nedezero1 wrote:
guido61 wrote:
nedezero1 wrote:
guido61 wrote:
nedezero1 wrote:
Maybe it's because more people are taking ownership of their own wages
Nice if that were true. But the truth is that the vast majority of working class people have zero control over their own wages. Those who are so skilled and/or educated that they can negotiate their own contract with an employer aren't even part of the union vs. right-to-work discussion.
You get paid the going wage for the job you can get in the field you choose to work in. The wages are pretty much set before you apply for the job. There's no "control" on the part of the worker. The free-market dictates a huge supply-and-demand advantage to the employer in most fields. That's how we ended up with the deplorable wage and working conditions of 100+ years ago. The ONLY thing that got us out of that and created the Middle Class as we know it was the ability to organize and form unions. And to put the power of the government behind them.
Then people got fat and lazy and complacent after a few decades of the new reality and started to think "hey, we don't need unions anymore! All THEY do is take money out of my paycheck!" And yeah, a lot of unions DID become corrupt. But that doesn't change the value of the concept, any more than a few corrupt corporations changes the value of capitalism.
So why NOT go take a non-union job? It doesn't pay THAT much less anyway! And what do we need a minimum wage for! And so the downward spiral began....
...I guess things such as this are cyclical. There's probably no way to stop it until things get so bad once again that the workers rise up and demand the right to unionize and we start the whole process all over again...
..it's just sad because while I KNOW that "history repeats itself", it just sucks when you see it happening before your eyes and you just want to yell at people to WAKE UP!
Yes there is predefined market value of labor depending on location, experience, and skillset.
But that doesn't mean one isn't in control of their own salary. I disagree a "vast majority" have zero control simply because sometimes just moving can increase one's salary.
No, everyone has control over their own salaries lest they be salves. And last I checked, that's illegal.
If you aspire to be a plumber, then you choose a plumber's wage. If you aspire to be a CPA, then you'll get a CPA's wage. See how that works?
Freedom...it's a bitch.
Just up and moving isn't always so easy. I guess it's nice that we aren't indentured servants, but moving from one location to another for another job isn't as easy as simply doing so for many, many people for many, many reason.
Salaries aren't generally negotiable. Apply for job at Target and they are going to pay what they are going to pay. "Here's the starting wage". That's the end of it. The only "freedom over your own wage" is to not work at all.
And the downward spiral affects all industries. It's not like you can go from Target to Sears and make more money, because their wages are shitty too.
Hey, but you're right. At least we aren't slaves. So I guess that's "freedom" in your definition? Great way to raise that bar!
Wow. The American Dream is crumbling as we speak and people like you are cheering it on.
The downward spiral is a result of complacency spurred by an unreasonable sense of security. Why should anyone aspire to work harder. work smarter...or take risk...if there's no risk to begin with.
Don't want a Wal-Mart salary....then don't work at Wal-Mart. Or at least work to improve your skills while you're working at Wal-Mart. There's a big myth that most jobs in RTW states are "low wage". The truth they don't tell you is most people don't stay at the low wage jobs very long before advancing. Most of the kids here working fast food, or Wal-Mart are also college students, or are working toward bigger-better things.
And salaries are negotiable in the sense you choose which salary to receive via the skills and experience you acquire. It's called taking ownership of your own marketability.
This is obviously foreign to many coddled lefties here since they often question the many jobs I've held since age 16. As if having a diverse occupation background is a bad thing or something
Oh and there's zero reason why people can't move. Yes it can be inconvenient, but freedom of travel is a basic right in this country. Professionally degreed people move to better jobs all the time. Why do you think Detroit or Gary are becoming ghost towns? Or the mass exodus from CA to TX. Don't talk to me about moving. I had to move every three years for two decades because I signed up for it. And this includes three foreign countries.
direct hit!
the decline of unskilled or semi skilled labor has declined over the last 50 years and these goofs cant figure out why pay has also dropped.
if unions were a good idea, they wouldnt be in such decline. once again libs prefer to prop up a dying idea rather than allow a better one to succeed.
DSM-IV 301.95 Progressive Personality Disorder
A. A pervasive pattern of progressive political and inter-personal thought and action, rooted in discredited leftist (neo-Marxist) beliefs, beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by at least five of the following (individual must be at least 18 years of age to qualify for the diagnosis of Progressive Personality Disorder, as many of the criteria are age-appropriate for adolescents). This disorder often coexists with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Utopian thinking, e.g. a delusional belief that there exist simple, linear, side effect-free solutions to all social problems.
Lack of historical knowledge and perspective, and repression of personal memories dissonant with this belief system. e.g., the national mood post 9-11, including that of PPD patients, is suppressed in order to avoid conflict with subsequent reversal of beliefs as the PPD delusions were reinstated - hence the downplaying of terrorism as a threat and the obsessive concern for the "rghts" of temporarily feared and hated terrorists. (Note to clinician: please differentiate between mere historical ignorance, e.g., a doctorate in history from an elite university, vs. neurotic or psychotic delusions necessary to sustain these beliefs. )
Anthroplastic delusion, e.g. The delusion that behavioral conditioning performed by the government or some other collective will cure all behavioral and social problems, rooted in denial of fixed human nature. Implicit in this delusion is the idea that human beings are infinitely malleable and subject to behavioral manipulation leading to perfect control and predictability. Free will, personal conscience, and objective morality are denied, devalued or denigrated.
Anti-theistic rebellion: An emotional antagonism to the Judeo-Christian tradition, rooted in an abnormal persistence of adolescent rebellion (may also be related to the need to avoid counter-arguments that would question utopian, anthroplastic ideation). This behavior ranges from a mere antagonism to Christianity to a hatred of all forms of religion. The rejection of religion leads to a deep longing for a substitute religion, or in extreme cases, a messiah. The more Western a religion is, the more it is despised. Thus, these patients may openly accept more primitive pantheistic, neo-pagan, or animist belief systems, such as Wicca or fraudulent "new age" philosophies, e.g., Deepak Chopra, Tony Robbins, etc.
Animist delusion: The belief that mankind is evil and nature is benign. The incidence of this symptom is inversely related to practical knowledge and experience of nature. Collective self-hatred is a feature in this area, paradoxically existing side by side with egomaniacal omniscience, e.g., ability to accurately predict climate 100 years into the future. Typical thinking includes the self-hating belief that mankind is a cancer on earth and that the planet (subjectively felt as a "feeling being") will "retaliate." The animist delusion includes considerable cognitive dissonance, since the typical Progressive Personality is a believer in natural selection, which has resulted in untold suffering and cruelty, mitigated only by mankind's presence.
a. For example, the belief that an eagle egg or four-toed salamander is entitled to more legal protection than a human baby.
Environmental spasm: Chaotic, unreasonable, or incoherent episodes of manic activity on behalf of the environment or "mother nature." The delusional nature of this activity is evidenced by misanthropic attacks on works of man, and also by a manic focus on visible or totemic biological objects of little rational value. The patient is typically obsessed only with cute or cuddly creatures, often a displacement of the nurturing urge (often unfulfilled due to abortion).
Control obsession: A tendency to strive for excessive control over others through state intrusion. A contemptuous projection of unconscious envy which is subjectively experienced as "compassion." Through the magic of this unconscious mechanism, PPD patients typically want the state to appropriate your wealth while imagining themselves to be generous and "compassionate." Use of state coercion often substitutes for true acts of generosity; a low rate of charitable giving is often present.
Racist/feminist hypocrisy: Passionate advocacy of government-enforced discrimination based on sex or race, with aggressively proclaimed opposition to policies which are "racist" or "sexist." Obsessive conformity of thought within a racially diverse population. For example, a PPD patient might favor seating a racist on the Supreme Court, so long as the person is of the "correct" race. Often the cognitive dissonance normally associated with such beliefs is rationalized by the delusion that the "oppressed" cannot themselves be racist.
Overemotional perception: Excessive concern with how a social action "looks" or "feels," to the exclusion of actual resulting benefits or harm; in particular, any effects beyond the immediate. Resistance to, and denial of, objective evidence proving the adverse consequences of progressive policy. Superficial cognition about most matters of significant import, as the progressive personality relies on the "feel" of issues rather than truly understanding them. Obsession with "fairness" or "social justice" as opposed to what actually works.
Sexual dysfunction: Significant anxiety about sexual matters, manifested as:
a. Obsession with sexual and gender roles.
b. Passionate celebration of nontraditional sex roles and preferences.
c. The compulsion to define individuals by their "sexual preference" and to design social policy as if all individuals share the obsession.
d. An inordinate interest in preserving inappropriate, lewd, perverse, or antisocial forms of sexual expression.
e. Fascination with immature or deviant expressions of sexuality; reduction of human sexuality to animal sexuality.
f. The projected belief that the contradictory beliefs are a result of fear (e.g. "homophobia".
e. Obsession with contraception and abortion ("reproductive freedom").
Replacement of patriotism with matriotism: Unwillingness to defend country when attacked or threatened, allied with inability to name or recognize evil and General devaluation of the masculine virtues.
Cultural and moral relativism: The fervent belief that all cultures are beautiful except one's own, and that it is immoral to judge another's morality unless they are conservative.
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