Speaking of Life Imitating “Atlas Shrugged”…
Meet Namaste Solar Electric, aka “The Twentieth Century Solar Panel Company”:
“We did have a lot of skeptical, raised eyebrows at the beginning,” Jones said of his company, which installs solar power systems in Colorado.
“We even have had business schools bring teams of MBA students to come to do a case study,” he said. [but of course: it helps to study failures in order to avoid them in the future - ed.]
Outsiders were baffled by some of these company plans:
- Environmental concerns would be a driving force in every aspect of the company.
- Six weeks of paid time off.
- A concept called FOH — frank, open and honest — to help eliminate gossip and grudges.
- Employees, no matter what their job description, have the same pay scale.
- One percent of yearly revenues goes to solar systems donated to community groups.
- All major decisions would be made by consensus of all company employees.
That is so close to the work environment that spurred John Galt to “stop the motor of the world” in Atlas Shrugged that it reads like a parody.
“It was…something that happened at that first meeting at the Twentieth Century factory. Maybe that was the start of it, maybe not. I don’t know…The meeting was held on a spring night, twelve years ago. The six thousand of us were
Namaste is in the process of remodeling a 15,000-square-foot warehouse for its offices.
And it is doing it to the highest of green building standards, the LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. That involves everything from the use of natural light to the recycling of building materials to the access to the building by public transportation.
And yes, all the building’s electricity will be provided by a solar system Namaste installs. Most of the panels will be on the roof, but there will also be a solar awning.
One wonders if there will be impressive etched glass doors in the executive washroom, and an exclusively-soybean menu in the company cafeteria.
[via Michelle Malkin]
ADDENDUM: Looks like the snivelers at Media Matters don’t much care for the company being called “socialist” by Glenn Beck. If they think that socialism is such a dirty word, maybe they should stop running interference for people who support it.
Also, David Corn – in between schoolgirl gushings about the unparallelled stupendicality of the Obamessiah – provides a little more info about the “alternativity” of Namaste’s business model.
