this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
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- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
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Just for context, if you made 100k a year, an extremely enviable salary, and saved every penny somehow, you'd be a billionaire in exactly TEN THOUSAND YEARS.
No one can earn a billion dollars through honest labor and the sweat of their brow. It must be exploited out of others. It must be stolen. You cannot possess a billion dollars and be a decent human being. For any good you do, you can't approach the harm you've already inflicted upon others in the name of insatiable greed.
Oh I'm sorry, they've used their wealth to warp the culture and language to their benefit, so greed doesn't exist anymore. I meant "rational self-interest." also we have always been at war with Eurasia.
I work 7 days a week and my wife works full time to get that $100k/year and it took us years to get where we are in our careers. $1million in assets is still so far away. It's such an incredible amount of money and Zuckerberg and friends have thousands of times that much money. It's just so crazy to think about.
100k isn’t that much in many regions these days. Its enough to get by but hardly enough to save to buy a house in the Seattle region.
They've been getting away with it for centuries. Would you like to know more?
🤔 I don't necessarily believe that. An independent creator of a blockbuster franchise could in principle become a billionaire ethically. Like J.K. Rowling; she's estimated to have upwards of a $1.2 billion net worth. (say what you will about her) (I don't like her either but facts are facts)
You're forgetting that it's not like we go to Rowling's house to get her books, or even download the manuscript P2P from her personal server.
Someone's exploited labor printed the folio, bound it, packed it, shipped it, stocked it, advertised it, sold it to you and put it into a bag...
And more, cut down the trees to make the paper, mixed the ink, delivered the reams and the vats to the factory...
But it's not the author exploiting publishing companies. It's the execs of those companies exploiting their own workers. The publishing companies make excellent money (and same for paper creators, etc). Just it disproportionately goes to execs and possibly shareholders, not workers.
of course you can slice it any way you like. I'm not saying no one should be an author, but I am saying billionaires aren't made without exploitation somewhere
And here's the problem I have with that: not all labor is exploitative. No matter what economy we have, there would still be laborers printing the book, binding it, cutting down the trees and making the paper, etc.
Even if they're not making an even split of company profits, some worker somewhere is happy with what they're getting.
And regardless of economy, some worker will be unhappy working somewhere, feel they're not getting their fair share, etc.
That doesn't change simply because we switch from capitalism to some other system.
The only fair way for that book to be made from the implications given is if all of the labor is automated, but at the end of the day a human being would have to do some work somewhere no matter how many levels of automation redundancy you have, so how is he not implying being expected to do anything is the problem, and using the blatant shitty behavior of the rich as a smokescreen for that?
We could live in a Jetsonian paradise where all he'd have to do is push a few buttons once a day and he'd still complain.
I have done things that are hard work for less compensation than it deserves and been happy to give it freely (ie charity, volunteering), but that doesn't mean we can't examine the power structure, even if the plurality of people are happy inside it.
I know. That's what I'm doing, critically examining these claims people keep making. I really don't have a stake in the game either way.
You forget the impact of compound interest. If you invested 1 dollar at 1% interest, you would have a billion dollars in just over 2000 years. So these comparisons based on income are not useful.
If you invested money at 1% interest, you would lose money due to inflation.
Real interest, after inflation.
"stolen"
Buddy it ain't stealing if we keep using the product and indirectly (directly) supporting the billionaires exploiting others.
EDIT: this comment was only directed at people who will see this kind of thing and not care. To those who don't believe you have a choice in dropping Facebook because of life events. I get it. Most people do business through Facebook even.
The problem is that Facebook has a hold on the market. I do understand this but the truth of the matter is if we could get people to stop supporting Facebook then they wouldn't make the money users keep fueling them with. It isn't your fault Facebook is a power house of social media. I don't blame consumers but was stating Facebook will continue to hold this market until consumers care.
I also do personally believe you can let go of Facebook or mitigate its use and I know this is possible because I do this myself. Yes, the guy who made the comment about supporting Facebook is using Facebook but only when necessary.
If you would like some tips and person tricks on how to mitigate your use then message me. I have just custom tailored my experience to use Facebook less and only for essential need, what little it provides.
My problem with using the word, "stolen." Is that stealing is usually being done without our notice. It isn't stealing if you have been caught multiple times and no one cares. At that point it's just using.
I think you underestimate the propaganda influence they have. I don't consider it voluntary by most, any more than I blame a North Korean citizen for hating the west as they've been indoctrinated to do, it's the fault of the power above them.
The power above us isn't our purchased government, it's capital. And it propagandizes us to defend this system from Kindergarten to colleges of economics to the for profit news they own. And if that doesn't work, they control the means of state violence through the government and both major parties they fully own and control to defend their profits and interests against the peasants. We aren't approaching Orwellian society, we've surpassed it. Legions of peasants advocate directly against their own interests because thats what all of us are taught to do, you have to buck that pressure to even truly open your eyes and know whats going on.
Problem is that it's not against the interest of the peasants.
Everybody knows how poor life can be in the rest of the world. Once you go human decency you want to share with everybody. You may even care about animals.
The slippery slope of compassion.
I assure you that North Koreans don't need to be indoctrinated in order to hate the west. The genocide committed upon them by America was enough to do the job. But don't take my word for it, read what USAF General Curtis LeMay, who was also head of the U.S. Strategic Air Command, had to say on the matter.
I was off Facebook for years, and was never a heavy user, but I had to get back on because the school my daughter goes to sends out so many notifications that way.
Facebook is very ingrained in how business and groups interact these days, what's an individual to do? Disconnect from the world and miss important school notifications, among other things?
Plus the "stealing" isn't just from people using the platform, it's also in wages and benefits for employees. Why aren't they getting a bigger share of those profits they worked to produce?