Performing a job, even a "simple worker bee" job, is still a job, not charity. As a worker, you perform a function, and the company pays you for your time/expertise/ideas/efforts/output/etc. What the hell part of that is charity, or being "taken care of"?
I find your implication that the employer is somehow doing the employee a favor by paying them for their work baffling and wrong-headed.
Similarly in jobs that have no paid overtime, you are usually compensated a bit more and don't always have to work overtime.
Taken care of in this context is talking about the stability a company provides you. It isn't given to you out of charity, you certainly earn it, but it doesn't come free either.
Government has all of the money and all of the guns. We're already screwed. What we need to focus on is making the government help us structure a better society - a kinder, safer, braver, smarter society. The further we get from that ideal, the closer we get to a world where we will again remember that money can't save you from the people with all the guns. Khodorkovsky thought money was worth something.
Unless you use bitcoin!
In the past, the best solution to a government you didn't agree with was to leave. Head into the unknown and try new things. That, in practice, rarely ever happened on a macroscale (the new world was firmly cut out and brought under the European model of ownership in centuries as its colonies with no real room to experiment, while simultaneously slaughtering entire civilizations of actual divergent societies) but I'd like to think space presents us with a real opportunity to pick up a few thousand people, find a rock in a habitable zone with water, and try things differently.
We romanticism entrepreneurship often, and for good reason. It takes a lot more than wanting to be free of 9-5 bondage in order to be successful, and that's just to get to the point where luck can play a part.
I try to share my enthusiasm with others but often meet responses like:
'Must be nice to be so:'
talented/lucky/smart/blessed with understanding wife/motivated/etc
So in the end, I grew tired of talking and just tried to lead with actions. Most got bored and stopped paying attention.
Life can be beautiful, even if it is not always so.
And you're right, there is no security, so what is your solution other than whining about it?
Those type of jobs are the step for many people that not just have no more steps to take, but have never had any walkway to stand on. Their entire lives have been spent just trying to make it to the next day.
The argument is that those positions are part of a larger, predatory economy or society seemingly designed to keep a certain subset of the country/world subjugated to another. When you see protests about a higher wage at entry level positions such as fast-food and retail, what you're really seeing is the confused, leaderless argument that life sucks for many people and shows no signs of relenting. It's a first world suck, but suck nonetheless.
Source: research into lower-socioeconomic lifestyles while attaining advanced degrees (and living that life when young; thank God for scholarships).
I now had tons of debt and a degree that was almost worthless. So I joined the Army and left my kids for 16 weeks to attend bootcamp and AIT. Spent 5 years, including a stint in Afghanistan.
Needless to say, I recovered, taught myself how to program, and now run a software company.
Life sucks. For many, it sucks hard. But there are ways out. Most people just don't want to make the sacrifices necessary to do so.
Btw, I'm speaking of 1st world. 3rd world is obviously a different story.
There's also the structural issue: not everyone can be an entrepreneur, because companies need worker bees to run. You can't run such a strongly hierarchical system as capitalism without some level of social-democratic concessions to enforce that, outside the workplace, my boss and I really are equal human beings.
How does costco manage to do this without going into the red? Im not whining that theres no security, i'm stating that making the claim that there is security is WRONG. How about you read with your eyes open? thanks.
Edit: clarification. Edit2: another proof that you can make a profit while actually caring for employees: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/the-trad... Edit3: The supply and demand crap you spew is total garbage. Nothing is 'just supply and demand'. There is much more including profit creation as a result of fulfilling demand with supply. All I suggest is reduce the profit slightly so you pay your low level workers more. They already make less than a third of what people with education do. How about making it equal to or slightly more than a THIRD?
Put another way, if McDonald's gave everyone a $3.50 raise in 2013, they would have not made a profit.
Not saying that McDonald's is right or wrong in their practice, but when you spread out money it really doesn't go very far.
BTW a major factor people tend to forget about companies is to look at what market they are in. Companies that care only about costs are going to treat their employees like crap because their employees are simply an expense they have to bear.
Costco doesn't treat their employees as an expense, they treat them as an investment. They believe that by treating their employees well their return will be enough to allow this additional expense. Aka a better environment for their customers, lower theft, etc.
Short term the former is nice, since you only get employees that are awesome after a long time. Given the huge emphasis today on short term gains, guess which companies are doing "better".
Is that enough or do you want me to go out and get some case studies as well?
You're still failing to provide evidence as to how the corporation is the party at fault.
What about : http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/ripping-off-young-... from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6224982
Did you even look at that? Just because you were lucky enough to be able to pay off your loans doesnt mean everyone is. What if they dont find a job in their field? And have to work at minimum wage?
What about the veterans that come back from fighting for the country which includes these 'corporations'? Do the corporations guarantee them a higher salary?
http://www.epi.org/blog/raising-minimum-wage-benefits-millio...
What about : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-28/minimum-wage-in-u-s...
How is that not EXPLOITATION? Just because the rich people are able to keep minimum wage low by having funds and time to spend lobbying, does that mean that it is correct?
1. Many people are horrified by the thought of not being a simple worker bee. They say they want change, but they don't. They want the security of someone else taking care of them. The reason wealth exists is because there are people that cannot live this way, and thus, make their own way. You cannot fault hard working business owners because their employees put themselves in a place to require said employment in order to sustain a life they consider normal.
2. There will always be wealth. If the US gave up capitalism in favor of socialism, the money would be placed in the hands of the whole, and in this case, the government. At that point, the government has the money and the power. We're screwed.
3. Life is suffering. There is no perfection on this realm. Solve this problem and another will follow. This is a symptom of life in samsara. Bukowski recognized this, which is why he talked of a simple life without possessions. If you truly want to break free of 'the man,' you'll have to life a life defined by something other than money, objects, and achievements. For most of us, this is nearly impossible. Middle ground is an illusion.