371–380 of 632 posts
It seems simple enough to raise minimum wages: => tap into corporate profits that are through the roof & reduce the working poor problem. Organizing in unions would work too. Minimum wages exist for a reason: the job market does not satisfy the conditions for making it an "equilibrium" market. As long as unions are weak, corporations can and will strong-arm the labor force into cheaper and cheaper work. The fact that…
Oh wow, my post was just removed. One can have opinion here as long as it resonates with HN's echo chamber.
What do you mean "removed"? Are you talking about this comment that was downvoted? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17966334
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Your story seems to indicate that studying hard and focusing on the future are necessary but not sufficient conditions to enter the middle class. I think the formula is that you need all three: -Relatively consistent work ethic -Decent decision-making -Some minimal opportunity Often the argument seems to swing between these absurd positions that it's all about just one of these and the others don't matter. Of course…
What I find amazing is that so few people here notice the consequences of working hard in a field that is not worth it anymore. His entire family should have slowly "pivoted" away from fishing long long time ago (the first/second year with a low ROI for the risk). The same applies to IT or any other sector. When the prospective ROI turns negative (subtract the total costs of your job(time/health/opportunity) from the…
Is it possible wages often don’t reflect the value of the work people do?
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The maximum entropy situation is one dog with 6+ bones and lots with none. It is structurally broken at a statistical mechanics level if you are concerned about fairness.
It's not easy to imagine somebody having 6+ full time jobs. Just because the time of the worker is the limiting resource.
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> Where people wind up is very much a consequence of their choices. True. But we also have lots of studies showing that the best of the lowest socioeconomic class almost never do better than the laziest of the uppermost socioeconomic class.
> we also have lots of studies showing that the best of the lowest socioeconomic class almost never do better than the laziest of the uppermost socioeconomic class. Could you point me to one? I've seen a number of studies on averages, and anecdotally, this contradicts my experience, so I'd be interested in whatever data you're referring to.
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>you just cannot escape poverty by just working harder. This is a traditional, stereotypical belief that in order to escape poverty you have to work harder. This is old understanding of meritocracy and it's no longer valid. The new meritocracy is that you have to learn harder. And now, given all the learning resources available for free on the internet (which is also very accessible nowadays) it's probably the best t…
Learning costs money, especially as an adult. You still need to cover your basic expenses, homeless or not.
The lady in the example is 33 has a diabetes, 3 kids to support, and presumably also have to support for her disabled mother. To make the matter even more sad she had no higher level education. I can imagine how hard and tough it is for her. But I don't think raising the minimum wage or a mandated salary increase/promotion is the real solution here. The real solutions would be to: 1. Educate parents on the importance…
Your anecdote doesn’t really mean much. “Significantly way better” is apparently still not enough.
Similar to why food stamps are cheaper than food education. The administrative burden is prohibitively expensive.
Let’s not consider the thesis at hand here; jobs aren’t the answer. That flies in the face of our corporate sponsored religion.
Of course believing that inherently threatens your status.
This site should best stick to discussion of technology. Whenever social topics come along, the community quickly reveals its ignorance of reality for the majority, and knee jerk defense of its status quo
It's not like meritocracy is completely unrelated to real life, it matters in a certain regime. However, if like Vanessa, you're born to lesser circumstances, you just cannot escape poverty by just working harder. Similarly, if you are born to very well off standards, even if you're a dope and spend money from Dad's inheritance on cocaine, sure, you won't be successful but you'll still have a net of some kind. You ca…
The diabetic Vanessa could have chosen not to have her first baby at 16.
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Learning costs money, especially as an adult. You still need to cover your basic expenses, homeless or not.
Learning is not just formal education. Learning costs much less money today than it probably ever has. Practically everyone in the US has the access of all the world's collective information.
The lady in the example is 33 has a diabetes, 3 kids to support, and presumably also have to support for her disabled mother. To make the matter even more sad she had no higher level education. I can imagine how hard and tough it is for her. But I don't think raising the minimum wage or a mandated salary increase/promotion is the real solution here. The real solutions would be to: 1. Educate parents on the importance…
How exactly do you intend to fund the design, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of such a massive social engineering program? Your anecdote doesn’t really mean much. “Significantly way better” is apparently still not enough. Similar to why food stamps are cheaper than food education. The administrative burden is prohibitively expensive. Let’s not consider the thesis at hand here; jobs aren’t the answer. That fl…
Maybe take some money out of military spending? Educate the population, the economy soars, and then you can re-increase the military budget 30 years down the line.