351–360 of 365 posts
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If this is true then your comments are literally meaningless, in fact all comments would be.
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While I personally believe in so-called super determinism (really just determinism), an obvious implication is that we don't have a choice in whether we believe in anything, or how we react to anything. Therefore, to the extent that you're able to make a choice about how to behave given that knowledge (which is to say, not at all), you'd might as well choose to behave as if you are able to make choices. Then if you'r…
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There is no job that is ok to pay nothing or as good as nothing. It doesn't matter what "career". If a job needs doing by a human at all, then that human does indeed deserve a reasonable baseline which allows them to exist and even do so with reasonable dignity. As time goes on and jobs are done by machines, and there are fewer and fewer jobs that require a human, then the output and ownership of those machines simpl…
These are not slaves. They are free to leave. Nobody is forcing them to work at this job for so little pay. There are plenty of other jobs that pay better. They should go get one of those if they want more money. If enough of them did, the supply of animators would fall and pay would increase.
If it's 500 freelancers competing for the equivalent of 2 1-day jobs, the employer still has to pay something reasonable for a days work to 2 of them, and nothing to the rest. Or the granularity can be smaller like per hour, but the per hour rate is still some minimum that actually works.
It doesn't matter what the powerless individual worker is ostensibly "free" to do.
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> Then by definition, that’s what their time is worth. Only if the market for animation is efficient.
If it wasn't efficient, it is because some participants in the market (namely the animators) aren't choosing to maximize their economic utility by doing a different (higher paid) job.
* Switching costs for changing careers are high.
* Collusion between employers.
* Collusion between employees.
* Products being exchanged are not commoditized.
"Free markets" work great for determining prices for easily manufactured commodity products like toilet paper. They work way less great for basically everything else.
Employing someone to create artwork is just about as far from an efficient market as I can imagine.
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If this is true then your comments are literally meaningless, in fact all comments would be.
Yawn, I'm sure you advocate in favour of the nonsense that comes out of religious people that believe in their nonsense that has no evidence as well.
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These are not slaves. They are free to leave. Nobody is forcing them to work at this job for so little pay. There are plenty of other jobs that pay better. They should go get one of those if they want more money. If enough of them did, the supply of animators would fall and pay would increase.
It doesn't matter if "they are free to leave". There is still no excuse for the employer to pay less than a livable amount for whatever work they get. If it's 500 freelancers competing for the equivalent of 2 1-day jobs, the employer still has to pay something reasonable for a days work to 2 of them, and nothing to the rest. Or the granularity can be smaller like per hour, but the per hour rate is still some minimum…
If you don’t like the amount being offered, then don’t accept it. This is not very complicated.
Animators are not powerless. It’s not like they are coal miners in a company town and this is the only job available for miles around. Nobody has to be an animator.
Honestly, if a friend came to you and said “my job sucks! They work us to the bone and pay us nothing!” Would you give them a speech about how their employer is evil and they are powerless or would you help them find another job?
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It doesn't matter if "they are free to leave". There is still no excuse for the employer to pay less than a livable amount for whatever work they get. If it's 500 freelancers competing for the equivalent of 2 1-day jobs, the employer still has to pay something reasonable for a days work to 2 of them, and nothing to the rest. Or the granularity can be smaller like per hour, but the per hour rate is still some minimum…
People can offer to pay whatever they want. Other people can choose to accept it or not. The point where what people offer and what people are willing to accept intersect determines the price. If you don’t like the amount being offered, then don’t accept it. This is not very complicated. Animators are not powerless. It’s not like they are coal miners in a company town and this is the only job available for miles arou…
It's particularly egregious in the US where healthcare is tied to employment, meaning that for many people a gap in unemployment would bankrupt them trying to pay for medication or care without insurance. The ACA was insufficient - policies through it are still incredibly expensive with high deductibles, and the lack of a public option for those ineligible for Medicare (or whose state governments declined medicare coverage for them) leaves them beholden to their employer.
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People can offer to pay whatever they want. Other people can choose to accept it or not. The point where what people offer and what people are willing to accept intersect determines the price. If you don’t like the amount being offered, then don’t accept it. This is not very complicated. Animators are not powerless. It’s not like they are coal miners in a company town and this is the only job available for miles arou…
There is an enormous power imbalance even in the absence of collusion between employers (which is common). It is difficult and expensive to find jobs, to change jobs, and to move. Many people literally cannot afford to move to a different city for a job. Many employees can't even get a day off to go to a medical appointment, much less apply to a different job. Companies can wait, get loans, and compare offers for doz…
I'm sure there are people who, at times, are in difficult situations. But those are usually not permanent. Are you telling me that someone gets one shitty job once and that is it? They permanently have that one job for the rest of their life? Empirically, that is not what happens. People do change jobs one way or another.
Yes, healthcare in the US could be better, but the article was about animators in Japan, so that is not really relevant. These aren't retail workers with no marketable skills or training. They're talented and well-trained to even be able to get the job in the first place. They just happen to want to work in one very over-saturated, highly competitive industry. Not just animation in general but specifically, anime. Anyone who could get a job there could probably get any graphic design or other job requiring art talent, they're just choosing not to because they want to do this one thing, and in the process driving down the price of labor.
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Gamedev is close to this. I can assure you that indies will not get the better end of the deal here. Companies with money will out-advertise you, will out-produce you, and still hold onto valuable copyright despite the narrative here about signaling the end of copyright. And that's all before discussing how this will affect monetization. Indies already feel soft capped at $20/work and almost hard capped at $30. Will…
Gamedev is nothing like media. It's much easier to become a YouTuber or non-game indie creator. Gamedev takes too damned long. You can't experiment and rapidly try new things.
Regardless, the comparison point here would be that fan artist would be able to scale to the level of making feature length films. A AAA game and a Feature length animation (or perhaps a "season" of an animated series) aren't that far apart in scope. They both require a cross discipline of art, sound, and text to properly pull off.
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There is an enormous power imbalance even in the absence of collusion between employers (which is common). It is difficult and expensive to find jobs, to change jobs, and to move. Many people literally cannot afford to move to a different city for a job. Many employees can't even get a day off to go to a medical appointment, much less apply to a different job. Companies can wait, get loans, and compare offers for doz…
Mandating a wage where it is unprofitable to employ people so the business folds or lays them off does not seem like it would help anyone in that situation. I'm sure there are people who, at times, are in difficult situations. But those are usually not permanent. Are you telling me that someone gets one shitty job once and that is it? They permanently have that one job for the rest of their life? Empirically, that is…
It is detrimental to society to allow capital owners to pocket all the profits and drive the cost of labor down.