Understanding Microsoft

Part 22. Brain Drain

Any growing creature gets hungry. The bigger and faster it grows, the hungrier it gets. A big, fast-growing company gets very, very hungry. One of the things it gets most hungry for is people. A company needs to eat people so it can metabolize them into working parts of itself. Particularly, a growing information systems company needs a steady diet of fresh human brains.

However, not just any brains will suffice. There are brains that are trained, powerful tools; there are also brains that are flabby and underutilized. An information company needs brains that are sharp and intense. There are only a limited number of these brains, for several reasons: the drug abuse epidemic, the plague of apathy and decadence in the schools, and the degrading influence of electronic entertainment all play a part in keeping the number of high-octane brains limited. Particularly are these factors a problem in the so-called "advanced" nations, which are generally more addicted to druggery and entertainment than places like India and China.

But Microsoft's agenda is growth at all costs; therefore, they must consume more brains. These brains have to come from somewhere. The sad fact is that America is short of technical talent because its brains are for the most part undertrained and flabby. Microsoft is therefore running out of good brains to consume here in America and must look elsewhere to feed its ever-increasing appetite. This is why last year Microsoft began to campaign for special exemptions from U.S. immigration laws, so that they could go on scouting trips to foreign nations and take their consumptive hunger on the road. Microsoft wants to raid the brain supplies of foreign nations too, so that it can continue its exponential path of growth and control.

By what right does Microsoft claim to have special privileges? By what right does Microsoft claim that its own agenda is more important than the social fabric and economic success of entire nations? By what right does Microsoft raid the precious neurological treasuries of its own nation as well, claiming that Microsoft's success is more important than advances in medicine, agriculture, and transportation? It is by a self-proclaimed doctrine of absolute social Darwinism, in which Microsoft views every institution -- corporations, nations, schools, even churches -- as direct competitors for survival and societal control. Microsoft extends the "law of the jungle" mentality to the ultimate degree, believing itself to be a "superior species" beyond the ability or right of anyone to tame or limit.

This is thus the height of hypocrisy, in that Microsoft's own products will contribute to the degradation of brainpower as they push into areas of entertainment and education, worsening the brain drain that is already in place. It is further the height of arrogance and hubris, that Microsoft believes that if they can consume the world's supply of brainpower, they will prove their point by default: there won't be anyone left standing who has the brainpower to challenge their right to rule.

Most recent revision: January 13, 1998
Copyright © 1998, Tom Nadeau
All Rights Reserved.