Reading things like this, one marvels at just how less…predatory society used to be.

I can see now this was a staff ripe for a management consultant to come in with a rusty cleaver, that we operated at near-Soviet levels of overstaffing, but honestly? Who cares. All those people collected their paychecks, cashed them and used the money to pay taxes, buy cars, raise families and otherwise keep the economy chugging along. If you think a belching factory smokestack is ugly, try one with nothing coming out at all.

The evisceration of the American economy is another example or variant of the tragedy of the commons. One factory or newspaper owner finds it beneficial to himself to fire 90% of the staff and outsource copywriting to another country.

Then others are forced to do the same to compete.

It ends with no one left with enough money to buy the products advertised, and with not enough money to pay for an education to be literate enough in the case of a newspaper or online equivalent to even comprehend the product.

Race to the bottom, and like the paradox of thrift it all makes sense along the way.