71–80 of 237 posts
I've been thinking that in this new reality Amazon warehouse workers and delivery folks are doing something pretty amazing by helping the rest of us. IMOH Jeff Bezos should really consider this and put something amazing together for these foundational people. (I say amazing because I think they should be rewarded in a big way - Amazon stock maybe?)
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Interesting -- what's the basis for this distinction? Unions make sense for the dumb masses in low-end jobs, but not for smart professionals like yourself?
I think the common argument is that unions tend to flatten pay disparities among workers. if you're currently recognized as an outstanding performer and compensated accordingly, you might expect to lose out under unionization. not saying this is necessarily true (or untrue), just that this is what people think. in fields where productivity varies less by skill, you would tend to see less of this objection.
One of the Danish consumer NGOs called tænk recently tested the security of things bought off amazon, wish and other online retailers. More than half of the smoke alarms bought on amazon didn’t work. Around half of the baby toys didn’t meet choking hazard safety. Not sure why anyone still buys things from there. Or anywhere online really, all the other retailers failed as well.
> More than half of the smoke alarms bought on amazon didn’t work. Around half of the baby toys didn’t meet choking hazard safety. This is a manufacturer issue. This has nothing to do with Amazon. > Not sure why anyone still buys things from there. Or anywhere online really, all the other retailers failed as well. This is just a blanket statement that is completely wrong. Amazon sells all sorts of reputable supplies…
Amazon is the company selling the product. Every brick and mortar store is expected to not sell defective goods, why should Amazon be exempt?
It's also worth noting that if our economy starts deflating (basically inevitable at this point), real incomes will rise. So $15 an hour next month is like $20 an hour last month (or some ratio like that).
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What hospitals need are N95 respirators and surgical masks. A family member of mine is a doctor at a large hospital system. They have a mask shortage and have been encouraged to use scarves and t-shirts if necessary. Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public. Countries in Asia, where it is common for everyone to wear masks have a lower R0 value.
> Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public This goes against the current WHO recommendation > If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
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> When the bailouts for so many others are happening I don't disagree that the support for, say, airlines, are bailouts, but the connotation that word has from 2008-2009 mischaracterizes what's going on right now. When this all blows over, you absolutely want airlines ready for business. Letting heavily impacted businesses fail is a recipe for a depression.
It's probably time to nationalize the airline industry entirely. Why do they enrich themselves during good times, and then we bail them out during bad times? If it's essential to economic stability and national security, and it keeps costing taxpayers a ton of money, then why even continue this facade of "private" airlines? The same excuse was used for banks during the recession. We need banks when the economy recove…
Did they? Airline stock prices have collapsed, so unless insiders sold everything in January, "enrich themselves" really means standard executive pay...which might be high, but that's another issue. Airlines, as businesses, didn't behave especially irresponsibly for the past decade. It's nothing like the banking excesses in 2007 that causes 2008.
Air travel in the US was significantly more expensive when it was heavily regulated. By your logic, you very quickly get to a Chinese level of state ownership of businesses. Practically every large cap company would be on that list.
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What hospitals need are N95 respirators and surgical masks. A family member of mine is a doctor at a large hospital system. They have a mask shortage and have been encouraged to use scarves and t-shirts if necessary. Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public. Countries in Asia, where it is common for everyone to wear masks have a lower R0 value.
> Plain cotton masks would offer considerable benefits if everybody began wearing them in public This goes against the current WHO recommendation > If you are healthy, you only need to wear a mask if you are taking care of a person with suspected 2019-nCoV infection.
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Depends on the spin. Couldn't you argue this is exploitation of the health of desperate low-paid workers, their family and their communities?
> Couldn't you argue this is exploitation of the health of desperate low-paid workers, their family and their communities? Giving people a raise to incentivize them to voluntarily work to supply resources people desperately need is pretty difficult to spin into exploitation. Many people are out there volunteering to do such things for free because they understand how badly it's needed. I suspect those likely to be sy…
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It's probably time to nationalize the airline industry entirely. Why do they enrich themselves during good times, and then we bail them out during bad times? If it's essential to economic stability and national security, and it keeps costing taxpayers a ton of money, then why even continue this facade of "private" airlines? The same excuse was used for banks during the recession. We need banks when the economy recove…
> Why do they enrich themselves during good times Did they? Airline stock prices have collapsed, so unless insiders sold everything in January, "enrich themselves" really means standard executive pay...which might be high, but that's another issue. Airlines, as businesses, didn't behave especially irresponsibly for the past decade. It's nothing like the banking excesses in 2007 that causes 2008. Air travel in the US…
Does your discounted unregulated fare rate include the cost of the all the bailouts over the decades? Are you fine with letting the airlines fail this time?
One of the Danish consumer NGOs called tænk recently tested the security of things bought off amazon, wish and other online retailers. More than half of the smoke alarms bought on amazon didn’t work. Around half of the baby toys didn’t meet choking hazard safety. Not sure why anyone still buys things from there. Or anywhere online really, all the other retailers failed as well.
> More than half of the smoke alarms bought on amazon didn’t work I've bought multiple name-brand ones off Amazon, sold by Amazon. The one by my bathroom absolutely works. I can't count how often a steamy shower set it off. Were they buying knockoffs from third-party sellers?