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Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

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Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#141

Post by TeMPOraL »

TheBlight wrote: post #130
cycrutchfield wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be trying to suggest that COVID-19 is no worse than previous influenza epidemics. That does not seem to align with the facts on the ground. We are seeing historically high hospitalizations in many different countries, and certainly historically high rates of deaths. If your hypothesis were correct, we would have also seen this many times in the past.

We don't know what the mortality rate is because we don't know how many people have been infected.

But we know the absolute mortality because people keep dying by the thousands daily and we can measure that.

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#142

Post by cycrutchfield »

TheBlight wrote: post #130
cycrutchfield wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be trying to suggest that COVID-19 is no worse than previous influenza epidemics. That does not seem to align with the facts on the ground. We are seeing historically high hospitalizations in many different countries, and certainly historically high rates of deaths. If your hypothesis were correct, we would have also seen this many times in the past.

We don't know what the mortality rate is because we don't know how many people have been infected.

It doesn't matter. Hospitals are being overloaded and people are dying in hallways for lack of care. Ever seen that at this scale in influenza epidemics before? Maybe not since 1918.

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#143

Post by pengaru »

scotty79 wrote: post #125
pengaru wrote: post #25

No shit, it's not like we have no slave-owners today for lack of want, either.

Own and rent are two side of the same coin. We have no slaves today because renting turned out to be cheaper than owning with advancement of infrastructure and technology. We still use convicts as slaves. It's worth it only if someone else (in case of convicts, the government) covers the cost of ownership.

> We have no slaves today because renting turned out to be cheaper than owning with advancement of infrastructure and technology.

Nonsense, I have an embarrassing number of acquaintances who've admitted to wanting slaves and that they'd have them if it weren't illegal.

It's important to keep in mind that there's no shortage of people who'd be slave owners if only it were legal.

What you see in the prison system is a modern variant but only accessible to very few. Conventional slavery was damn near ubiquitous, accessible to many.

We have no slaves because it's illegal.

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#144

Post by ASalazarMX »

rahidz wrote: post #43

>“The more people are infected, the more likely it is that Blankfein and other billionaires will become infected as well.” May be true, but at the same time >Billionaires and other members of the elite have the luxury of social distancing while making money.

Some of them also have dedicated medical facilities.

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#145

Post by SauciestGNU »

gonehome wrote: post #48
Traster wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely, I'm getting very tired of the constant hacker news posts telling me that working from home is the future, that I'm getting twice as much done in half the time. I'll tell you what I have, I have chronic back pain from my uncomfortable dining room chairs and chronic anger at the fact I can't get timely answers to my quesitons. Some people like working from home, fine, but for many of us it's just not right.

Maybe just buy a decent chair? I picked up a liquidation sale Aeron on Craigslist - totally worth it. Also I’ve found it easier and faster to zoom since everyone is remote (don’t have to try and find an open meeting room).

For real, I also have chronic hip pain and bad ergonomics make it worse. I also bought an aeron for home and it's a life-changing chair. My company provides me with a high end steelcase leap in the office, which is another great choice if you can find a cheap one.

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#146

Post by empath75 »

TheBlight wrote: post #139
munk-a wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are sources out there you can trivially find to better inform yourself, please do so.

Please point me to a source which conclusively demonstrates the true mortality rate is higher than common influenza.

Like do we literally need to fly you to Italy to see the piles of bodies?

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#147

Post by viklove »

pengaru wrote: post #143
scotty79 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Own and rent are two side of the same coin. We have no slaves today because renting turned out to be cheaper than owning with advancement of infrastructure and technology. We still use convicts as slaves. It's worth it only if someone else (in case of convicts, the government) covers the cost of ownership.

> We have no slaves today because renting turned out to be cheaper than owning with advancement of infrastructure and technology. Nonsense, I have an embarrassing number of acquaintances who've admitted to wanting slaves and that they'd have them if it weren't illegal. It's important to keep in mind that there's no shortage of people who'd be slave owners if only it were legal. What you see in the prison system is a…

> Conventional slavery was damn near ubiquitous, accessible to many.

[citation needed]

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#148

Post by cosmiccatnap »

randlet wrote: post #67
JshWright wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's likely the exact opposite will happen. People are being thrown into seriously sub-optimal remote working experiences, and their productivity is likely to suffer for it. This will result in companies being less likely to consider remote working a viable path.

I tend to agree unfortunately. I've spent 10+ years working remotely and the past two weeks have been brutal productivity wise now that my wife is working from home and both kids are home too. As a self-employed individual, it's worrying to me what the next 6 months of this will do to my output. edit: and I feel bad for worrying because we're in a much better position than many others.

Having no kids, I can say I've got more done in less time in the last two weeks than any other two week period in the last two years...

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#149

Post by Ghjklov »

cultus wrote: post #65
kvee wrote: post #31

This is a generally unpopular opinion, and I don't know that I agree with it, but it does appear that the billionaires might be logically right from an ethical perspective. It might cost more QALYs (quality-adjusted life years) to have an economic recession the size of 2008 than to have millions die from COVID-19: https://medium.com/@benfinn/coronavirus-how-much-is-a-life-w...

You are making the very false assumption that we have a choice between deaths and economic collapse. Like it or not, we are seeing faster growth rates than Spain. With our awful response, we could be easily heading for 2+ million deaths if hospitals get overloaded as expected. Workers will not show up anyway because it is dangerous for them and their families (this is already happening). This will cause the economy t…

That really makes me think. What kind of fucked up third world country do we live in where all these apathetic people are willing to consider sacrificing their grandmothers just so they can have work to do in order to get by living?

What happened to revolution and eating the rich? Have we lost to the Mr. Money Mustaches of the world?

Re: Billionaires Want People Back to Work. Employees Aren’t So Sure

#150

Post by Fjolsvith »

holler wrote: post #22
cushychicken wrote: post #8

What if, at the tail end of all this, a bunch of people find that they've tried remote work and decided: "Hey - this fucking rules! " In part because they've realized that they can complete their core work duties in less time, with less distractions, and zero commuting. Maybe - just maybe - this could be the unplug that helps people prioritize the things that they enjoy over their work. I recognize that's a viewpoint…

It's funny, I've been working remotely for the past 4 years and now more than ever, I miss going to an office and being around more people. Working remote has some amazing benefits, and I've certainly taken advantage of them, but eventually I've realized that decreased social interaction is something to consider. That said, I'll probably keep working remote.

Startup idea: The Virtual Water Cooler
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