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I’d say our headline is “entitled employers have lost the faith of a generation by exploiting the free labor of the young.”
Working for free with no promise but future consideration is a massive leap of faith on the part of a worker and a massive benefit for the employer.
If people won’t bite anymore on that leap, maybe it’s not the worker’s fault.
If people won’t bite anymore on that leap, maybe it’s not the worker’s fault.
My god the temerity.
What’s more entitled than having a business and expecting FREE labor?
What’s more entitled than having a business and expecting FREE labor?
Expecting free labor? Blaming the labor pool when they stop providing it?
That's the most entitled thing imaginable. It's a Dickensian cartoon of entitlement. You expect people to give you their youths for free. And you run a muffin business.
That's the most entitled thing imaginable. It's a Dickensian cartoon of entitlement. You expect people to give you their youths for free. And you run a muffin business.
If you enter the labor pool low, the result is you STAY low.
And business owners know that.
They aren't just saving money at the start. They're saving money for decades.
And business owners KNOW that.
Maybe these young workers know it too.
And business owners know that.
They aren't just saving money at the start. They're saving money for decades.
And business owners KNOW that.
Maybe these young workers know it too.
Consider the extent to which the dominant social narrative has simply taken business's insane side in all this.
So millenials are entitled when they want more money.
They're also to blame for not buying expensive things.
So millenials are entitled when they want more money.
They're also to blame for not buying expensive things.
It takes a culture that runs unquestioningly on enablement of abuse to blame a generation BOTH for not buying houses and diamonds, AND for asking for the kind of money that would let them buy those sorts of things.
Like blaming the person you robbed for not loaning you $20.
Like blaming the person you robbed for not loaning you $20.
You think 30-year-olds don't want houses and kids? They do in the same percentages boomers did
It's not a lifestyle trend. They're poor. We robbed them.
I hope they engage in a generational strike. I hope that's what's happening.
Spread that on your avocado toast, muffin lady.
It's not a lifestyle trend. They're poor. We robbed them.
I hope they engage in a generational strike. I hope that's what's happening.
Spread that on your avocado toast, muffin lady.
This is exactly right.
To be clear, a free internship is not slavery. But the expectation of it is a symptom of a society interested in normalizing slavery.
Or (I'd argue in the case of the U.S.) a culture that never got over losing slavery.
To be clear, a free internship is not slavery. But the expectation of it is a symptom of a society interested in normalizing slavery.
Or (I'd argue in the case of the U.S.) a culture that never got over losing slavery.
Put it another way, slavery (in its many forms) would be what you'd expect to find in a culture that believes the great foundational lie that life is something that must be earned, and money is how you earn it.
Slavery is what happens—it’s the natural end point—when the buckets you use to divide the people who have earned life from the people who haven’t are labeled PROFITABLE and NOT PROFITABLE.
In such a society, being unprofitable becomes a kind of original sin.
Once wealth becomes self-evidently fungible with moral justice, anything that creates a greater profit will eventually be taken to be moral and just.
And cheap labor creates profit. But free labor creates even more profit.
And so free labor is very, very good.
And cheap labor creates profit. But free labor creates even more profit.
And so free labor is very, very good.
About a century ago, industrialists had gotten used to exploitative wages and working conditions.
They felt entitled to them.
The workers who fought them for justice seemed—to them—entitled.
But organized labor built the middle class. It built our current working conditions.
They felt entitled to them.
The workers who fought them for justice seemed—to them—entitled.
But organized labor built the middle class. It built our current working conditions.
There are those who will tell you it was the genius of Henry Ford, who offered the weekend and the 8 hour day.
And that *would* be his version of the story.
But why did he need to become competitive?
Not out of generosity.
Because labor demanded their value be recognized.
And that *would* be his version of the story.
But why did he need to become competitive?
Not out of generosity.
Because labor demanded their value be recognized.
When someone with an interest in the dominant cultural narrative starts talking about the unfortunately entitled attitudes of those who don't have much money or power, watch their hands closely.
They're moving three tented cards around.
They're telling you life must be earned.
They're moving three tented cards around.
They're telling you life must be earned.
Here's the long version of this line of thought. armoxon.com/2017/09/bubble…
Actually consider the idea that the roots of medieval traditions of labor practice might share a common pool with slavery.
We could just say that, if we wanted to miss part of the picture—but we might wonder why we were making such a particular point of saying it.
