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> how wasteful and silly it is to have someone whose sole job is to press elevator buttons. That doesn't seem like the right cause, since it's the people who s
by morelisp 3y ago
> how wasteful and silly it is to have someone whose sole job is to press elevator buttons.
That doesn't seem like the right cause, since it's the people who seem most concerned with seriousness and economic efficiency who still have elevator operators today.
- MiguelX413 3y agoWho still has elevator operators today?
- morelisp 3y agoWealthy people and stores trying to make their customers feel like a wealthy person.
- comex 3y agoFor wealthy people, that would be an example of extreme luxury, or in other words spending vast amounts of money for marginal improvements in quality of life. Doing so is perfectly rational for them (what else are they going to do with their money?), but hardly an example of economic efficiency. “Stores trying to make their customers feel like a wealthy person” are a special case. It might be economically efficient (i.e. profitable) for them to spend money on things associated with extravagance and wealth, in order to more effectively create an image in their customers’ minds and thus attract more customers. But those circumstances don’t apply to the vast majority of elevator owners. So what exactly is your point?
- xinruili 3y agoThis means the capitalist class is funding stores with large enough margins to hire elevator operators, clearly inefficient allocation of capital. They can afford to do that by squeezing dime and nickel from the workers, extracting the most "efficiency" from them. That's the point.