Friday, March 8All That Matters

David Simon breaks down the Writers Strike with the same elite storytelling as each season of The Wire


David Simon breaks down the Writers Strike with the same elite storytelling as each season of The Wire




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8 Comments

  • ViskerRatio

    The writer’s strike, in many ways, reminds me of what’s going on in academia with adjuncts (and graduate students in many places).

    These are not coal miners stuck in the same dying town as their parents and grandparents. These are educated professionals who theoretically have plenty of options. Moreover, they’re not doing a job that no one else wants to do but a job that enormous numbers of people want to do.

    Their core argument is based on the notion that the institutions paying them really, really need them. The reality is that institutions are telling them in no uncertain terms: “no we don’t”. Indeed, chances are that they were told many times that their choice of career was fraught with risk – and they ignored those warnings.

    This puts them in a very different situation than most strikes. There are no meaningful barriers to entrance into the field to exploit. All they can hope is to muster enough public support to pressure the companies into short-term gains – short-term gains that will inevitably come at the expense of fewer opportunities for those breaking into the field.

    So while I can sympathize with the problems they’re facing, I think they’re fighting against both the wrong opponents and the future here. The institutions aren’t the ones setting the rules that make their life difficult – they’re just playing by the rules set by government. And it’s those rules that make LA too expensive to live in while making the writing room increasingly obsolete.

  • pathofdumbasses

    I love that he realizes he is going to be fine, pretty much no matter what, and that it is for the next generation. He isn’t pulling the ladder up. He is out there on the line with the joe nobodies because he recognizes that he was a joe nobody.

    Didn’t think I could like the guy more, but here I am.

  • Several_Prior3344

    God I wish I had a tiny bit of articulating myself as well as David Simon. I hate how bad I am. I literally stand there thinking thoughts and express them in such a shit way that as I’m saying it I make myself not believe what the fuck I am saying even though I know I’m right.

  • polygonalopportunist

    Well that was the best part of the day for me. Love the wire, this wavelength this guy is on just works for me.

  • Bullmoose39

    Several days ago I said I wished there was someone encapsulating the needs of the writers and speaking in an adult voice that everyone could get behind and agree with. This is that.

    Not you are gonna need a lot of weed in that computer.

    Something smart and informative. I hope the writers win, it’s important.

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