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The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

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Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#81

Post by bossyTeacher »

htunnicliff wrote: post #34

I do not know what comes after the recognition. The broader public directs its outrage at whatever the algorithm surfaces […] while the structural rearrangement of their economic lives proceeds without organized resistance. I wish I knew the answer to this question: What shape would organized resistance have in this day and age, especially with the fragmentation of reality caused by social media? Myself and almost ev…

> Myself and almost everyone in my social circles under the age of 50 seem well-primed to participate in such organized resistance, were it to come to life.

You are assuming it hasn't. And besides, are you a revolution to come by way of your instagram/tik tok/Facebook feed? It won't. It's like a relationship, if everyone expects everyone else to make the first move, everyone loses.

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#82

Post by g8oz »

mancerayder wrote: post #77
lux-lux-lux wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Because in practice DSA candidates seem very focused on bread and butter issues like affordability, housing, and M4A. Like, Mamdani was the only NY Dem not talking about Israel, your description is seriously baffling.

Everyone in his entourage was talking about Israel as one of their top activist concerns, including his wife, and the new folks he just helped get elected. And he made notable 'statements' by avoiding certain events and other things. That's entirely besides the point - the folks who voted for him voted for him in part because of his Israel stance. I'm sure you know he's in the DSA, and the DSA https://www.dsausa.org/…

Do you seriously think the bread and butter issues contributed nothing to his appeal? Palestine I'm sure is important but it's easy to dismiss affordability issues if they don't play a large part in your life.

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#83

Post by toomuchtodo »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #74
toomuchtodo wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America’s flavor of Capitalism, through politics and policy, to center the human over capital. (Socialism support is ~62% of the under 30 cohort, and 2M voters 55+ age out every year, progress is a function of time and electorate turnover, with progress visible via observing outcomes at election milestones) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46529387 (citations)

The easiest way to do this is to leave the US. Why not go to Cuba? Or Venezuela? Or Russia? The options are out there.

Isn’t it easier to wait for the minority opposition to age out versus moving? As long as young voters show up to vote, you just have to be on the ballot (as almost every election since the presidential election has shown). Perhaps you’re asking the wrong folks to move, as the future and the country belong to its youth, not its elderly (who, by definition, are time constrained).

“The dead should not rule the living." -— Jefferson

“Progress occurs one funeral at a time.” —- Max Planck

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#84

Post by 9183726518 »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #52
jazz3k wrote: post #24

"The people living inside these numbers describe them in nearly identical terms. “All my life, I thought that was the magical goal, ‘six figures,’” one writes. “During the pandemic, I finally achieved this magical goal… and I was wrong.” Sixty-two percent of American consumers live paycheck to paycheck; among those earning over $100,000, the figure is 48 percent." My cousin makes around 60k/year. He had lower paying…

This is a variation on "Stop buying lattes and takeout and you too can become financially secure." Run the numbers, and no, you really can't. Because if you have a health crisis you'll still be bankrupt. You need an absolute minimum of $100k to protect yourself from health bankruptcy, and if you have a serious condition that's going to be too small by one or two orders of magnitude. You're not going to get that from…

I have ran the numbers, outside of a top 10 city, a single person can easily live a good life off of 40 to 50k a year.

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#85

Post by toomuchtodo »

aleqs wrote: post #41
htunnicliff wrote: post #34

I do not know what comes after the recognition. The broader public directs its outrage at whatever the algorithm surfaces […] while the structural rearrangement of their economic lives proceeds without organized resistance. I wish I knew the answer to this question: What shape would organized resistance have in this day and age, especially with the fragmentation of reality caused by social media? Myself and almost ev…

I think we need to build open/cooperative products and services to replace anything that is run/owned by less-than-moral entities, while boycotting those entities as much as possible. We need better open, fair and secure methods/protocols/tools/platforms for cooperating/organizing as well.

https://ilsr.org/

https://www.fulu.org/

https://www.usworker.coop/directory/

https://atproto.com/

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#87

Post by TimorousBestie »

mancerayder wrote: post #70
arn3n wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s the DSA. Organized resistance to the cost of living crisis in NYC has been mostly organized through them, to great popularity.

The DSA has a narrow agenda: Israel is number one, second is immigration, racial and gender issues, maybe a distant other wish is actual socialist principles. In other words, it truly feels as though the left in the U.S., just as the right has done for years, narrowly focuses on culture and social issues... When economic issues should be the focus. "The rent is too high" stuff in NYC is just dressing - they only touc…

Your description of the DSA is completely unrecognizable from my experience at local DSA meetings.

Nobody in my area cares much about Israel (outside of the handful of months between Biden dropping out and Harris losing, I can’t recall it coming up). Currently we’re organizing for food banks (SNAP cuts have really hurt our community) and trying to prepare for the chaos of Haitians and others losing TPS and possibly getting deported.

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#88

Post by dqv »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #74
toomuchtodo wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America’s flavor of Capitalism, through politics and policy, to center the human over capital. (Socialism support is ~62% of the under 30 cohort, and 2M voters 55+ age out every year, progress is a function of time and electorate turnover, with progress visible via observing outcomes at election milestones) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46529387 (citations)

The easiest way to do this is to leave the US. Why not go to Cuba? Or Venezuela? Or Russia? The options are out there.

You know, I thought, surely, by now, capitalists would be calling for reform to capitalism to prevent the weird ponzy scheme from shutting down, but it's the same clichés! Not even an interrogation of why people are souring to capitalism, just the same old tired response.

Make sure you do 5 prayers to Bezos and another 5 to Thiel on your capitalism rosary ($14.99/month subscription). If you've run out of prayers for the month, they actually have a sale for the 4th of July, $8.99 gives you 12 more prayers! Golly, I could use those two extra prayers to pray to Musk.

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#89

Post by xhkkffbf »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #83
xhkkffbf wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The easiest way to do this is to leave the US. Why not go to Cuba? Or Venezuela? Or Russia? The options are out there.

Isn’t it easier to wait for the minority opposition to age out versus moving? As long as young voters show up to vote, you just have to be on the ballot (as almost every election since the presidential election has shown). Perhaps you’re asking the wrong folks to move, as the future and the country belong to its youth, not its elderly (who, by definition, are time constrained). “The dead should not rule the living."…

You can be on the plane tomorrow. If you're really committed to living under the beautiful Communist dream, it can be yours within 24 hours. Do you really think that it's going to just be Mamdani victory after Mamdani victory going forward and that in 10-20 years you'll be living in paradise?

And, btw, the youth are also time constrained. Sorry to burst your bubble.

Re: The Demoralization of the White-Collar Worker

#90

Post by toomuchtodo »

xhkkffbf wrote: post #89
toomuchtodo wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t it easier to wait for the minority opposition to age out versus moving? As long as young voters show up to vote, you just have to be on the ballot (as almost every election since the presidential election has shown). Perhaps you’re asking the wrong folks to move, as the future and the country belong to its youth, not its elderly (who, by definition, are time constrained). “The dead should not rule the living."…

You can be on the plane tomorrow. If you're really committed to living under the beautiful Communist dream, it can be yours within 24 hours. Do you really think that it's going to just be Mamdani victory after Mamdani victory going forward and that in 10-20 years you'll be living in paradise? And, btw, the youth are also time constrained. Sorry to burst your bubble.

I’m committed to universal healthcare, living wages, heavily subsidized or no cost education, affordable housing (even if it’s public or social, like the Vienna model) and high progressive tax rates. Call it whatever you want, but it’s certainly not communism. It’s less brutalist capitalism. I expect it to take 5-10 years to see progress, at least. I’m prepared for a long haul.

> Do you really think that it's going to just be Mamdani victory after Mamdani victory going forward and that in 10-20 years you'll be living in paradise?

If young people keep voting for democratic socialist candidates and old voters and representatives keep aging out, yes, I see a positive political and policy trajectory to achieving progressive policies. It’s simply demographics and electorate turnover. It’s wild to me these are considered radical ideas, but humans are tricky, emotional, and driven by rigid mostly low information mental models.

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