Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows • Hacker News Board

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#61

Post by bdamm » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

VonGuard wrote: post #5

The United States is weird in that you are defined, here, by your job or profession. TV shows put your job title under your name when you appear on them. People's first question is always "What do you do?" at parties and at events. In other countries, this isn't always the case. When I'm in Europe, people ask where you're from, what's for dinner, and what's happening? The question of your job is rarely asked up front…

Many places in Europe also organize themselves into castes based on education, and the second question will then be "where did you go to school". Some places will even triage your quality of hospital care based on what degree you have attained. I'll take the US approach, thanks.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#62

Post by SketchySeaBeast » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:51 PM UTC

povertyworld wrote: post #49

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

C'mon now, there's also the "this week in dumb decisions" section. We're still riding the wave from Sharpie-gate.

I couldn't bring myself to even click on those. The media has cried wolf for so long with Trump, if I see a headline saying "Trump to start WW3", I'm just going to think, boy, the NY Times just keeps hitting new lows and not even click it.

You didn't see that the man literally drew an extra, obviously out of place circle on the official hurricane projection map to make his previous erroneous tweet seem correct? You're missing out. While the error itself is unlikely to start WW3 or tank the stock market, it certainly does cause one to ask questions.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#63

Post by bluntfang » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:52 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #43

VonGuard wrote: post #5

The United States is weird in that you are defined, here, by your job or profession. TV shows put your job title under your name when you appear on them. People's first question is always "What do you do?" at parties and at events. In other countries, this isn't always the case. When I'm in Europe, people ask where you're from, what's for dinner, and what's happening? The question of your job is rarely asked up front…

These silly “American bad Europe good” comments always find their way into these discussions, and they are as uninsightful as “if you aren’t the customer you’re the product!”. An equally uncharitable interpretation is: American culture, unlike European, places incredible value on personal agency. We ask each other “what do you do” because we actually have the socially enforced freedom to choose what the answer to the…

>We ask each other “what do you do” because we actually have the socially enforced freedom to choose what the answer to the question is.

No we don't, or at least most people don't. People of disenfranchised communities don't choose to not go to college or get a job in software development. This makes up most people.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#64

Post by tempsy » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:53 PM UTC

I don't think I've ever felt scared about losing a job, though I think it has always been a part of my personality to reject being slotted into some corporate machine and have always had one foot out the door of a job, so to speak.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#65

Post by magduf » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:54 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #39

VonGuard wrote: post #5

The United States is weird in that you are defined, here, by your job or profession. TV shows put your job title under your name when you appear on them. People's first question is always "What do you do?" at parties and at events. In other countries, this isn't always the case. When I'm in Europe, people ask where you're from, what's for dinner, and what's happening? The question of your job is rarely asked up front…

> People's first question is always "What do you do?" at parties and at events. ... When I'm in Europe, people ask where you're from A charitable interpretation is that it's better to ask someone about an aspect of themselves they control over one that was a product of purely random chance. Both tell you many things about the person, but the former gives the person more influence over how they are perceived. I grew u…

This is a good point. I'm in the exact same boat: I'm from the South too, which isn't something I'm proud of at all, and I occasionally get comments asking why I don't speak with a Southern accent (my parent intentionally adopted a Midwestern English speaking style, and I also intentionally avoided picking up any such accent, plus I grew up in places with more kids who had migrated there from out-of-state). I really don't want to be known for where I came from, but what I've done with my life, which I find far more interesting (being the first person in my family to graduate from a 4-year university).

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#66

Post by Konnstann » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:54 PM UTC

jefurii wrote: post #34

brightball wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it’s a bit of a leap to go from people identifying themselves by their profession to not valuing human life as a country.

Ask someone who doesn't have a job how they feel about that statement. [Clarification: I have a job but like a lot of people have had times when I was without one].

I've gone through periods of unemployment and will still answer with my profession, with the caveat that I'm looking for work. Just because you aren't currently working doesn't mean what you "do" has changed. People are usually looking for your background or ambitions, not necessarily occupation.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#67

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:55 PM UTC

VonGuard wrote: post #5

The United States is weird in that you are defined, here, by your job or profession. TV shows put your job title under your name when you appear on them. People's first question is always "What do you do?" at parties and at events. In other countries, this isn't always the case. When I'm in Europe, people ask where you're from, what's for dinner, and what's happening? The question of your job is rarely asked up front…

"people ask where you're from"

There's a trope in India where, especially if you look like you are from a lower social caste, people ask you your name, and if you reply with just your first name, insist on knowing your last name, which is of course a primary caste marker for a lot of people.

Asking where someone's from is no different. The answer can be used to silently judge the other person based on the zillion subtle class distinction Europe has, and worse, can't be controlled by an individual, just as you did just now to judge Americans with some hand-wavy pop-sociology.

I can't change where I am from, but I have some control on what I do.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#68

Post by lotsofpulp » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:55 PM UTC

bluntfang wrote: post #58

lotsofpulp wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The employees also chose to patronize businesses that outsourced and offered lower prices. Other than forcing Americans to buy products made with American labor, what options are there?

Choice is a really funny word when it comes to employees. Most employees don't have a "choice" if you look a little further beyond the surface.

By employees, I’m referring to American customers, who opted for the low prices at Walmart versus their local store. My point is employers didn’t have a choice either, if they wanted to stay in business.

This is the end result of arbitrage opportunities due to differences in nations’ wealth.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#69

Post by kinkrtyavimoodh » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:55 PM UTC

blhack wrote: post #43

VonGuard wrote: post #5

The United States is weird in that you are defined, here, by your job or profession. TV shows put your job title under your name when you appear on them. People's first question is always "What do you do?" at parties and at events. In other countries, this isn't always the case. When I'm in Europe, people ask where you're from, what's for dinner, and what's happening? The question of your job is rarely asked up front…

These silly “American bad Europe good” comments always find their way into these discussions, and they are as uninsightful as “if you aren’t the customer you’re the product!”. An equally uncharitable interpretation is: American culture, unlike European, places incredible value on personal agency. We ask each other “what do you do” because we actually have the socially enforced freedom to choose what the answer to the…

They're worse than “if you aren’t the customer you’re the product!”.

The latter at least is true in some sense.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#70

Post by magduf » Tue, Sep 10, 2019, 4:55 PM UTC

oblio wrote: post #55

cal5k wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet, America is directly responsible for the lifting of a billion people out of poverty through trade - far more than any social assistance program in history.

Didn't the US have only about 330 million people or so?

You seem to be forgetting the billions of people in China. Who do you think buys most of the stuff China exports?