this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2024
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Showerthoughts
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This is, on some level, exactly what they are worried about.
Precisely what they are worried about.
From a capitalist perspective it's ideal if your workers are on the verge of poverty, living paycheck to paycheck. That's exactly where you want them.
People in that situation won't complain. Won't stand up for themselves or their rights. Will take poor treatment and deal with it. Will work in unethical or even illegal ways and keep quiet because they have no choice.
Even better if you can tie people's health insurance to their job, then you've really got them by the balls.
UBI would put an end to all that, so it's no wonder business owners would lobby against it.
I've got a pretty decent job, and earn pretty good money. But I'm the only earner in a family of four and no, we haven't made all the best financial decisions at times.
What you have described is exactly where we live, and while there isn't that much I want to stand up to at work in the first place, 100% I don't make any waves that don't have a basis in the hard facts of my job, and for this very reason. I'd like to go in an ask for a merit based raise, I'd like to fight harder for more people to be hired in our (spread very thin) department, and there are a few other things I'd like to at least ask for and feel OK about standing firm on.
But I don't, because I don't want to jeopardize what I've got.
I feel for you, it's a real situation.
I'm fortunate in that I've managed to build up a bit of "fuck you" money. So-called because if my employer did anything awful I could say "fuck you" and walk away, and know I had I few months of buffer.
It definitely makes me feel more able to stand up for myself and others when I don't fear the consequences of losing my job. I wish everyone could feel that way because it would make society a better place, and UBI would help.
Having a bunch of workers who never complain and never stand up is a recipe for failure. Why do you think a company’s owner is going to benefit from his employees being miserable?
It’s capitalism not communism. In capitalism people are allowed to leave. It’s the consensual form of economic organization. The consent part means you need to be good to people to keep them. And people who are healthier and happier get more done.
Where did you pick up this idea that the boss wins when the workers suffer?
Bingo! "If we make it easier for you to survive, you will become harder to take advantage of"
Agreed!