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38 comments
  • Unionize

    • I don't even think that actually touches on the point here. People want purpose, meaningful purpose out of the thing they spend most of their lives on. Unionizing isn't going to give you job satisfaction if you're a data entry operator unless that's something you find fulfilling.

      I work in IT and used to be passionate about computers and the internet but now I want to do something else and get away from the grind of IT work, where nothing is ever completed or provides a sense of accomplishment. There's no meaningful purpose in it for my life other than a paycheck.

      Unionizing might help with getting better pay for work but in terms of actual purpose, fulfillment and job satisfaction unions are as useful as advocating for a car club when I'm changing my oil. Completely unnecessary and unrelated and doesn't address the goal at hand.

      This is something that's an individual pursuit beyond days off and pay.

      • Transitioning to a system where companies are owned by the workers would help, but ultimately I think this is just a natural consequence of industiral society. We get modern medicine and air conditioning, and in exchange we give up our ability to self-actualize through our work.

      • I agree with what you’re saying, except I think it touches on that unionizing is the path to being able to say no to additional work (with impunity) and get the most fulfillment from your craft. To feel the familial support of the people you spend 1/3rd of your life around. Your well-being is all tied together. Purpose might not be the right word for it. It was just the word that came to mind. I think it is the right path for most workers.

      • To defend the rights of your colleagues and your class is a purpose per se (but in the US unions work differently than in my country so I may be missing the point).

    • Its probably the only way we will be able to fight wallstreet and climate change.

  • I think the ideology of diversity, equity, and inclusion is progressive nonsense, but I agree with pretty much everything else. I don't care what your race or gender is. I care that you're the most qualified for the job. A black, gay doctor can do my prostate exam - I don't care at all - I just want them to be good at their job.

    DEI is just racial discrimination in reverse. We discriminate against white people as a group to help minorities. The problem is that loads of white people need help just as much as minorities. Saying that minorities need it more because other white people have been successful in the past is still you racially discriminating against a new prospective student/employee because they happen to share the same race as those previous people. It has nothing to do with that person's level of need versus a minority individual's level of need.

    • Oh hey! I just went to some trouble to explain something similar for you and everyone else in some depth last night…

      One thing I should add here is that there’s often no one person who’s “best for the job”. Different people have different strengths in ways that often don’t directly compare. The idea that we can stack-rank candidates of similar knowledge and experience is misguided at best.

    • I cannot think like a black man or woman, I cannot experience discrimination and hate directed at LGBTQ+ people, I will never understand what it feels like to be a woman sitting in a room with multiple male managers doing a performance review.

      While I agree best person for the job, these perspectives I cannot possible put myself into are part of that best person. So maybe they cant screw a nut as fast, they can help me understand why we need to do it this way from their perspective, which is a perspective I dont have without them.

    • I think you have an issue of theory vs action. In theory, I can understand why some people view DEI or even affirmative action as "racism in reverse" but we live in the real world. The action of these policies make a more just world. A less racist world. I know it may sound counter intuitive, but so is the tolerance of the intolerant.

38 comments