Well I for one am going to stop ordering bottles from Amazon..
Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
541–550 of 721 posts
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#542> Amazon said it didn't time workers' toilet breaks... That means they set really high targets for middle-managers and then let them get creative with the rules. > ...and set its performance targets based on previous worker performance. That means they cherry pick their best performing employees and set global standards based on the top n%. > The company said it provided coaching to help people improve... That means…
According to Bezos, there are two types of decisions- 1) type 1 - where Bezos does not time workers' toilet breaks, and 2) type 2 - where he lets middle managers to create their own rules. It's always Day 1 :)
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#543Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with Marxism is that in many of the places where it's been implemented in earnest, it's killed millions of people. Think of Russia under Stalin, China under Mao, and Cambodia under Pol Pot. People try to rehabilitate Marxism every so often, but the problem of the murderous regime pops up again and again, for a simple reason: when the state arrogates to itself enough power to remake society according to so…
If you're going to play that game, you can very easily make a case (and probably a much stronger one) that capitalism's body-count is much, much higher. For starters, you'd have to credit it with the extermination of the Native Americans, the blood-soaked history of 19th century European colonialism, and the First World War.
Dude, this isn't a game. Show some respect for the dead.
You're comparing apples to oranges here. The crimes you mention are all about subjugation of or violence against foreigners. Ill will towards foreigners is the human ur-prejudice -- it's older than our species, in fact. Giving in to this prejudice is something that could have happened under any politico-economic system. It happened under capitalism because capitalism is what we had then. If the world becomes a Marxist utopia tomorrow, and we travel to the stars, and find technologically underdeveloped aliens, it will happen then under Marxism too. It was certainly the case that the Soviet citizenry, however far advanced along the road to true communism they actually were, were perfectly happy to join the Red Army and oppress the hell out of the people of Eastern Europe for fifty years. And they did it they were told they were protecting the world from imperialism from the West!
The problem with Marxism that I'm talking about is much more specific. Communist leaders have a habit of liquidating populations that they deem insufficiently loyal. That's why Stalin killed the kulaks, Mao killed the educated middle class, and Pol Pot ordered the killing fields. Under capitalism there is no comparable tradition of massacring political enemies. And since political enemies are going to be a fact of life under any political system, thoughtful Marxists should worry a lot about how to protect them from the attentions of the state.
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#544Earlier quoted context omitted.
Judging from some of the comments here, software engineers working in Amazon must either be stupid or irrational to continue working there, given the market for software engineers. Amazon is a highly successful company with significant anticipate growth still to come. All that success doesn't come without talent. So maybe not stupid, maybe just irrational? Tech companies in general, and Amazon in particular, are high…
At least one reason is that the stock has done so well. A typical software engineer hired 4 years ago is incredibly well compensated at Amazon because of this. Consider a mid-level software engineer hired 4 years ago, on April 16 2014, with a salary of $100k. A typical stock grant at hiring for a mid-level software engineer in 2014 might be $400k over 4 years, backloaded so most of it comes at the end; on April 16 20…
Anyone could have bought this stock if they would have known the price. Yes, the decision to join amazon turned out to be great money wise, but still doesn't explain why the top talent works there.
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#545Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're going to play that game, you can very easily make a case (and probably a much stronger one) that capitalism's body-count is much, much higher. For starters, you'd have to credit it with the extermination of the Native Americans, the blood-soaked history of 19th century European colonialism, and the First World War.
Dude, this isn't a game. Show some respect for the dead. You're comparing apples to oranges here. The crimes you mention are all about subjugation of or violence against foreigners. Ill will towards foreigners is the human ur-prejudice -- it's older than our species, in fact. Giving in to this prejudice is something that could have happened under any politico-economic system. It happened under capitalism because capi…
> Under capitalism there is no comparable tradition of massacring political enemies
Are you saying there has never been a dictatorship or authoritarian government with a capitalist economy?
Capitalism and socialism are economic systems, not necessarily ways of organizing a government. You can have capitalism with or without democracy. Democracy is the true tool against authoritarianism, not capitalism. And I don't think the people in this thread that are arguing on behalf of marxism want to do away with democracy.
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#546Earlier quoted context omitted.
Extreme poverty is defined as someone living on less than $1.25 a day. Do you think that exploitation isn't occurring as long as someone isn't living in extreme poverty?
The exploitation model needs self-generating poverty. If it is lifting people out of poverty then it is destroying itself, as it will run out of the required poor people. You can argue its not going fast enough, but the direction is unequivocally upwards so far.
Well now you're conflating extreme poverty with poverty. There are millions of people living in poverty in the united states. And you don't really need someone to be in complete poverty to exploit them.
Also, the direction currently is towards stagnating wages and growing wealth inequality.
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#547How similar is an amazon and a factory job from the past?
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#548We can't. Labor and capital need each other, but they are forever at odds. Good wages and working conditions can only be won through negotiating from strength. Modern America favors capital. Elections have consequences.
Labor and capital are on the same side, they are both producers of wealth. You are barking at the wrong tree.
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#549Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with Marxism is that in many of the places where it's been implemented in earnest, it's killed millions of people. Think of Russia under Stalin, China under Mao, and Cambodia under Pol Pot. People try to rehabilitate Marxism every so often, but the problem of the murderous regime pops up again and again, for a simple reason: when the state arrogates to itself enough power to remake society according to so…
If you're going to play that game, you can very easily make a case (and probably a much stronger one) that capitalism's body-count is much, much higher. For starters, you'd have to credit it with the extermination of the Native Americans, the blood-soaked history of 19th century European colonialism, and the First World War.
I would not call the army conquest of land a result of capitalism...
Re: Amazon warehouse workers 'peed in bottles' fearing punishment for taking breaks
#550Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ...might...may... Sounds like speculation.
No, it's accounting for the large numbers of people involved. For clarity: people claiming Universal Credit will have been compelled to apply for work at Amazon, and will have had their benefits cut if they had refused to apply. And, once employed, people face a minimum 6 week wait before they can apply for benefits if they leave Amazon, and that time is extended if they chose to leave or were fired.
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