Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job • Hacker News Board

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#341

Post by michaelmrose » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:13 AM UTC

_ptgt wrote: post #319

michaelmrose wrote: post #135

Lets be real about America's relationship with China. They are our enemies. Both parties seek to dominate the globe even if nobody is anxious to do so bullets and bombs. Both parties have values that can never be reconciled. How do you reconcile the notion that man ought to be free with a society that believes in lifelong servitude and a mans proper place under each others boots. A society that poisons its people and…

I don't think the issue is Chinese culture, but it is Chinese leadership--which, admittedly, has encouraged and created a culture of concerning nationalism and subservience to authoritarians with no respect for human rights or rule of law. If you look back in contemporary Chinese history, there are several episodes where influential groups were openly supporting a more democratic society. It wasn't Chinese culture th…

The society that gives birth to the autocrats is complicit and for the most part welcoming of its values. It's a mistake to merely think of them as brainwashed.

They rule their society still because their values and the values of the people are aligned.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2... /why_drivers_in_china_intentionally_kill_the_pedestrians_they_hit_china_s.html

It's a pragmatic society that believes in authoritarian rule because they believe it works and because the morality and ideals always come after pragmatism for them.

They themselves and not the rulers that temporarily maintain control are our irreconcilable enemies.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#342

Post by skookumchuck » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:18 AM UTC

grzm wrote: post #335

skookumchuck wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Startups are a form of volatile research projects that could be done better in a corporate environment. Check out "The Innovator's Dilemma" by Christensen. Innovation doesn't come from established corporations. It comes from startups.

In "The Innovator's Dilemma" Christensen makes a compelling argument why startups can eat an established company's lunch, but it doesn't go so far as say innovation cannot come from established corporations or only comes from startups. There are examples where established companies have innovated. Three off the top of my head: Bell Labs as part of Bell Telephone made many critical innovations; Apple has also continue…

The top companies in the US are all new ones (except for GE). AT&T is irrelevant today, as is IBM after it got disrupted by startups Microsoft and Compaq.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

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Post by banned1 » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:19 AM UTC

FranzFerdiNaN wrote: post #316

ad_hominem wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of white collar businesses in the US use performance improvement plans. But that would be a ridiculous remedy in a business with thin margins like a restaurant - some businesses need the freedom to hire and fire quicker.

No they don't. If they need it their business is terrible and should not exist. I live in the Netherlands and our restaurants do just fine without being allowed to fire at will and without the need for tips to give employees a decent wage. It's called sane labor laws.

It’s a different world. The US is a free country. You are free to work wherever they accept you. A job is not a right: you cannot demand anything that someone else must provide you. And people for the most part are free to start a business pretty much whether it should exist or not regardless of anybody else’s opinions.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#344

Post by grzm » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:20 AM UTC

skookumchuck wrote: post #342

grzm wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In "The Innovator's Dilemma" Christensen makes a compelling argument why startups can eat an established company's lunch, but it doesn't go so far as say innovation cannot come from established corporations or only comes from startups. There are examples where established companies have innovated. Three off the top of my head: Bell Labs as part of Bell Telephone made many critical innovations; Apple has also continue…

The top companies in the US are all new ones (except for GE). AT&T is irrelevant today, as is IBM after it got disrupted by startups Microsoft and Compaq.

Sure, there's turnover. And there will likely always be cycles like that. That only means that companies don't last or innovate forever, not that they can't innovate.

Out of curiosity, what criteria are you using for "top companies"? Looking at the top 10 of the Fortune 500 (http://fortune.com/fortune500/) and their founding years:

1. Walmart (1945)

2. Berkshire Hathaway (1889)

3. Apple (1977)

4. Exxon Mobil (1870)

5. McKesson (1883)

6. UnitedHealth Group (1974)

7. CVS Health (1964)

8. General Motors (1908)

9. AT&T (1983 as AT&T, 1877 as Bell Telephone)

10. Ford Motor (1903)

By market cap (2017, first quarter) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_corporations_by...)

1. Apple (1977)

2. Alphabet (1988)

3. Microsoft (1975)

4. Amazon.com (1994)

5. Berkshire Hathaway (1889)

6. Exxon Mobil (1870)

7. Johnson & Johnson (1886)

8. Facebook (2004)

9. JPMorgan Chase (1871 as J.P. Morgan & Co)

10. Wells Fargo (1852)

I'm not listing these as counterfactual, but only as an example. I know there are different ways of measuring "top" companies, and these are two. It's also arguable that these don't capture the idea of "top innovators". I'm interested in knowing what you're using. I'm probably missing something obvious.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#345

Post by mirimir » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:21 AM UTC

garmaine wrote: post #327

mirimir wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe not now. But 100 years ago, it certainly would. And that's about where China is now, regarding Tibet, and such autonomous regions as Xinjiang. It takes time for opinions to go from offensive to laughable.

I'm not laughing. I'm seriously confused as to why I'm supposed to be offended at the prospect of becoming mexican. Is that supposed to be lower status or something? I can't think of a reason here that would be offensive which doesn't boil down to underlying racism or anachronistic nationalism.

Well yes, "racism or anachronistic nationalism". There you have it. You're unusual, arguably.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

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Post by banned1 » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:29 AM UTC

jeena wrote: post #303

banned1 wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to empathize with a business owners. It's their resources at play. So they simply will do business elsewhere. I don't have to open an office in France. I just don't. It's too much hassle. I open it wherever I want. So if an employee loses out by not being hired by me (or I lose out by not hiring some French awesome person), then so be it. But the point is that the US environment is more friendly for bu…

I would like to see that poll because nobody I know would ever want to emigrate to the US, especially now with that idiot president you have. On the other hand I see a lot of refugees trying to get to Germany and Sweden which have at least the same if not stricter labour laws. Reading your comment I feel that you live in a really strange bubble which allows you to think like you do.

I googled it for you

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and...

http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/d...

America has historically been the country most people go to.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#347

Post by banned1 » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:30 AM UTC

gt_ wrote: post #318

banned1 wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to empathize with a business owners. It's their resources at play. So they simply will do business elsewhere. I don't have to open an office in France. I just don't. It's too much hassle. I open it wherever I want. So if an employee loses out by not being hired by me (or I lose out by not hiring some French awesome person), then so be it. But the point is that the US environment is more friendly for bu…

No, that’s wrong. It’s just one of the lies you Americans love to tell each other.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and...

http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/d...

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#348

Post by fyi1183 » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:31 AM UTC

hueving wrote: post #208

KyeRussell wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Proponents of a largely deregulated labour market love talking about France. As someone working in Australia—a country with labour laws that are more sane than France (and definitely the U.S.)—instantly bringing up France just tends to stink of a false dichotomy and a line of rhetoric from people that try to justify the U.S.'s unjustifiably unfair labour laws. I suggest that people who aren't familiar with Australia'…

>Regardless of your view on labour laws I think most people agree on this. Not if the other option was China shutting down a bunch of Marriott hotels and hundreds of employees losing their jobs instead.

See, this is an interesting thing about labor law: it can actually protect both parties.

If Marriott was forbidden by law from firing the employee in this situation, then they could much more easily deflect the pressure from China. Make some token gesture and then say, hey, we'd like to do more, but those pesky laws prevent us from doing that.

This is a case where everybody wins when there's stronger employee protection.

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#349

Post by banned1 » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:32 AM UTC

vertis wrote: post #337

gt_ wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that’s wrong. It’s just one of the lies you Americans love to tell each other.

I was trying to find supporting evidence for this (I certainly feel it to be true), Unfortunately I found the opposite[1]. Though this was till 2016, so I wonder if it's changed. [1]: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-are-the-countri...

I thought it was obvious to everybody in the world that most people in the world who want to migrate would want to go to the greatest nation in the world. Why go anywhere else?

Re: Omaha man ‘liked’ a tweet, then lost his job

#350

Post by stephen_g » Sat, Mar 24, 2018, 8:32 AM UTC

ptaipale wrote: post #338

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No - because job availability depends on other considerations too. Strangely, European countries with more humane employment laws don’t have correspondingly higher unemployment.

Depends on what you mean by "more humane" but U.S. has lower unemployment than OECD average, and European countries mostly have higher. In particular, France and Italy, known for how difficult it is to dismiss employees both individually and in masses, have high unemployment. North European countries, where individual dismissal is difficult but mass dismissal (restructuring) is easy, fare better. Germany, also with q…

It’s difficult to compare though, because of other factors. I believe the main one between countries like France and Italy and Germany is actually the Euro currency. It’s generally considered to be overvalued compared to France and Italy’s economies and undervalued compared to Germany’s. This makes Germany’s exports extremely competitive (at the expense of costlier imports) which has spurred on their ability to build up a huge manufacturing sector and run a massive trade surplus. France and Italy, on the other hand, enjoy cheaper imports at the expense of less competitive export industries, and unsurprisingly have a trade deficit. Differences in inflation rate, etc. between the Eurozone countries which might otherwise be balanced out by flexible exchange rates can’t be. Instead you get ‘internal devaluation’ which often means higher unemployment.

How federal systems get around this (like how all the states in the US using the same currency) is having the Federal Government tax and spend which can balance a lot of that out. Europe doesn’t have that, but eventually will have to or split back into individual currencies.

I believe this is also why gold standard systems have always failed eventually too - they require fixed exchange rates and even with rebalancing every now and then you can’t be as effective as a floating exchange rate.