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Good paying jobs are scarce and video games are relatively cheap for the amount of time you can spend on them. It's escapism. They are confusing correlation wit

Good paying jobs are scarce and video games are relatively cheap for the amount of time you can spend on them. It's escapism. They are confusing correlation with causation.

notthemessiah 10y ago
> Video games are relatively cheap for the amount of time you can spend on them. This has far-reaching consequences. With most goods, the consumer has to keep consuming (and thus creating demand). There's major concerns whether or not we can keep enough people working (and buying things) to keep the economy going, and video games don't contribute as much to aggregate demand. With an economic system that depends on continuous growth, we are trying to simultaneously squeeze more labor out of people while reducing the value of what people get out of it. This contradiction doesn't come with new luxury goods, but is a contradiction within capitalism that has been well described for almost two centuries: the dual nature of labour as capital and labour as a commodity. >They are confusing correlation with causation. Actually, this is one of the biggest questions of the paper cited, so the authors are not oblivious.
- Terr_ 10y ago
  > video games don't contribute as much to aggregate demand Perhaps, but consistent demand isn't everything. I mean, hard drugs keep people buying, but...
marknutter 10y ago
This is such bullshit. Right now you can walk into a long haul trucking job with zero years experience and be making $70k minimum with a $10-20k signing bonus after a short month long training. And that's one of myriad trades that are available today. The lie that has been sold to America's youth that everyone has a "right" to go to college and is entitled to a job upon graduation will go down as one of the greatest crimes committed against an entire generation.
- diogenescynic 10y ago
  What are the hours and benefits like for long haul trucking? I'd imagine it's not a job widely available in West Virginia or areas where there is mass unemployment. Genuinely asking and I don't think what I said is bullshit. There are definitely people who can't find full-time jobs and spend their time playing video games because it's a cheap hobby/luxury/entertainment. Why else do you think the labor participation rate is so low? Why don't all those people who lost manufacturing or coal jobs just follow your advice? I don't think you should dismiss millions and millions of people making minimum wage, working part-time, or out of the labor force altogether and just assume (without a shred of evidence) that they are simply choosing not to take well paid jobs that you describe as so freely available.
  - marknutter 10y ago
    > What are the hours and benefits like for long haul trucking? I'd imagine it's not a job widely available in West Virginia or areas where there is mass unemployment. The benefits are like any other salaried position, and the hours are restricted by federal mandate for safety reasons. The one downside is being away from home for extended periods of time, but... y'know... it's a job; if it were easy it wouldn't pay well. The labor shortage in the trades is well documented: http://www.career.org/news/shortage-of-skills-construction-skilled-trades http://www.career.org/news/shortage-of-skills-construction-s... http://www.centerforamerica.org/pledge/gr/AAMGA_Magazine_Ratzenberger_CFA_Article_8-11.pdf http://www.centerforamerica.org/pledge/gr/AAMGA_Magazine_Rat... > Why else do you think the labor participation rate is so low? Why don't all those people who lost manufacturing or coal jobs just follow your advice? They should follow my advice. My guess as to why the participation rate is so low is because Millennials are living at home with their Baby Boomer parents, playing video games and avoiding the harsh realities of adult life. They were sold on the false dream that they could get any degree they wanted and walk right out of college into a high paying, indoor job. Dreams like that are hard to wake up from. > I don't think you should dismiss millions and millions of people making minimum wage, working part-time, or out of the labor force altogether and just assume (without a shred of evidence) that they are simply choosing not to take well paid jobs that you describe as so freely available. When we no longer have a labor shortage in the trades and other blue collar jobs, I'll stop dismissing the millions of people making minimum wage.

Good paying jobs are scarce and video games are relatively cheap for the amount of time you can spend on them. It's escapism. They are confusing correlation with causation.

notthemessiah 10y ago

> Video games are relatively cheap for the amount of time you can spend on them. This has far-reaching consequences. With most goods, the consumer has to keep consuming (and thus creating demand). There's major concerns whether or not we can keep enough people working (and buying things) to keep the economy going, and video games don't contribute as much to aggregate demand. With an economic system that depends on continuous growth, we are trying to simultaneously squeeze more labor out of people while reducing the value of what people get out of it. This contradiction doesn't come with new luxury goods, but is a contradiction within capitalism that has been well described for almost two centuries: the dual nature of labour as capital and labour as a commodity. >They are confusing correlation with causation. Actually, this is one of the biggest questions of the paper cited, so the authors are not oblivious.

Terr_ 10y ago
> video games don't contribute as much to aggregate demand Perhaps, but consistent demand isn't everything. I mean, hard drugs keep people buying, but...

marknutter 10y ago

This is such bullshit. Right now you can walk into a long haul trucking job with zero years experience and be making $70k minimum with a $10-20k signing bonus after a short month long training. And that's one of myriad trades that are available today. The lie that has been sold to America's youth that everyone has a "right" to go to college and is entitled to a job upon graduation will go down as one of the greatest crimes committed against an entire generation.

diogenescynic 10y ago
What are the hours and benefits like for long haul trucking? I'd imagine it's not a job widely available in West Virginia or areas where there is mass unemployment. Genuinely asking and I don't think what I said is bullshit. There are definitely people who can't find full-time jobs and spend their time playing video games because it's a cheap hobby/luxury/entertainment. Why else do you think the labor participation rate is so low? Why don't all those people who lost manufacturing or coal jobs just follow your advice? I don't think you should dismiss millions and millions of people making minimum wage, working part-time, or out of the labor force altogether and just assume (without a shred of evidence) that they are simply choosing not to take well paid jobs that you describe as so freely available.
- marknutter 10y ago
  > What are the hours and benefits like for long haul trucking? I'd imagine it's not a job widely available in West Virginia or areas where there is mass unemployment. The benefits are like any other salaried position, and the hours are restricted by federal mandate for safety reasons. The one downside is being away from home for extended periods of time, but... y'know... it's a job; if it were easy it wouldn't pay well. The labor shortage in the trades is well documented: http://www.career.org/news/shortage-of-skills-construction-skilled-trades http://www.career.org/news/shortage-of-skills-construction-s... http://www.centerforamerica.org/pledge/gr/AAMGA_Magazine_Ratzenberger_CFA_Article_8-11.pdf http://www.centerforamerica.org/pledge/gr/AAMGA_Magazine_Rat... > Why else do you think the labor participation rate is so low? Why don't all those people who lost manufacturing or coal jobs just follow your advice? They should follow my advice. My guess as to why the participation rate is so low is because Millennials are living at home with their Baby Boomer parents, playing video games and avoiding the harsh realities of adult life. They were sold on the false dream that they could get any degree they wanted and walk right out of college into a high paying, indoor job. Dreams like that are hard to wake up from. > I don't think you should dismiss millions and millions of people making minimum wage, working part-time, or out of the labor force altogether and just assume (without a shred of evidence) that they are simply choosing not to take well paid jobs that you describe as so freely available. When we no longer have a labor shortage in the trades and other blue collar jobs, I'll stop dismissing the millions of people making minimum wage.