As unions decline, inequality rises

Post by missedthecue » Sun, Dec 18, 2022, 6:06 PM UTC

kingboss wrote: post #438

missedthecue wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want society to get richer. I want poor people (in all nations including China, India, and Vietnam) to earn more money. This is not the same thing as wanting equality. In that sense, no I do not support economic equality. Jeff Bezos owning 10% of Amazon worth $X billion does not effect my life in any way. If he owned 50% or 0.001%, instead my life would still be the same. I'm not sure why I need to be upset about t…

It does affect you though. Cause Bezos then lobbies that unions are evil and does everything under the sun to keep wages low. Including yours.

Post by larksimian » Sun, Dec 18, 2022, 6:24 PM UTC

dragonwriter wrote: post #437

larksimian wrote: post #436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Beautiful sentiments. Young programmers in the hottest job market in history don't need a union. Fortunately for your ability to empathize with the plebeians in the regular world, Musk has shown that software companies are probably employing at least twice as many programmers as they need, so this job market should be turning south soon. After ten-twenty years of being employed half the time and your salary going dow…

> Musk has shown that software companies are probably employing at least twice as many programmers as they need No, he hasn’t; he hasn’t even shown that Twitter was doing that.

Post by acdha » Sun, Dec 18, 2022, 6:54 PM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #406

acdha wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Commercial aviation was just getting started, yes, But a rich person in 1922 had luxury rail travel, boats, cars, horses, etc. Most importantly, they had time: air travel is important for most of us because having a paltry couple weeks per year means people try to do things like weekend trips which couldn’t otherwise work. If you’re truly rich, you have a lot more margin for having other people do the unpleasant trip…

I was trying to make the point that wealth and living standards isn't about numbers on bank statements. It's about the material conditions you live in. And in 2022, what we take for granted would blow away pretty much anything in 1922. I don't think I quite succeeded. Will maybe try something else next time.

Post by ResearchCode » Sun, Dec 18, 2022, 11:24 PM UTC

surement wrote: post #394

ResearchCode wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compare to 30 years ago instead. Wealth in terms of being able to buy property is decreasing in many countries, which can be more significant than any increased ability to buy consumer gadgets (that will spy on you). And the countries with less wealth inequality don't in principle have less wealthy common people.

Nah [0]. If you live in a NIMBY hellhole you can always move somewhere more affordable. [0] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N

Post by azemetre » Mon, Dec 19, 2022, 1:06 AM UTC

nightski wrote: post #434

azemetre wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Businesses get way different insurance rates than a single individual (or 12 individuals). It costs me $240 a month for full health coverage ($1000 deductible), dentistry, and eye from my current employer; for me to get something equivalent outside this company would cost me $3,000 to $5,000 a month. I can't afford that plus rent, plus energy, plus food. Not all businesses are equal, not all benefits are equal. When…

Yeah I agree with all of that but I don't see how it is relevant to the discussion. A worker co-op should be able to provide health insurance to it's employees the same as any other business. The fact that it is worker-owned shouldn't change that at all.