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Even tho you added an edit. You’re still wrong. Garbage collection is typically a high paying job because no one wants to do it. But people still consider it “b

Even tho you added an edit. You’re still wrong. Garbage collection is typically a high paying job because no one wants to do it. But people still consider it “below” them and don’t want to do it even when there’s a high unemployment rate.

beeflet 6mo ago
okay, so the lack of robots/supply increases garbage collector wages, which broadly results in wealth distribution vs robots.
- rohansood15 6mo ago
  Why do you think that making people do what they don't want to do for more money is the most effective way to distribute wealth?
  - Nevermark 6mo ago
    Paying people more to do work that less people want to do makes sense. > … the most effective way to distribute wealth? Nobody said this is a template for every problem, opportunity or other situation in economics.
  - beeflet 6mo ago
    They do want to do it, they just need to be able to justify it logicially.
thfuran 6mo ago
I guarantee you that a lot more people would be willing to put up with it for $10 million a year.
- upsuper 6mo ago
  You would probably need to face voters questioning whether that's the best way to use their money.
  - ghaff 6mo ago
    In many places, garbage collection is done by competing private firms.
- alex43578 6mo ago
  Ok, but society can't bear the cost of $10M garbage men, so either people will do it themselves or go without. The same argument applies to any job: in most scenarios, it pays what it's worth to society at the market clearing price. The government can interfere via licensing, minimum wages, quotas, etc; but broadly the job pays what it's worth.
  - shiroiuma 6mo ago
    Society cannot function without garbage people. It must be done or society will collapse quickly, so society better find a pay rate that gets the job done.
    - hn_throwaway_99 6mo ago
      This thread feels like it went off the rails given that every locale I've ever lived in (many across the US) had fine, working garbage collection, and plenty of competent garbage men who worked for what I'm guessing was decent pay, certainly less than $10 million a year.
      - shiroiuma 6mo ago
        I think in reality, it shouldn't be hard to find people willing to take out garbage by simply paying a little better than other manual-labor jobs. There's always going to be people who can't work other jobs for some reason, so if they're choosing between manual labor jobs, the one that pays more is going to be more attractive. They don't need to pay enough to hire a doctor, because not that many people can do high-value work like that competently.
        HeyLaughingBoy 6mo ago
        And there will always be people who think that driving around in a heated/air-conditioned truck with a big claw that picks up and empties the cans is a fun job and will happily do it at any reasonable pay level. Not everyone wants to work in an office; some people really like working outside and being indoors is like prison.
- samus 6mo ago
  I'm not sure you'll attract the right kind of people with that much money. Probably a lot of people looking for a quick buck will apply, do a good job for long enough to not get outright fired, collect a few cash checks, and then knock it off. I think there would actually be enough people willing to do blue collar jobs if job security is alright. Low-status jobs are defined by low job security, not necessarily by harsh working conditions.
AngryData 6mo ago
I don't know if I would call it high pay anywhere ive lived. It is okay pay around me right now in a less prosperous area of the country for not requiring tools or previous skills. But the main thing going for it around here is stability of hours, a decent amount of holidays off, and you don't have to destroy your body.
- PearlRiver 6mo ago
  It is actually a pretty good job. Civilization will always need garbage disposal. So many people are locked in on on temporary contracts constantly in fear of termination.
- hdgvhicv 6mo ago
  Starting 70, going to 100 as norm and 160 with overtime. That’s way higher than average wage.
  - AngryData 6mo ago
    That is literally double what people around here are paid. And they certainly don't give anyone overtime if they can help it. If you break $60K you gotta worry about them trying to replace you if you aren't one of their top performers.
cryzinger 6mo ago
This is over 20 years old, and I'm sure doesn't hold true in all areas, but at least at one point there was high demand to be a "san man" ("san" as in "sanitation") in NYC: > It's a coveted job to be a New York City san man. When they last gave the qualifying test, 30,000 people took it. The General waited five years after passing the exam before a job came open, which is typical. And though the work is grueling, the pay-- if you're actually on a truck-- starts at $40,000 and can go to $60 after just five years. [note: this is in 2003 dollars!] A good winter, meaning one with lots of overtime for clearing snow-- they clear snow, too-- can make for a $90,000 year for a senior guy. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/249/garbage https://www.thisamericanlife.org/249/garbage These guys are/were unionized, which certainly helps.
- deaux 6mo ago
  And that's how it should be. Trash men should be making $200K and have high social status whereas the devs helping Bezos to his 5th super yacht or Zuck poison more kids should get minimum wage and treated as pariahs. Unfortunately at the country level it's reversed.
  - Gud 6mo ago
    Absolutely 100% agree, and I’m glad people are saying this. The internet has become a joke since the digital advertisement agencies, Google and Facebook and so on got the web under their control. While high functioning societies invest in their people’s infrastructure, some societies invest in propaganda and premiere greed over keeping the country clean.
  - xbmcuser 6mo ago
    You are both wrong and this is why they win the salary of the coder is not high the taxes on bezos and co are less and the public workers pay less. That what needs to be change not labour be paid less no matter what kind of labour
Loughla 6mo ago
Garbage collectors where I live used to make $30-$35/hr starting wage. It was a good job and they always had applicants. Now they have the trucks that dump the bins without getting out of the truck. The driver's make $18/hr.
stevenwoo 6mo ago
For manual labor I thought the guys I know who do garbage pickup have a great job - their hours are shifted so they work from 4am to noon so they have plenty of time for hobbies and family outside of that. All the time sitting and driving the truck is hard though they rarely have to handle anything manually with standardized bins and hydraulic lifts.
- hdgvhicv 6mo ago
  How goes 4-12 give any more time for hobbies than 8-4 or 10-6?
  - stevenwoo 6mo ago
    Daylight hours even in winter for outdoor things, we would ride bicycles together but they also played golf and rode off road motorcycles, it’s possible to do these activities at night in some fashion but during day on weekdays is less crowded and more accessible, most parks/trails are closed in the dark for cycling/running/hiking. Working non normal hours like this also opens up activities with whole family in afternoon after kids are picked up from school instead of getting home after normal commute times in evening. Should have written "outdoor" hobbies.

beeflet 6mo ago

okay, so the lack of robots/supply increases garbage collector wages, which broadly results in wealth distribution vs robots.

rohansood15 6mo ago
Why do you think that making people do what they don't want to do for more money is the most effective way to distribute wealth?
- Nevermark 6mo ago
  Paying people more to do work that less people want to do makes sense. > … the most effective way to distribute wealth? Nobody said this is a template for every problem, opportunity or other situation in economics.
- beeflet 6mo ago
  They do want to do it, they just need to be able to justify it logicially.

thfuran 6mo ago

I guarantee you that a lot more people would be willing to put up with it for $10 million a year.

upsuper 6mo ago
You would probably need to face voters questioning whether that's the best way to use their money.
- ghaff 6mo ago
  In many places, garbage collection is done by competing private firms.
alex43578 6mo ago
Ok, but society can't bear the cost of $10M garbage men, so either people will do it themselves or go without. The same argument applies to any job: in most scenarios, it pays what it's worth to society at the market clearing price. The government can interfere via licensing, minimum wages, quotas, etc; but broadly the job pays what it's worth.
- shiroiuma 6mo ago
  Society cannot function without garbage people. It must be done or society will collapse quickly, so society better find a pay rate that gets the job done.
  - hn_throwaway_99 6mo ago
    This thread feels like it went off the rails given that every locale I've ever lived in (many across the US) had fine, working garbage collection, and plenty of competent garbage men who worked for what I'm guessing was decent pay, certainly less than $10 million a year.
    - shiroiuma 6mo ago
      I think in reality, it shouldn't be hard to find people willing to take out garbage by simply paying a little better than other manual-labor jobs. There's always going to be people who can't work other jobs for some reason, so if they're choosing between manual labor jobs, the one that pays more is going to be more attractive. They don't need to pay enough to hire a doctor, because not that many people can do high-value work like that competently.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 6mo ago
        And there will always be people who think that driving around in a heated/air-conditioned truck with a big claw that picks up and empties the cans is a fun job and will happily do it at any reasonable pay level. Not everyone wants to work in an office; some people really like working outside and being indoors is like prison.
samus 6mo ago
I'm not sure you'll attract the right kind of people with that much money. Probably a lot of people looking for a quick buck will apply, do a good job for long enough to not get outright fired, collect a few cash checks, and then knock it off. I think there would actually be enough people willing to do blue collar jobs if job security is alright. Low-status jobs are defined by low job security, not necessarily by harsh working conditions.

AngryData 6mo ago

I don't know if I would call it high pay anywhere ive lived. It is okay pay around me right now in a less prosperous area of the country for not requiring tools or previous skills. But the main thing going for it around here is stability of hours, a decent amount of holidays off, and you don't have to destroy your body.

PearlRiver 6mo ago
It is actually a pretty good job. Civilization will always need garbage disposal. So many people are locked in on on temporary contracts constantly in fear of termination.
hdgvhicv 6mo ago
Starting 70, going to 100 as norm and 160 with overtime. That’s way higher than average wage.
- AngryData 6mo ago
  That is literally double what people around here are paid. And they certainly don't give anyone overtime if they can help it. If you break $60K you gotta worry about them trying to replace you if you aren't one of their top performers.

cryzinger 6mo ago

This is over 20 years old, and I'm sure doesn't hold true in all areas, but at least at one point there was high demand to be a "san man" ("san" as in "sanitation") in NYC: > It's a coveted job to be a New York City san man. When they last gave the qualifying test, 30,000 people took it. The General waited five years after passing the exam before a job came open, which is typical. And though the work is grueling, the pay-- if you're actually on a truck-- starts at $40,000 and can go to $60 after just five years. [note: this is in 2003 dollars!] A good winter, meaning one with lots of overtime for clearing snow-- they clear snow, too-- can make for a $90,000 year for a senior guy. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/249/garbage https://www.thisamericanlife.org/249/garbage These guys are/were unionized, which certainly helps.

deaux 6mo ago
And that's how it should be. Trash men should be making $200K and have high social status whereas the devs helping Bezos to his 5th super yacht or Zuck poison more kids should get minimum wage and treated as pariahs. Unfortunately at the country level it's reversed.
- Gud 6mo ago
  Absolutely 100% agree, and I’m glad people are saying this. The internet has become a joke since the digital advertisement agencies, Google and Facebook and so on got the web under their control. While high functioning societies invest in their people’s infrastructure, some societies invest in propaganda and premiere greed over keeping the country clean.
- xbmcuser 6mo ago
  You are both wrong and this is why they win the salary of the coder is not high the taxes on bezos and co are less and the public workers pay less. That what needs to be change not labour be paid less no matter what kind of labour

Loughla 6mo ago

Garbage collectors where I live used to make $30-$35/hr starting wage. It was a good job and they always had applicants. Now they have the trucks that dump the bins without getting out of the truck. The driver's make $18/hr.

stevenwoo 6mo ago

For manual labor I thought the guys I know who do garbage pickup have a great job - their hours are shifted so they work from 4am to noon so they have plenty of time for hobbies and family outside of that. All the time sitting and driving the truck is hard though they rarely have to handle anything manually with standardized bins and hydraulic lifts.

hdgvhicv 6mo ago
How goes 4-12 give any more time for hobbies than 8-4 or 10-6?
- stevenwoo 6mo ago
  Daylight hours even in winter for outdoor things, we would ride bicycles together but they also played golf and rode off road motorcycles, it’s possible to do these activities at night in some fashion but during day on weekdays is less crowded and more accessible, most parks/trails are closed in the dark for cycling/running/hiking. Working non normal hours like this also opens up activities with whole family in afternoon after kids are picked up from school instead of getting home after normal commute times in evening. Should have written "outdoor" hobbies.