Walmart workers cost taxpayers 6.2 billion in public assistance

Maybe their time would be better spent looking for well-paying jobs, assuming they are capable of doing well-paid work? And if you read my post more carefully, you would have seen that I said "those who support the protest" should be funding it. I assume some supporters are employed, and probably some are quite wealthy as well. Soros comes to mind.

 

This is just going to go in a circle I know it.

But the problem is that the value of someone's time isn't always up to them because the same opportunities are not equally available to everyone, and often if people quit their jobs they're going to have a very very difficult time either finding one that isn't as shitty as or worse than the last one or finding one at all.

If there is no social mobility then employers set the value of the workers' efforts in a way that will benefit themselves only. This is why sweat shops exist. This is why people hire illegal immigrants. This is why people punish their customers for wage hikes instead of shaving an extra million off of their own salaries. This is why corporations hire MBA's to trim their workforce and cut out their higher-paying positions in the name of 'company profits'. It's because they are too wrapped in their greed and pursuit of more to actually care about what's going on around them.

 

Again, you're assuming we're living in a world of endless opportunity and endless social mobility, which is flat out not reality.

And I really don't think it's fair that people should need to depend on the whims of billionaires in order to fight for their rights to a decent living.

 

In the U.S. some of the richest corporations and their stockholders are the biggest government welfare recipients of all. In addition to having their work forces subsidized by government they are given huge tax breaks and incentives at both a federal and local level in order to attract their activities.

 

The theory behind this largess is that corporations provide jobs but the corporation's investments ride on being able to take advantage of the workforce.

 

That's quite telling.

There's some truth in what you say. The value received (money) for the work you do requires the payer (employer) to agree. Much the same as when you go shopping for your lifes needs and wants, employment is a transaction between an employer and an employee. If already employed, but not satisfied with the job or pay, I would suggest quitting ones job AFTER finding new employment.

Social mobility sometimes requires one to actually move. And that could mean actively displaying ones value to the current employer, making them willing to pay more to retain you, or moving to an area where another employer is willing to pay more. Supply and demand plays a big part too. The more job seekers there are capable of filling a job, the greater the competition becomes between those seeking employment, resulting in wage demands becoming the greatest bargaining tool. Wouldn't you agree that most everyone shops for their needs and wants in a similar way, looking for the same or similar product or service at the lowest cost?
Sweat shops?
Illegal (undocumented?) immigrants?
Punish their customers?
Eliminate unneeded employees?
Greed and pursuit of more?

 

You're assuming that I'm assuming we're living in a world of endless opportunity and social mobility. While many opportunities may exist the vast majority of the populations are incapable of filling them. Social mobility is achieved by the effort one puts forth.

Why do you think you DO need to depend on the whims of billionaires? And on what basis are you defining your "right" to a decent living?

 

Simple. U.S. GDP is higher than ever compared to GDP and overall people are poorer. That means that a few are hoarding the wealth.

 

I admit, that is a very simplistic answer.
While a few may very well be hoarding wealth, and why should they not; it would make no sense to hoard money which only diminishes in value over time.

 

Yes, I understand that that is what you think. But you are still ignoring the reality of life as an underemployed, undereducated poor person. The opportunities simply do not exist and it is not possible to hop from job to job.

You're just regurgitating high school economics classes here, and you have an extremely naive and oversimplified view on what actual workplaces are like... as if employers everywhere are just dying to give everyone raises and help everyone out instead of thinking of ways to avoid paying even a livable salary, cutting down hours, splitting full time work into part time shifts to save money, forcing underpaid employees to take on more responsibilities to eliminate other positions completely, and most of all trying to think of ways to eliminate the human factor from their business.

It's seriously as if you're completely ignoring the last 30-40 years and wondering why people aren't just doing what they did in the 50s and 60s.

I can't discuss this with you any further unless you're willing to look at reality instead of just repeating the same archaic lines of thought.

 

No, it's called education.

You seriously think you could just march into a corporation tomorrow, say 'I'd like a job, whatever you've got.' and they would give it to you? Why do you think unpaid internships are so huge right now-- it's not because they're getting kids jobs, it's because it's an endless supply of disposable free labor.

Maybe if you're charming as hell or know someone in the company you can end up with a position but come on... most people will never even get the opportunity to prove themselves. Again it's like you're living in the 50s.

And if they're so in need of workers without expensive educations and years and years of experience (that is impossible to get without the education, and also extremely difficult to get WITH the proper education), then why do you never see people advertising these jobs online?

The reason people aren't filling these positions isn't because they're lazy, it's because they can't afford education, can't get the proper experience, don't have the connections, and the corporations are unwilling to pay to train people. They keep passing the buck to the students who in turn go to the loan companies which are growing more and more predatory now that other loans are being more closely watched.

Because all of the money has moved to the top and it's not coming down, they've moved unionized work overseas, they're buying up land and resources, etc. It is not 'hard work' to use your family wealth to buy up the world's resources for profit. It does not mean you are smarter or more deserving. It means you are selfish and greedy.

And how do I define my 'right' to a decent living? Because the option to simply venture out into the frontier and build a home away from society no longer exists. If I'm not able to venture out on my own, then I should be provided for by the people who have taken that opportunity from me, and from everyone else.

In the modern world, the government has a responsibility to make sure that everyone is provided for. It really is that simple. Either make all land public and give people a chance to make it on their own if they don't believe in what your society is offering(not going to happen), or give them incentives to participate in your society. Or at the very least, give them a cause to believe that it's worth participating in ie: not toxic, destructive, evil, cruel, etc..

You can't just force people into a system that corrupts every single aspect of their physical, emotional and spiritual being and expect them to care, or be eager to participate, etc,

 

While it may not be possible, on a whim, to hop from job to job the reality is that the value of the work you do for the one who employees you is, and should be the basis of how much you are paid. When you use the term underemployed, are you basing that on need/wants or skill/education/etc.? Having employed both those who did and did not graduate high school as well as some who did and did not graduate college, seldom was education or lack of the determining factor of who was the best employee, and since the union bargained for the wages paid they each were paid the same, unless I could find ways to work around that.

Employers are not fools, and in my opinion most all, if not all large businesses pay pretty good wages for the work performed. The appropriate pay for the job performed may very well not be a living wage, and that's simply reality you seem unable to accept.

What would that be, working?

The reality I see is high unemployment, and government actions which are not doing anything to create an environment conducive to producing jobs.

 

When you talk about education and jobs, what jobs are you talking about? Not all jobs, even those that pay well, require the kind of education most people acquire from universities. In fact the vast majority of jobs that exist require training by the company that employees you.

Jobs can be found where they exist. If you sit around waiting for a prospective employer to come knock on your door and beg you to come work for him/her, you're likely to be waiting quite a long time.

A large number of people with great wealth presents great opportunities. Find a way to produce or do something that will attract their paying you to do it.

 

Walmart sucks

 

So what do you do, Individual?

 

Paid shill for the "change is just around the next corner if only you'd believe!" Whitebamas?

Change is just around the corner. Soon it won't be job club to fill the day but bread lines and food riots. Good times!

 

Whatever needs to be done.

 

Wow you must be really lazy if you can't even find a job you're willing to tell everyone else about. Stop waiting around for people to give you a job!

I don't actually mean that, I just think that if you're doing 'whatever needs to be done' then of all people you should be able to appreciate the struggles of other people and stop attributing it all to laziness or unwillingness to work. That's not what it is.

 

I didn't say I don't work, and quite often I'm offered paying jobs which I turn down, as I enjoy being retired and doing the work I enjoy doing without being paid.

Some of it is and some is not.

 

Well, in our country now the elderly are as big a target as the homeless and unemployed so it really doesn't matter much.