U Cubed

There was a hidden link yesterday, in the piece entitled "Rage Against The Machinists." Did you see it?

Well, some background is in order. The unions are now calling for organizing the unemployed. They'll probably make them pay dues. So forget that. What if the unemployed organized themselves? I mean, do you want to rely on the bozos who helped get us into this mess? You're not out of a job for being stupid, are you?

So today, we're introducing Ur Union of Unemployed, which is a website created to act as a portal of information and networking for jobless Americans. If you check the video on the site (right here), you'll get this:

Become a jobs activist. 6 activists become ... a cube. 9 cubes form to become ... a neighborhood. 3 neighborhoods create ... a power block.

Well, that all sounds very empowering, but you can't save the world right now, right? You don't have a f@#$ing job! So let's start with the roof over your head, and the wife and kids at the table, and go from there.

And one more thing to spice it up a little; let's pretend you're me.

I'm a graphic designer with web and video experience. Let's say the government forces me into early retirement. I'd go back to the Art Institute and take one or two classes to get caught up on skills, and to network with seniors. (They'd let me in, too, 'cuz the bastards owe me.) I would find an unemployed web designer and an unemployed videographer, preferably both out of school and who can't find anything. I'd need someone from their class who cleans up real nice and can talk the talk. That's the account executive. I'd also find someone who could take care of the books (probably the wife or a friend of one of the others), who would also manage the office. Then one more person to assist with production in one or more of the print, video, or web areas. That's six altogether. I'd be creative director, and copywriter. One of us would have a family with a garage. We'd clean part or all of it out, set up a decent-looking office, and go to work. We'd create a brand identity: “Garage Door Associates. Design. Video. Web. Whatever. Call us.”

I had three classmates who did this right out of college. I have no idea where they got the money, but Catt Lyon Design + Wayfinding started out life as Alpern Sisson & Catt. They rented a cheap walk-up space on Plum Street (which wasn't much in those days), and went to work. They did it the hard way, but they did it. And the economy in Cincinnati sucked back then too.

I wish I had their nerve back then. If I were one of 31 million other Americans, I'd need it right now.

We'll be keeping an eye on this one.
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