4 ms·

skin in the game, people in power don't face any consequences for their actions and in many cases are completely oblivious to what life is like for the average

skin in the game, people in power don't face any consequences for their actions and in many cases are completely oblivious to what life is like for the average person. America is completely divided from one another, if somehow we could get people to "walk a mile in somebodies shoes", I think there would be a lot more empathy for workers. How many Wall Street execs have had to go to the Rust Belt and see the consequences of their actions first hand? Instead they just call it flyover country and don't have to see it. Same applies to Silicon Valley honestly, I know a therapist who works for Google and they struggle with the job because of how entitled most Google employees are. Vast majority of them have no clue how good they have it compared to 99% of the population

lotsofpulp 5y ago
What was the alternative when the world was offering labor for 20% of the price? The US closes its border and trades amongst itself?
- ren_engineer 5y ago
  you can go for economic efficiency without the massive increase in income inequality if you spread the wealth to some degree. This is also ignoring the externalities that Wall Street ignored, like the impact of China now having a bigger economy than the US because we literally built them up. Short term thinking in the name of profit is the root cause. The government should be the check on that type of thinking, but the major corporations have bought off most of the government
- mdorazio 5y ago
  Many options were available. Tariffs, enforcement of environmental and working standards for foreign producers, taxation of companies outsourcing production and labor, distribution of a portion of savings to impacted workers, etc. For the most part the US chose none of these in favor of maximizing short-term profits.
SauciestGNU 5y ago
I live in the rust belt and I've been spending a lot of time in a homeless encampment helping people resist forced eviction by the city. The overwhelming majority even of relatively economically deprived people around me have no idea how much people are struggling. Literally out of sight out of mind. Walking in those shoes would be great, but I'd take even basic acknowledgement at this point.
maccard 5y ago
> know a therapist who works for Google and they struggle with the job because of how entitled most Google employees are. Vast majority of them have no clue how good they have it compared to 99% of the population And they don't see the irony of their own position?
- ren_engineer 5y ago
  they are self-aware and have experience outside the SV bubble to realize how good they have it. As opposed to Stanford grads having a nervous breakdown or raging because they only make 500K and their friends make 700K or have a successful startup
  - maccard 5y ago
    If they're self aware enough to know how good they have it, why do they struggle with the job because of how entitled most Google employees are? > As opposed to Stanford grads having a nervous breakdown or raging because they only make 500K and their friends make 700K or have a successful startup Chastising or berating people for struggling regardless of their circumstances is an incredibly shitty thing to do.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

What was the alternative when the world was offering labor for 20% of the price? The US closes its border and trades amongst itself?

ren_engineer 5y ago
you can go for economic efficiency without the massive increase in income inequality if you spread the wealth to some degree. This is also ignoring the externalities that Wall Street ignored, like the impact of China now having a bigger economy than the US because we literally built them up. Short term thinking in the name of profit is the root cause. The government should be the check on that type of thinking, but the major corporations have bought off most of the government
mdorazio 5y ago
Many options were available. Tariffs, enforcement of environmental and working standards for foreign producers, taxation of companies outsourcing production and labor, distribution of a portion of savings to impacted workers, etc. For the most part the US chose none of these in favor of maximizing short-term profits.

SauciestGNU 5y ago

I live in the rust belt and I've been spending a lot of time in a homeless encampment helping people resist forced eviction by the city. The overwhelming majority even of relatively economically deprived people around me have no idea how much people are struggling. Literally out of sight out of mind. Walking in those shoes would be great, but I'd take even basic acknowledgement at this point.

maccard 5y ago

> know a therapist who works for Google and they struggle with the job because of how entitled most Google employees are. Vast majority of them have no clue how good they have it compared to 99% of the population And they don't see the irony of their own position?

ren_engineer 5y ago
they are self-aware and have experience outside the SV bubble to realize how good they have it. As opposed to Stanford grads having a nervous breakdown or raging because they only make 500K and their friends make 700K or have a successful startup
- maccard 5y ago
  If they're self aware enough to know how good they have it, why do they struggle with the job because of how entitled most Google employees are? > As opposed to Stanford grads having a nervous breakdown or raging because they only make 500K and their friends make 700K or have a successful startup Chastising or berating people for struggling regardless of their circumstances is an incredibly shitty thing to do.