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What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

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Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#401

Post by yuppie_scum »

screye wrote: post #311
rnikander wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So rent a room and/or don’t live in the best part of the city. That’s what I did near Boston a few years ago. My rent was well under $1000. Do people think they’re entitled to private apartments in the most expensive cities in the world?

Boston is actually an amazing example of things the US needs to do to enable affordable living. The expansive public transport network allows you to live far from the city without incurring huge commute times. That paired with the density means that car ownership is discouraged, which takes away another expense. Lastly, the city continues building multi-family middle housing in the city outskirts which keeps housing…

Boston and eastern MA are far from affordable. Homeownership in a decent area inside 128 is unattainable without a pretty sizable nest eg (equity or gift from parents).

The public transit system is insufficient. The Commuter Rail is infrequent, slow and often unreliable. The entire system needs to be electrified for RER service but that’s probably twenty years away if we are lucky.

And the homeless have just been concentrated into one shantytown at Mass and Cass.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#402

Post by nradov »

ctoth wrote: post #209
hn_neverguess wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Amazon is not even close to bottom of the barrel. What would you define as the bottom of the barrel then? There has to be a sensible threshold that delineates between 1) "I encountered a lot of bad luck but I am motivated and want to get myself out of this situation and 2) I simply don't care. Most of the physically able that fall under 1) can get a job at an Amazon warehouse. For those in poor health, I will agree…

> The national median rent was $1,792 last month, up 17% from a year ago, according to a report from Realtor.com. Rent for studio apartments, one bedrooms and two bedrooms all saw double-digit increases over the past year[0]. [0]: https://abc7.com/rent-prices-apartments-cost-of-realtorcom/1...

Yes the eviction moratorium really drove up rents.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#403

Post by User23 »

hutzlibu wrote: post #158
User23 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pediatric oncology. That job must be nightmarish for anyone who isn’t a full-blown sociopath. I’m not a particularly empathetic person and I couldn’t start that job let alone stay in it for years. Edit: > One of the attractions of pediatrics is, surprisingly enough… This is the opposite of surprising. I imagine one of the appeals of pediatrics is significantly fewer of your patients die. That’s why pediatric oncolo…

"That job must be nightmarish for anyone who isn’t a full-blown sociopath." Why do you have to be a sociopath, if you have the guts to help people, who need help? Even or especially if they are children? Sociopaths would do it for the money and prestige. A doctor with empathy mainly to save those that can be saved and ease the suffering of those that cannot. No need to insult or stigmatize them, because they can do,…

Are you saying that watching children die from cancer is fun and easy? To me it sounds like a nightmare. It’s obvious that I think that the persons who take that on are bearing a great burden. I don’t fault those that choose to lay it down. Do you?

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#404

Post by anamax »

giardini wrote: post #111
alexfromapex wrote: post #31

I think this article starts to touch on a topic area I don't hear much about but am extremely frustrated by: how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude. In the "When They Know They've Got You" section, they mention the real challenges of not being able to obtain a lawyer if things truly aren't fair. The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. Insurance is a scam in…

alexfromapex says >"...Healthcare, extremely high rent, and things like property tax where failure to pay sends you to prison are used as the means of coercion. If the United States continues on the current political course..." AFAIK you cannot be sent to prison for not paying property taxes in the USA.

> AFAIK you cannot be sent to prison for not paying property taxes in the USA.

However, you can lose your property if you don't pay property taxes. (If you're late, the interest can be significant AND it gets treated like property tax for the purpose of "lose your property".)

Moreover, the "lose your property" process pretty much guarantees that you'll lose much of the equity that you had in said property.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#405

Post by bromuro »

nemo44x wrote: post #232
permalac wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes I forget that those 6 figure jobs require one living in US, then I remember and I'm a bit happier with my not 6 figures job.

If you’re smart it’s a much better deal to live in the USA. It’s why you see so many Europeans move here and not the other way around. Europe is better if you’re dumb as there are better social systems. You can just exist more easily there.

I had the impression people don’t move from the US to Europe because they speak only English. In Berlin I’ve met many that gave up because of the language barriers.

On the other side, I have friends regretting their move to the US - citing a workaholic culture, high living costs, lot of cars and shopping, no safety, etc.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#406

Post by smegger001 »

silexia wrote: post #82
throw1234651234 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the best post in this thread. This is all very much true. One more thing that most Americans don't admit is that people mostly work jobs they have started out in. When I was in shitty jobs, people started out and stayed there. As I move up, I notice that people also started out and stayed there. Anecdotally, the US has much less mobility than what is commonly believed. Anyway, I went off topic - don't want to…

The solution here is to open up the free markets again. This means: -Right to repair -Abolish the patent system and non competes -Drop the IRS and let the government simply print money it needs... This eliminates all tax loopholes and special treatment. Perfectly fair wealth tax.

Oh boy...

That a a horrible idea. Simply printing money with nothing to remove it again is a horrible fiscal policy you end up with run away inflation as each dollar you print lowers the value of each dollar. The value of money ends up decreasing faster than pay rates and you hurt the poor more as the rich will just pull their financial assets out into more stable economies the middle and lower class will loose.

You see national level taxes aren't there to fund the federal government in a modern economy. they are mean to remove excess cash from the economy. The government funds it self by borrowing and the printing money to pay it back with interest. This what bonds and like assets are. Why barrow rather than just print and pay, it about having good credit and showing the rest of the world dollar is stable by pay off our debt.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#407

Post by heavyset_go »

lazide wrote: post #244
iamdbtoo wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's kind of how this country markets itself. Being able to afford a home and a family on a regular worker's pay is literally part of "The American Dream."

Uh no. The American Dream has been about the ability to work hard to better oneself, and work UP TO that after education or doing something unique (like making their own business work and be profitable). Not that anyone could move here and just get it everything by doing the minimum.

Here's what FDR said about the minimum wage law that was passed in 1933:

> It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.

> By business I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living.

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#408

Post by heavyset_go »

mrjangles wrote: post #83
alexfromapex wrote: post #31

I think this article starts to touch on a topic area I don't hear much about but am extremely frustrated by: how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude. In the "When They Know They've Got You" section, they mention the real challenges of not being able to obtain a lawyer if things truly aren't fair. The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. Insurance is a scam in…

>how modern work for a lot of jobs has become de facto indentured servitude...The average worker can't afford anything without taking on debt. For people from other countries wondering about the veracity of these claims, let's take an example: The typical shitty job everyone on here complains about is working at an amazon warehouse. This is a job people with no skills take on. They pay 15 USD an hour. In other curren…

The abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass had this to say on the subject of wage labor[1]:

> [E]xperience demonstrates that there may be a slavery of wages only a little less galling and crushing in its effects than chattel slavery, and that this slavery of wages must go down with the other

From Wikipedia[1]:

> Douglass went on to speak about these conditions as arising from the unequal bargaining power between the ownership/capitalist class and the non-ownership/laborer class within a compulsory monetary market: "No more crafty and effective devise for defrauding the southern laborers could be adopted than the one that substitutes orders upon shopkeepers for currency in payment of wages. It has the merit of a show of honesty, while it puts the laborer completely at the mercy of the land-owner and the shopkeeper"

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery#History

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#409

Post by oh_sigh »

crate_barre wrote: post #377
oh_sigh wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and I would bet that those people you know paying $2500/mo are not earning $15/hr. And no, it is not simply what it costs to live in NYC, unless you think you absolutely must live in Manhattan below 96th st. This is like saying the cost of a car is $65,000, because the only car I accept is a BMW X5. Ok, if that is your standard, then yes a car will cost you $65k. But there are cars available for much cheaper, th…

Let me shock you by saying in some of these cities groups of people easily take out a 2500-3k rental. Either families or groups of workers.

And their combined income is $15/hr?

Re: What does “shitty job” mean in the low-skill, low-pay world?

#410

Post by refurb »

mepiethree wrote: post #206
iamdbtoo wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, that's kind of how this country markets itself. Being able to afford a home and a family on a regular worker's pay is literally part of "The American Dream."

A home, yeah, not a home in downtown metros. My uncle is a teacher and owns two houses in rural Ohio with his wife, kid, and two dogs. Living the American dream.

Pretty much. Not realistic to assume someone comes to the US with nothing and then buy a home in say San Francisco.

The American Dream is typically "come to the US with nothing and build a comfortable life, no matter who you are". I still think that's possible. Guaranteed? Of course not.

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