I have no idea who this guy is,
but a link / source would make
the X post a lot more trustworthy.
One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
321–330 of 487 posts
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If it was that simple then this problem would be solved. Only if you see the world in black and white. My thesis is that money is a corrupting influence in politics, but is not the main driver of it. Meanwhile, money is the only influence in corporate ownership. Which is, incidentally, why most people with money do everything in their power to try to convince us that the solution to all the problems they cause is t…
minimum wage is a state issue , so i’m not sure why the south matters.
I'm confused. Do you think there aren't states in the deep south?
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the US should seek both capitalistic and socialistic policies simultaneously, but this would require a revolution that may [not be possible / very difficult] to achieve from within the US political system because its "operating system" is tainted by lobbyists for the billionaires. i. Restore corporate tax rates to historically high levels ii. Increase capital gains tax significantly iii. Tax speculation-deriv…
> i. Restore corporate tax rates to historically high levels My gut feeling is that this would increase inflation, but I could be wrong. > iv. Gradually curtail subsidies on field corn, currently occupying 5% of America's land (~100 million acres) I would much rather the US spend $2.2B on corn subsidies so that we have food security in the event of a global catastrophe. I’d prefer eating nothing but corn flour/meal f…
>I would much rather the US spend $2.2B on corn subsidies so that we have food security in the event of a global catastrophe. I’d prefer eating nothing but corn flour/meal for years than starving to death.
Are those really the only two options?
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#324Here's the thing. This is going to happen to everyone, as in, no person will be valuable enough via the contribution of their labor to survive without subsidies. At the level of automation we've reached in society, low-skilled labor is worth, per hour, a very small amount. As AI and automation improve, the majority of people will have negligible economic utility. The only way around this is to let those people starve…
> As AI and automation improve, the majority of people will have negligible economic utility.
I'm not 100% sure of this. As a software engineer and AI researcher I actually feel that AI is more likely to replace my job before it replaces some dude hauling boxes in a truck across Colorado during a blizzard and then figuring out how to unload them into the back of a poorly-organized grocery store, or some restaurant chef working with open flames in the back of a restaurant while figuring out how to make something vegan and dealing with someone else's peanut allergy.
Robotics+AI will happen eventually, but high-paid computer-based jobs are IMO the easiest targets to replace. Human labor involves dealing with a lot of corner cases safely and it's going to take a while.
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
If Amazon has a monopoly because they are the only ones interested in taking advantage of the surplus labor, then that’s a huge problem, but unless they are somehow locking other companies out, they aren’t the cause of that problem. Are you trying to tell me that Amazon shouldn’t bring those jobs to those areas, and that would somehow be better for the residents? I don’t see any good logic in that, yes, they are taki…
The issue is simply companies taking advantage of people. We like to call it the market, but the market only works when there is a balance. I am simply advocating for a balancing force. Government or Unions usually fill this role. I would equally challenge you to go to a warehouse and listen to peoples stories about their working conditions and personal stories.
I have friends who are immigrants and have heard them recommending Amazon to each other for warehouse work; apparently Amazon is very flexible if your schedule has to change.
Amazon is a huge player in e-commerce, but there are a lot of employers of warehouse workers and Amazon isn't close to having labor pricing power from what I can see. It's true I am located in a large city and they might have more wage-setting power in smaller cities.
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seem to think that healthcare is just like any other fringe benefit that employers and employees may mutually agree to in the employment market. But the US has a (deeply flawed) form of “universal healthcare” where the employer is required to provide the benefit. This mandate goes back to the New Deal era when capitalists were willing to accept such provisions if it allowed them to avoid a communist revolution, w…
Aren't we talking about Medicaid and food stamps here? Middle class health insurance is indeed an employer subsidy in the US (and it's bad), but Medicaid isn't. Part of the reason we still have this system is that unions like being able to provide healthcare as a benefit though.
The spirit of the policy as understood by most is that employers pay most of the cost of healthcare for their employees, middle class or not. So it comes as a surprise to learn that Medicaid, a program meant for children, the disabled and unemployed, is covering the benefit for employees at taxpayer expense. Amazon can’t have it both ways: lower corporate taxes based on the assumption that they directly provide health care, and the benefit of offloading the health care burden to the state. Can you see why people are concerned about this?
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#327Here's the thing. This is going to happen to everyone, as in, no person will be valuable enough via the contribution of their labor to survive without subsidies. At the level of automation we've reached in society, low-skilled labor is worth, per hour, a very small amount. As AI and automation improve, the majority of people will have negligible economic utility. The only way around this is to let those people starve…
Actually, it's the opposite. At the level of automation we've reached, labor is worth, per hour, way more than 100 years ago. The problem is just that this value is siphoned off by shareholders who do not have to work to receive the monetary value that should go to the worker. So the issue is simply in how corporations are set up and how the stock market is designed. The entire system is designed to drain as much val…
I agree that extreme inequality is generally bad and the value of labor should be higher than the value of capital. But market forces are really important for the functioning of the economy and the welfare of everybody, including low-skilled workers. Regulations like this would distort market forces. A much better solution is progressive taxation. Capital gains and dividends should be taxed much higher, with the benefits predominantly going to workers.
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#328Here's the thing. This is going to happen to everyone, as in, no person will be valuable enough via the contribution of their labor to survive without subsidies. At the level of automation we've reached in society, low-skilled labor is worth, per hour, a very small amount. As AI and automation improve, the majority of people will have negligible economic utility. The only way around this is to let those people starve…
According to this we were doomed by the 1950s
Then in the 70s
Then in the 90s
Then now
No
Comparative Advantage, Google/GPT it
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a lot of work to be done. Literally everywhere is short staffed: hospitals and other medical groups, construction, retail, restaurants, pharmacies, etc. I don't remember things being like this 20 years ago. Wherever you go, there's huge waits due to staffing issues.
There’s an aversion to calculating wages based on local rent, food, and gas prices that I haven’t found an explanation for. If you’re hiring machinists or nurses for $2 more than fast food wages you will be continually understaffed and the local pool of skilled workers will dry up.
> There’s an aversion to calculating wages based on local rent, food, and gas prices that I haven’t found an explanation for.
If this is a recent development, I would say that it's just inertia against inflation. Are you saying this has been happening more than the past couple years?
Re: One-third of Amazon warehouse workers are on food stamps or Medicaid
#330Not sure how this economic illiterate Twitter post has nearly 100 upvotes within an hour. This is not how a subsidy works. I'm sure Amazon execs would be happy for the government to end their "subsidy", which would increase the demand for employment and downwardly pressure wages. Just because Jeff Bezo's company is primarily a retail company with lower margins than Dan Price's higher margin B2B company doesn't mean t…
>The San Francisco residents have highest incomes in America, but continue to have the worst rates of homelessness in America Not true.
Ok. One of the worst rates of homelessness in America. Big difference.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/sf-homeless-crisis-oa...
You see even more homelessness in nearby Oakland, whose residents are still some of the wealthiest in America.