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BREXIT
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Rants
- Hits: 2883
Wealth has pooled like blood around their feet, embarrassing, this, how to explain it away, how it's good for you too (you'll be next),
It's distributed wealth that drives the economy. Wealth pooled in banks and offshore Panama accounts does nothing. It's numbers on paper, it's an even bigger fiction than money, it's a reality beyond the dreams of most Britons and increasingly out of their reach.
Wealthy, Educated experts assuring you that this is going to be a good thing for you because it's been good for them (when over the past few years it's clearly not been good for you...), the Smug and odious faces of privilege and power nightly on your news telling you what's best, discussing things that you don't understand, agreements you didn't make, talking about their imaginary Europe while you are stuck working (if you're lucky) 40 hours a week for an average yearly wage of £27,600, try getting by in London on that, even double that, and the "experts" trying to tell you what's good for you, talking shit about investments and savings and banks and free trade, things that to the average person mean nothing...
The fact that many Britons were googling EU the next day is an indication of how sloppy this power has become, the ignorant are expected to continue supporting a system that clearly exists to make the rich richer, and while it may be better for them than the alternative it is clearly favoring those with money.
"There's a classic behavioral economics experiment called the ultimatum game in which one subject is asked to divide a pool of money, and the other subject can choose to take whatever the first one offers (no matter how little that is), or reject the offer and both of them get none. The "economically rational" approach is to take whatever you're given, even if it's just one penny, because one penny is more than you'd get if you rejected the offer. But in experiments, subjects confronted with "unfair" splits overwhelmingly choose to punish themselves in order to punish the person making the unfair offer.
Neoliberal politics have been a long-term, iterated form of the ultimatum game: the capital class arrogates more wealth to itself while it offers less and less to working people, with fewer prospects for advancement, but points to an opposition that would give workers even less, and expects that they'll go on winning as the lesser of two evils.
Brexit shows that in such a circumstance, table-flipping is a viable alternative to playing the game at all."
Thank Bernie Sanders for that, and he's no longer in the running. Because the US is long past any point of reason. Just. Because.
This referendum, it was the smug, arrogant, offer of corrupt politicians who somehow felt that everyone was sharing in their wealth, their view of Britain, certain that everyone would see it their way, was proof of how disconnected they'd become from their populace. They are clearly unfit to govern.
They are voting themselves out of the entire system that gave them this choice, that kept them ignorant, poor, while others grew fantastically wealthy, who can empathize with a "poor banker" - likely only another banker, these problems of newfound "poverty" - at a level above many citizens wildest dreams of wealth, they don't resonate with your average man, hard to sympathize with an industry that has grown fat off of exploiting you.
Brexit? It's not surprising. The EU exists to make corporate Europe and Bankers wealthy. The lot of the average European has gotten worse, not better. Inequality in pay, income education and opportunity is increasing. Britain, as the second biggest contributor to the EU, clearly pays more in than it gets out. People are fed up with making the rich richer and this shows it.
Black Lives Matter
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 2192
I frequently despair of the legal system, and America, and then I come across something that gives me hope.
Like this - A Law Professor's rebuttal of Student's complaint that he wore a "Black Lives Matter" T-Shirt to campus.
Well reasoned and written. The students, well, not so, this is why they're students, but if all this excellence adds up to America, then where's the problem?
Link: http://backspace.com/notes/2016/07/law-professors-response-to-black-lives-matter-shirt-complaint.php
That Feel Good Feeling
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Ideas & Questions
- Hits: 2469
There's something about corporations that sell you an "Ethos" or "Values" that kinda gives you a feel good feeling. Like buying free range eggs, you'll pay a little more to know that the animal was treated properly. Or knowing that the company shares the same love for the environment that you do. Or finding out that their commitment ends with putting out recycling bins and then throwing everything out with the trash...
Link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-tim-hortons-starbucks-coffee-cups-recycling-1.3278648
Now, given the presence of recycling containers I think a strong case could be made that as the "Feel Good" aspect of their marketing is fraudulent and constitutes false or misleading advertising.
Worst Manager Ever
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Link of the day
- Hits: 2151
Below a letter from a manager asking for advice:
I manage a team, and part of their jobs is to provide customer support over the phone. Due to a new product launch, we are expected to provide service outside of our normal hours for a time. This includes some of my team coming in on a day our office is normally closed (based on lowest seniority because no one volunteered).
One employee asked to come in two hours after the start time due to her college graduation ceremony being that same day (she was taking night classes part-time in order to earn her degree). I was unable to grant her request because she was the employee with the lowest seniority and we need coverage for that day. I said that if she could find someone to replace her for those two hours, she could start later. She asked her coworkers, but no one was willing to come in on their day off. After she asked around, some people who were not scheduled for the overtime did switch shifts with other people (but not her) and volunteered to take on overtime from others who were scheduled, but these people are friends outside of work, and as long as there is coverage I don’t interfere if people want to give or take overtime of their own accord. (Caveat: I did intervene and switch one person’s end time because they had concert tickets that they had already paid for, but this was a special circumstance because there was cost involved.)
I told this team member that she could not start two hours late and that she would have to skip the ceremony. An hour later, she handed me her work ID and a list of all the times she had worked late/come in early/worked overtime for each and every one of her coworkers. Then she quit on the spot.
I’m a bit upset because she was my best employee by far. Her work was excellent, she never missed a day of work in the six years she worked here, and she was my go-to person for weekends and holidays.
Even though she doesn’t work here any longer, I want to reach out and tell her that quitting without notice because she didn’t get her way isn’t exactly professional. I only want to do this because she was an otherwise great employee, and I don’t want her to derail her career by doing this again and thinking it is okay. She was raised in a few dozen different foster homes and has no living family. She was homeless for a bit after she turned 18 and besides us she doesn’t have anyone in her life that has ever had professional employment. This is the only job she has had. Since she’s never had anyone to teach her professional norms, I want to help her so she doesn’t make the same mistake again. What do you think is the best way for me to do this?
No shit. Believe it or not, I've worked for a lot worse - not just in Restaurants. In "Professional" cable/internet and tech services companies in Calgary. And, yeah, it's pretty fucking sad that people like this can "work" their way into places of authority.
In the days of Anarchy we'll run them to the ground with hounds...
Response: Some of the commentators seem to feel that this is faked. To which I'd suggest...get a job. No, really, it's like this. No, I lie, it's not like this at all, it's generally a hell of a lot worse...
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