Exploitation of workers becomes more socially acceptable if the workers are perceived as "passionate" about their jobs

Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story” movie started off with the story of airliner pilots starting off at $20K salaries. People love to fly.

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Is there a further article:

“Why having enough nurses of acceptable standard is better than having too few nurses regardless of how good they are”?

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That’s so '90s :roll_eyes:

These days if the printer doesn’t work you just throw it out and buy a new one

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Turns out, earning a decent living is quite the lovable thing to do.

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Aside: are the contracted article names they use machine-generated? Well-paid NurseNurse sounds like some kind of Aphex Twin/Dead Kennedys mashup.

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May I interest you in this thread:

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Poor Professor Heyes. Still, I imagine he is enjoying that tenured job in Canada.

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Yes it has!

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2591811?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

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I’ve been a professional baker for nearly 30 years. During that time my wages have been stagnant, benefits minimal, time off a quaint, odd concept. Thanks to food TV and the romanticization of restaurant work, people think what I do is wonderful. It must be wonderful, or why would I do it when I’ve been expected to want to work 60-80 hour weeks, scrub floors, walls and equipment, work when sick, work when injured, etc.etc.
The other day I overheard an guy my age complaining about the lack of “work ethic” in the younger generation of cooks”. I wanted to jump in with “what? They aren’t willing to let your kitchen be the only thing in their lives? They want to be able to see friends, have a family life, pursue other interests?”
And most of the industry thinks that exploiting workers is dandy, and the world thinks it’s great because putting up with it shows how much you must love what you’re doing.
I tell younger workers to remember that the boss isn’t there to be their friend, and that a job is where you rent your skill set for money.

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Why do Software engineers and Hedge Fund Managers who love their work get paid so well then?

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The people at the bottom here seem like the performers you’re paying crappy wages to.

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I chalk this up as one more sociological toxin first brewed by the Classical Greeks, to wit; emotions are uncontrollable and therefore inferior to logic and rationality. American society has demonstrated a profound, willful ignorance of emotion and how it works for most of its existence, starting with decrying the attitude among the ‘indentured’ that they are still human and deserving of better treatment.

Today, you see it in the spectrum of objectively cruel and senseless laws or governmental policies designed to reduce or elimimate rights from various groups other than wealthy, influential Caucasian Christian males. And all because the ‘lesser folk’ both ‘need to be reminded of their place’ and ‘they lack the power to effectively resist us’.

I cannot WAIT to become a minority (Caucasian cis-male, pansexual but socially inept), just to see what will happen when the Old White Boys can no longer maintain their deathgrip on the reins of power. Because frankly I expect a vast improvement in quality of life for all, when the racist bigots who would sooner destroy a “nicer” neighborhood inhabited and run by non-whites than change their own behaviors to improve their neighborhoods…

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Brewers have known this for years

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Same boat. I’ve been a professional brewer for 20 years and have exactly the same issues. “Real brewers only care about the beer!”

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In this private pk-8 elementary (tuition approaching 20k/year) that request is seen by admin as disrespectful toward our parent community, whose time is really valuable.

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Musicians, authors and painters are never going to have it easy. It’s the teachers, nurses and social workers who I’m worried about.

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It’s strange that people don’t seem to consider that expecting to exploit our passion and duty just ensures a workforce that protects itself from feeling passionate or dutiful because it’s always a risk. That’s exactly what happened with me. They made us install a new app that tries to pigeonhole our work style. I got caretaker, the app actually warned me about getting taken advantage of which was rich considering… if that wasn’t true I wouldn’t have had to install their obnoxious corporate spyware to have the “advice.” I took that advice to heart a little too much and got laid off.

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A buddy of mine was a co-pilot at a regional carrier. He learned one day (shortly before he quit, coincidence?) that some of the flight attendants were paid more than him.

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Except at the very top, where you need to pay executives top dollar because that’s how you attract the best talent.

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I just left a very abusive relationship that was the perfect example of this. And, like most (all?) abusive relationships, I knew at the time. But love is a funny thing and they bloody well know that.

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