I agree with some of your points, but here's the thing... People don't "deserve" jobs or "fair pay" as determined by some nebulous collectivist or centrally planned governmental metric. People participate in a competive market and wages are determined by many factors. Arbitrarily determining wage "fairness" is a quick path to distorted markets and misallocation of funds.
"Non-arbitrarily determined" meant blacks got to work for breadfruit, whippings and rape, and women if they were allowed to work as anything other than domestics or prostitutes got half wages, until they married, then they got sacked.
Now I wonder what changed that? and I wonder what is driving U.S. poverty today?
You're never going to eliminate opportunity costs.
Yep, there's always opportunity costs, that's the point. And it means that to know the best use for some money, you have to take in to account all the other things that could potentially be done with it, and can't just say outright that giving it to the bus driver is best.
<span style="line-height:1.4em;">Having a lazy fat</span>
<span style="text-decoration:underline;line-height:1.4em;">white</span>
<span style="line-height:1.4em;">ass doesn't seem to impact much on your success rate.</span>
I'm sorely lacking in that department, so I'd need more before it could even be considered fat.
Yep, there's always opportunity costs, that's the point. And it means that to know the best use for some money, you have to take in to account all the other things that could potentially be done with it, and can't just say outright that giving it to the bus driver is best.
Giving it to the bus driver would be an excellent use of the money. Especially for the U.S. economy.
Low income earners spend their money on immediate needs, such as food, accomodation, health, education and taxes, most of which flows on in the local economy and bolsters other people's income.
The rich, if they don't hide it in foreign tax havens, hoard their money, avoid paying tax, spend it on frivolous, often imported, luxury items for self aggrandisement or use it to buy politicians and corrupt the economic system to enforce their often crazy views of the world on other people.
Those views are often akin to the Big Man notions that the New Guinea highlanders adhere to. Their primary objective is to feel superior to everyone else, at any cost, by having more pigs than the next man. Two ways to achieve that. Actually raise and maintain more pigs, or steal them off the next man and kill him or force him into subjugation if he objects.
Crowley, the gobsmackingly crazy and ignorant views that rattle their way around the squirrel cage that passes for a brain in some people is astonishing.
The trouble is that ignorance is the new black. Crazy and dumb gets the nod of approval from people who simply don't know better. And that's a lot of them.
Yep, there's always opportunity costs, that's the point. And it means that to know the best use for some money, you have to take in to account all the other things that could potentially be done with it, and can't just say outright that giving it to the bus driver is best.
Giving it to the bus driver would be an excellent use of the money. Especially for the U.S. economy.
Low income earners spend their money on immediate needs, such as food, accomodation, health, education and taxes, most of which flows on in the local economy and bolsters other people's income.
The rich, if they don't hide it in foreign tax havens, hoard their money, avoid paying tax, spend it on frivolous, often imported, luxury items for self aggrandisement or use it to buy politicians and corrupt the economic system to enforce their often crazy views of the world on other people.
Those views are often akin to the Big Man notions that the New Guinea highlanders adhere to. Their primary objective is to feel superior to everyone else, at any cost, by having more pigs than the next man. Two ways to achieve that. Actually raise and maintain more pigs, or steal them off the next man and kill him or force him into subjugation if he objects.
Yeah, we don't all subscribe to The Lord of the Flies, thank goodness.
Yeah, we don't all subscribe to The Lord of the Flies, thank goodness.
Schoolboy notions die hard. The great American con is that so many poor people think they are close to hitting it rich, despite America being one of the least upwardly mobile societies on the planet, especially if you are not white.
It's a great way to cover up what is really going on by getting the poor to blame themselves for the consequences of being born to the wrong family or race.
You've never been in a position of responsibility, have you?
Yeah. Pity. If you are "in a position of responsibility" you get paid handsomely despite massively stuffing up. Often because you massively stuff up and that's what everyone is doing.
If anyone does actually cotton on how badly you are doing, and you don't have enough old boy contacts to keep you at the wheel, you get even more massive money to go "spend more time with your family".
With the rewards so high for lying, corruption and incompetence, and no effective retribution, no wonder we have so much of it.
I agree with some of your points, but here's the thing... People don't "deserve" jobs or "fair pay" as determined by some nebulous collectivist or centrally planned governmental metric. People participate in a competive market and wages are determined by many factors. Arbitrarily determining wage "fairness" is a quick path to distorted markets and misallocation of funds.
I completely disagree because when there are more people than jobs, wages decline if there are no controls. The proof of that is that the working and middle class hasn't received a wage increase in real terms in over 30 years. Just because there aren't enough jobs in this country for those without high-tech skills doesn't mean those workers don't deserve a living wage. Competition for jobs and decent wages shouldn't be like a battle of the gladiators in a Roman forum.
Furthermore, in areas where there are large numbers of highly-paid workers, the cost-of-living greatly increases and the working class can't afford to live.
IMO, those who endorse totally free market wages are essentially endorsing slave-labor. The fact that the workers get paid something is a distinction with almost no difference.
And when you don't pay people enough, they wind up on welfare, in homeless shelters, collecting food stamps, using emergency rooms for basic medical care, etc. So the taxpayers wind up paying anyway.
I don't believe a bus driver or security guard should make the same wage as someone who invested $200,000 in an education and has specialized skills, but they deserve a wage that they can live decently on. We used to have that in most parts of this country.
I'm unclear as to whether those bus drivers who work in the morning and evening get paid for mid-day, but if they're stuck on a bus or at the depot, they should be paid for those hours as well as the hours that they're actually driving.
The disregard for other human beings on this Board always shocks me. I supposed it shouldn't, but it does. I'd like to see the big nasty mouths on this Board live on $12 an hour. And if companies paid decent wages voluntarily, there wouldn't be a need for most unions.
The thing that struck me when I was in America was the number of black people* living on the street, how hispanics do nearly all the hard work, and how Americans think they are the centre of the universe, because there isn't anywhere else.
That if nothing else may explain all the crazy ideas and misconceptions that abound.
Other than that, yes I largely agree with you.
* I actually had an elderly black man thank me when I sat next to him on the bus, when I didn't need to.
The thing that struck me when I was in America was the number of black people* living on the street, how hispanics do nearly all the hard work, and how Americans think they are the centre of the universe, because there isn't anywhere else.
That if nothing else may explain all the crazy ideas and misconceptions that abound.
Other than that, yes I largely agree with you.
* I actually had an elderly black man thank me when I sat next to him on the bus, when I didn't need to.
The original post was about bus drivers who serve Silicon Valley companies. It wasn't about workers in general around the world. Therefore, "this" properly referred to the U.S.
Most of the other stereotypes you posit are ridiculous, but I'm not going to get into details because it would absurd to respond. It would be like me saying that everyone in Paris hates Americans, especially if they don't speak proper French. I've been to France many times and I've never had a bad interaction with anyone and I don't speak a word of French.
But I do agree that Americans in general think that they're the center of the universe except those of us to travel to Europe and other places and appreciate the long history, culture and architecture and who understand why many Europeans (and others) think we're nuts.
Homelessness is definitely a big problem in many parts of the country. The reasons for it are numerous and complex, but I'll agree it's one of our big failures. But again, I'm not going to detail all the reasons for it here as this is supposed to be a thread about Silicon Alley bus drivers and when we start getting into politics and social issues, not a mind is ever changed, so what's the point? The angry old white guys on this Board are still going to be angry old white guys.
"Non-arbitrarily determined" meant blacks got to work for breadfruit, whippings and rape, and women if they were allowed to work as anything other than domestics or prostitutes got half wages, until they married, then they got sacked.
Now I wonder what changed that? and I wonder what is driving U.S. poverty today?
^^^ Your post was quite reasonable until you dragged out that racist progressive favorite, "old white guys" quip.
We were outside the Apple Store in Georgetown early for the launch of the iPhone 5. Traffic was bad.
A black bus driver leaned out of his window and nicely asked the old white guy in the sports car blocking the bus stop if he could please just move forward enough to let him get the door to the curb. For his troubles he got a tirade of abuse along the lines that this was America, this was his bit of the road, for which he paid with his taxes, and he wasn't going to move for anyone.
All he had to do was move a couple of metres.
My wife and I just looked at each other. Nobody else even thought it was out of the ordinary and ignored it.
Comments
Getting off your lazy ass, and getting a job is the only one that has a success rate of 100%.
What factors contribute to a person being able to earn more money, in your estimation?
Organising as part of a group to ensure a better outcome.
I agree with some of your points, but here's the thing... People don't "deserve" jobs or "fair pay" as determined by some nebulous collectivist or centrally planned governmental metric. People participate in a competive market and wages are determined by many factors. Arbitrarily determining wage "fairness" is a quick path to distorted markets and misallocation of funds.
"Non-arbitrarily determined" meant blacks got to work for breadfruit, whippings and rape, and women if they were allowed to work as anything other than domestics or prostitutes got half wages, until they married, then they got sacked.
Now I wonder what changed that? and I wonder what is driving U.S. poverty today?
Getting off your lazy ass, and getting a job is the only one that has a success rate of 100%.
Having a lazy fat white ass doesn't seem to impact much on your success rate.
You're never going to eliminate opportunity costs.
Yep, there's always opportunity costs, that's the point. And it means that to know the best use for some money, you have to take in to account all the other things that could potentially be done with it, and can't just say outright that giving it to the bus driver is best.
I'm sorely lacking in that department, so I'd need more before it could even be considered fat.
LOL...that's hilarious. I presume you are referring to some of the Keynesian Marxists who currently enjoy the favor of the current US administration?
How on earth can one be a "Keynesian Marxist"? Keynesian theory is strongly entrenched in free markets.
Yep, there's always opportunity costs, that's the point. And it means that to know the best use for some money, you have to take in to account all the other things that could potentially be done with it, and can't just say outright that giving it to the bus driver is best.
Giving it to the bus driver would be an excellent use of the money. Especially for the U.S. economy.
Low income earners spend their money on immediate needs, such as food, accomodation, health, education and taxes, most of which flows on in the local economy and bolsters other people's income.
The rich, if they don't hide it in foreign tax havens, hoard their money, avoid paying tax, spend it on frivolous, often imported, luxury items for self aggrandisement or use it to buy politicians and corrupt the economic system to enforce their often crazy views of the world on other people.
Those views are often akin to the Big Man notions that the New Guinea highlanders adhere to. Their primary objective is to feel superior to everyone else, at any cost, by having more pigs than the next man. Two ways to achieve that. Actually raise and maintain more pigs, or steal them off the next man and kill him or force him into subjugation if he objects.
Crowley, the gobsmackingly crazy and ignorant views that rattle their way around the squirrel cage that passes for a brain in some people is astonishing.
The trouble is that ignorance is the new black. Crazy and dumb gets the nod of approval from people who simply don't know better. And that's a lot of them.
Yeah, we don't all subscribe to The Lord of the Flies, thank goodness.
Yeah, we don't all subscribe to The Lord of the Flies, thank goodness.
Schoolboy notions die hard. The great American con is that so many poor people think they are close to hitting it rich, despite America being one of the least upwardly mobile societies on the planet, especially if you are not white.
It's a great way to cover up what is really going on by getting the poor to blame themselves for the consequences of being born to the wrong family or race.
You've never been in a position of responsibility, have you?
Yeah. Pity. If you are "in a position of responsibility" you get paid handsomely despite massively stuffing up. Often because you massively stuff up and that's what everyone is doing.
If anyone does actually cotton on how badly you are doing, and you don't have enough old boy contacts to keep you at the wheel, you get even more massive money to go "spend more time with your family".
With the rewards so high for lying, corruption and incompetence, and no effective retribution, no wonder we have so much of it.
I agree with some of your points, but here's the thing... People don't "deserve" jobs or "fair pay" as determined by some nebulous collectivist or centrally planned governmental metric. People participate in a competive market and wages are determined by many factors. Arbitrarily determining wage "fairness" is a quick path to distorted markets and misallocation of funds.
I completely disagree because when there are more people than jobs, wages decline if there are no controls. The proof of that is that the working and middle class hasn't received a wage increase in real terms in over 30 years. Just because there aren't enough jobs in this country for those without high-tech skills doesn't mean those workers don't deserve a living wage. Competition for jobs and decent wages shouldn't be like a battle of the gladiators in a Roman forum.
Furthermore, in areas where there are large numbers of highly-paid workers, the cost-of-living greatly increases and the working class can't afford to live.
IMO, those who endorse totally free market wages are essentially endorsing slave-labor. The fact that the workers get paid something is a distinction with almost no difference.
And when you don't pay people enough, they wind up on welfare, in homeless shelters, collecting food stamps, using emergency rooms for basic medical care, etc. So the taxpayers wind up paying anyway.
I don't believe a bus driver or security guard should make the same wage as someone who invested $200,000 in an education and has specialized skills, but they deserve a wage that they can live decently on. We used to have that in most parts of this country.
I'm unclear as to whether those bus drivers who work in the morning and evening get paid for mid-day, but if they're stuck on a bus or at the depot, they should be paid for those hours as well as the hours that they're actually driving.
The disregard for other human beings on this Board always shocks me. I supposed it shouldn't, but it does. I'd like to see the big nasty mouths on this Board live on $12 an hour. And if companies paid decent wages voluntarily, there wouldn't be a need for most unions.
…in this country…
There is only one, right?
The thing that struck me when I was in America was the number of black people* living on the street, how hispanics do nearly all the hard work, and how Americans think they are the centre of the universe, because there isn't anywhere else.
That if nothing else may explain all the crazy ideas and misconceptions that abound.
Other than that, yes I largely agree with you.
* I actually had an elderly black man thank me when I sat next to him on the bus, when I didn't need to.
There is only one, right?
The thing that struck me when I was in America was the number of black people* living on the street, how hispanics do nearly all the hard work, and how Americans think they are the centre of the universe, because there isn't anywhere else.
That if nothing else may explain all the crazy ideas and misconceptions that abound.
Other than that, yes I largely agree with you.
* I actually had an elderly black man thank me when I sat next to him on the bus, when I didn't need to.
The original post was about bus drivers who serve Silicon Valley companies. It wasn't about workers in general around the world. Therefore, "this" properly referred to the U.S.
Most of the other stereotypes you posit are ridiculous, but I'm not going to get into details because it would absurd to respond. It would be like me saying that everyone in Paris hates Americans, especially if they don't speak proper French. I've been to France many times and I've never had a bad interaction with anyone and I don't speak a word of French.
But I do agree that Americans in general think that they're the center of the universe except those of us to travel to Europe and other places and appreciate the long history, culture and architecture and who understand why many Europeans (and others) think we're nuts.
Homelessness is definitely a big problem in many parts of the country. The reasons for it are numerous and complex, but I'll agree it's one of our big failures. But again, I'm not going to detail all the reasons for it here as this is supposed to be a thread about Silicon Alley bus drivers and when we start getting into politics and social issues, not a mind is ever changed, so what's the point? The angry old white guys on this Board are still going to be angry old white guys.
Yeah, how do you so neatly sort out who does what in the States?
It is almost like the pay level and degree of arduous, unpleasant and dangerous work goes with the color of your skin!
Do the careers advisors in your schools all get issued with Sekonics?
Let's see, who gets to drive the bus?
I see you are a photographer... From which country are you posting?
Is this what they still teach in Russia?
^^^ Your post was quite reasonable until you dragged out that racist progressive favorite, "old white guys" quip.
We were outside the Apple Store in Georgetown early for the launch of the iPhone 5. Traffic was bad.
A black bus driver leaned out of his window and nicely asked the old white guy in the sports car blocking the bus stop if he could please just move forward enough to let him get the door to the curb. For his troubles he got a tirade of abuse along the lines that this was America, this was his bit of the road, for which he paid with his taxes, and he wasn't going to move for anyone.
All he had to do was move a couple of metres.
My wife and I just looked at each other. Nobody else even thought it was out of the ordinary and ignored it.