4 ms·

What do we change the system to though? Unfulfilling work needs to get done by someone.

int_19h 2y ago
True, but how much of unfulfilling work that is being done worldwide is actually needed? We could also do a lot of things to make such work less uncomfortable. For example, why are cashiers in American supermarkets forced to stand?
- ajmurmann 2y ago
  If the value created by doing that work wouldn't surpass the shittiness of doing it, the work wouldn't exist. Unless workers are slaves, they clearly prefer the work over other options or not working. Otherwise they'd leave. The employer is clearly getting enough value to pay them the compensation needed for the tediousness. If there is no upside for anyone, but only discomfort for the checkout clerks, someone might be able to disrupt the field by paying slightly less but allowing them to stand. Since that isn't happening, I assume that either a) workers are showing the difference between revealed and stated preference b) grocery stores are actually making more money of clerks stand c) paying less in exchange for sitting clerks isn't possible because minimum wage
  - int_19h 2y ago
    You are assuming that all economic activity is rational. One only needs to look at Bitcoin price to know otherwise. Employer isn't actually getting any value out of making cashiers stand, and in most other countries, it is a sitting job. So far as I can tell, the only reason why US does it is because "we have always done it this way", which is also the ultimate rationale for a lot of other similar bullshit. The workers, realistically, don't have any choice if every employer does this. They can take the work as it is, or they can starve, especially seeing how US doesn't have full-fledged welfare.
  - notevenreal 2y ago
    >If the value created by doing that work wouldn't surpass the shittiness of doing it, the work wouldn't exist. Ah yes, because nobody has rent to pay or food to buy. This Ayn Rand-level economic analysis is a joke, and is an insult to people with legitimate grievances. I hope You have the day you deserve.
    - ajmurmann 2y ago
      Yes, people have rent to pay. Destroying jobs because they are too tedious won't make that any easier

True, but how much of unfulfilling work that is being done worldwide is actually needed? We could also do a lot of things to make such work less uncomfortable. For example, why are cashiers in American supermarkets forced to stand?

ajmurmann 2y ago
If the value created by doing that work wouldn't surpass the shittiness of doing it, the work wouldn't exist. Unless workers are slaves, they clearly prefer the work over other options or not working. Otherwise they'd leave. The employer is clearly getting enough value to pay them the compensation needed for the tediousness. If there is no upside for anyone, but only discomfort for the checkout clerks, someone might be able to disrupt the field by paying slightly less but allowing them to stand. Since that isn't happening, I assume that either a) workers are showing the difference between revealed and stated preference b) grocery stores are actually making more money of clerks stand c) paying less in exchange for sitting clerks isn't possible because minimum wage
- int_19h 2y ago
  You are assuming that all economic activity is rational. One only needs to look at Bitcoin price to know otherwise. Employer isn't actually getting any value out of making cashiers stand, and in most other countries, it is a sitting job. So far as I can tell, the only reason why US does it is because "we have always done it this way", which is also the ultimate rationale for a lot of other similar bullshit. The workers, realistically, don't have any choice if every employer does this. They can take the work as it is, or they can starve, especially seeing how US doesn't have full-fledged welfare.
- notevenreal 2y ago
  >If the value created by doing that work wouldn't surpass the shittiness of doing it, the work wouldn't exist. Ah yes, because nobody has rent to pay or food to buy. This Ayn Rand-level economic analysis is a joke, and is an insult to people with legitimate grievances. I hope You have the day you deserve.
  - ajmurmann 2y ago
    Yes, people have rent to pay. Destroying jobs because they are too tedious won't make that any easier