>> Note that the decoupling correlates closely with the computerization of society/business around the mid-1980s.
It also correlates closely with the decline of labor unions.
It also correlates closely with the decline of labor unions.
The US was very strange at the time in that most people viewed themselves as upper middle class. Of course they weren't but the idea let many people look down on union members as an undeserving underclass. That in turn was used by capital owners to create support for legislation outlawing activities by upstart union members against the more deserving mid and upper classes.
Not at all. Bizarre is the need to immediately jump to such invective.
I stand by the phrase bizarre.
Speaking with disdain doesn't make your position any stronger or more correct.
You've already revised your position, to one that I think is still overly broad and simplistic, but one that I think is common and thus not bizarre.
If I were to describe my thoughts on the particular point in history its that Reagan's action was an effect of the decline of labor unions, that occurred because in many ways they had accomplished a lot of their stated and most approachable goals. The only reason he could get away with it was because the unions had lost so much of their sway. They didn't lose their sway because he fired striking workers.
You also see that it was not confined to the US as Thatcher was doing similar things in the UK.
Bear in mind that improves is present-tense for a reason.
Want to join the Industrial Workers of the World?
Imagine being SEOA (Software Engineer Association of America) Level 1 certified and never having to do Fizz Buzz at an interview again. Or a Glassdoor-like employer database that gives you a clue what you might be walking into. Independent health insurance coverage, etc. There could be lots of great ways it would improve the average engineer's life.
That's also what guilds do.
"The recruiters accepted our exemptions because they were going after bigger fish: the engineers. The computer engineers who work as W-2 contractors are generally earning $100-300/hr and often work 60-80 hours per week. The recruiters were afraid that if such workers were entitled to overtime pay, the companies may cut overtime work, and therefore the recruiters would lose their 30-50% share of that money (this can be much as $6,000 per week to a recruiter for a single worker.)
Engineers have always refused to organize or even to be aware of their interests: they think recruiters are their friends. One engineer said to me: "Engineers think they're so smart that no one could do such a thing to them. Wow. They got really screwed." The law is an annual loss of as much as $50-75,000 dollars per each engineer. Yep, it's legal. The recuiters wrote a law to take away their money. Silicon Valley engineers were plundered by their "friends"."