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> At law firm Nixon Peabody LLP, associates have started saying no to working weekends, prompting partners to ask more people to help complete time-sensitive wo

> At law firm Nixon Peabody LLP, associates have started saying no to working weekends, prompting partners to ask more people to help complete time-sensitive work. Working weekends was never sustainable. I don't understand why companies think that they can deliver for their customers by forcing their employees to work weekends. That said, America has a huge problem. The way American laws are written, it causes a lot of red-tape. The only reason anything gets done is because there are time bounds on the red-tape. But getting through more and more red-tape with fewer and fewer people, in a time limit, is extremely hard. This shows up in pressures on workers to finish what appears to be solved problems, such as payroll, compliance and, taxes. The result of American red-tape is: > The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, recently moved about 20 remote engineering and marketing roles to Canada and India, where she said it’s easier to find talent who will go above and beyond. America needs to reduce red-tape before the labor force declines in this decade.

unity1001 4y ago
> The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, recently moved about 20 remote engineering and marketing roles to Canada and India > America needs to reduce red-tape before the labor force declines in this decade. That's more due to the deregulated free market sucking people dry in the US over basic needs, forcing them to live with outrageous rents, childcare, healthcare, living costs. The corporations that profit from basic necessities are literally, actually, physically damaging the interests of every other corporation and sector in the economy. And when the cost of living is so artificially exaggerated, outsourcing job to a remote location where deregulated corporations cannot suck people dry over their basic needs becomes cheaper for every corporation. Housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation, communication, education, military, justice, police, food, heating et al are social infrastructure. They must be prevented from profiteering. Otherwise the profiteers destroy the society while maximizing their profits over those.
- repsilat 4y ago
  > deregulated free market sucking people dry in the US over basic needs, forcing them to live with outrageous rents, childcare, healthcare, living costs. Hilarious. Those are all expensive because of government constraints -- the profit-seeking free market is unable to drive prices down because regulations have raised barriers to entry and dramatically reduced competition and innovation. Meanwhile more lightly-regulated sectors show clear negative inflation. But even before getting to the mechanism, I don't think the actual reality totally matches what you've deacribed. Rents in the US are generally not "outrageous" (obvious exceptions excepted), and living costs are low -- fuel is cheap, electricity is cheap, food is cheap. Far from "sucking people dry" the corporations in those industries are providing for people much better than any government agency. See this famous chart for the receipts -- which things government interferes with, and which are becoming more expensive: https://inflationdata.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Inflation-1996-2016-by-category.png https://inflationdata.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2019/1...
  - unity1001 4y ago
    > Those are all expensive because of government constraints There are even more government constraints in Europe, China, Japan. The real estate sector, healthcare, education etc are not out of hand in those places like they are in the US. > the profit-seeking free market is unable to drive prices down The profit-seeking free market is unable to drive prices down because driving prices down is anathema to profit-seeking. > See this famous chart for the receipts -- which things government interferes with A blog post from Randians in contrast to actually existing reality does not an argument make. Let me reiterate: There are more government constraints everywhere else around the world. Nowhere else those critical sectors are out of hand.
    - jcampbell1 4y ago
      I ended up in a hospital in Urumqi China. It was the most capitalist thing I have ever experienced. You put money on a card and pay for services individually… the nurses all had a card reader. $35 for a CT, $6 IV penicillin, (repeat 6 times), $20 see an ENT, $5 for Augmentin. Government matches the amount paid, and poor people get a card that is very discounted. Family members typically moved the patient since orderlies were an additional charge.
      - ok_dad 4y ago
        it is frankly amazing that you took the reality of the government paying for half of all medical coverage, paying for most of it for poor people, and regulating low prices for such care (well below America from your examples) as “capitalism works!” What the hell?
        jcampbell1 4y ago
        Progressive taxation and subsidies are completely within the realm of capitalism. It is regulation and government provision of services that push the system outside the competition benefits of capitalism. The Chinese system is straight up Austrian economics capitalism. The prices weren’t regulated. The CT machine was a hand me down. The place operated with basically no management. It worked like a food court in Singapore.
- nine_zeros 4y ago
  > That's more due to the deregulated free market sucking people dry in the US over basic needs, forcing them to live with outrageous rents, childcare, healthcare, living costs. The corporations that profit from basic necessities are literally, actually, physically damaging the interests of every other corporation and sector in the economy. And when the cost of living is so artificially exaggerated, outsourcing job to a remote location where deregulated corporations cannot suck people dry over their basic needs becomes cheaper for every corporation. There is truth to this. A lot of red tape is patchwork lawmaking attempting to close loopholes from some fraudulent activity. That said, patchwork fixes are no good. It is only increasing compliance burden year-over-year. Life with government bureaucracy is getting harder, not easier. An example is healthcare. One of the reasons the cost of healthcare is high exactly because of shitty regulations, which limit the number of healthcare workers graduating per year. And then, there are compliance burdens tacked on to them every year. Then nurses and doctors are asked to take tests every few years to keep their license. To what end? Are lifetime outcomes better? Is our healthcare system better for it? No. The ideal solution would be to reduce regulatory burden to a point where we can have unlimited doctors, nurses and healthcare workers. Said doctors, nurses etc. should be able to open a private practice easily, in every corner of a town, much like a McDonalds. Insurance should be forced to pay claims out fast, easy and for every treatment under the sun, recommended by the doctor. None of this CPT code nonsense. If the insurance company can't handle this, they should be free to go out of business. There should be intense competition among insurance providers, which doesn't happen because startups cannot compete with the regulatory burden. Make simple laws. Make life easier. We need an abundance of services, not abundance of regulatory burden.
  - unity1001 4y ago
    > One of the reasons the cost of healthcare is high exactly because of shitty regulations, The sole reason why healthcare is out of hand is because it is in the hands of the private sector and the people have no option but to subject themselves to it. This happens whenever a critical social infrastructure is privatized. And that sector will not stop maximizing its profit with deregulation. Its anathema to profit-making. > Said doctors, nurses etc. should be able to open a private practice easily There isn't any profitable sector in which individual professionals or small outfits can compete with massive conglomerates. Less, in healthcare. The amount of healthcare services and technology that a private individual can muster are incomparable to what is needed today in modern medicine. Legions of general practicioners will not fix anything - preventing profit maximization from something related to survival is. Private healthcare is just slightly less brutal than privatization of air: If it was possible to privatize air, there would be no escape from its consequences. With private healthcare, you can escape the ransacking profiteering for some time as long as you are healthy.
- rocknor 4y ago
  I see it as capitalism working as it should. There is a huge supply of competent labour in the developing world but hiring remotely was infeasible until recently. This resulted in inflated salaries in developed countries, which is now being reversed thanks to the internet. It is an economic rebalancing of sorts. This is a net good, hundreds of millions people in developing countries now have a more fair chance to compete. And no, they don't feel like they are being "sucked dry" despite what you might say (to save your own job).
scarface74 4y ago
You act like indecipherable laws are uniquely American. Have you seen the 99 section 11 chapter GDPR?
- nine_zeros 4y ago
  I never claimed the EU is better. IMHO, EU is worse than America due to the monetary federal structure and heavy-handed government. And it shows in their economic decline. That said, America is heading to a shitty future much like EU, unless America gets its act together.
  - mensetmanusman 4y ago
    It’s easy for America to get its act together because everyone wants to come here still. Once that changes, doomed.
    - nine_zeros 4y ago
      People may have wanted to come to America in the past. Today they are choosing various alternatives because America is shooting itself in the foot with insane red tape in legal immigration. And good people don't want to come illegally. It's so backwards. It is easier to enter illegally than legally.
      - mensetmanusman 4y ago
        America is overwhelmed with illegal immigration so there are zero resources left to help with legal immigration.
        nine_zeros 4y ago
        If America makes the legal immigration system not-so-kafkaesque, people will try to apply for the legal way instead of the illegal way. Right now, the legal system is not humanly accessible.

unity1001 4y ago

> The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, recently moved about 20 remote engineering and marketing roles to Canada and India > America needs to reduce red-tape before the labor force declines in this decade. That's more due to the deregulated free market sucking people dry in the US over basic needs, forcing them to live with outrageous rents, childcare, healthcare, living costs. The corporations that profit from basic necessities are literally, actually, physically damaging the interests of every other corporation and sector in the economy. And when the cost of living is so artificially exaggerated, outsourcing job to a remote location where deregulated corporations cannot suck people dry over their basic needs becomes cheaper for every corporation. Housing, healthcare, childcare, transportation, communication, education, military, justice, police, food, heating et al are social infrastructure. They must be prevented from profiteering. Otherwise the profiteers destroy the society while maximizing their profits over those.

repsilat 4y ago
> deregulated free market sucking people dry in the US over basic needs, forcing them to live with outrageous rents, childcare, healthcare, living costs. Hilarious. Those are all expensive because of government constraints -- the profit-seeking free market is unable to drive prices down because regulations have raised barriers to entry and dramatically reduced competition and innovation. Meanwhile more lightly-regulated sectors show clear negative inflation. But even before getting to the mechanism, I don't think the actual reality totally matches what you've deacribed. Rents in the US are generally not "outrageous" (obvious exceptions excepted), and living costs are low -- fuel is cheap, electricity is cheap, food is cheap. Far from "sucking people dry" the corporations in those industries are providing for people much better than any government agency. See this famous chart for the receipts -- which things government interferes with, and which are becoming more expensive: https://inflationdata.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Inflation-1996-2016-by-category.png https://inflationdata.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2019/1...
- unity1001 4y ago
  > Those are all expensive because of government constraints There are even more government constraints in Europe, China, Japan. The real estate sector, healthcare, education etc are not out of hand in those places like they are in the US. > the profit-seeking free market is unable to drive prices down The profit-seeking free market is unable to drive prices down because driving prices down is anathema to profit-seeking. > See this famous chart for the receipts -- which things government interferes with A blog post from Randians in contrast to actually existing reality does not an argument make. Let me reiterate: There are more government constraints everywhere else around the world. Nowhere else those critical sectors are out of hand.
  - jcampbell1 4y ago
    I ended up in a hospital in Urumqi China. It was the most capitalist thing I have ever experienced. You put money on a card and pay for services individually… the nurses all had a card reader. $35 for a CT, $6 IV penicillin, (repeat 6 times), $20 see an ENT, $5 for Augmentin. Government matches the amount paid, and poor people get a card that is very discounted. Family members typically moved the patient since orderlies were an additional charge.
    - ok_dad 4y ago
      it is frankly amazing that you took the reality of the government paying for half of all medical coverage, paying for most of it for poor people, and regulating low prices for such care (well below America from your examples) as “capitalism works!” What the hell?
      - jcampbell1 4y ago
        Progressive taxation and subsidies are completely within the realm of capitalism. It is regulation and government provision of services that push the system outside the competition benefits of capitalism. The Chinese system is straight up Austrian economics capitalism. The prices weren’t regulated. The CT machine was a hand me down. The place operated with basically no management. It worked like a food court in Singapore.
nine_zeros 4y ago
> That's more due to the deregulated free market sucking people dry in the US over basic needs, forcing them to live with outrageous rents, childcare, healthcare, living costs. The corporations that profit from basic necessities are literally, actually, physically damaging the interests of every other corporation and sector in the economy. And when the cost of living is so artificially exaggerated, outsourcing job to a remote location where deregulated corporations cannot suck people dry over their basic needs becomes cheaper for every corporation. There is truth to this. A lot of red tape is patchwork lawmaking attempting to close loopholes from some fraudulent activity. That said, patchwork fixes are no good. It is only increasing compliance burden year-over-year. Life with government bureaucracy is getting harder, not easier. An example is healthcare. One of the reasons the cost of healthcare is high exactly because of shitty regulations, which limit the number of healthcare workers graduating per year. And then, there are compliance burdens tacked on to them every year. Then nurses and doctors are asked to take tests every few years to keep their license. To what end? Are lifetime outcomes better? Is our healthcare system better for it? No. The ideal solution would be to reduce regulatory burden to a point where we can have unlimited doctors, nurses and healthcare workers. Said doctors, nurses etc. should be able to open a private practice easily, in every corner of a town, much like a McDonalds. Insurance should be forced to pay claims out fast, easy and for every treatment under the sun, recommended by the doctor. None of this CPT code nonsense. If the insurance company can't handle this, they should be free to go out of business. There should be intense competition among insurance providers, which doesn't happen because startups cannot compete with the regulatory burden. Make simple laws. Make life easier. We need an abundance of services, not abundance of regulatory burden.
- unity1001 4y ago
  > One of the reasons the cost of healthcare is high exactly because of shitty regulations, The sole reason why healthcare is out of hand is because it is in the hands of the private sector and the people have no option but to subject themselves to it. This happens whenever a critical social infrastructure is privatized. And that sector will not stop maximizing its profit with deregulation. Its anathema to profit-making. > Said doctors, nurses etc. should be able to open a private practice easily There isn't any profitable sector in which individual professionals or small outfits can compete with massive conglomerates. Less, in healthcare. The amount of healthcare services and technology that a private individual can muster are incomparable to what is needed today in modern medicine. Legions of general practicioners will not fix anything - preventing profit maximization from something related to survival is. Private healthcare is just slightly less brutal than privatization of air: If it was possible to privatize air, there would be no escape from its consequences. With private healthcare, you can escape the ransacking profiteering for some time as long as you are healthy.
rocknor 4y ago
I see it as capitalism working as it should. There is a huge supply of competent labour in the developing world but hiring remotely was infeasible until recently. This resulted in inflated salaries in developed countries, which is now being reversed thanks to the internet. It is an economic rebalancing of sorts. This is a net good, hundreds of millions people in developing countries now have a more fair chance to compete. And no, they don't feel like they are being "sucked dry" despite what you might say (to save your own job).

scarface74 4y ago

You act like indecipherable laws are uniquely American. Have you seen the 99 section 11 chapter GDPR?

nine_zeros 4y ago
I never claimed the EU is better. IMHO, EU is worse than America due to the monetary federal structure and heavy-handed government. And it shows in their economic decline. That said, America is heading to a shitty future much like EU, unless America gets its act together.
- mensetmanusman 4y ago
  It’s easy for America to get its act together because everyone wants to come here still. Once that changes, doomed.
  - nine_zeros 4y ago
    People may have wanted to come to America in the past. Today they are choosing various alternatives because America is shooting itself in the foot with insane red tape in legal immigration. And good people don't want to come illegally. It's so backwards. It is easier to enter illegally than legally.
    - mensetmanusman 4y ago
      America is overwhelmed with illegal immigration so there are zero resources left to help with legal immigration.
      - nine_zeros 4y ago
        If America makes the legal immigration system not-so-kafkaesque, people will try to apply for the legal way instead of the illegal way. Right now, the legal system is not humanly accessible.