International Standards

One of the things that, due to peak oil and the subsequent loss of cheap shipping, I feel will wither away in the future is the idea of international standards. These are insideous things, put in place by big business to make sure that everything and everyone is cut from same mold and is an obedient little servant of the corporations (or as they like to be referred to, the Lords of the Universe).

I worked in ISO-9000 and 13485 shops. The rules were stifling and moronic. They were mostly put in place by the Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) types. These are the folks that the management dredge out from underneath some rock in distant suburbia. They are usually ass-kissing yes-men, married to the concept of "the right way", when in fact, the vast majority of them have never worked in the manufacturing that they so like to control. They create the paperwork that the regulators and inspectors so love to inspect.

These folks, and their counterparts, the inspectors, are the Hitler Youth of the globalization movement. Everything according to rules. Make no variance from industry standard. Cover your ass at all times and make sure you kiss the ass of the man above you so that you can keep your phony job.

If we are going to find our way out of the morass we are in, we are going to have to use our own brains and our own common sense. We will fail sometimes, but we will eventually strike upon the right way of doing things.