this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2024
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
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Is that really true though? I'm Gen-X and they said the same thing about us, and then the Millennials, and now the current gen. I think quit quitting is largely a myth and plenty of GenZ are working their asses off. They're not getting the same rewards. But I can also understand if some them do choose to opt out. But the fact that they can't afford to buy homes is not proof that they are lazy.
That cycle will continue until we're extinct, because almost without exception, we conflate generations with age ranges... so every generation will think the one behind it is lazy because they judge that next generation when it's made up of a bunch of kids.
And no shit, kids aren't great workers :shockedpikachu:
The kids grow up, but the reputation lingers... until the next batch of kids enters the stage, and wouldn't ya know it, them kids are absolutely shit workers! :shockedpikachu:
Rinse and repeat until the oxygen concentration in our atmosphere is no longer sufficient to support human life... so... couple more decades? /shrug
That's a good point but... I honestly do not know. We used to have access to "reporting" that would tell us "facts", but now everything is commercialized to sell us whatever story seems most appealing to us (positively or negatively, whatever you will click on really: sex sells, fear even better, anger best of all) - so I'm sure you can find reports on all possible sides telling different stories, all with short-changed selections of facts and virtually no analysis to speak of. Unless a highly-trusted source chooses to take on a precise topic and you happen to have consumed it already (and remember it), you are basically SOL. Like, how do people even buy things anymore, either online or in physical stores, except by just gambling and hoping for the best from a purchase? Clothes just flat disintegrate, ... okay, I better keep focus here:-).
I tend to think that Gen-Z likely do work less hard - as a trend if not individually ofc - b/c of the reasons behind it, after all why would they work equally as hard, when they are being offered a fraction of the compensation? BTW I never said that they were lazy, and I tried to go to some trouble to explain why it is understandable how they are reacting - e.g. in the kick the dog example, it's not the dog's fault for not liking the master that kicked it so very, very often?
As one example, something that enticed previous generations to work hard was to own a home. But now, if that is off the table... (or maybe, if they think it is? I'm not certain of this aspect) then they don't need to work as hard, to own something that they can never own anyway?
Another thing that enticed previous generations to work hard for was to get a college degree. But now, with that costing >5x as much, and it being worth sth like 1/10th of what it was to previous generations (where are these magical "jobs" that offer things like "benefits" - and "stability" and "pensions" are pretty much flat gone, as too are the social security along with medicare/medicaid safety nets, etc.), plus colleges themselves are fairly predatory, many just don't bother. But there's a whole spectrum here: if they do go, they often don't work hard in them - not that colleges demand that anymore, b/c again, they are predatory, and their purpose is to pump either the kids or their parents (or loans, whoever signed them) for as much money as they can get out of them, which doesn't happen if they flunk out too awfully early...
Still another thing used to be to get married, have kids, and independent of whether owning a home or not, to raise a family. This we can directly measure: isn't Gen-Z doing much less of any of this?
Boomers worked hard b/c they saw value ahead in doing so. Gen-Z is getting their quality of life now, while the getting is good, b/c that is all that is left for them to be able to do.:-( No matter our age, we will all die sooner, and in much greater levels of pain and misery (if only second-hand by hearing stories of the exploitation going on around us) than our parents' generation - the Republicans have already seen to that and will most definitely continue to push much harder on that front still. :-(
Precisely my point. Like when you kick a dog, why would it say "thank you", or "please sir, but could you kick me again some more, and this time harder"? THAT WOULD NOT HAPPEN!
The younger generations have given up, hence they do not work as hard, but it wasn't their choice - they simply reacted to what was offered them. From a pure game-theoretical standpoint even, it is the right call to maximize gains and minimize losses, given the rules under which they are "playing".
But the people blaming the younger generations... it is like blaming that dog, rather than the one who kicked it - it makes no sense?