There will be a push to declare paid leave a "right" by the government. I'm not sure of the details or how this benefit will be financed. As a private capitalist owner of a small pop stand, I'm sure this "right" will not be available to me, but I'm used to that. We've generally become a people who expect things to be "given" to us. We rely on insurance to pay for many things. We rely on the "government" to "give" us things. The obvious concern is that if a third party is "giving" us something, they can also take it away. I would like to see less reliance on third parties, and I would like to see more resources in the hands of individual citizens to control how they see fit. For instance, if you are going to have a child, and you want to take off work for a month or so, save your money so you'll have the resources to do so. Sacrifice, if you must. It feels good, and if you're having children, you'll need to get used to it. I think families should have the resources to raise a child themselves as opposed to having to put the child into day care. It's just a matter of time before day care is declared a "right". We need a leader who will inspire and guide the private sector into creating individual wealth through fair and equitable business practices. I have observed a change in the work ethic of employees over the course of my career. It is much harder to motivate employees these days. There is a clear entitlement mentality. My point is that I have faith in individuals and in thr private sector. I don't think it's good to be dependent on any central entity or third party. Goverment certainly has an important role in our civilization. Security, education, infrastructure. I envision its role as passively supportive rather than actively providing.
Independence, Self-Reliance and the Work Ethic
- Thread starter Ramone45
- Start date
J
JAMESBJOHNSON
Guest
I doubt there's ever been a work ethic, what it was was bandits, high to low, stealing what they could. I mean, what has Hillary ever said that's worth 300K a pop, or daughter Chelsea making 27K a minute to interview cartoon animals?
Bidin~Time
montani semper liberi
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- 19,620
Just to make it a bit more readable. I hope you don't mind.
rosco rathbone
1. f3e5 2. g4??
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Total automation of the workplace is about to render all of our 300-year old economic-ethical norms like the "protestant work ethic" obsolete. There Is No Alternative (TINA) to some kind of universal guaranteed income.
Bandits don't have a work ethic?! What they do ain't easy nor safe!
I think you're right.
Not at all.
oggbashan
Dying Truth seeker
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- Jul 3, 2002
- Posts
- 56,017
1. In 19th Century England and Wales, children were employed in coal mines, working a ten-hour day for six days a week. Six-year-old children started by operating airlock doors, opening them for a passing coal wagon and closing them after the wagon had passed. They were not provided with a candle or lamp for light because that cost money. They had to know when to open and shut the door from the sound of the wagon's wheels.
Those young children were literally 'Not worth a light'.
The government banned their employment under the age of ten, and reduced children's hours. Although that was well-intentioned, it meant financial disaster for their parents. The children's meagre earnings were the difference between a bare existence and starvation.
Why? Because their fathers, working six days a week in the coal mine, were paid so badly that they couldn't support their family.
They had work. They worked hard. But their employers wouldn't pay them enough. Mine owners lived like lords, building massive country houses on the profits, but their workers slaved and died for those profits.
That was unregulated capitalism at work.
2. During World War 2, British Merchant Seamen were paid badly and sent across the U-boat infested North Atlantic both ways. They barely earned enough to support their wives and children, and were only paid when the ship successfully reached port.
If the ship was sunk, the government paid full compensation to the ship owners for the lost ship. The seamen? Their pay was stopped from the moment the ship sunk and if and when they reached England they had to prove with their seaman's pay book that they had been on the ship. Pay book lost in the sinking? No pay.
That was unregulated capitalism at work.
Both miners and seamen worked hard but they were fucked by their employers. What they thought about 'Independence, Self-Reliance and the Work Ethic' was unprintable.
Those young children were literally 'Not worth a light'.
The government banned their employment under the age of ten, and reduced children's hours. Although that was well-intentioned, it meant financial disaster for their parents. The children's meagre earnings were the difference between a bare existence and starvation.
Why? Because their fathers, working six days a week in the coal mine, were paid so badly that they couldn't support their family.
They had work. They worked hard. But their employers wouldn't pay them enough. Mine owners lived like lords, building massive country houses on the profits, but their workers slaved and died for those profits.
That was unregulated capitalism at work.
2. During World War 2, British Merchant Seamen were paid badly and sent across the U-boat infested North Atlantic both ways. They barely earned enough to support their wives and children, and were only paid when the ship successfully reached port.
If the ship was sunk, the government paid full compensation to the ship owners for the lost ship. The seamen? Their pay was stopped from the moment the ship sunk and if and when they reached England they had to prove with their seaman's pay book that they had been on the ship. Pay book lost in the sinking? No pay.
That was unregulated capitalism at work.
Both miners and seamen worked hard but they were fucked by their employers. What they thought about 'Independence, Self-Reliance and the Work Ethic' was unprintable.
