451–460 of 572 posts
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We can have those businesses. They just don't make as much money, so are inferior. Unless of course, customers don't tip. Then your suggestion is not an inferior competitor.
Define “business”. Seems to me like you mean to say “owner” instead, because the employees would, by definition, make more money.
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And this is why working under this scenario, the vehicle is a money losing asset (where every dollar you earned driving costs a dollar in vehicle depreciation, even with a tax deduction, it's still a money losing asset). The deliverer has to be able to earn $1.15 (at least) per dollar depreciated from the vehicle for the work to be "worth it".
The other issue is uncertainty - you have no idea how much you will earn on a given day or if this will be the day your car finally hits one pothole too many and dies.
(Income - expenses) / hours worked = hourly wage
Is your hourly wage reasonable? If so, it may make sense to optimize away your expenses and generally stay the course. If it's not, would changing your work hours or location make it reasonable?
Unfortunately, I get your feeling that people only look at the income and ignore the rest of the equation (hey, I got $50 tonight! I had to drive 100 miles though...). If you're making $3/trip, you had better drive less than 6 miles or you just lose.
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It was until my $1k car repair.
Ha, same here. I thought my catering side job was pretty sweet (7€ an hour!) until I once scratched someones car on the way to work and it cost me 350€, which was more than I had earned in that job. I've since realised that cars are very expensive and you should probably not take a job that requires a lot of driving around in your own car if you don't get reimbursed for it.
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Right, which is exactly what I was saying, those societies mentioned as not having a minimum wage tend to have other mechanisms to either set an effective minimum or structures to help out. It's not like those other countries without minimum wages also give poorer people the finger in every other way, like the US does, and as I imagine would be the case in your (obviously) libertarian fantasy-land.
I live in Singapore. We don't have a minimum wage. It's a neoliberal fantasy-land, yes. Lee Kuan Yew's autobiography was called "From Third World to First" for good reason.
Also living on any sort of low wage is massivly uncomfortable. Just affording air conditioning is difficult.
Even people with great jobs end up living with multiple generations of family in tiny apartments.
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> you basically just "borrowed" money from your vehicle. so wouldn't it then make more sense to just sell the vehicle for $10003, then place that money in an interest earning asset like a bond, rather than "borrow" from the value of the vehicle?
Most Americans can't manage daily necessities (groceries, childcare, doctor's visits, etc.) without a car. Then maybe you ask why they don't have a cheaper car. Generally, a cheaper car costs far more to maintain. The total annual cost of ownership of a 2-year-old Camry is far lower than a 10-year-old Camry. But to get that lower cost, you have to temporarily convert more of your money into that car asset. End result…
A financially well-off family may have multiple cars, a garage, and some spare time. They can incur the risk of an old cheap car much more easily.
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There's also no other developed country that has drug problems like the US. If you stop treating people with respect, they need some way to cope. First painkillers, then the opioid crisis, now alcohol-related deaths are on the rise. And I recently read that the new hip thing are LSD nose spray trips timed to your lunch break.
While like any other substance LSD can be abused it doesn’t make sense to mention it in the same breath as the opioid crisis or alcoholism.
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We only have one location so our overhead is too high. Once we add a couple more locations then we could afford that. We're profitable but not enough to raise wages. I'm not even getting paid from my own startup yet. >poverty wages This is the California minumum wage, but our location is in fresno which is a lower cost of living than the bay or LA. >Gee, I wonder why nobody wants to work for you? chill. Starting a co…
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> Why should they work for you when they could work there (Aldi)
Why work for Aldi when they can work for Dangus?
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That's barely the case any more. The amount of gig-economy wage slavery in all countries is sky rocketing. No country is really spared. You can find people everywhere who are juggling e-scooter, ride share, food delivery etc jobs at an excruciating schedule for barely any money. In Sweden in particular, it seems that the waves of refugees in recent years have only fueled this.
If those refugees are grateful for the opportunity to work and earn, and are in much better conditions now than in the countries they fled, and also wouldn't necessarily qualify for higher wage jobs because of language/cultural/educational barriers, why is that so bad? And if it allows more prosperous Swedes to enjoy the convenience of food delivery for a cost that they think is worth it, is that so terrible? To me,…
Is anyone else starting to get the feeling that "gig economy" is this generation's "multi-level marketing"? People who don't know any better get sold on the "be your own boss, earn what you put in" concept. Reality doesn't match expectations. The people work their asses off and wind up with a lot less money than they expected because costs and actual spent time aren't taken into account. The people they're working fo…
> "gig economy" is this generation's "multi-level marketing" >People who don't know any better get sold on the "be your own boss, earn what you put in" concept. I personally know no person who thinks driving Uber or delivering food is a job where you are “being your own boss”. It seems like these jobs are generally perceived as low-status low-paying jobs for people without education who have no better opportunities.
Is anyone else starting to get the feeling that "gig economy" is this generation's "multi-level marketing"? People who don't know any better get sold on the "be your own boss, earn what you put in" concept. Reality doesn't match expectations. The people work their asses off and wind up with a lot less money than they expected because costs and actual spent time aren't taken into account. The people they're working fo…
Then my first child was born, and there's a great mixing of classes and social circles that happens. You no longer necessarily choose the adult friends you interact with.
All of a sudden, the whatsapp chat we setup among parents to coordinate 'kids things' became yet another platform for these MLM moms to push their shit (the dads are too busy talking about sports and gambling.)
It's really sad, desperate, and shows a complete lack of social awareness -- something I was never exposed to.
I was once stumped in trying to figure out why people do things against their own interests, but the MLM moms gave me the answer: A lot of people lack the critical thinking, distancing and math I consider fundamental.