Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labor. Show all posts

Day 218: When Our Jobs Don't Pay, We Need A Living Income Guaranteed


Here's a great article that in a lot of ways sums up what is going on in our labor system for the millions who are working low-wage jobs that don't pay enough to properly live: SeaTac’s minimum wage workers might not get their raise after all

One of the arguments against raising the wage is the businesses that won't be able to afford it, or may have to lay off one or a few employees.

But really – should businesses that can't afford to pay a living wage even exist? Otherwise what we've got is slave labor. And that is where the LIG comes in that provides the support buffer so that if you're out of a job for even just a moment, you're covered, and covered Far Better than Most Low Wage employees today, who earn far below a living wage, because the LIG will cover all your costs of living, whereas low wage even does not do that.

So you can start to see how having a buffer of a basic income can actually really take the pressure off of all aspects of our labor system, which currently is literally a life or death game. And this would take the pressure off of those who would want to have a business, because if it doesn't work out, which the vast majority of businesses fail within the first year, then it's not a problem, you're not going to wind up on the street.

And, if you really want to do something whether it makes money or not, you could, and still have enough to live effectively.

This would obviously result in aligning more people with what they'd really like to be doing. You could really follow your passion and have choice to do what suits you. I mean, do we really want people doing things that they really don't want to be doing? What kind of service do we get from that? The worst quality. This is why we have so many malpractice lawsuits, because so many of our doctors are in it for the money, and not because it's what they'd really like to do.

There's argument that having a basic income though would be a disincentive to working. But we are viewing this from the eyes of what is already here. I mean, what would you call disincentive? Being severely underpaid to the point where you have to take multiple jobs and still can't pay all your bills? Being short staffed and overworked, where the service you provide is often the cheapest it can possibly be and cutting corners is a requirement of the job so there is really no satisfaction in the service you're providing, and often facing disgruntled customers who don't like the poor service for the price they're paying when it's not like you are doing it on purpose? Receiving little to no paid time off or benefits? Where the company for whom your labor is making profits for has no regard for you? Where's the incentive in that?

Obviously our current situation is the main reason why people don't want to work. It's not that they don't want to work – they don't want to work in such conditions. Who would? Maybe only someone who has it even worse. But then, it's still not what they would really want, just the better out of two shitty choices.


Is this really what we want our labor to be like? There's no actual reason or need for it to be this way, and there certainly is no benefit. Investigate LIG, so that we can sort this out before it's too late.

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Day 200: Learning is a Process (Part 2) – My Personal Experience

So did not understanding how learning works have any significant impact in my life? Let's take a look.

By the way, this post is a continuation from the previous post Day 199: Learning is a Process - Did you Know That? So if you haven't read that, you'll want to start there first.

One of the first and probably the most significant ways it impacted me was in school. In the beginning I was pretty good at all the various subjects. Yet as time went on, things became increasingly more complex, there was more information to work with and more skill required, and I started making more mistakes. As I was making more mistakes, I took this to mean there is something wrong with me, because I hadn't been making so may mistakes before and took this as a sign that I am 'failing' instead of realizing that it is part of the learning process itself.

So as this pattern continued throughout school, and it is really exacerbated by the way schools are set up currently, as you don't really get 'second chances' at anything, so it's like this misunderstanding of how learning work si s built into the very structure of the school system itself, because if it was understood that it takes time and effort and repetition to effectively learn and integrate something, it wouldn't be designed this way where you have a certain amount of time to get it, and if you don't get it in that time, oh well. If it was understood that it's going to take as long as it takes for each individual to effectively understand and integrate something, this would be reflected in the design of school curriculum, where the courses/lessons would be able to fit according to what each student requires, if the purpose of school is really to educate. Because the way it is now, it is really about putting you through a one-shot course where you either make it or you don't, so there is no checking to make sure that each student has really learned the material or skill and if they haven't then making sure that each student has what they need to do so. That doesn't happen at all.

So as I progressively made more mistakes, and feeling like 'maybe I just can't do this' / 'I'm not smart' / 'I'm not good at school', this led to thinking that 'I don't like school', because who would really want to be going through such an experience of failing and thinking that it is something wrong with you, and so you are really believing that there is no real point to being in school and studying these things anymore if you apparently don't have the 'capacity' for it, because making mistakes I took as a sign that I am failing or something is going wrong, like mistakes just shouldn't be happening. Like if you're good at something, you don't make mistakes, or maybe just in rare cases. Which of course is because I didn't understand how learning works and that mistakes really are part of the process, and so they're really not 'mistakes'. I mean, if you are 'good' at something, you will maybe not make many mistakes, but I didn't realize that it takes a process to become 'good at something', it is not something just automatic/built it/part of you like magic.

I did manage to graduate from high school, and after you finish high school many students will go on to college, but I did not. I avoided college like the plague just to avoid the classwork and homework, and I said it was because I didn't have the money and that was indeed true, but I didn't even look into or ask anyone if there were any other options like scholarships or grants, which I did vaguely know about, I knew there were possibilities, but I was so 'done' with school because it was 'such a hassle', and by this point I really quite believed I just 'wasn't cut out for it'.

So these are major life decisions, that were all determined by not understanding how learning works, because that shaped even my entire perception of myself! And who I am, what I can and can't do, what I am apparently not capable of! And none of it was true. I mean, I wasn't lacking skills because I didn't have the capability, I just didn't understand that skills are acquired through a process, where you practice until you get to a point where it is now a 'natural' ability because you've integrated it so much that now it comes 'naturally'.

Now, I essentially was questioning myself in everything I'd do in my life – because I didn't have a proper understanding of what all is ivolved when one is 'naturally' 'talented' or 'gifted' or 'skilled' in something – believing this meant you could 'just do it' like magic, that the ability was just 'in you' somehow, not realizing there's a process involved, nothing comes out of thin air, except maybe our money, but that's another topic altogether – you aren't born an amazing singer or songwriter. I mean, I remember hearing interviews and comments from accomplished singers or songwriters and when asked 'how they do it' they'll respond something like 'I don't know, I just do it, it just comes naturally for me' and so perpetuating the idea that you can just 'have an ability' like magic, like in the matrix for example where you could just download kung fu for example and then instantly you can do it.

And so I believed it must be this 'knack' that either you have or you don't I mean even take the title of this show for example 'who's got talent' as if it's 'something you've got or you don't' and we often see this as meaning that either it's 'in you or it's not' like you either have the ability already within you, and if you don't then you're not an artist or singer or songwriter or whatever. Because we often only see the finished products, we don't for the most part see the practicing and the 'mistakes' and all the effort that was involved in creating the finished product. We hear a great singer perform a song flawlessly and we think 'wow, how on earth did they do that?' / 'wow, they're so talented'.

But it is actually a simple common sense reality point, where if you knew that someone is practicing something say everyday, what would you expect to happen eventually – they're going to get better at it. So it's not really anything special in a magical sense. It's a simple input/output equation – you get out what you put in. So it is really interesting that we tend to react with a kind of shock or reverence when someone is really good at something, but really if you are practicing something to the point of perfection, then achieving such a result is not a surprise, it is the natural outflow of self-disciplined practicing and application over time. I mean, if you put all the ingredients together for a cake and put it in a pan and put it in the oven for the appropriate temperature and time, you are reasonably going to expect the result of all this to be – a cake.

But I didn't get that and so whenever I was doing some singing or sat down to do some art maybe drawing or painting, I would constantly be like observing and judging 'how it is going' and according to how I perceive it is going as either positive or negative, or successful or unsuccessful - questioning whether I 'am an artist or not'. So for example, if as I'm going along and the drawing or painting isn't turning out how I'd imagined or wanted it to, or if I don't like the picture that is developing, then I would start thinking 'maybe I can't do this' / 'I'm just not an artist' because apparently if I 'was an artist' it would just be working and everything I do would turn out wonderfully and perfectly without even really having to try apparently.

So when it was pointed out to me and explained how learning is actually a process, and I looked back through my life and saw, that the things that I did do well in life, I had actually spent a lot of time and effort into learning and practicing it. For example with knitting, it was something I was really determined to learn and so I just kept at it, and eventually I got to an expert level in knitting and teaching others to knit and going on to more and more complex knitting challenges and such. And then, what was interesting, is others who saw my skill with knitting would say 'oh you're so talented' / 'you've really got a knack for that' / 'you're such an artist' – yet I knew the grueling hard work that I went through to get to that point, I mean there were times in the beginning as I was teaching myself how to knit, that I would get so lost and frustrated in it (mostly because I had no one to teach me and was learning from very non-descriptive books at a time where you couldn't yet just 'google' anything on the internet, nowadays there are numerous sources from which you can much more easily learn to knit with very detailed video tutorials) that I would just say 'to hell with this' and I would just stop knitting for a couple months, but then I would eventually pick it up again and keep going. So, I saw the only difference between me and those who didn't have this skill with knitting, was that I simply put in the time and effort and kept going, and didn't give in to thoughts and ideas and beliefs that I apparently 'couldn't do it', or it's 'not me', 'I'm not a knitter', 'it's not for me', and I just kept going. And so I made sure to always explain this point – where I could have just said 'yeah it's just what I do' or 'I just have a knack for it' but I did not want to perpetuate a false idea, which would then hinder others as well from applying themselves to learn skills for themselves.

I also saw that another dimension to this point, of believing that you've either 'got it' or you don't – is actually used as an excuse to not apply oneself, like if one has a resistance to being disciplined and putting in time and effort, then it is convenient to say 'I just can't do it'. Then you don't even have to try, because you think you'd rather not put in the effort, but not realizing that within this, you actually limit yourself because you don't get anything for nothing, despite what our economy would have you believe where stores can give away things 'for free' apparently, yet nothing is free as it all took labor to produce it, and so if you're getting it for free, then you know someone isn't getting paid for their labor!

So fascinatingly, you can see how we haven't recognized the labor it takes to develop a skill, nor the labor it takes to produce things in this reality – so this misunderstanding takes place on various levels of life in various dimensions. The key point that missed here, is that this is how the physical reality functions. It takes effort to live and exist here. It takes effort to expand ourselves into more than what we already are. And as we more and more think we want to avoid effort, the more and more we diminish ourselves, which actually makes life harder, and makes the effort that is necessary to be done to support ourselves seem even harder.

Yet, what have we seen with those who have become an expert in one skill or another – that once you have effectively become it, it is then a 'natural' ability, where it is practically effortless, because you integrated it to the point where it is like breathing, and have a look – breathing is not hard is it? You even do it in your sleep. So this is another Important point about the learning ability that wasn't understood either – that the effort you put in is to your benefit and that that effort and consistent self disciplined application is what would actually lead to things being easier.

In the next post - we'll take a look at how my life has changed since I've put these realizations into application, and now can do things that I never thought I could, gaining skills where I once thought it was impossible and it just keeps going!


Suggested Reading:

Day 294: Natural Learning Ability of the Feral Child

Day 297: Natural Learning Ability and Sound Tonality of Words http://creationsjourneytolife.blogspot.com/2013/02/day-297-natural-learning-ability-and.html

Day 295: Natural Learning Ability – Parenting Responsibility

Day 435: Basic Income Guaranteed and Education

Day 182: No More Difficulty Finding a Job: Equal Money Capitalism ENDS Unemployment


Equal Money & Economist's Journey to Life

The Problem:


In a system where employment is how you survive, unemployment is a massive problem. Earning money through being employed, is how you put food on the table, a shirt on your back, buy medicine or go to the doctor when you’re sick, put a roof over your head, and how you support your children in all those necessities of life as well, among other things. Thus if you don’t have a job, you lose all means to support yourself, and your family.

We currently do not effectively utilize the workforce in the world, as the potential we could reach if everyone was effectively trained and employed. There is a lot of work to be done in this world that is not being done, plenty to create jobs for everyone, jobs that involve taking care of this planet in ensuring that we are using resources in such a way that is sustainable. Ultimately, the way we are using the earth’s resources currently is at a rate that cannot be sustained for long, and thus once those resources run out, many many jobs will be lost. Like for example in the oil industry, where oil is used in practically all the products we buy and utilize, and within the production processes to create them, and the processes with which to extract the resources from the earth that we make them from.

Not enough skills/training


We don’t ensure that each and every individual is provided with support to develop most effectively, to be able to have the skills to perform jobs other than the low paying low skill labor. It’s not a level playing field, and as such the majority are stuck at the ‘bottom’ of the job food-chain, literally working in food chains, and jobs such as in the retail and service sectors, which is actually a form of slavery.

How it is now, is most employers offering the more ‘decent’ paying jobs are looking for skilled labor, those with degrees or training or previous experience in the particular field, and often a combination or all of those. So that excludes a large portion of the population who has none of those, and practically no way to get any skills or training as they don’t have enough money to afford it, and they are left to compete with everyone else in the same situation for the low paying service jobs that are available.

Not enough jobs


In the current system there are not enough jobs in order to have everyone effectively employed and earning an effective income. Many of the larger corporations get hundreds and hundreds of applications, but are only going to hire a few, and what happens to the rest? Throughout the world unemployment is a massive problem, where we have places of extreme poverty where individuals are hanging on to survival day by day and thus don’t have a place within labor system through which to earn an income to survive.

The starting point of this system is not to make sure that everyone is effectively placed within a job. It is for businesses to make the most profit possible while limiting costs as much as possible. As such, most jobs do not pay a fair wage that is enough to provide one with everything needed to live a dignified life. And we don’t make sure that every individual has been provided the opportunity to get the best training and education into practical skills that can be applied. This works out for those who have companies that make money off of other’s labor, as currently unskilled labor gets paid less for their time, and since they don’t have the skills to get better jobs, they have no choice but to go for the lower paying jobs like retail and food service. Which is really an ineffective use of labor, as those jobs just work to support profit gains and not actually provide a real benefit to life. Most of those things can be automated, like is already in place in for example grocery stores which have self checkout aisles. The only reason there is a person there is to make sure no one is stealing anything, which people do when they don’t have effective money to buy things, as stealing is never the first choice. If you enough money for everything you need, you’ll just buy it and not take the risk.

There are millions in the world that are unemployed, that is millions of people who could be participating in the system, but we haven’t effectively made sure that we are properly creating jobs so that there is enough for everyone, and that no matter what your situation, you are either provided with a job, or with the training to develop the skills to do a job. And often those at the ‘bottom’ of the job food-chain, often have to work more than one job as one just doesn’t provide enough income to effectively support oneself.

And then we have unemployment benefits to assist those who aren’t finding work, which only allows them to subsist while not changing the job situation in any way. And there are people that get angry at this, and blame them for not working, while ignoring that the problem is systemic in nature, as the system is blatantly failing to effectively direct Labor. And the longer you go without a job, the less likely you are to get hired, as employers don’t want people who have not been working for a while and maybe have gotten soft and haven’t been using their skills for a while and might be rusty, compared to someone who has just been working.

Abuse of labor


Unemployment is also allowed in order to take advantage of having more demand for jobs than there are jobs available, by those who have companies that make money off of other’s labor. As if there is more employees than there are demands, this puts the advantage on the business’ side, as they can have worse conditions such as low pay, no benefits, etc, and there will always be people who have no other choice but to take what is offered, as there is always an endless supply of people desparate to have some kind of income.

Abuse of animals and nature


Due to lack of sufficient jobs for everyone, individuals in dire situations have had to find any way possible to make money to survive, which has led to all kinds of abuse to nature and animals, like skinning animals alive to make clothing items and accessories which aren’t needed, but can provide those individuals with some money to survive.

Monopolies


Monopolies push out other competition by taking over a market and doing everything for cheaper by externalizing costs and paying employees less, which causes smaller businesses to go belly up as they can’t compete with the cheapness, and thus many jobs are lost for less quality jobs , putting more strain on the job market.

Machinery


When machinery is utilized to replace human labors, there is no structure in place to ensure that those whose positions have been taken over by machines have effective support to get into another position, and now there is even more competition in the job market.




The Solutions:

Full employment:


Employment
One of the current problems is unemployment. Employment is the means through which each one acquires the means with which to sustain themselves - as, in return for one's contribution, one receives an income. Therefore - full employment is not a negotiable subject - because if one is not employed, one loses all means of supporting oneself.” (Day 162: EQUAL MONEY CAPITALISM - The Way Forward)

How to Ensure Full Employment?
Q: How do we make sure everyone is employed; will we have to create meaningless jobs like in the army – dig a hole, cover a hole?

A: There are many jobs that require to be done that aren't being done at the moment - the Earth is barely taken care of. Remember that a company’s responsibility will extent further than merely the production of goods and services. Each company will have a Compassion and an Environmental Department.

Compassion Departments are a social function. Such departments will assist, for instance, with giving care to the elderly, organising and providing daycare, assisting victims of natural disasters and so on. Individuals whose jobs within the production process are replaced by technology, will instead be employed within the Compassion Department of the company and continue to receive their income.

Environmental Departments of a company fulfil the function of giving as one would like to receive. Companies will use resources from the Earth and will likely create pollutants that affect the environment. The Environmental Departments are in charge of giving back to the Earth in terms of assisting the environment to renew the resources that were taken, for instance, through tree-planting, creating dams, etc. Furthermore, it will assist within mitigating or stopping the negative effects of pollutants, such as, for instance, water or air purification.

Once everyone is employed and all meaningful jobs are being done - we decrease working hours. For instance, if a job requirement is 8 hours, 2 people can do 4 hours each. Also - people don't have to work for 60 years of their lives - we can go on retirement when we are 30-40.” (Day 168: The Future of Integrity with Equal Money Capitalism)


"OVERTIME / FREE TIME
The point will be to optimize FREE TIME

Overtime - working past your regular hours. There will be no need for overtime, it will be unnecessary, because it is not your labour that holds the value - it is your life and all life is valued equally. Overtime would only come into play when for instance a natural disaster occurs and those assisting are required to lend a helping hand for longer than usual because the situation demands so in that case, one doesn't get paid for overtime - because it is a point of compassion and understanding - and to show that one is more than a self-interested human. Overtime now only exists so people can make more money - so they can buy more stuff - in EMC - you will have enough money to buy what you actually need. All economic slavery jobs where people are forced to do it to survive will end if people do not have to do it

Will we have more free time in an EMC - definitely - as we employ all the labour of each person - it will take less time to get the same job done. Every person will still work the same amount of time - this must be agreed on by all. For those whose jobs simply doesn't take up that much time or if a person's job is replaced by that of a machine - the Compassion Department of the Company will take care of you. This Department of the company creates jobs that will benefit society as a whole.

Sufficient pay:


... WHAT IS PROFIT-SHARE?
Currently profit is the money a company makes after they have covered their costs, including paying out wages. In an EMC - profit comprises of all the added value that is placed on resources - which is your labour. Therefore - within the price, the percentage share must be included of each one that was part of the creation of the product in such a way that each one ends up with an equal share of the company's profits, so - there will be no need for wages - as the profit becomes your wage.

EQUALIZING WAGES – COOPERATION AMONG CORPORATIONS
If a company at any time makes more money than they need to provide each one with their equal share of the profit as well as covering their costs - those monies will go into a fund that is responsible for assisting companies that are not making sufficient to cover their costs and provide each one with their fair share. That way a balancing effect takes place so that all companies are not only cooperatives in how they cooperate internally - but all cooperate with each other as well…." (Day 163: Equal Money Capitalism - Redefining Profit)

Community Based Companies:

 

Monopolies
Q: Will we only have a few companies doing the same thing? And will the work be divided up? Like, will a company have a certain part of the world to look after?

A: With EMC, we are moving away from monopolies, where a select amount of big corporations has control over particular products. Companies will be far more regional and community based as companies will exist from a point of responsibility towards their particular community. Within EMC, providing goods and services is not an opportunity to ‘hit it big’ in the world – it is how one contributes to society to make Life on Earth a worthwhile experience for everyone. When companies are locally based and operational, transport costs will of course also be cut down, which will reduce pressure on the environment.” (Day 170: Companies and Industries in EMC)



So, firstly, full employment will be treated as a necessity, as everyone requires employment to provide one and one’s family with an income.

By ensuring proper compensation for one’s labor through Equalizing Profit-Share, no one will need to work more than one job, and won’t need to work as many hours, or in compromising conditions, to still earn an income that will support one effectively, thus reducing the need for so many jobs as we will get more out of less. And through the Equalizing of Wages and the aspect of Cooperation among Corporations, this will stabilize companies, which stabilizes job security for individuals, as we won’t have companies going belly up thanks to giant corporation monopoly take-overs pushing out all the competition.

The Environmental Department will provide many jobs once we start to look at effectively taking care of and cleaning up the Earth.

The Compassion department will open up many jobs that provide support and assistance to those requiring it, such as the elderly, childcare, and disaster relief.

Thus, we will have plenty of jobs, and the time one needs to spend working to make enough to effectively support oneself will decrease. Companies will be stabilized so that there is no worry about a company failing and losing one’s job, and if for some reason a company ends, like if for example it is decided a company is not needed and is closed down, or you are not getting enough hours, or your job is replaced by a machine, there is the Compassion Department that will take care of you.

The Rewards:


At an Individual Level


For most individuals this means you will no longer have to worry about job security or financial security. You’ll no longer have to work overtime to make ends meet. You won’t have to work most of your life, you’ll be able to retire much earlier in life.

No more fear about how to get a job, or a decent job that pays enough. No more filling out countless job applications to probably not be picked, from a selection of jobs that are really only slavery jobs and not an actual benefit to life. Thus you’ll have real job satisfaction, no longer feeling like your job is just going to give someone else profits while you slave your life away.

All stress in individuals, couples, families, due to financial/job instability will vanish, as one’s survival no longer ‘hangs in the balance’ and one is no longer competing with everyone else to get the jobs available and hopefully one that pays enough and doesn’t require one to spend most of your time working. You’ll have more time to actually enjoy life, time to spend with your family, and doing the things you would like to pursue but are always too busy working.

On a Global Level


We’ll stop destroying the Earth through unsustainable practices, and cut down the pressure we’re putting on the ecosystem by utilizing so many excess resources in jobs that are of no benefit to life, or are simply not making sure they are not having a detrimental effect on the environment.
All the abuse taking place within the labor system currently and slave labor will end, there will be no unfair labor practices. This means ending Animal abuse where individuals utilize animals simply to create products that aren’t necessary just to provide themselves and their families with some income to survive.

Thus we will overall live in a world where we can have peace of mind that everyone including ourselves are taken care of and will not be left hung to dry if something goes wrong in the economy, where one foul turn can mean the loss of jobs and the loss of lives. A world where our entire ecosystem is of the best quality. And we as humans can really begin to explore what it means to be here, and get to enjoy ourselves here, no longer caught up in a rat race, just trying to survive.

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