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I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

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Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#171

Post by gonehome »

Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #169
eplanit wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh -- they've done themselves such harm in recent years by embracing activism and deliberate bias that it's hard for me to feel too bad for the industry. That said, I'll applaud whichever journalists are brave enough to start pushing their industry/art back towards objectivity and diversity of perspective.

Embracing activism isn't necessarily a shooting oneself in the foot, it can be a way of trying to ensure greater profitability. A case in point is The Guardian which took a huge turn in the last decade ago from traditional British working-class themes to trans issues and the specific kind of race debates originating from the US. By doing so, the newspaper could, firstly, win the allegiance of self-identified "woke" r…

Sure and that's why they do it, but it's feels like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I think the future will mostly be the best writers being directly supported by people interested in their beat.

I'm not sure how generic media orgs will continue on, but I'd expect the quality to continue to degrade.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#172

Post by usbline »

eplanit wrote: post #166
ghaff wrote: post #52

Journalism has become such a tough field. I know a number of people who do OK in it. But I know a whole lot more who do writing-related stuff for companies that sell products.

Meh -- they've done themselves such harm in recent years by embracing activism and deliberate bias that it's hard for me to feel too bad for the industry. That said, I'll applaud whichever journalists are brave enough to start pushing their industry/art back towards objectivity and diversity of perspective.

Faux-objective journalism is such a soulless drag. Everyone has biases, attempting to hide them is just gutless.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#173

Post by kingsuper20 »

missedthecue wrote: post #93
fortran77 wrote: post #57

I know that many of us here don't like what labor unions have become in the 21st century. But they do need some labor representation that can ensure the trucks used by drivers have working lights, mirrors, and safe tires, and that the company negotiates use of restrooms around the city. Maybe just a "safety only" union that only deals with safety issues?

UPS is union and their employees urinate in bottles. I don't think unions are the magic wand that a lot of people assume they are

But it's a union-approved bottle though.

It seems to me that a lot of the problem is (and will be) the instrumenting of jobs. The ability surveil a workforce is only going to go up. Everyone, medical techs, cashiers, plumbers, non-rockstar software developers, are going to end up with that bottle.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#174

Post by nmz »

eplanit wrote: post #166
ghaff wrote: post #52

Journalism has become such a tough field. I know a number of people who do OK in it. But I know a whole lot more who do writing-related stuff for companies that sell products.

Meh -- they've done themselves such harm in recent years by embracing activism and deliberate bias that it's hard for me to feel too bad for the industry. That said, I'll applaud whichever journalists are brave enough to start pushing their industry/art back towards objectivity and diversity of perspective.

Weird thing to say for a dying industry that's basically whoring itself for the highest bidder. You want objectivity and unbias? Those are not cheap, and until the whole journalism industry is fixed, you're going to keep getting what we have.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#175

Post by pmoriarty »

asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #25
seibelj wrote: post #12

> Lurching west in stop-and-go traffic on I-80 that morning, bound for Berkeley and a day of delivering in the rain, I had a low moment, dwelling on how far I’d come down in the world. Then I snapped out of it. I haven’t come down in the world. What’s come down in the world is the business model that sustained Time Inc. for decades. I’m pretty much the same writer, the same guy. I haven’t gone anywhere. My feet are t…

I felt bad for him in the moment when he talked about being judged for being a senior and doing a "menial" job. Being a delivery driver is certainly not a high status job but I think it's a reminder not to allow ourselves to look down on any particular role in society. We need all these types of work for the gears to keep turning.

"We need all these types of work for the gears to keep turning."

Ok, we can all agree that until a high level of automation is achieved, such jobs are necessary.

But how many of the people defending the need for such jobs would actually want to do them?

Usually they're happy to let other people do them, but would balk at doing them themselves.

This is especially true for "dirty" or "unsavory" jobs such as garbageperson, exterminator, food processing / slaughterhouse worker, etc.

People are usually happy to hire such people or consume their products, and talk about how essential they are, but would never want to be one themselves.

On top of that, they'd usually look down on people with these jobs and never dream of associating with them or inviting them to their parties.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#176

Post by throwawayboise »

cbozeman wrote: post #136
dominotw wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where the median home price is $572,000 Where did all the money come from in last 1 year to inflate the prices to this insanity. So asset inflation is eventually going to make impact on labor prices and cause inflation. Then is why FED so cocksure that inflation is no big deal. >So yeah, I can understand why employers can't find workers... I don't understand why employers cant simply pay more and pass on the costs…

> > where the median home price is $572,000 > Where did all the money come from in last 1 year to inflate the prices to this insanity. This area of Texas is not well-known to most people. It's a bit of a well-kept secret. While Austin is new money and trendy, and Dallas is cosmopolitan, this area of Texas is old... old money. > I don't understand why employers cant simply pay more and pass on the costs to their consu…

I think the question "why employers cant simply pay more and pass on the costs to their consumers" was rhetorical. Of course most employers cannot do this because their competitors will undercut them. They can only do it for costs that are imposed on all players, like government mandated minimum wage.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#177

Post by throwawayboise »

skystarman wrote: post #124
dominotw wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The type of jobs GP is referring to are dependent on illegal immigrants which was not reduced under last admin.

I'm not sure how that refutes my point that there are millions of people south of the border willing to work these backbreaking jobs for low pay if only our government could come up with some sensible immigration bill. That these same people also exploit undocumented people is a separate issue. Give them papers and you'll have no problem finding jobs!

Relatively few people object to sensible immigration policies. What they object to is undocumented hoards of people flooding across the borders.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#179

Post by vagrantJin »

pmoriarty wrote: post #167
tracer4201 wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can we fix that? Many of my family members and friends have little to no interest in reading or learning, although they do have strong opinions on just about every topic. In my mind, demand for journalism and quality journalism is going to be difficult when folks don’t want or don’t care to read. They have enough things trying to grab their attention that provide an instant gratification — whereas journalism or r…

"How can we fix that? ... demand for journalism and quality journalism is going to be difficult when folks don’t want or don’t care to read." The education system needs to be radically reformed to teach kids to value reading, knowledge, and learning for its own sake and not just to pass tests and get in to schools that will get them high paying jobs. Critical reading and thinking skills also need to be taught more ef…

I agree. Its not in decision makers interest to fix education. It's a lot of work and elections won't wait for you to finish. A crap education might even be politically expedient - and I'm sure politicians have been campaigning to fix it for over 5 decades at this point.

Re: I Used to Write for Sports Illustrated. Now I Deliver Packages for Amazon (2018)

#180

Post by pmoriarty »

SmellTheGlove wrote: post #122
dominotw wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where the median home price is $572,000 Where did all the money come from in last 1 year to inflate the prices to this insanity. So asset inflation is eventually going to make impact on labor prices and cause inflation. Then is why FED so cocksure that inflation is no big deal. >So yeah, I can understand why employers can't find workers... I don't understand why employers cant simply pay more and pass on the costs…

> Where did all the money come from in last 1 year to inflate the prices to this insanity. We've been printing trillions over the past 15 years or so. And we've disproportionately accumulated it at the top (including the audience here, although the top 1% and 0.1% are doing even better than that). That money has to go somewhere. Traditional conservative investments have low rates of return right now - think low inter…

"Take COVID - nobody wants to move, so housing supply is low."

I was under the impression that lots of people wanted to move out of the cities both because the high population of cities made living in them much riskier than living in more rural/suburban areas in terms of infection risk for COVID, and because with the economy hurting from COVID-related lockdowns living in cities (especially expensive ones like SF) was much less affordable.

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