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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Thats one thing military and civillians can agree on. because whether tricare or medicare, its hilariously hypocritical that a bunch of rich men who can afford their own healthcare for life easily get it free, then try to rip it away from servicemen and the poor.
because thats totally fair and moral.
edited 3rd Jun '13 8:49:34 AM by Midgetsnowman
What must absolutely disappear is "thresholds" of income/employment that leave you with less money when crossed.
Some of our welfare programs in France still have that problem, though IIRC we're working on correcting that (by progressively diminishing the aid the more money you earn instead of cutting it outright)
edited 3rd Jun '13 8:53:17 AM by Medinoc
"And as long as a sack of shit is not a good thing to be, chivalry will never die."Yeah, I've got a few friends who literally either had to turn down part time jobs or do them illegally ('under the table') because to take them legally would completely ax their benefits, leaving them far worse off than they would be without the jobs at all.
Which is the exact opposite behavior of what welfare is supposed to be encouraging.
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.
Yep. But then, anti-welfare types would argue that means we should ax welfare completely to force you to take shitty jobs that dont cover your living expenses out of some misplaced sense of "pride in working"
Cuz I dunno about anyone else, but I take no pride in working except on jobs I actually want to do, like my artistic pursuits.
I don't see the point in being proud of doing something that your employer doesn't think well enough of to provide even a living wage. By nature, workers will value their work according to how their positions are valued by their bosses.
Now, if you're in the enviable position of being one of the few workers who are being fairly compensated for your productivity, then sure, go ahead and be glad you have the position and do your best at it, even if it's not what you thought you'd be doing with your life. But that's a vanishing few.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:20:31 AM by Karkadinn
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.@Kark
Yeah, I knew a guy in a security company I worked for who was a supervisor. He had to turn down raises because he was in section 8 housing(he made so little that he had government assistance for his housing) so if he had a raise, he would be making too much money to still qualify, but not enough to support his family.
Except that's not true.
As Karmakin likes to say over and over, and apparently needs to because it hasn't sunk in yet, worker productivity has only gotten better over the years while their wages have flatlined. I'm not seeing any indications that either of these trends are going to go away any time soon.
We do not live in a meritocracy where being a better worker gets you rewarded.
Now, I'm not saying you should go ahead and suck at your job just because you had the bum luck to work in a crappy economy. I'm just saying, don't be a martyr or feel guilty because you can't make yourself love a job with terrible hours and terrible pay. It's okay to be unhappy with a situation any rational human being would be unhappy with.
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.One must at least try to stay positive, because it is not something I've encountered over this side of the Atlantic. Personally, I know things haven't turned out the way I'd have wanted — and I know the factors why, both personally and nationally, they haven't — but, if I want to get where I want to get to, I know now that I now need to work from the bottom up. And work damn hard, keep myself sane, and work well, because I will get there quickly. I may moan and complain, but the only person that can change my own particular situation is me.
Nobody else.
I don't blame Society or the Economy. I can't do anything about that, and blaming larger issues doesn't do anything to improve my material situation. I'm not going to Give Up. Not Now.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:37:46 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On@Greemantle: promotions and decent pay when you're working at the bottom run of fast food/walmart doesnt say much, seeing as how all managers get is a slight pay raise and to have all the pressure of having to cut corners to stay profitable while also not getting cauhght doing it by the same superiors who will also fire you for not making their financial goals.
In short. Theres nothing to take pride in except some sort of deranged stockholm syndrome.
The American job system at the bottom basically assumes you are an expendable cog to be replaced at their whim, and cultural attitudes of "suck it up and take pride in doing a good job" do nothing but help keep it that way.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:41:35 AM by Midgetsnowman
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Reread what you quoted from my post. I didn't say give up. What I did say is that you have a right to be upset. And if you refuse to get upset no matter how much you're exploited, you deserve nothing but to be exploited further.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:43:14 AM by Karkadinn
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.
This. Its why I despise so much of rural american culture. From country music to cultural attitudes.
people who decide "theres nothing shameful about working a blue collar job your whole life, marrying your highschool girl and working hard for shit pay" are the reason why thats all we'll ever get.. Because sure, theres nothing wrong with taking pride in your job, but there is something wrong in outright accepting shit pay and hard work are the standard you should be happy with and if you arent, you're weird and crazy.
@GM: Doesn't mean working your way up from the bottom or taking two jobs is the best way to go about it for everybody. Some people can't keep sane or have crappy bosses who would sooner promote his slacker soon than any good workers. Some need to go into business for themselves or find a good job where they didn't think to find it.
It isn't "don't work hard" it's "work hard and think. If this isn't working out try to find another way. The straight up path doesn't work for everybody."
Essentially yes, some need to find another way and it's hard in this time. Our current model actually isn't working for a lot of people.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:49:32 AM by Wildcard
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Yeah. Good luck with that. Job mobility for the poor basically doesnt exist. The best you can hope for is trading one exploitative job for another exploitative job until your body gives out and you die.
Its why two of my friends I consider fucking idiots for going into the same line of factory work that left their dad a cripple on disability for the rest of his days at age 50.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:48:10 AM by Midgetsnowman
That's not just the poor. That's most of the Middle Classes too.
Yes, I tried the Straight Path. I tried to get on the Graduate Schemes, get the Graduate Roles, but I didn't get anywhere. So...I've got to try another way.
edited 3rd Jun '13 9:51:34 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling OnSo don't we have an economic thread for complaining about crappy jobs?
SCOTUS upholds DNA testing for serious arrests
I'm sort of agreeing with Scalia which is scary.
If our choices are 'let innocent people go to jail so the government doesn't know my DNA' or 'let the government know my DNA and keep innocent people out of jail,' I'll go for the latter, thank you.
I'm not seeing any obvious ways of abusing that information regardless, but even if some came up - it seems worth the price.
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.![]()
He didn't get to be a Supreme Court Justice by being completely unreasonable. I find he plays a good devil's advocate, which is absolutely necessary on any court decision.
Mostly life insurance. Corp. sees you have a genetic tendency to heart failure, you have to pay more or are denied. Stuff like that.
edited 3rd Jun '13 10:10:40 AM by AnSTH
But that's a story for another time.The article is about government access to DNA, though, not corporate.
For the record I think the entire insurance industry is an abomination that must be destroyed, but life insurance should theoretically be less significant if we can fix our healthcare system and other health-related facets of society.
Furthermore, I think Guantanamo must be destroyed.

I get really pissed off about how congresscritters get free healthcare for life at a really high standard, but then try to yank Tricare from military members. The only thing good about Tricare is that it's free, everything else about it sucks.
We only get it while working and if we do our full 20 and retire. A congressman does his job for one term and iirc, they have it for life. Fucking hypocrites.