A depressing realization about American work culture

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point only major collective action will allow Americans to have a better quality of life and work life balance. Consumerism is a cultural choice.

Why can't you just make different chouces for yourself?

There is no need for collective anything.

It is getting very hard to “opt out” of hustle culture, even if you are willing to accept living smaller. Even basic housing and healthcare are out of reach.

We have a labor supply issue. Now that we turned our friends back home to the south even less workers are building houses. Until the day both dems and magas start working in construction nothing will help this situation.

You are aware that there are plenty of union workers who are happy with their job fitting pipes, welding, drywalling, etc... ?
Paying a decent wage kind of helps with the willingness to do those categories of work.

You haven’t actually run the numbers. I have.

Try book an American handyman with proper license and he will let you know in 6 months if your project is interesting enough for him to take on 😁

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point only major collective action will allow Americans to have a better quality of life and work life balance. Consumerism is a cultural choice.

Why can't you just make different chouces for yourself?

There is no need for collective anything.

It is getting very hard to “opt out” of hustle culture, even if you are willing to accept living smaller. Even basic housing and healthcare are out of reach.

We have a labor supply issue. Now that we turned our friends back home to the south even less workers are building houses. Until the day both dems and magas start working in construction nothing will help this situation.

You are aware that there are plenty of union workers who are happy with their job fitting pipes, welding, drywalling, etc... ?
Paying a decent wage kind of helps with the willingness to do those categories of work.

You haven’t actually run the numbers. I have.

Try book an American handyman with proper license and he will let you know in 6 months if your project is interesting enough for him to take on 😁

NP… what numbers? Unionized construction workers primarily work on commercial projects, not fixing up your house, Larlo. You are not the center of the universe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point only major collective action will allow Americans to have a better quality of life and work life balance. Consumerism is a cultural choice.

Why can't you just make different chouces for yourself?

There is no need for collective anything.

I’ve made awesome choices for myself, but it’s all a product of a lot of luck and privileges. I have an elite education that gave me my pick of jobs. My husband is also secure. The “average” person needs more options too.

+1

Also the country needs more than just lawyers and financial investors and corporate execs. So many high earners act as if everyone could do it if they wanted ignoring the fact that mathematically no that isn’t possible. Someone has to collect garbage. And build houses. And teach children, wait tables, pave roads, manage court house records, cut hair, etc. etc. It’s pretty narcissistic to ignore how important others are to your quality of life but then also deride them as unsuccessful and not deserving of owning a home, raising a family, etc.

Not to mention there is not a direct correlation between income and value to society. I’d guarantee that social workers make society better than any health insurance CEO.

We absolutely need a collective change to ensure everyone has the opportunity for a solid middle class life without ignoring their health and family.

In fact it’s crazy to me that we have one life on earth and this is how we’ve all decided to spend it.

well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point only major collective action will allow Americans to have a better quality of life and work life balance. Consumerism is a cultural choice.

Why can't you just make different chouces for yourself?

There is no need for collective anything.

I’ve made awesome choices for myself, but it’s all a product of a lot of luck and privileges. I have an elite education that gave me my pick of jobs. My husband is also secure. The “average” person needs more options too.

+1

Also the country needs more than just lawyers and financial investors and corporate execs. So many high earners act as if everyone could do it if they wanted ignoring the fact that mathematically no that isn’t possible. Someone has to collect garbage. And build houses. And teach children, wait tables, pave roads, manage court house records, cut hair, etc. etc. It’s pretty narcissistic to ignore how important others are to your quality of life but then also deride them as unsuccessful and not deserving of owning a home, raising a family, etc.

Not to mention there is not a direct correlation between income and value to society. I’d guarantee that social workers make society better than any health insurance CEO.

We absolutely need a collective change to ensure everyone has the opportunity for a solid middle class life without ignoring their health and family.

In fact it’s crazy to me that we have one life on earth and this is how we’ve all decided to spend it.

This is the heart of the matter.
I don’t believe either Dems or GOP address it well. Too much DEI is about helping minorities join the elite ranks, when what is really needed is an overhaul so that people don’t need an elite job just to have a decent life. But I don’t think handouts aren’t the answer either. GOP is just plain old greed.

Until something changes we are crabs in a bucket and that is why the college forum is swarmed with the panicking parents.

[Anonymous]

Boo hoo.

If you want a smaller house, buy a smaller house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point only major collective action will allow Americans to have a better quality of life and work life balance. Consumerism is a cultural choice.

Why can't you just make different chouces for yourself?

There is no need for collective anything.

It is getting very hard to “opt out” of hustle culture, even if you are willing to accept living smaller. Even basic housing and healthcare are out of reach.

We have a labor supply issue. Now that we turned our friends back home to the south even less workers are building houses. Until the day both dems and magas start working in construction nothing will help this situation.

You are aware that there are plenty of union workers who are happy with their job fitting pipes, welding, drywalling, etc... ?
Paying a decent wage kind of helps with the willingness to do those categories of work.

You haven’t actually run the numbers. I have.

Try book an American handyman with proper license and he will let you know in 6 months if your project is interesting enough for him to take on 😁

NP… what numbers? Unionized construction workers primarily work on commercial projects, not fixing up your house, Larlo. You are not the center of the universe.

You sound uneducated. But the numbers are available on lobbyists websites such as realtor association and the building license volume is available on county websites. Do you also need to know how we look at those numbers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At this point only major collective action will allow Americans to have a better quality of life and work life balance. Consumerism is a cultural choice.

Why can't you just make different chouces for yourself?

There is no need for collective anything.

It is getting very hard to “opt out” of hustle culture, even if you are willing to accept living smaller. Even basic housing and healthcare are out of reach.

We have a labor supply issue. Now that we turned our friends back home to the south even less workers are building houses. Until the day both dems and magas start working in construction nothing will help this situation.

You are aware that there are plenty of union workers who are happy with their job fitting pipes, welding, drywalling, etc... ?
Paying a decent wage kind of helps with the willingness to do those categories of work.

You haven’t actually run the numbers. I have.

Try book an American handyman with proper license and he will let you know in 6 months if your project is interesting enough for him to take on 😁

NP… what numbers? Unionized construction workers primarily work on commercial projects, not fixing up your house, Larlo. You are not the center of the universe.

You sound uneducated. But the numbers are available on lobbyists websites such as realtor association and the building license volume is available on county websites. Do you also need to know how we look at those numbers?

Again... what numbers are you talking about? What exactly is your argument? That you can't find a unionized construction worker to do your handyman work? That's because they work on bigger projects.

I may in fact be uneducated but you don't appear to be saying anything of value.

[Anonymous]

I’ve started to take my sick days that I’ve been collecting and not using for years. Guess what happened? I get grief from admin (I’m a teacher), parents, and sometimes other teachers. I’m taking a sick day today to go to a doctor’s appointment and my sub has all of my plans. I’ve already gotten two phone calls from school and a few texts from admin about things that were due last week that I turned in. It’s like they can’t stand that I’m actually taking a day for myself. Same thing happens when colleagues take off. If I don’t use these days, I’ll only be reimbursed for 1/4 of them in retirement but God forbid if you do use them. So messed up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve started to take my sick days that I’ve been collecting and not using for years. Guess what happened? I get grief from admin (I’m a teacher), parents, and sometimes other teachers. I’m taking a sick day today to go to a doctor’s appointment and my sub has all of my plans. I’ve already gotten two phone calls from school and a few texts from admin about things that were due last week that I turned in. It’s like they can’t stand that I’m actually taking a day for myself. Same thing happens when colleagues take off. If I don’t use these days, I’ll only be reimbursed for 1/4 of them in retirement but God forbid if you do use them. So messed up.

I have a close friend in Sweden who receives grief for taking her sick days for kid illnesses. She won’t lose her job but they are difficult with her and make it clear it’s a problem. I can’t imagine there are many places where calling in sick to work is truly NBD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boo hoo.

If you want a smaller house, buy a smaller house.

You must not live around here.
Small houses start around 700k…. If you go out far enough. Truth is, no one is building the kind of small entry level housing that is needed.
There are townhouses, but the new ones being built are surrounded by concrete and are heat islands.

Remote work would do a lot towards decompressing housing demand, allowing for smaller scale development that is also in harmony with nature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve started to take my sick days that I’ve been collecting and not using for years. Guess what happened? I get grief from admin (I’m a teacher), parents, and sometimes other teachers. I’m taking a sick day today to go to a doctor’s appointment and my sub has all of my plans. I’ve already gotten two phone calls from school and a few texts from admin about things that were due last week that I turned in. It’s like they can’t stand that I’m actually taking a day for myself. Same thing happens when colleagues take off. If I don’t use these days, I’ll only be reimbursed for 1/4 of them in retirement but God forbid if you do use them. So messed up.

As a parent this upsets me to hear. I want my kids’ teachers to be healthy and have some balance in their lives. It is a difficult profession and increasingly people are turning away from working in education.

Also, my elementary age kids (including one with SNs) have “survived” having a teacher go out on parental or other extended health leave.

We should do a better job of making sure we have a robust backup of qualified subs so it’s not a crisis for the school administration any time a teacher needs a day off. But I pay my college sitters more than most subs make (I looked into it earlier this year when I was worried about getting RIF’d).

[Anonymous]

If you don’t spend a lot of money you can afford to work less. Period. My DH and I both work less than 35 hours a week. We own a small house, modest cars, no credit card debt, raised kids in public schools and live a simple life. We lack the desire for a lot of stuff and so we rarely go to a mall. We live just fine here in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

You are comparing apples to oranges. Denmark population is only about 6M total. (The size of South Carolina and smaller than TN). The population is 87% native danish. Leaves only 10-13%immigrants. Their tax system is extremely high and vary socialist society. No incentive to work hard when all goes to taxes. Hard pass!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are comparing apples to oranges. Denmark population is only about 6M total. (The size of South Carolina and smaller than TN). The population is 87% native danish. Leaves only 10-13%immigrants. Their tax system is extremely high and vary socialist society. No incentive to work hard when all goes to taxes. Hard pass!!!

What does immigration have to do with it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boo hoo.

If you want a smaller house, buy a smaller house.

You must not live around here.
Small houses start around 700k…. If you go out far enough. Truth is, no one is building the kind of small entry level housing that is needed.
There are townhouses, but the new ones being built are surrounded by concrete and are heat islands.

Remote work would do a lot towards decompressing housing demand, allowing for smaller scale development that is also in harmony with nature.

Oh no! You can’t find the specific type of housing in the exact ZIP code for the exact price you want to pay? Horrible! Look at the travesty late stage capitalism has wrought

Your claims about DC housing costs are a blatant lie.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3812-1st-St-SE-Washington-DC-20032/528671_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3700-Horner-Pl-SE-Washington-DC-20032/528574_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/828-21st-St-NE-2-Washington-DC-20002/456961252_zpid/?utm_campaign=iosappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

Please, go on and explain why these properties in DC for under 700K are unsuitable.

Can’t stand entitled brats like you.