’s high time someone paid homage to the qualities that
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As I See It: The Second Concern
January 23, 2012 Victor Rozek
… Read moreRecently, I contacted a number of colleagues around the country to find out what concerns occupy their quiet moments. Not surprisingly, at the top of the list was keeping or, in one case, finding a job. Most reported working for years with no prospect of a raise, and several whose spouses were no longer employed had been forced to make lifestyle adjustments. But close behind employment was the desire to maintain or find affordable healthcare.
There is an ironic timeliness to their concern. Every January many Americans try to preempt the need for healthcare by getting fit. After a holiday
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As I See It: Punxsutawney Blue
January 9, 2012 Victor Rozek
… Read moreIf you were the kind of kid who plotted the ignition point of ants frying under a magnifying glass, or dreamed of creating artificial intelligence because your family didn’t understand you, then growing up to be an IBM researcher is not unlike winning the lottery. Eccentricity is not a barrier. If you’re brilliant enough and have a compelling idea–even an idea that may not find practical application for decades–the vault will open, cash will come pouring out, and you can play with house money for years.
IBM invests billions in R&D, much of which remains closely guarded. But each year
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As I See It: Looking Ahead
December 12, 2011 Victor Rozek
… Read moreTwain and Corleone, the unsung duo of economic prognostication, aptly describe two probable scenarios for IT in the coming year. One prospect is hopeful and the other is cautionary. One provides reason for celebration, the other frustration. In one scenario, we are the masters of our fate, in the other, not so much.
“Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”–Mark Twain
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”–Michael Corleone
First the good news.
Who knew that Sam Clemens was a closet economist? Indeed, predictions of economic collapse appear to be premature. The
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As I See It: The Artist And The Pragmatist
December 5, 2011 Victor Rozek
… Read moreGather around, boys and girls, Uncle Victor is going to tell you a story. And what a story it is, full of greed and generosity, cooperation and betrayal, respect and disdain, and even death. Scheherazade would be envious. OK, maybe not, but the stakes were higher for her.
In any event, once upon a time, there were two little boys, and for a long time that’s about all they had in common. One was abandoned at birth and became a college dropout who collected Coke bottles for food money. The other was very much wanted, went to exclusive schools (which,
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As I See It: Privacy Pirates
November 28, 2011 Victor Rozek
… Read moreNovember is when my property taxes are due. And living in a state without sales tax, they tend to be high. But the amount is not what rankles me. It’s the fact that in a nation built on the sanctity of property rights, I will never truly own my home, even after the final mortgage payment is made. The reality is that as soon as I’m unable to pay my taxes, the state is empowered to take it away from me.
Although property rights are at best tenuous, they are so deeply embedded in our mythology that it seems heretical
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As I See It: Finding Balance In The Living Years
November 14, 2011 Victor Rozek
… Read moreThe shadows are just beginning to crawl down the massive sandstone walls as we struggle into our dry suits and neoprene socks. A thick pair of river shoes and a sturdy walking stick complete our outfits. It’s early morning and still cold as my wife and I prepare to embark on one of the legendary hikes in the National Park System, The Narrows at Zion. Zion is a long canyon carved over the centuries by the Virgin River. You enter the canyon from the south and it gradually constricts as you travel north until the walls close in and the
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As I See It: One Cabbage Leaf
October 24, 2011 Victor Rozek
… Read moreNations are typically organized around a set of founding principles and enduring personality traits. France initially coalesced around the rallying cry of the revolution: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and later embraced overpriced food and rude service. America united in its support of individual rights and unlimited use of fossil fuels. And Canada stood unabashedly for real maple syrup and hockey. But whether it’s settling a frontier, relieving a monarch of his head, or deposing whatever crony the CIA chooses for you, once governments achieve their basic mandates, the wise ones seek new ways to improve the lives of their citizens.
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