WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE: AMAZON.COM AND MODERN TIMES is assembled from almost 6,000 comments to the article “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace,” by Jodi Kantor and David Streitfeld, August 15, 2015; selected and edited by John Borek. On August 15th, New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and David Stretfeld dropped a bomb on the business world – a story of inhumane, malicious and coercive work practices at Amazon.com, the world’s largest retailer run by the world’s fifth richest man, Jeff Bezos. The story ignited an enormous controversy across the globe. Tales of 80 hour work weeks, threshing of employees who suffered deaths and illnesses in their personal lives, stories of cult-like practices and a workplace that seemed like a re-education camp were rebutted by Mr. Bezos. His rebuttal set off a new round of stories and a new round of accusations. But what was perhaps most interesting about this feature were the almost 6000 comments posted by readers on the New York Times website following the article. Conceptual artist John Borek read these comments and from them he has culled a vision of Amazon and the modern American work place. His theater piece WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, a collection of comments by Amazon workers and others, reflects the corporate destruction of the personal and family lives of the American worker. The play will be presented the day before Labor Day, Sunday, September 6 at 7 PM at the MuCCC Theater. Mr. Borek was drawn to the story because as he says, “This company specific story is seen as many things: a story about oppressive work lives for Americans in the technology sector, a vendetta story of an old media company like the New York Times settling the score with a new rival who owns the Washington Post; a story about one man’s desire for vast riches at all costs: but I see it as a story about the disappearance of dignity and productivity in the American workplace. When all performance is data driven, where is the advocate for the living breathing humans behind the data? Work for many, if not most, Americans has become soul-crushing. Overseas competition, the constant demand for profits, the fact that the term MBA has come to stand for Masters of Business Atrophy; the destruction of the creative risk-taking impulse by motivated, imaginative employees have made many an American workplace a middle class sweat shop. The MuCCC Theater invites you to recognize Labor Day, Sunday, September 6th at 7 PM. Welcome to the Jungle. A free performance. LATECOMERS WILL NOT BE ADMITTED. http://muccc.org/events/?p=18101