Live data from Hacker News

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

bloomberg.com

171–180 of 185 posts

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

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Appropriate disaster reading :-). Others have pointed out how the black plague killed off a lot of serfs and really put a dent in feudalism because of it. It is all well and good to own a thousand hectares of land but without the serfs to work it, its just a nice park to go walking in.

Trouble is, that nowadays the serfs are in China. In the Middle Ages, servants would flee a lord that was too harsh. The Church and the towns with their rising merchant class would be another way out. Instead we have healthcare tied to the job and the tech hiring cartel. Where is the revolution?

> Where is the revolution?

There was Occupy Wallstreet.

It's very interesting how government attacked it. Both internally and externally.

One lesson to learn from it is that a movement need few clearly defined goals. And needs to remove/distance any people who try to muddle with that (intentionally or not). Otherwise this will divide people on the inside, create infighting leading to disillusioned rudderless environment soon distant to self implode.

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

#172
post #73

There are a lot of factors at play here, and it's highly unlikely anyone has enough information to know the exact optimum response. From a pure health perspective, physical isolation is taxing both physically and mentally. Not everyone has a home gym; is 6 months of sedentary behavior going to cause more cardiovascular complications than coronavirus in the same at-risk groups? Economics also has health and well-being…

> is 6 months of sedentary behavior going to cause more cardiovascular complications than coronavirus in the same at-risk groups?

Every shelter in place order allows people to leave their homes to exercise, and there are plenty of exercises you can do indoors.

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

#173

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…

> 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.

Wanting if you don't have something and wanting if you have something is completely different thing.

Let alone the fact that even if you have it and want it, it still might be uneconomical for you.

You may want a pony. You may even want a pony when it shits on your floor. But it will still be financially bad for you when you have to pick up the bill to feed the damn thing.

We have no slaves because renting employees is cheaper and more flexible than keeping slaved. At least on average.

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

#174
post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Recession in what? You can have recession in yaht and dog stylist industries without many ill effects. Many businesses will be booming in pandemic. Just not the usual ones and that pains the owners of usual ones greatly.

This is not true, and is why the markets are crap. Everyone is buying much less. This means there is less demand still. Thus the economy contracts like dominos. This is literally how every recession in history has worked.

I know people are buying way more delivery services.

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

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they competitive if they don't exploit their workers like companies do?

The idea is to pay the workers out of the profits that would otherwise go to the business owner. This doesn't increase the cost structure of the operation. There's nothing non-capitalist or non-free-market about a worker collective. There are no laws against it. Nobody will try to stop you. You don't need a change in the government. What are you waiting for?

Company owner can always ditch burnt out workers which is efficient for the company. I'm assuming it's not that easy in workers collective?

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

#176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Conventional slavery was damn near ubiquitous, accessible to many. [citation needed]

For starters, in the early 1700s over 40% of NYC households enslaved people, not even in the south. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States#C...

It's not 1700 anymore. Infrastructure is order of magnitude better. Real estate is way more expensive. It's cheaper to rent exploited worker to clean than it would be to house the slave for that on average.

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

#177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Peculiar world view this. A good chair costs $300, and is tax-deductible. And you can pick one that fits you perfectly. Why are you under the delusion that your co-workers are there to service your query queue ? Figure out how to help yourself. Avoiding interrupting pesky colleagues is a major reason working from home is such a pleasure. People defend this self-serving behaviour in the name of 'teamwork' and it needs…

> A good chair costs $300, and is tax-deductible. No, if it's for remote W-2 work, it's not. If it's used exclusively for your own business, it is. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated home office deductions for people who are not self-employed.

Dang, that's correct. Man that sucks.

Still able to deduct those in Canada tho: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/individ...

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

#178
post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Startup idea: The Virtual Water Cooler

I think it’s called Slack.

True, however, sometimes Slack is like if someone put the water cooler in your office, and then started having meetings around the water cooler in your office while you were working and then expected you to be even more productive.

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

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The idea is to pay the workers out of the profits that would otherwise go to the business owner. This doesn't increase the cost structure of the operation. There's nothing non-capitalist or non-free-market about a worker collective. There are no laws against it. Nobody will try to stop you. You don't need a change in the government. What are you waiting for?

Company owner can always ditch burnt out workers which is efficient for the company. I'm assuming it's not that easy in workers collective?

The workers can run the collective as they please.

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

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know how true that is, considering the link used as a citation for the claim is dead: https://www.thenation.com/doc/20051107/slavery_in_new_york My biggest question is how a "household" is defined. Does it only count landowners? Landowners are significantly wealthier than the average citizen, so of course they would be able to afford more than most. Also, are you aware that the population of NYC was under 10,…

Frankly I find this subject far too depressing to read about for your needs. I'm sure you're perfectly capable of google searches and reading about the history of slavery on your own if you're so interested. We were taught this in school, that it was a very common practice with little to no barrier to entry in the early days, and wasn't even racially discriminated until rebellions started. There are even well-documen…

> Frankly I find this subject far too depressing to read about for your needs.

That's what you're going with? So what evidence are you basing your belief of of? Sounds like it's just a feeling.

Post reply on HN