Protestors set up a guillotine in front of Jeff Bezos's house

[ON D BIT]

What the hell is a firestick? Is that like a sparkler or match? If so both of those are now illegal in CA!

 

[BlackSnakeBlown]

Sounds like you need a better job. I can't remember the last time I made less than $100k as an hourly person and I never worked much more than 300 hours overtime a year.

I guess you have proved it. You have to both work hard and also be smart.

That's the deep South for you where $20/hr is largely considered a fair wage by most businesses and any talk of unionization results in immediate termination. Right to work laws are a ****ing joke. There was a time decades ago when fair compensation and unionization was really pushed for in the region but the same southern Democrats that opposed the civil rights movement struck it down.
Flat rate highly skilled diesel techs top out at roughly $35/hr and are expected to spend tens of thousands of dollars on the equipment necessary to do their job. Nobody really gives a **** about the working class citizen and as long as you let them keep their country music and rebel flags they will gladly support the status quo.

 

[Stanley]

When I started with the plant I'm at now as a millwright I came in at bottom pay which was $21 an hour in 2003. Top pay now is $40 or close to it. It's a non union site. They held a vote once, but it failed. It's outside of Houston.

If you have your own tools start taking side work and try and turn that into working for yourself. I gave up the dealership tech life for the plant life and don't regret it for a second.

 

[MinGrey02Stg2]

I don't by doubt your anecdotal story, but it certainly is not the norm. Hard work makes for a great employee but a terrible businessman. As a business owner it is your goal to profit off of the labor of others which requires charisma, intelligence, cunningness, and a bit of ruthlessness. In my thirty years here on this earth I have worked years of 100+ hr weeks working hard and it has only ever given me tinnitus, arthritis, heat strokes, and liver damage.

Every business owner I have ever encountered has not been some benevolent person with a can do work hard attitude, but rather a shrewd and calculated individual whose sole purpose is to extract as much profit off of you as an employee as possible. My father for an example runs a small farm and constantly complains about "not being able to find good help". Like I should empathise with him in some manner??? As an employer you have complete control over the competency of your labor by the wages you offer.

Can we just please stop the false narrative that working hard will actually get you places in life? It won't.

It's not anecdotal- there are tens of thousands of stories just like that. An anecdotal example would be someone that got some random mega investor to support their business/idea right off the bat and was extremely successful. I agree with you that it isn't hard work alone, but I would argue that hard work/long hours is the most important part of the puzzle. Ever watch Shark Tank? One of the most important factors when the Sharks make a deal is whether the business owner devotes all their time to the business, or if it's just an idea. My buddy that started the pest control company lived in an apartment, worked 70+ hours per week, and took almost no salary for years and if you talk to a lot of business owners, you'll find the same. You may think that business owners are shrewd and calculated and I guarantee that has come from all the negatives of the business you don't mention- employees stealing things, quitting without notice, and all the stress and risk the business owner takes on. All you worry about is your paycheck and the business owner is the last one to get paid. Keep hustling though...

 

[MinGrey02Stg2]

There was a time decades ago when fair compensation and unionization was really pushed for in the region but the same southern Democrats that opposed the civil rights movement struck it down.

Unionization and "fair compensation" killed the big three and are the reason the bailouts were needed. GM was having to make like $4,000 per car just to pay for the benefits of retired workers and the quality of the vehicles suffered immensely because production costs needed to be cut. Eventually they couldn't at all compete with the Japanese sedans which came with nicer interiors, better reliability, and the same or lower cost. There's an entire documentary on this. The big 3 still haven't recovered from this.

 

[MinGrey02Stg2]

Watch these and tell me this guy doesn't deserve what he has. Some people are just different and he's one of them... always thinking huge and 50 steps ahead. So much different from someone who thinks about what hourly job they can get next to make ends meet.