It seems to me that the underlying principle is atomization, that is, the attempt to ensure that there is no cohesion among co-workers. If each worker is bargaining in competition with each other worker and each looks only to his/her personal advantage then atomization is guaranteed. It's why people are encouraged not to compare wages and salaries. It's why companies hate unions.
Some industries are more prone to atomization than others. Translation, where umpteen translators are working on an ad hoc basis for umpteen companies, is a prime example. One would think that translators would have wanted to unify to improve the rates they were getting, but that was not the case. The system fostered an individualism that ended up to everyone’s detriment. As small companies were bought up by larger ones (financed by venture capital) and embraced machine translation as a way to maximize profits, translators were left with no means of defense.
I began to chronicle this process about 10 years ago when I was still doing commercial translation. Some of you might find it useful to think about (clicking will download a Word file).
And billionaires want us all trying to negotiate our own healthcare and business insurance and work accidents and similar. So much more money in that for them.
I am an independent contractor working in Anerican academia and it sucks. It's especially hard being chronically ill and disabled. No insurance. No sick time. I don't receive my first paycheck for months.
I hope there's not a correlation between number of comments and how much attention is paid to the post, because this one's important. Republicans believe the only purpose of the state is to police morality. Anything else conflicts with their priority of doing everything they can to make sure everyone is completely on their own in everything, that there is no social contract or social cohesion. It can't ever work though because it goes against the nature of the species. There's a reckoning coming, someday.
This one has been restacked a bunch today. People get this right away. We don't need a lot of discussion when someone explains it this baldly.
I sometimes think people see this newsletter in their inboxes and imagine a turd. Writing about this sometimes feels like delivering turds. But somebody needs to break this thing down, as well as the Fascist Republican/billionaire overlord meaning behind it.
You are doing a necessary service to everyone who reads these and shares the information. There are people in my life who wouldn’t read it but listen when I explain it to them thanks to you. Thank you!
Thank you for reading and sharing. I know most people who read use this information with people in their lives. Which is part of the point of this work. I appreciate you and everyone here.
I don't know if you believe in callings, but this moment in history was made for you or vice versa. Project 2025, which are the only policy ideas the Republican party has, is a union of Christian Nationalists with what I call anarchist billionaires. You are an expert on Christian Nationalism, with all the scars to prove it, but your background in accounting is equally valuable for the other half of the equation. Although I'm sure it also all feels like a curse too.
In the wake of Citizens United, I decided to explain how it impacted everything via Facebook. I took my accounting background and used all sorts of sex industry terms. 😂 So I’ve been building toward this for a long time. I couldn’t be silent. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.
This hits close to home. My son was told when he was hired that after six months he would get benefits. Never happened. The only thing he is guaranteed is payment for forty hours, unless of course there is a holiday.
This is employers once again not paying their fair share, and the passing it on to their employees.
The truth is staring people right in the face - how are millions of people going to continue to vote Republican. It is mind-boggling that they are willing to make peasants of themselves. Example; I was feeling confident after the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga Tennessee voted to unionize - I felt pretty sure that the Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama would follow suit, but nope - Alabama plants voted against it, only losing by 600 votes. Why these employees in Alabama think a major corporation that cares only about profits would look out for their best interests more than a union, shake my fucking head!
Republican economies are always the worst- people won't have any disposable income to keep buying from Jeff Bezos on Amazon or going on vacations. Every tourist city in the US will suffer, homelessness will rise, poverty will rise. Mother Jones January February 2024 has several excellent articles about American Oligarch's. The number of billionaires in this country has more than tripled since 2016, we have nearly 1,000 billionaires - with Elon Musk being the richest person ever.
People who only watch right-wing news get so much economic dis-and-misinformation. They don’t understand how the economy works. My husband visited my parents a while back, and they were complaining about how much groceries (specifically meat) cost. My husband was like, “Because you voted to expel all the workers who were willing to do that work for cheap so you could have cheap meat.” And they acted stunned. Because it never occurs to people in that camp to connect these dots.
It seems to tie to several things. One having undocumented or immigrant workers children do dangerous work instead of go to school, and if they are independent contractors, if they get hurt they will not get any compensation or even be able to afford medical care. The other aspect is that as a White Supremacist document, it is basically trying to find ways to only employ White people, when we already have worker shortages in low skill high risk jobs unless the pay is good. Hiring children is also a way to get around paying properly too. This is so backwards it is sometimes hard to wrap my head around it.
It seems to me that the underlying principle is atomization, that is, the attempt to ensure that there is no cohesion among co-workers. If each worker is bargaining in competition with each other worker and each looks only to his/her personal advantage then atomization is guaranteed. It's why people are encouraged not to compare wages and salaries. It's why companies hate unions.
Some industries are more prone to atomization than others. Translation, where umpteen translators are working on an ad hoc basis for umpteen companies, is a prime example. One would think that translators would have wanted to unify to improve the rates they were getting, but that was not the case. The system fostered an individualism that ended up to everyone’s detriment. As small companies were bought up by larger ones (financed by venture capital) and embraced machine translation as a way to maximize profits, translators were left with no means of defense.
I began to chronicle this process about 10 years ago when I was still doing commercial translation. Some of you might find it useful to think about (clicking will download a Word file).
http://www.kfkronenberg.com/Timeline_of_RWS_acquisitions.doc
A recent poll found that more than half of translators want to leave the field. That’s what happens to "independent contractors."
Yes. So much this, Kenneth.
And billionaires want us all trying to negotiate our own healthcare and business insurance and work accidents and similar. So much more money in that for them.
Very good points.
I am an independent contractor working in Anerican academia and it sucks. It's especially hard being chronically ill and disabled. No insurance. No sick time. I don't receive my first paycheck for months.
And this is what Project 2025 envisions for EVERY American worker who isn’t an owner. I’m sorry you can relate.
I hope there's not a correlation between number of comments and how much attention is paid to the post, because this one's important. Republicans believe the only purpose of the state is to police morality. Anything else conflicts with their priority of doing everything they can to make sure everyone is completely on their own in everything, that there is no social contract or social cohesion. It can't ever work though because it goes against the nature of the species. There's a reckoning coming, someday.
This one has been restacked a bunch today. People get this right away. We don't need a lot of discussion when someone explains it this baldly.
I sometimes think people see this newsletter in their inboxes and imagine a turd. Writing about this sometimes feels like delivering turds. But somebody needs to break this thing down, as well as the Fascist Republican/billionaire overlord meaning behind it.
You are doing a necessary service to everyone who reads these and shares the information. There are people in my life who wouldn’t read it but listen when I explain it to them thanks to you. Thank you!
Thank you for reading and sharing. I know most people who read use this information with people in their lives. Which is part of the point of this work. I appreciate you and everyone here.
I don't know if you believe in callings, but this moment in history was made for you or vice versa. Project 2025, which are the only policy ideas the Republican party has, is a union of Christian Nationalists with what I call anarchist billionaires. You are an expert on Christian Nationalism, with all the scars to prove it, but your background in accounting is equally valuable for the other half of the equation. Although I'm sure it also all feels like a curse too.
In the wake of Citizens United, I decided to explain how it impacted everything via Facebook. I took my accounting background and used all sorts of sex industry terms. 😂 So I’ve been building toward this for a long time. I couldn’t be silent. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.
This hits close to home. My son was told when he was hired that after six months he would get benefits. Never happened. The only thing he is guaranteed is payment for forty hours, unless of course there is a holiday.
This is employers once again not paying their fair share, and the passing it on to their employees.
Employers pull all sorts of crap like this, especially in red states, without penalty. I’m sorry this happened to your son.
The truth is staring people right in the face - how are millions of people going to continue to vote Republican. It is mind-boggling that they are willing to make peasants of themselves. Example; I was feeling confident after the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga Tennessee voted to unionize - I felt pretty sure that the Mercedes-Benz plants in Alabama would follow suit, but nope - Alabama plants voted against it, only losing by 600 votes. Why these employees in Alabama think a major corporation that cares only about profits would look out for their best interests more than a union, shake my fucking head!
Republican economies are always the worst- people won't have any disposable income to keep buying from Jeff Bezos on Amazon or going on vacations. Every tourist city in the US will suffer, homelessness will rise, poverty will rise. Mother Jones January February 2024 has several excellent articles about American Oligarch's. The number of billionaires in this country has more than tripled since 2016, we have nearly 1,000 billionaires - with Elon Musk being the richest person ever.
People who only watch right-wing news get so much economic dis-and-misinformation. They don’t understand how the economy works. My husband visited my parents a while back, and they were complaining about how much groceries (specifically meat) cost. My husband was like, “Because you voted to expel all the workers who were willing to do that work for cheap so you could have cheap meat.” And they acted stunned. Because it never occurs to people in that camp to connect these dots.
There has been a disconcerting move in Red States to get around child labor safety laws, and according to this EPI article, in Blue States too.
https://www.epi.org/blog/child-labor-remains-a-key-state-legislative-issue-in-2024-state-lawmakers-must-seize-opportunities-to-strengthen-standards-resist-ongoing-attacks-on-child-labor-laws/#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20at%20least%20five,in%20violation%20of%20federal%20law.
It seems to tie to several things. One having undocumented or immigrant workers children do dangerous work instead of go to school, and if they are independent contractors, if they get hurt they will not get any compensation or even be able to afford medical care. The other aspect is that as a White Supremacist document, it is basically trying to find ways to only employ White people, when we already have worker shortages in low skill high risk jobs unless the pay is good. Hiring children is also a way to get around paying properly too. This is so backwards it is sometimes hard to wrap my head around it.
I wrote about how valuing productivity led us back to child labor. It’s outrageous and abominable.
I fully agree.