this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2024
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Work Reform

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Reminder that every dollar possessed by the ultrawealthy is time you wouldn't have had to spend working and could have instead used that time to enrich your personal life whether it's alone, with family, or friends.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 3 months ago (2 children)

And to help illustrate your important reminder, a (probably now outdated) visualisation of just how many dollars they actually posses:

https://mkorostoff.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Glad you found it helpful/interesting!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Outdated sure, but captivating nonetheless

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yeah, it's mindboggling as it is, but when you know how much more money the richest few people have made since it was last updated (the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes to $869bn since 2020), or how much all of the world's billionaires are hoarding combined (2,781 billionaires with a total net wealth of $14.2 trillion - the pixel site only goes up to 3.2 trillion), or that this trend isn't going anywhere or slowing down, it really is overwhelming.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 3 months ago (3 children)

The minimum wage should grow with inflation according to an annual review. It's an injustice that there must be this huge battle every time it needs to be increased every few years but only when people get fed up because they can't afford to live.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago (3 children)

I don't need no stinkin' government getting involved in my business trying to... Get me more money. Same as when that Obama tried to save me money on healthcare. Don't tread on me!

[–] stembolts 14 points 3 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Don't tread on me being treaded on!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

The minimum wage should grow with inflation according to an annual review.

Pretty much how it's handled in Australia, although they sometimes increase it above inflation. Importantly, it's handled by an independent body and not something that is subject to votes in parliament.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

So if industrialists could manage inflation while increasing productivity, they should keep all the gains?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

We'd have a different system in an ideal world but I'm not commenting on that now.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I'm not sure you get the point I am making. You changed something, perhaps without noticing. The quote is about productivity, not inflation. Merely keeping pace with inflation when productivity is booming hardly seems enough.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

If you think productivity should be factored in that's fine, but I'm not talking about productivity like the post is. I purposely left it out. I'm merely saying that wages should keep up with inflation at the very least.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago

"BuT tHeN i WoUlD bE mAkInG lEsS cOmPaRaTiVeLy"

Yes, that's the point, everyone should be making more.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago (1 children)

To make their line go up, they must make your line go down.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Not necessarily.

Increases in productivity could have been split between labor and capital, giving benefits to both. (Or even better, gone just to labor, but that would not be a "both lines go up" scenario.)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Yes. I was referring to how capitalism tended to have worked in the past decade or so, and not to how to actually make the line go up.

E: autocorrect

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

Should be much higher.

A combination of inflation, gap between workers and leaders at the company AND productivity.

50$/hr and 3 day weeks. There’s no reason to grind to make the ruling class more wealthy.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

According to my father in law it's the participation trophies that are to blame.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Could I please get a source for this? I want to post it in the break room at work.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

data:

https://www.bls.gov/productivity/charts/

article search "wage gap":

https://usafacts.org/articles/what-is-labor-productivity-and-how-has-it-changed-in-the-us-over-time/

That happened when Ronnie Reagan was president.

Of course I can't read it for you, too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Even just accounting for inflation, the $1.25/h federal minimum wage in 1963 would be about $13/h today.

[–] sudo 8 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Holy fuck the Gravel Institute is a nostalgia trip. Can't believe those kids still have a job.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

They're back? Oh please oh please oh please....

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Is this super outdated?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The federal minimum wage was $1 per hour in 1960, so productivity has increased 23 fold according to the OP.

Shouldn't this mean we should be able to cut down to two hours of work per week?

Having to work 40+ hours when 2 should be enough does sound like exploitation.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I should only have to get out of bed once for every 23 mornings that I wake up, am I right?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Can't exploit me if I'm unemployed, checkmate capitalists

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Really? Not more?

Edit. Oh I see, back then minimum wage was about $1.15. Lol. Yeah a 23x increase seems reasonable.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Probably regionally dependent. $23 in the Midwest but $50 in the big cities

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

I'm pretty sure rents have gone up at more than double that number. Giving our shrinking wage even less worth.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Capital statement