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Vacations in the Soviet Union

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Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#71

Post by RajT88 »

gumballindie wrote: post #59
gwright wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is quite the stretch to think those situations are "a bit [a]like".

Two sides of the same coin. I know it’s difficult to see it while stuck inside the loop but corporate work is like soviet work with fancy iphones and the illusion of free choice (you can chose as long as the choice is right). The politburo is replaced by the board while the apparatus by management. Conformity and obedience are not just desired are actively encouraged. Spreading corporate propaganda and preventing wor…

And a good manager, which supports your out-of-box thinking to work around bureaucratic limits, functions as a leader of the resistance.

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#72

Post by miah_ »

pierat wrote: post #49

Sigh, that's not always easy with many of the people here with "unlimited PTO" without guaranteed minimums. Most of the unlimited clauses are based on manager approval. The base HR justification for unlimited PTO is to not have to pay out unused PTO when they leave. Naturally, it sounds good on face, but leads to less PTO taken due to inherent worries of "how much is too much", lack of manager approval, and the like.…

If you live in California, they still have to give you actual PTO and it _does_ accrue even when they say "unlimited". I had to use this banked PTO (I lived in CA, my company was in OR) during medical leave after a surgery (PTO means I'm fully paid, medical leave means you get less than half of your regular salary).

So, if you're in CA, you're protected somewhat, talk to HR and take your PTO.

Unlimited PTO is never good for you, its always good for the company, it allows them to not pay you your earned time when you leave. People with "unlimited PTO" tend to take _FEWER_ days off than those with actual PTO.

There is a bunch more details here: https://founderslegal.com/how-does-unlimited-pto-work-in-cal...

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#73

Post by martythemaniak »

EarthIsHome wrote: post #2

Happy May Day! Here's a Twitter thread [0] that has excerpts/paraphrases from an old Soviet pamphlet called "How Soviet Workers Spend Their Leisure." (rolled up version [1]) You can find a scanned version of the pamphlet here [2]. There were many of these pamphlets published. One day I will scan them and post them. There was one on Waterways & Transport in the USSR, one about Soviet theater, one about the food indust…

As always, the gap between reality and propaganda is hilarious. Soviet workers and their colonized subjects spent their leisure time filling in for the massive failures of the state to provide anything resembling their promises. Some excerpts from my childhood:

* Family outing to the fields to harvest carrots to pickle for the winter. This would be bartered with other families who went to harvest other veggies, so that your turshia would not be too monotonous.

* Going to my friend's apartment to roasting and canning peppers, because no one has to money to buy the factory made stuff. And if you did, you still wouldn't want such poor quality.

* Helping my dad unload window frames for firewood. He worked at a window factory and was able to redirect a small truck full of finished wooden frames, which we could break down and burn for heat over the winter. Sure, it would have made more sense to buy actual firewood or coal rather than steal finished industrial output, but you can't afford that on a regular salary. And it would have made even more sense to offer district heating, and the government had such plans, but you'd freeze long before this became a reality. Eventually we did get district heating - about 6 years after communism fell.

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#74

Post by samstave »

guessmyname wrote: post #40
falcolas wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh. Is that not common vernacular where you're from?

> Huh. Is that not common vernacular where you're from? I don’t know about the parent commenter, but I am of the opinion that regardless of how common an abbreviation is, it should always be expanded, unless the circumstances prevent you from doing that. Here, in Hacker News, submissions must have a title with maximum 80 characters, but look at this: 30 characters -> Workers of the World, Take PTO 46 characters -> Wo…

This is very common in technical documentation, specifically things like RFPs (Request for Proposals) $MONEY and thus, will be scrutinized by the "penny pinchers" who will lack a lot of domain knowledge being addressed with an RFP for a project.

For example, I, as a Director of OPs was constantly educating our CFO on cloud spend, and would have to kind of train him on technical matters while at the same time explaining where all our costs are etc...

Or when designing a huge project (I have worked on many projects with budgets over $1 billion) and going through vendor selection processes, where we review the RFPs with the vendors and the finance holders for the project, there are many times when one has to justify telling Mr. Money Bags why simply accepting the cheapest offer is not sufficient.

This was actually a type of work, which at the time felt tedious, but now I realize how much I actually liked this aspect of my career.

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#75

Post by kfrzcode »

0xDEF wrote: post #38

It's fascinating how the ideology of Marxism–Leninism (Communism) today is more popular than ever among young people in former capitalist heartlands like the US, Canada and UK. A simple European-style welfare state with universal healthcare is all you need to satisfy 90% of people but the elites in the US and the UK refuse to provide that.

[flagged]

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#76

Post by hkt »

explorer83 wrote: post #51
arsome wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What is all this wealth and automation and productivity growth for, then? Why, more wealth and automation and productivity growth to no end of course.

I know all of these things sound nice. But in the real world a lot of businesses aren't making the kind of profit that allows workers to just take time off and not generate any revenue for the company. Sure there are some that could pull it off. But most small businesses aren't making that kind of profit. Unless you are assuming workers are supposed to take unpaid time off. But then how are they going to afford to ta…

If your business can't pay its bills without forgoing its legal and moral responsibilities, it has failed.

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#77

Post by selimthegrim »

zvmaz wrote: post #58

In the past, a was skeptical of writings describing totalitarian societies/states, especially since it was often politically motivated. Until becoming a subject of one. Edit: I am curious as to why I get downvoted. Is it a political trope in a particular country to say that one lives in a totalitarian society/state? A rhetorical ploy? I use it in a literal sense: no freedom of expression, no freedom of the press, jai…

And what coup happened in your country?

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#78

Post by lawrenci »

ahelwer wrote: post #7
EarthIsHome wrote: post #2

Happy May Day! Here's a Twitter thread [0] that has excerpts/paraphrases from an old Soviet pamphlet called "How Soviet Workers Spend Their Leisure." (rolled up version [1]) You can find a scanned version of the pamphlet here [2]. There were many of these pamphlets published. One day I will scan them and post them. There was one on Waterways & Transport in the USSR, one about Soviet theater, one about the food indust…

Prolonged periods of time spent without obligation to work for pay is one of the greatest luxuries you can have in this life. People shouldn't have to wait until retirement to enjoy it. Sabbatical, basically, although even sabbatical often comes with obligations for self-improvement serving the company offering it. A lot of discourse on working hours revolves around decreasing the hours worked per week. I would also…

This would not only provide a break from work but also offer opportunities for personal growth and exploration.

This could reduce the career growth penalty for mothers. Companies may be hesitant to hire or promote women to leadership positions, fearing that they will take significant time off for childbirth. However, if taking sabbaticals every few years becomes normalized, women wouldn't be viewed as a special liability for taking leave around childbirth.

Furthermore, during these sabbatical periods, there could be programs created for potential career switchers to try out new jobs. These internships could provide workers with opportunities to explore different fields and find work that aligns with their skills and interests. This could ultimately benefit the economy as a whole by increasing job satisfaction and promoting a better match between workers and their jobs.

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#79

Post by boveus »

>It encouraged workers to vacation with groups of relative strangers as opposed to their friends and families.

This can actually work out well. I experienced something similar in the US while on vacation. I was traveling with someone from Glenwood Springs, CO to Denver, CO via Amtrak. We went to the dining car for lunch an since there were two of us and space is at a premium, the Amtrak policy was to seat us with one or two random strangers. We sat and had lunch with an oil executive and someone's grandmother and it was quite an interesting experience and we got to meet two strangers. It was actually a highlight of that train trip.

I feel like the experience of having unplanned social interactions with strangers is often missing in modern American life. I don't know if the Soviet style of assigning vacation groups via a worker's committee would be pleasant, but I can't help but think things would be better if we had more situations where we are "forced" to engage with strangers.

Re: Vacations in the Soviet Union

#80

Post by lp0_on_fire »

EarthIsHome wrote: post #2

Happy May Day! Here's a Twitter thread [0] that has excerpts/paraphrases from an old Soviet pamphlet called "How Soviet Workers Spend Their Leisure." (rolled up version [1]) You can find a scanned version of the pamphlet here [2]. There were many of these pamphlets published. One day I will scan them and post them. There was one on Waterways & Transport in the USSR, one about Soviet theater, one about the food indust…

the Soviet citizen also had “freedom of expression” and the right to freedom of speech and to redress the government.

That this farce of a “constitution” is being quoted without irony on hacker news astounds me.

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