Comment by pierat | Hacker News Reader

Comment by pierat | Hacker News Reader

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> You don’t get rewarded for being extra.

100% true. Our salary, barring real (not manufactured) fires, should be for 40h/week. Any more is free work not compensated for.

> You don’t get any money when you save costs.

There is no equity for doing significant tasks. The common area here is automation. I automate, but don't share. I would never get compensated appropriately, so I save my time in lieu of money.

> You’re going to get a raise below inflation.

Yep, 3%. Job hoppers get 30% or more. My last hop was 115%. Loyalty is NOT rewarded.

> You’re stupid for caring the way that you do.

That's a subjective assessment. But yeah, caring too much leads to extreme burnout. And our only real change is to find yet another slaver, oh I mean capitalist to work for.

> The business’ downside risk is not yours, and it’s profits are not yours either.

Exactly. Start providing real equity, and a seat at the board of directors as an 'emoloyee's director'.

Aside that, we're just resources to be strip-mined at 'human resources'. At least we can choose our slaver as a guise of an "interview".

And RSU's are a game, that we lose. The companies made this, and they do NOT want to pay. So they gamify it to make the appearance of mounds of money. Here's your pennies.

> And our only real change is to find yet another slaver, oh I mean capitalist to work for.

Can we please tone down the rhetoric? This is quite disrespectful to the millions who suffered through actual slavery.

Is it? Todays chains may be less visible and the crack of the whip is mostly silent... but its slavery nonetheless

Please. You can draw an analogy I guess, but it's not a good one and it is disrespectful.

Slaves had no choice. That is what made them slaves. You do have choice, even if you don't like your current choices.

Yes, it is a good analogy. And you're correct that this is not chattel slavery.

However this variant of slavery requires that we sell our bodies to whom will buy them. Instead of a lifetime commitment, it's per hour. I will never get back time I sell, and no amount of money can buy back that time. Many places also try to claim the contents of our mind as well as our physical output.

And what happens if we don't engage in selling our bodies? Well, we run our money down. We miss paying bills. We get our car repo'ed. We lose our home. We resort to food banks and soup kitchens and SNAP.

And the result here is you become homeless. Unlike the slaver's whip, this is the eventuality threatened to anyone who can't or refuses to work. And naturally, the existing homeless are used as a threat and a sign to all those who would act out, as a threat to anyone wanting to upset the system.

It also explains why we have homeless in the great quantities we do. It's a trap that you cannot get out of by yourself, and lifting people out removes the societal 'sign' of this threat that it entails.

When I said that you choose your own slaver in this system, I sincerely mean it. I'm required to sell my body on threat of destitution. I just so happen to choose who I sell my body to. (The only people exempt are those born in rich families that needn't sell themselves.)

We will have to agree to disagree then.

You have so many choices, including setting up your own business if you don't want to work for others, or living somewhere that is inexpensive and working less.

From my perspective you are just complaining that the universe does not owe you a living.

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