Where I Want to Be

“I felt like I was trapped inside my own body,” he said. “I couldn’t, for the life of me, get up from my desk, or I would be yelled at to stay in my desk. So I was trapped at my desk and in my body. I was so scared.”

Cognizant periodically purges large numbers of staff members in what have come to be known as “red bag days” for the red bags that managers give to the newly fired to collect their belongings. Sometimes the dismissals are related to job performance, and sometimes employees aren’t given any explanation at all. Speagle was laid off as part of a red bag day last October.

In February, he went to a psychiatrist, who diagnosed him with PTSD. He is currently in treatment. Meanwhile, he has gone back to school to get his teaching certificate. Seeing so many children harmed on Facebook made him want to make a positive contribution to the lives of young people, he said.

I asked him what he thought needed to change.

IN THESE TIMES

You’ve been fired. According to your employer’s data, your facial expressions showed you were insubordinate and not trustworthy. You also move your hands at a rate that is considered substandard. Other companies you may want to work for could receive this data, making it difficult for you to find other work in this field.

That may sound like a scenario straight out of a George Orwell novel, but it’s the future many American workers could soon be facing.

In early February, media outlets reported that Amazon had received a patent for ultrasonic wristbands that could track the movement of warehouse workers’ hands during their shifts. If workers’ hands began moving in the wrong direction, the wristband would buzz, issuing an electronic corrective. If employed, this technology could easily be used to further surveil employees who already work under intense supervision.

Whole Foods, which is now owned by Amazon, recently instituted a complex and punitive inventory system where employees are graded based on everything from how quickly and effectively they stock shelves to how they report theft. The system is so harsh it reportedly causes employees enough stress to bring them to tears on a regular basis.

UPS drivers, who often operate individually on the road, are now becoming increasingly surveilled. Sensors in every UPS truck track when drivers’ seatbelts are put on, when doors open and close and when the engines start in order to monitor employee productivity at all times.

The technology company Steelcase has experimented with monitoring employees’ faces to judge their expressions. The company claims that this innovation, which monitors and analyzes workers’ facial movements throughout the work day, is being used for research and to inform best practices on the job. Other companies are also taking interest in this kind of mood-observing technology, from Bank of America to Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc.

These developments are part of a larger trend of workers being watched and judged—often at jobs that offer low pay and demand long hours. Beyond simply tracking worker performance, it is becoming more common for companies to monitor the emails and phone calls their employees make, analyzing personal traits along with output.

Some companies are now using monitoring techniques—referred to as “people analytics”—to learn as much as they can about you, from your communication patterns to what types of websites you visit to how often you use the bathroom. This type of privacy invasion can cause employees immense stress, as they work with the constant knowledge that their boss is aware of their every behavior—and able to use that against them as they see fit.

Lewis Maltby, president of the National Workrights Institute at Cornell University, tells In These Times that the level of surveillance workers are facing is increasing exponentially.

“If you look at what some people call ‘people analytics,’ it’s positively frightening,” Maltby says. “People analytics devices get how often you talk, the tone of your voice, where you are every single second you’re at work, your body language, your facial expressions and something called ‘patterns of interaction.’” He explains that some of these devices even record what employees say at work.

i’m a crepe..

I’ve struggled for a while whether to make a separate and anonymous tumblr blog/email account just to post this, since there have already been arrests made on university students as well as police officers showing up at the house of an admin from a Telegram group that organizes the protest and searching the place. But I know it in my heart that I do no wrong in speaking up. If I do end up facing legal consequences for doing this, then it only further proves my point on how dangerous it has become to live in this once beloved city.

Hong Kong citizens are protesting against the government’s proposed Extradition Law Amendment Bill (“Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019” in full) that would allow people accused of offense to be handed over to Mainland China, Taiwan, and Macau upon request with only prima facie level evidence provided to the court. The bill has raised serious concerns and opposition for its possible violations against freedom of speech, judicial independence, and Hong Kong’s autonomy under One Country Two Systems, etc. With incidents such as the disappearance of the five staff members working in Causeway Bay bookstore, many fear that the passing of this bill will allow China to request extradition from ANYONE, INCLUDING THOSE WHO ARE NOT RESIDENTS who dare to speak in any form against the CCP and step foot in Hong Kong even only for transition.

Because of this proposed amendment, Hong Kong people have taken to the streets and other acts of protest to voice our disagreement. But our democracy and rights are being stripped away by a government that will not budge even with over 1 million people (one seventh of our population) marching to be heard or seeing students being tear gassed and shot by rubber bullets. The government is refusing to listen to its people, instead it is using unnecessary force on us through its police force and calling us rioters when all we did was gather together and protect ourselves.

As of right now (16th June, 03:00 GMT+8), there has already been one casualty in our fight to be heard. The government has only promised to pause the passing of the bill, meaning that at ANY TIME the Legislative Council can restart the reading process on the bill. Though we still feel suppressed and carry a heavy heart, we will not lose hope. If its citizens are not enough, we are wishing for louder international attention to give the government more pressure to COMPLETELY WITHDRAW the bill to safeguard Hong Kong’s democracy.

PLEASE HELP US STAY INFORMED AND SPREAD THE WORD ON ANY DEVELOPMENT TO AID OUR PROTEST FOR FREEDOM. MORE WAYS TO HELP INCLUDE:

Knowing why it matters to you even if you DON’T LIVE IN HONG KONG.

Anthony Mackie:

Brie Larson:

Do you trust an authority that bans its people’s access to global major sites, like youtube, facebook, twitter? Do you trust an authority that its leader’s family members are foregin passport holders and are not a citizen of its own country by naturalization? Do you trust an authority that implements a social credit system scheme that has been called the real life version of Black Mirror’s Nosedive? Do you trust an authority that imprisoned a nobel peace prize winner, and house arrest his wife, who has not violate the law? That nobel peace prize winner was denied visit from his family memeber and died during imprisonment by the way. Do you trust an authority that put ethnic minorities of its country in re-education camp in this day and age? Do you trust an authority that committed a massacre that killed ten thousands of its own people during a peaceful demonstration? Do you trust an authority have been arresting and silencing people who mentioned the said massacre, for 30 years since it happened?