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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)

#261

Post by dvirsky »

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.

I started out in print journalism in the 90s, it was such a cool thing back then in my country. I switched to internet content when it just started because it was exciting, not because I foresaw any decline of journalism on the horizon. And then interacting with the devs of the website I was working for reminded me that tech was actually my real passion, so I made the switch to being a developer myself. I'm grateful for that decision pretty much every single day ever since.

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

#262

Post by moate »

Nasrudith wrote: post #233
moate wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean...many of them do? At least in America, that's a thing. Now it might not be the ONLY factor (I don't believe most MDs are out here prescribing things that patients wouldn't find beneficial) but it plays into their equation. And occasionally we do hear stories about pill farms...

I have seen the opposite with doctors in my experience, going with what is the cheapest working option for the patient be it handing out several free sample packs to try a drug to checking for best covered option as a default. Like "XR is more expensive but we can subsitute three times a day for as cheap with your minimal plan vs okay you have good insurance, I can switch you to XR". I guess it is just good medical p…

"Many" in my post was not meant to imply "most". I have no idea how many doctors are more focused on the money vs saving lives, but it's >0%. I will say my experience as a patient has reflected what you're describing, and that it would likely be that "doing what is best for my patient" often involves doing what's best for their bank account.

I just know I worked in pharma advertising, and we def identified who helped push product. There's a reason the industry is so heavily regulated, well actually many reasons, but one of them is def because drug companies exploit US insurance practices using copay and other programs which allow. And people doctors definitely have different attitudes when speaking with "Dude with platinum level insurance" and "Dude who has no insurance and works as a waiter".

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

#263

Post by WalterBright »

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.

I'm bemused at newspapers that want to "save the free press" by getting government funding.

(Whoever pays the bills decides the content.)

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

#264

Post by WalterBright »

jzb wrote: post #221
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.

This is a particularly naive viewpoint on journalism / the publishing industry. Journalists may be the face of the industry, but they're not the primary deciders. They don't control the business decisions, or indeed many of the individual editorial decisions. Just like one little nugget of anecdata. I used to work at a radio station in a small market that was 1/3 stations run out of the same building by the same owne…

Why not start your own news publication? Run it according to your own rules.

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

#265

Post by rsj_hn »

cbozeman wrote: post #67
seibelj wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that in the USA you would have a much harder time finding an able-bodied person who cannot find an available job vs. someone with multiple options. My news this week is full of stories of employers who cannot find enough labor. We are very far away from a jobs crisis.

> My news this week is full of stories of employers who cannot find enough labor. Yeah, they can't find enough labor because they want to pay people $15 an hour in an area where the median home price is $572,000. I work in logistics. I occasionally overhear some of executive staff down the hall from my office complain about being unable to keep workers in a non-climate controlled warehouse, lifting enormously heavy t…

> Yeah, they can't find enough labor because they want to pay people $15 an hour in an area where the median home price is $572,000.

No, as in, can't find skilled labor for a good salary. The notion that only unskilled labor is sought after is incorrect. Good people are always hard to find. Smart people are always hard to find. But most workers are average, and it is hard to find a job that can support a half million mortgage for the worker who is average.

What is also true is that there is skilled labor in shrinking industries and that labor is not easy to transfer to other skilled industries. You can take a smart person in logistics and convert them into a highly sought after programmer with enough time and the right attitude, but if you already have a family then you can't handle the dip. Skill mismatch is a real problem, particularly given our penchant for outsourcing. But I don't see why meeting the mortgage needs of half million dollar homes should be the yardstick by which you judge a labor market.

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

#266

Post by rsj_hn »

justinator wrote: post #103
zeroonetwothree wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it makes no sense to compare the median home price to the lowest paying jobs? We don’t really expect people who earn the least to be buying the median house. (And it’s silly to think that 100% home ownership is some kind of ideal, it has a lot of negative consequences so we’re better off with many people renting). This claim would be stronger if you compared to the bottom 10% of housing, say.

Not sure what the housing market is where you live, but you can't get a house here, unless you make an offer 35% over asking and have cash on hand. Could you get a house for < million? Perhaps but it'll be "a fixer upper" to put it humorously. You're more likely looking at a trailer, and those have 5 year waiting period.

You understand that this is very unusual right? I mean, mere seconds of googling can show you that the average house price in the U.S. is about 270K, not 570K, and the average purchase price is not 35% over-asking unless there is a sudden epidemic of people under-asking and misvaluing their own homes.

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

#267

Post by WalterBright »

pmoriarty wrote: post #175
asdfasgasdgasdg wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 garbagepers…

A professor friend of mine told me once that one of the secretaries was lamenting that "even garbagemen get paid more than I." Curmudgeon that he was, he suggested that she quit and become a garbageman. She replied in an offended tone "no way would I do a filthy, disgusting job like that."

QED

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

#268

Post by WalterBright »

varispeed wrote: post #244
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…

> Amazon pays well. If company has huge billion dollar profits, then they don't pay well. This is pure greed and exploitation. They get great value out of their employees but they don't share it amongst them. They share just enough so they don't look too bad to an untrained eye.

They share it with anyone willing to take a risk and buy a share.

Working at a job doesn't automatically give one ownership rights, any more than the mechanic who fixes your car gets a share in the proceeds when you sell it.

Many companies, however, do provide ownership rights to employees in the form of stock purchase plans and stock option plans. I don't know if Amazon provides such to warehouse workers, but I'd suspect it would be good business to do so.

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

#269

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

ineedasername wrote: post #236
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.

it's hard for me to feel too bad for the industry It's important to understand the causal direction here. As the industry took hit after hit while the internet gained dominance, media outlet like Fox News pioneered highly opinionated reporting & commentary, and it worked . Viewers & readers were more attracted to content that raised an emotional response. There's blame to put on the industry, but I can't separate tha…

Humans give greater credence to those expressing negative opinions. The media and politicians take advantage of this to get attention and votes. In the past the limited competition in the media allowed the voice of reason to prevail. Now the race to the bottom has made that a losing proposition for running a business selling information.

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

#270

Post by WalterBright »

splitstud wrote: post #227
dv_dt wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’d you don’t have a lot of financial resources, and work a low paid job, you also tend not to have the time resources to explore the option. It comes at a high transaction cost.

My experience with wage workers that are struggling to make ends meet is different. They spend a lot of time looking for better jobs and side gigs. Like, it is their primary focus.

My unwanted opinion on that is their "lot of time" would be better invested in upgrading their skills so they can get a higher paying job.
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