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Nobody wants to admit it, but businesses are deeply ideological. Not in the typical sense, but they have lots of strongly held irrational beliefs that are contr

Nobody wants to admit it, but businesses are deeply ideological. Not in the typical sense, but they have lots of strongly held irrational beliefs that are contradictory. They are not rational actors.

brookst 2y ago
Who doesn’t want to admit that? Businesses are groups of people. Is there anyone in the world who says large groups are perfectly rational? A well-managed business tries to focus on profitability as opposed to, say, picking up horseback riding as a hobby. But the way profits are pursued is absolutely irrational and chaotic. Does anyone believe otherwise?
- droopyEyelids 2y ago
  You could charitably assume that media companies don’t want to admit or publicize this ideological bias. Media companies have an oversized impact on what the people of the country think and discuss
mort96 2y ago
I think this is pretty correct; the owning class is ideologically opposed to worker control.
droopyEyelids 2y ago
I’m not even sure that it is irrational exactly. The owners of a company want to believe and behave as if they own the company. Its their toy to do with as they please. Unionization changes the fundamental facts of ownership. The owner no longer do as they please, they must consult the representatives of their labor force. That is a fundamental shift in how the business operates and the rights that the owners enjoy
- spamizbad 2y ago
  The owners of Apple are its millions of shareholders. The people who made the decision to break the law are merely its operators.
bithead 2y ago
Management is deeply ideological more so than people working. Was in an IT union for over 10 years. I can't speak to how great the union was for worker issues - I was told to my face I "had a religious problem" by a manger and the union wasn't able to do much. Management also repeated "don't document" and again the union really couldn't do much. After repeatedly told not to document work I got a pocket recorder so I could talk to myself and document later on my own time. Then mgmt fired me and when I cleaned out my things I didn't find that pocket recorder. Since I was no longer an employee I told by union rep that my pocket recorder may still be at work and to watch out for it. The next morning the union rep met with me to deliver a letter from HR to sign saying I resigned - that was all that was in it. The union rep and mgmt knew about the 'your religious problem' verbal warning I got from that meeting with a manager - the other person at that meeting was writing something down and didn't hear it and when I asked the manager what he meant by that and he clammed up. Smart move really. So if anything the after work relationship with the union reps who could still act on my behalf helped out. Other people there were not comfortable to interact with me on anything work related at that point. Notable is that I'm not religious in any way, but was insistent that documenting work was a necessity. That was while working for a state university.
- Suppafly 2y ago
  Unions don't work if the people you vote to represent you in the union aren't willing to do the job they've lobbied for. Too many people see their union responsibilities as optional and just want the position for the small additional pay or for the prestige of the role.

Nobody wants to admit it, but businesses are deeply ideological. Not in the typical sense, but they have lots of strongly held irrational beliefs that are contradictory. They are not rational actors.

brookst 2y ago

Who doesn’t want to admit that? Businesses are groups of people. Is there anyone in the world who says large groups are perfectly rational? A well-managed business tries to focus on profitability as opposed to, say, picking up horseback riding as a hobby. But the way profits are pursued is absolutely irrational and chaotic. Does anyone believe otherwise?

droopyEyelids 2y ago
You could charitably assume that media companies don’t want to admit or publicize this ideological bias. Media companies have an oversized impact on what the people of the country think and discuss

mort96 2y ago

I think this is pretty correct; the owning class is ideologically opposed to worker control.

droopyEyelids 2y ago

I’m not even sure that it is irrational exactly. The owners of a company want to believe and behave as if they own the company. Its their toy to do with as they please. Unionization changes the fundamental facts of ownership. The owner no longer do as they please, they must consult the representatives of their labor force. That is a fundamental shift in how the business operates and the rights that the owners enjoy

spamizbad 2y ago
The owners of Apple are its millions of shareholders. The people who made the decision to break the law are merely its operators.

bithead 2y ago

Management is deeply ideological more so than people working. Was in an IT union for over 10 years. I can't speak to how great the union was for worker issues - I was told to my face I "had a religious problem" by a manger and the union wasn't able to do much. Management also repeated "don't document" and again the union really couldn't do much. After repeatedly told not to document work I got a pocket recorder so I could talk to myself and document later on my own time. Then mgmt fired me and when I cleaned out my things I didn't find that pocket recorder. Since I was no longer an employee I told by union rep that my pocket recorder may still be at work and to watch out for it. The next morning the union rep met with me to deliver a letter from HR to sign saying I resigned - that was all that was in it. The union rep and mgmt knew about the 'your religious problem' verbal warning I got from that meeting with a manager - the other person at that meeting was writing something down and didn't hear it and when I asked the manager what he meant by that and he clammed up. Smart move really. So if anything the after work relationship with the union reps who could still act on my behalf helped out. Other people there were not comfortable to interact with me on anything work related at that point. Notable is that I'm not religious in any way, but was insistent that documenting work was a necessity. That was while working for a state university.

Suppafly 2y ago
Unions don't work if the people you vote to represent you in the union aren't willing to do the job they've lobbied for. Too many people see their union responsibilities as optional and just want the position for the small additional pay or for the prestige of the role.