Yes. It's called a "union". They were discovered around the turn of the 20th century, caused the greatest increase in prosperity and wealth for the greatest number of people of any idea in history but then we decided we were collectively too smart for all that so we're inexorably inching our way back towards children suffering in dangerous conditions to enrich a few warlords (and no, they won't pay you on time).
The police? Like you would call fir any crime. The union boss is also elected, so you don't vote for people that would do that. You have a lot more power/leverage in that situation than a CEO laying you off right before your options cliff, despite what the people funding whisper/fear campaigns and their shills in the media are desperate to convince you of. Point me to one example of a union boss stealing pensions and I'll bring you 100 cases of CEXs doing worse with no recourse for the victims.
It's gone the instant the CEO takes your options by laying you off a week before they vest.
^ that has happened to me. Along with a million other slights: health care reduced, vacation time reduced, etc. etc. A hypothetical union boss running off with dues never has.
Think very carefully about where this abstract fear of "bad union bosses" comes from.
Years of crime and corruption caused long perception and union density declines from the 50s to the late 80s, when hundreds of officials finally got RICO’d, some unions fell under government supervision, etc.
They still didn’t really give up on crime and corruption, but they never really recovered in the US.
What's the frequency of this happening in modern times and what are the recourses we've set in place? Are there any forms of recourse that you'd recommend be added? And what representatives are running on such platforms to add those forms of recourse for workers?
It's so hard to do that but it's really the only way. I had this idea that tech companies should organize _each others_ unions. Like Google employees should organize Meta's union and visa versa so no one is "sacrificing their career" by doing it.
At least this would give you the leverage of seeing that the role is or is not still posted. It would give you a job to do as a candidate in enforcing honesty and seeing that the company wasn't stringing others along with fake postings to create the impression of growth. I would much prefer this to a "no consequences" system for people actively wasting my time.
I've been thinking more lately about how to get "Basic Web" - just like normal HTML and maybe a little bit of CSS (No Service Workers, Background Sync, DRM, etc.) and make it work over a LORA/Meshtastic rig somehow.
It's becoming a dream and a curious or nearly unattainable goal, without being adjacent a very heavy software stack. But I think having a separate screen on a phone, like a flip phone with a screen on each side, would help separate the two software and OSes that could run them. One light, and one heavy.
This looks awesome but I've read in the past that there are a lot of PFAS chemicals on these thermal printer papers. Is there like "safe" paper they have now that you can use for these things?
> If you must give paper receipts, look for “phenol-free” paper, which is safer for human health and has fewer environmental effects. Three types that do not contain BPA or BPS and are competitively priced contain either ascorbic acid (vitamin C), urea-based Pergafast 201, or a technology without developers, Blue4est. The latter uses a coating that reveals an underlying dark layer when heat is applied.
> Companies that offer phenol-free alternatives: ...
Right - this is the natural extension of the dichotomy "There are those the law protects but does not bind and those the law binds but does not protect". The law doesn't bind Musk - those visa infractions are enforced on peasants, not Epstein Class Nobles like him.
Sutherland is seductive, but essentially just a Marketing Executive with after-dinner speaking skills. For something a bit more robust, I'd recommend the consumer culture exposition in Adam Curtis''The Century of the Self'; particularly the segment where Edward Bernays used psychoanalysis to market cigarettes to women as feminist "torches of freedom".
Curtis' summary at the conclusion of the series works just as well as a chilling indictment of Gacha Gaming and the self-imposed Skinnerbox of the microtransaction era - "Although we feel we are free, in reality, we - like the politicians - have become the slaves of our own desires."
Not exactly on the "casino" nose, but "100 things every designer should know about humans" by Weinschenk has a lot of these principles outlined (backed up with academic references).
Imagine trying to hire engineers in 2 years with all of these stories lingering. There was maybe a brief window where "everyone understood" there had to be a correction to the post-pandemic overhiring spree... but we're well past that now. These companies doing this kind of performative cruelty have started their inexorable destruction.
Is it expected to be hard? Meta currently employees a lot of people who are willing to be there for any number of reasons. If 2 years down the line Meta announces a hiring push offering the same or better compensation packages with the ones offering now I am sure people will flock to be there.
I think we should put behind us any discourse about companies risking their hiring pool by being hostile to the society or their own employees. People will definitely try to be hired at $company if it means six figure pay, doesn't matter the sector. We have plenty of examples for this.
Like any market, they will not be the only ones in it. People remember how you treat them - especially in times like these. They will be paying premium prices for a demoralized workforce. They put themselves in a real tough position here.
You're describing the deal from three years ago: pay premium for premium talent that's willing to go above and beyond. I'm telling you about the new deal they have: premium prices for mediocre demoralized talent. They're dead in the water. "Things change" is a platitude that cuts both ways.
You could have said this every year for so many years about so many companies. If people will work for Palantir, they'll work for Facebook. Facebook could be a lot worse and I think a lot of their employees would stick around.
I guess a response at the industry level would be not hiring ex-FB people etc, treating it as a red flag.
You're confusing _evil_ with _cruel_. Palantir is the former, but from what I have heard they treat their employees well. They are attracting exactly the kind of people they want.
That's true and probably a kinda critical distinction here. Facebook is sort of making the bet that they can not only treat the world like shit but their direct employees too.
Certainly, everyone has "a number" they're willing to suffer for - but telegraphing the suffering ensures that number will be maxed out and morale/motivation will be rock bottom. So: you're paying a huge premium for underperforming talent. Destruction.
AI polls lower than "congress". People hate it - they hate it so much. They probably _wanted_ to call it that but someone who knows anything put their foot down.
buth the very first two bits of copy are about "intelligence" and "gemini". If they wanted to stay away from AI as branding they didn't do a great job.
