4 ms·

Twitter employees are in the top 1%. They're not poor factory workers. They also own the means of production; a computer.

by memish 4y ago

heavyset_go 4y ago
Twitter employees certainly don't own Twitter's capital.
toomuchtodo 4y ago
Tech workers are the new factory workers. I’m unsure why you’re advocating so hard for tolerating abuse from the extremely wealthy (cult of personality?), but that is your right. Abuse need not be tolerated when labor regulations provide you leverage against it.
- ilyt 4y ago
  Yeah, nah. Most of them can easily find work elsewhere for as good compensation.
  - heavyset_go 4y ago
    So could factory workers.
- ericd 4y ago
  Let’s not be hyperbolic, it’s a ridiculously cushy job by comparison.
  - eropple 4y ago
    That it's cushy (it is!) does not change that it's not a capital position. Your average tech worker makes company owners orders of magnitude more than your average factory worker, and are paid what they are because they can demand it. Business owners would pay less if they could. Why shouldn't tech workers, like any other worker, try to maximize their own lot in turn?
- nunez 4y ago
  Let's compare the daily grind of a factory worker to that of an engineer at a place like Twitter (tech worker is really broad): FACTORY WORKER: - Gets up early, leaves late - Performs work that is rote down to a T - Works extremely hard, physically - On their feet for large parts of the day - Must join (and pay to be in) a union for benefits and such - Extremely fungable - Paid at or around the US median TWITTER ENGINEER - Gets up early...if they want to. Gets out late...if they want to. - Or they just pull up before your team's standup and peace out at 3pm - Work on extremely creative tasks b/c software is creative; so much so that some have really cool blogs where they talk about the 0.01% elite engineering shit they do - Work is extremely demanding mentally while you sit in >$1000 chairs and type on >$1000 standing desks - Need the standing desk and occasional walk to force themselves to be mobile - No union, but amazing benefits (see laid off Tweeps getting three months of pay) - Generally not very fungable - Paid several times above the US median, and that's before we consider their equity TL;DR: Come on, dude.
  - jprd 4y ago
    Why are you trying to minimize this? I presume it is acceptable behavior as long as they are making more than you are? Your fellow citizens do not deserve that kind of treatment, no human does. If I compensate you accordingly, are you willing to accept sub-human treatment and an environment of constant fear and stress with no sense of accomplishment? Especially in the case of an eccentric billionaire playing financial mechanics with a vanity project? If its OK because they make all the monies, I imagine it will be OK when it is your neighbors, the Blacks, Jews, LGBTQ+, Asians, dudes name Sally and your Mom's "Aunt Sylvie" from the Home who has all those amazing candies from Eastern Europe? This is a shit-poor example of Capitalism, and scheming like this over a ** Br3ndN@me™ is the kind of other-over-there-shit that leads to unrest and aquatic tea parties. Just base, craven, and completely unnecessary in all regards. I cannot imagine an eventuality that is worth the harm he's already caused. Taking this risk at the absolute worst possible time is already f*cking up Tesla and SolarCity. Regardless of their scam-iness, having real impact.
    - nunez 4y ago
      It's not about compensation. It's about quality of work life. Working as an engineer is literally one of the cushiest jobs you can get, and it's in super high demand, even now given the layoffs. I think that it is insulting to factory workers to compare what we do with what they do. I haven't done factory work, but from what I've read and seen, it's a _true_ grind.
- memish 4y ago
  Yeah, like, totally. They're just like a factory worker working in a dangerous factory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQbHyLE6Tc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQbHyLE6Tc https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/1561096423243800576 https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/1561096423243800576 https://www.tiktok.com/@durbinmalonster/video/7104742170426641710 https://www.tiktok.com/@durbinmalonster/video/71047421704266...
GolDDranks 4y ago
A computer is not the means of production for Twitter. Twitter, the company, is in the business of producing ad impressions for the advertiser. They use Twitter, the platform to do that, so that's their means of production. A computer is just the tool to build and maintain the platform, not directly to produce value. (If Twitter were an IT consulting company, the computer would be a means of production for them.)
int_19h 4y ago
They're still workers. Unions aren't "for the poor".

Twitter employees are in the top 1%. They're not poor factory workers. They also own the means of production; a computer.

by memish 4y ago

Twitter employees are in the top 1%. They're not poor factory workers. They also own the means of production; a computer.

heavyset_go 4y ago

Twitter employees certainly don't own Twitter's capital.

toomuchtodo 4y ago

Tech workers are the new factory workers. I’m unsure why you’re advocating so hard for tolerating abuse from the extremely wealthy (cult of personality?), but that is your right. Abuse need not be tolerated when labor regulations provide you leverage against it.

ilyt 4y ago
Yeah, nah. Most of them can easily find work elsewhere for as good compensation.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  So could factory workers.
ericd 4y ago
Let’s not be hyperbolic, it’s a ridiculously cushy job by comparison.
- eropple 4y ago
  That it's cushy (it is!) does not change that it's not a capital position. Your average tech worker makes company owners orders of magnitude more than your average factory worker, and are paid what they are because they can demand it. Business owners would pay less if they could. Why shouldn't tech workers, like any other worker, try to maximize their own lot in turn?
nunez 4y ago
Let's compare the daily grind of a factory worker to that of an engineer at a place like Twitter (tech worker is really broad): FACTORY WORKER: - Gets up early, leaves late - Performs work that is rote down to a T - Works extremely hard, physically - On their feet for large parts of the day - Must join (and pay to be in) a union for benefits and such - Extremely fungable - Paid at or around the US median TWITTER ENGINEER - Gets up early...if they want to. Gets out late...if they want to. - Or they just pull up before your team's standup and peace out at 3pm - Work on extremely creative tasks b/c software is creative; so much so that some have really cool blogs where they talk about the 0.01% elite engineering shit they do - Work is extremely demanding mentally while you sit in >$1000 chairs and type on >$1000 standing desks - Need the standing desk and occasional walk to force themselves to be mobile - No union, but amazing benefits (see laid off Tweeps getting three months of pay) - Generally not very fungable - Paid several times above the US median, and that's before we consider their equity TL;DR: Come on, dude.
- jprd 4y ago
  Why are you trying to minimize this? I presume it is acceptable behavior as long as they are making more than you are? Your fellow citizens do not deserve that kind of treatment, no human does. If I compensate you accordingly, are you willing to accept sub-human treatment and an environment of constant fear and stress with no sense of accomplishment? Especially in the case of an eccentric billionaire playing financial mechanics with a vanity project? If its OK because they make all the monies, I imagine it will be OK when it is your neighbors, the Blacks, Jews, LGBTQ+, Asians, dudes name Sally and your Mom's "Aunt Sylvie" from the Home who has all those amazing candies from Eastern Europe? This is a shit-poor example of Capitalism, and scheming like this over a ** Br3ndN@me™ is the kind of other-over-there-shit that leads to unrest and aquatic tea parties. Just base, craven, and completely unnecessary in all regards. I cannot imagine an eventuality that is worth the harm he's already caused. Taking this risk at the absolute worst possible time is already f*cking up Tesla and SolarCity. Regardless of their scam-iness, having real impact.
  - nunez 4y ago
    It's not about compensation. It's about quality of work life. Working as an engineer is literally one of the cushiest jobs you can get, and it's in super high demand, even now given the layoffs. I think that it is insulting to factory workers to compare what we do with what they do. I haven't done factory work, but from what I've read and seen, it's a _true_ grind.
memish 4y ago
Yeah, like, totally. They're just like a factory worker working in a dangerous factory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQbHyLE6Tc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQbHyLE6Tc https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/1561096423243800576 https://twitter.com/DavidSacks/status/1561096423243800576 https://www.tiktok.com/@durbinmalonster/video/7104742170426641710 https://www.tiktok.com/@durbinmalonster/video/71047421704266...

GolDDranks 4y ago

A computer is not the means of production for Twitter. Twitter, the company, is in the business of producing ad impressions for the advertiser. They use Twitter, the platform to do that, so that's their means of production. A computer is just the tool to build and maintain the platform, not directly to produce value. (If Twitter were an IT consulting company, the computer would be a means of production for them.)

int_19h 4y ago

They're still workers. Unions aren't "for the poor".