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Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

latimes.com

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Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#4
post #3

Thats the whole point of creating a precariat: rich peoples lives get safer and easier, poor peoples lives become less secure and harder. The system is working as intended. Three cheers for the gig-economy!!

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone. In some sense, that's attributing too much competence to the upper classes to think they could mastermind such a plan.

In another, it's calling them more deeply and comically idiotic than they merit because even rich people are scared here lately of what is going on in the world. At least some of them wish they could figure out how to stamp out the economic instability we have and they just can't figure out how on earth that works.

It's hard to design good systems. It's much easier to design a system that does some of the things you want while overlooking a lot of important details and thereby fostering a lot of unintended consequences.

Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#5
post #3

Thats the whole point of creating a precariat: rich peoples lives get safer and easier, poor peoples lives become less secure and harder. The system is working as intended. Three cheers for the gig-economy!!

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone. In some sense, that's attributing too much competence to the upper classes to think they could mastermind such a plan. In another, it's calling them more deeply and comically idiotic than they merit because even rich people are scared here lat…

Malice or stupidity makes no effect, and shared incentives are far stronger forces than conspiracies anyway.

Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#6
with the food-industry people cannot afford healthcare for themselves and made to work, to get the means to live, I'm very scared to order anything from any prepared-food establishments. the chances of getting contaminated food are incredibly high, esp if you order smth not thermally processed.

Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#7
post #3

Thats the whole point of creating a precariat: rich peoples lives get safer and easier, poor peoples lives become less secure and harder. The system is working as intended. Three cheers for the gig-economy!!

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone. In some sense, that's attributing too much competence to the upper classes to think they could mastermind such a plan. In another, it's calling them more deeply and comically idiotic than they merit because even rich people are scared here lat…

> I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone.

It was consciously and intentionally create, but the planning is usually obscured behind euphemisms. Nobody directly says they are trying to make employment more precarious; they say they are making a new type of business that is "more efficient".

> unintended consequences

The consequences may not be intended, but pretending they weren't obvious results of a new design is gross negligence. The long term economic impact and its secondary/tertiary effects on society of a "gig-economy" business "disrupting" a traditional employer are hard to predict. The fact that it would make a lot of people's employment far more precarious is not only obvious, it's the core feature that differentiates the new type of business.

Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#8
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone. In some sense, that's attributing too much competence to the upper classes to think they could mastermind such a plan. In another, it's calling them more deeply and comically idiotic than they merit because even rich people are scared here lat…

> I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone. It was consciously and intentionally create, but the planning is usually obscured behind euphemisms. Nobody directly says they are trying to make employment more precarious; they say they are making a new type of business that is "more efficient". > unintended consequences The consequences may not be intended , but p…

I began doing gig work while deathly ill and homeless. It was the only kind of paid work I had access to and the world absolutely wasn't throwing money at me out of compassion for my terrible sob story. (I have a genetic disorder, no criminal record etc etc so I'm one of the clearly "unfortunate and deserving poor.")

I happen to work for a service that is well designed and gives me control over the things that matter to me. It also has a low barrier to entry but doesn't have a low ceiling. It's possible to make a middle class income this way.

So I'm quite convinced that efficiency isn't simply some polite euphemism for "fuck you." I think it's possible to design gig work platforms that work well for the workers.

I'm hardly the only person on the planet for whom many regular jobs are simply out of the question.

I think the efficiency gains are real and can be managed in a way that is good for all involved parties.

I think gig work can be the next industrial revolution where we make it possible for ordinary people to have some of the things historically reserved for the jet set.

Because my income was portable, I was able to take a train to another state and get back into housing in a cheaper state than California. For many poor people, that's unimaginable. They would need to look for a job in the new location, which would mean having no income for a time because, say, waitressing jobs don't hire you from out of state typically.

I got to work as much or as little as I chose. It was dictated by my health to a large degree, which was enormously frustrating, but it meant that when I was feeling better, I could immediately earn money again. I didn't have to job hunt.

For me, gig work was nothing short of a miracle allowing me to have some earned income under circumstances where that should have been simply impossible.

So, sorry, I don't think so.

Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#9
post #3

Thats the whole point of creating a precariat: rich peoples lives get safer and easier, poor peoples lives become less secure and harder. The system is working as intended. Three cheers for the gig-economy!!

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." I doubt that the birth of the precariat was consciously and intentionally master planned by anyone. In some sense, that's attributing too much competence to the upper classes to think they could mastermind such a plan. In another, it's calling them more deeply and comically idiotic than they merit because even rich people are scared here lat…

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."

"that's attributing too much competence to the upper classes to think they could mastermind such a plan"

ROFL

Re: Delivery workers are keeping California fed. They say no one’s keeping them safe

#10
post #6

with the food-industry people cannot afford healthcare for themselves and made to work, to get the means to live, I'm very scared to order anything from any prepared-food establishments. the chances of getting contaminated food are incredibly high, esp if you order smth not thermally processed.

> the chances of getting contaminated food are incredibly high

Source?

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