chapotraphouse

well, health coverage and improved compensation negatively impact the returns to management and capital.

glorification is cheap!

aside from the dog shit pay and no-hope-future of physical labor work, I personally couldn't stomach the lack of personal respect displayed by decision makers.

after years of it, my stamina was crazy high and I was pretty strong too. I knew I could walk into a boss' office and pull them apart like warm bread. I knew if they ran, I could quickly catch them and take them apart without having to catch my breath. and still they would play games with money, make smiling, veiled threats to our futures, and generally treat us as the simple children they support out of kindness.

I had to get out because there was no future in it and I took advantage of my options. so now I'm a professional, but I still see the mindset at work: the one where a "boss" is doing a tradesperson or a de-skilled helper a "favor" by creating "easy" (scut) work for them. the ideology is as powerful as it is infuriating... as though the guy scrambling to clean up someone else's mess or crawling around in the dirt to fix something broken is obviously so happy and grateful for the opportunity.

no acknowledgement that desperation for work comes with hidden resentment or that physical pain and discomfort always hurt, no matter what you're being paid. that the cost of being injured is exponential over time.

all they see is the smile and eagerness and assume it's a lovely friendship among equals, never wondering if there is something sinister and inhumane going on that has them standing over and directing the movements and actions of another.

I see it a lot in people who are waited upon. people with cleaning services, landscaping services, etc. people who have the ability but no desire for the responsibility of cleaning up after themselves or maintaining these spaces in the most basic, fundamental ways. it's all invisible to them, and when they do occasionally sense it, they see themselves as the helpful, magnanimous party supporting another.

"Join a trade so you can break your joints and then get denied healthcare over it, so you go back to being broke from the drug habit you got from the hard labor and injuries."

Tale as old as time. It's super unfortunate. These folk could make great engineers with their hands on experience and we throw them to the wolves.

Rich white dudes who work in tech fetishizing the working class without actually living the life of destroying your body, your mental health, and the environment.

The classic Loving The Idea of manual labour without actually doing any of it

Mike Rowe and its consequences. Would've loved to have been the stage hand that slapped him in the face with dirt so he could do a fake working shot at the bottom of a hole.

Meanwhile they imagine farming works like Minecraft