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from the ya-tvoy-sluga-ya-tvoy-rabotnik dept.
regift_of_the_gods writes:
"A study that was published last year by two Oxford researchers predicted that 47 percent of US jobs could be computerized within the next 20 years, including both manual labor and high cognition office work. The Oxford report presented three axes to show what types of jobs were relatively safe from being routed by robots and software; those requiring high levels of social intelligence (public relations), creativity (scientist, fashion designer), or perception and manipulation (surgeon) were less likely to be displaced.
This further obsolescence of jobs due to automation may have already begun. The Financial Times describes an emerging wave of products and services from algorithmic-intensive, data-rich tech startups that will threaten increasing numbers of jobs including both knowledge and blue collar workers. The lead example is Kensho, a startup founded by ex-Google and Apple engineers that is building an engine to estimate the impact of real or hypothetical news items on security prices, with questions posed in a natural language. Specialist knowledge workers in many other fields, including law and medicine, could also be at risk. At lower income levels, the dangerous are posed by increasingly agile and autonomous robots, such as those Amazon uses to staff some of its fulfillment warehouses.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by edIII on Tuesday March 04 2014, @05:11PM
Yes, you're entirely correct.
That waitress who put herself through school, or her family scraped and saved to do it, is just ELATED that all of her hard work studying in a STEM field has been put to waste.
At least she is interesting to talk to right?
Oh wait! The fucking democratic process!! I just about forgot that.
She gets the unending joy of electing politicians that will bail out all the men on Wall Street along with the men (who get the penis bonus in their salaries too) in the financial sectors.
Oh joy!
Those men don't have to suffer at all. They still get to go home to their luxury houses, yachts, and personal assistants while not having to suffer any of the consequences that a female waitress would have suffered if she maliciously and greedily tanked the entire economy.
I bet that she goes to sleep just BEAMING with happiness, that while she understands a complicated STEM field, she will never be able to participate in the rampant innovation and creative processes fueling our economy and culture. Of course she will understand, that innovation is a relative term, and that most of her ideas will get shot down by the execs due to the real costs, barriers to entry, a broken copyright/patent system, and the anti-competitive practices of businesses.
She will be courageous and persevere even though her hopes and dreams have been shot through.
When that wonderful fine gentleman comes in for a cup of coffee that works in government, Wall Street, or any of the industries propped up by taxation without representation, she will be fucking grateful she has an educated mind and is allowed to participate in the grand democratic process that is America.
Later on in life, when her feet are shot, her back hurts so much she is addicted to OxyContin, her youthful vigor has faded, she will remember, that although she worked hard to educate herself, she just wasn't lucky enough to be born into, or weasel her way into, the protected classes in our caste system now.
Maybe in her next life she can be born a Share Holder, or a Politician.
Long. Fucking. Live. America.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by metamonkey on Tuesday March 04 2014, @05:40PM
Given that more and more often that is the experience of many, many college-educated people...at what point to they band together at the barricades?
Okay 3, 2, 1, let's jam.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 04 2014, @06:41PM
Wouldn't matter if they did.
Here's why:
The college educated of this country are, as a group, not uniform. A substantial percentage have a vested interest in, if not the totality of the situation, enough aspects of it that they are not interested in the barricades and would cheer the police/army/thugs as they march. Even the ones who are unhappy with the state of affairs are more interested in working within the (ostensibly broken) system (voting, showing up at meetings etc.) than in turning every lamppost inside the beltway into a gallows.
Well educated people at the barricades are an outlier, which can only win in any kind of revolutionary context if and when their numbers are supplemented by the less educated. The key question is whether or not enough of the less educated can make common cause with the more highly educated (or conversely, if the concerns of the less well educated can motivate a fair percentage of the more educated to join them). In the big picture, can and will enough disgruntled people band together to make a substantial difference?
Short answer: not while the FBI, NSA and other groups who like COINTELPRO and analogous approaches keep succeeding at keeping them uncoordinated and distracted.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Tuesday March 04 2014, @07:33PM
Not only that, but the less-educated tend to resent well-educated people and intellectuals in general, at least in this culture. America is famous for being anti-intellectual. It wasn't long ago we elected a moron to be President who couldn't even pronounce "nuclear". We hate smart people telling us what to do, and tell them they don't know what they're talking about because our "common sense" is better than all their scientific research (see the global warming debate). We're also the home of the Creationism Museum, since all that fossil evidence couldn't possibly be true when our Bibles say the Earth is 6500 years old; obviously those fossils were planet there by the Devil.
With people like that making up most of the population, and rabidly defending what they're told on Fox News, and practically worshiping ultra-rich people ("we shouldn't punish success!" "Rich people are rich because God loves them more!"), there's no way they'd stand up against the elites and their thugs in uniform.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 04 2014, @10:16PM
This is not a uniform situation. Plenty of educated people get plenty of respect, but it depends on context. It would be more accurate to state that the educated are not automatically granted respect, and that communication skills are key to developing and maintaining that respect. In this respect, it's part of the USA being a (partially) classless society.
To be entirely fair, G.W. Bush was not perhaps the brightest spark in the history of the presidency, but he wasn't really a complete idiot either (although to what extent his drug history affects the situation isn't entirely clear). He was a pilot, and real idiots don't get to be pilots because they can't pass the tests. The fact that he spoke a nonstandard dialect of English is no reflection on his intelligence as such.
Don't get me wrong. I don't think he was a great president, but if you want to complain about him, at least make sure that your complaints are cogent. He certainly did embrace the zeitgeist better than either of his major competitors, but a lot of the points which he presented (or which his handlers told him to present - pick your version of reality) were fairly subtle, and he was embraced to some extent despite that fact. So if you want to make the case that americans are broadly anti-intellectual, Bush is a bad example.
Also bear in mind that in the USA a very substantial proportion of the population has some college education. The extent to which this is a symptom of the dumbing down of college courses, and consequently how much meaning it holds, is a matter of some debate.
So in a nutshell, your position is that we have a huge group of anti-intellectual people who worship rich people (who are disproportionately, if not uniformly well educated) and who will therefore never rise up. That is exactly the sort of distraction I would actually expect from a government agent trying to keep groups from finding each other, and actually oxymoronic as a position.
Try this instead:
The typical person in this country is too well supplied with the comforts of life, and too little disturbed by the machinations of power, to want to rise against the structure which is perceived as providing them with their comforts.
However, increasing numbers are growing increasingly disgruntled at perceived abuses of power (with respect to corruption, suppression of dissent, dilution of civil liberties, removal of real political choice etc.) and should they find a consensus on an agenda of change which is frustrated by the incumbent forces (of which a large part would probably include the federal service in its various forms) the prospects of a popular rising increase dramatically.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday March 05 2014, @04:28AM
!BINGO! !BINGO! !BINGO!
The best way to keep the cattle happy on the way to the slaughterhouse is to keep them fat and entertained.
Believe that was referred to in Roman times as Panem et Circes?
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Tuesday March 04 2014, @07:22PM
Honestly, and I know how dangerous it is to say it, I wonder when the revolution will start.
Just how hard does it need to get, and just how fantastically unfair does it need to be, before the educated in this country start getting together in meetings and rationally discuss how to retire this government and start another.
I could have never even conceived of this level of corruption, theft of wealth from the poor and middle classes, absolute havoc WRT civil rights and freedoms, and complete one-sided representation 25 years ago.
We LIVE in a dystopia, and all the most frightening elements authors wrote about least century are being rapidly implemented.
Even as a peaceful person, I honestly question myself, and wonder at just which point will I be swept up with the masses in a new civil war.
That's not histrionics or cynicism. I sorely wish it was, I promise you. I wish to hell it was.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1) by HiThere on Tuesday March 04 2014, @08:39PM
How bad does it need to be? It needs to be bad enough that you're willing to die uselessly rather than continue to live in the current system. And there needs to be support from some group among the privileged. And the military needs to have lost loyalty to the current government. There are a few other requirements, and even then a successful revolution is as likely to make things worse as to improve them.
But long before that happens the government will be experiencing a series of "coupe d'etat"s. (And what *is* the proper plural of that?)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 1) by metamonkey on Tuesday March 04 2014, @08:54PM
To be honest, I don't understand why the next revolution would need to be violent, or need people taking to the streets. When I said "man the barricades" I was speaking figuratively. I imagine today, smart people would hold an online Constitutional Convention, come up with a new system of government and promote it online. Run it like a wikipedia/sourceforge for laws, funded via kickstarter and promoted via social networks. /b/lackup to stifle sockpuppets.
I don't see why anybody would need to get off the couch to revolt these days. It's sad that all of these unemployed, college educated people sit in front of the most powerful communications tool, the most powerful weapon in human history, with access to all the world's knowledge, and they use it for cat pictures and jacking off instead of organizing.
Okay 3, 2, 1, let's jam.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 04 2014, @11:40PM
Because all the constitutional conventions and so on in the world don't mean anything if nobody gets off the couch.
Let's say you live in a suburb and you get everyone in the suburb to agree on a new constitution, which is ratified, and you declare your independence, and your first actual step (because you're not big on getting up from the couch) is not to file taxes.
A bunch of letters get sent, which you use as firestarters.
A bunch of guys with guns get sent, and kick you out of your suburb because they're taking your stuff.
Revolution over, because nobody got off their couches.
(Score: 2) by jcd on Tuesday March 04 2014, @10:46PM
Crane Brinton, is that you?
You are right, though.
I'm no French expert, but wouldn't the "coupe" be plural, since it translates to blow to the state?
"What good's an honest soldier if he can be ordered to behave like a terrorist?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 04 2014, @11:35PM
I wouldn't bet on physical meetings. Not many, anyway. I'd bet on electronic meetings - which as a prerequisite have electronic systems which are a lot more secure than what we have now, to be successful.
That said, don't bet on unfairness being a driving factor either. Justice and equity are matters of opinion to at least some extent.
How hard it needs to get: people need to feel that they are effectively disenfranchised (i.e. that the current system is not addressing their complaints, regardless of whether or not voting is part of the system) and that a way of life they hold to be valuable is being withheld. This can be as stark as starvation, or as abstract as a government which shows every sign of impoverishing their children. Obvious corruption and other abuses can act as goads, but not every revolutionary army is emaciated and shivering.
And there you are; there's the trigger. You see yourself living in what you consider to be a dystopian, borderline kleptocratic society, and you could see yourself, maybe not today, but in the fairly near future, standing together with millions of others who feel the same way even if you do not specifically share every detail of ideology (because it's a cinch you wouldn't).
I see a couple of preconditions:
Coordination. If the Microsoft Militia of Redmond arise, they'll be squished flat in a month or less. If the Sagebrush Militia of Howling Madness, Wyoming, arise, their lifespan will be pretty similar. If every town and county from Redmond to Yellowstone rises at once, it won't be just a month (and it's pretty darned sure that a lot of the rest of the country will rise too, and I don't just mean three rednecks in Talking Cactus, Texas).
Basic consensus. Everyone doesn't have to agree on everything, but certain basics need to be agreed upon. It could be pretty abstract (a balanced budget and banning lobbyists) or relatively concrete (secession for Cascadia, Texas, and Dixie). Whether the Independent Republic of Texas is pro-choice or pro-life is not important to the Redmond Revolutionaries any more than the question of whistleblowing laws in Free Cascadia is to the Dallas Brigade.
Mutual support. If the cadres in Montana are taking a beating, folks in Spokane should be willing to take action, whether remote or local, to support their fellows. This might take the form of blocking roads to inhibit logistics, or riding over to Montana to shoot at the Great Satan from DC.
Strategically I would see the Bill of Rights as written in the current constitution as being a critical element. First because it has been so shamelessly, progressively trampled in wars on stuff, and second because a large number of soldiers, currently serving and inactive, actually care more about the constitution than they do about Washington DC's dictates. There are, last I heard, roughly 20 million veterans in the country and based on those I've met, I'd expect that about 15 million of them would support a movement for the bill of rights over Congress.
Also, even if 1 million folks stand up with rifle in hand to tell the feds (in whichever form) to get lost, a real deciding factor will be another 10 million who don't fight directly, but support them with caches of food and/or ammunition, medical care (first line or hospital), intelligence on the ground, transport, a warm place to sleep at night, computer services, equipment manufacture and repair, radio services and so on.
I could even perfectly well foresee a bunch of revolutionary supporters in, say, San Francisco, not touching a gun, but designing drones or remote controlled robots or surveillance systems which can easily be slapped together in a machine shop on a farm somewhere. Fifty rednecks with rifles are a minor pain in the butt. Fifty rednecks running drones which can drop napalm and thermite all over valuable equipment are a major problem. Fifty rednecks who have such drones, and also have remote controlled rifles which command a valley have a presence which can tie up a couple of regiments for a long time.
But I'm not a military strategist or a political scientist. Those guys would have much better ideas, which would get a lot fewer people killed than my ramblings.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by edIII on Wednesday March 05 2014, @05:12AM
I see that without any doubt whatsoever.
Not because I'm angry (I am), not because I wish for violence (I'm very close to a pacifist), and not because I intrinsically wish to destabilize any form of government (why?), and most assuredly not because I think I know everything, all the answers, and the exact right way to run this country (I know that I know less than what I don't know by far).
It's because I will be forced to act to provide some sort of logistics (which I am good at it) for food, shelter, and clothing. Isn't greatness usually thrust upon the shoulders of someone unwilling? I don't mean that egotistically. Just that I'm confident enough in my skill sets, and confident enough in knowing myself, that I could not sit by with inaction while my brothers and sisters fought for a better world for me and our children.
Why will that happen?
Our democratic process is broken to such an extent that Americans are almost 3rd class citizens in their own country simply because of the inability for our government to fulfill their charter and purpose. That purpose was to provide an EQUAL foundation in which we could all enjoy the ideals of freedom and the benefits of prosperity.
Government doesn't do that. They do the opposite, which is to serve monied interests that are intrinsically evil. Evil not by appeal to emotion or histrionics, but evil by definition; The monied interests only serve their short term goals while being perfectly aware of the harm they cause. The great tragedy is that it is most likely not a singular awareness at all. There is no Hitler. It's mob mentality. Only acting together with cognitive dissonance and the justification that everyone does it, and nothing can change, does the 1% act so abhorrently. It's broken the democratic process with flawed logic, fear, illusions of sustainable growth and wealth, and the more or less direct wholesale bribery of the EXACT people that should be above all that, the people that should know better, the people that should be the smartest and the wisest of us, capable of leading us and protecting us. The 1% has so fully pushed the political process from grace, that it wouldn't know the light if they were on fire.
They are a virus, a blight, a pox upon the civilized world. We are not dealing with it properly, and at some point, we either deal with it or perish.
Revolution is not just a possibility, it's an inevitability if we continue to be paralyzed and fail to enact protections, reforms, and a movement back towards the legal embodiments of our American ideals. This revolution has the possibility of being without bloodshed of any kind, and might not even meet the definition of a revolution at all. It could be an evolution.
I sorely wish we did not have to wait 1 minute till midnight on the clock to act. I know from quite unfortunate experience (as do we all) that in the worst cases you don't get to appeal to God to get an extra few seconds. You can't stop your momentum if you try, and as causality is quite a bitch, you die.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 05 2014, @06:29AM
It's because I will be forced to act to provide some sort of logistics (which I am good at it) for food, shelter, and clothing. Isn't greatness usually thrust upon the shoulders of someone unwilling? I don't mean that egotistically. Just that I'm confident enough in my skill sets, and confident enough in knowing myself, that I could not sit by with inaction while my brothers and sisters fought for a better world for me and our children.
If you are a techie, probably the single most revolutionary thing you could do is work towards a truly secure, safely pseudonymous forum with a troll-resistant interface. That is basically what would be necessary to foster the kind of discussion which could bring people together to actually discuss how to fix things. In a perfect world, not only would it be unnecessary, but the duty of guys like the FBI would be to monitor the discussion (you couldn't keep them out, practically) and to inform their masters of why and how the people are truly disgruntled so that they could fix what's broken. In the real world, their mission appears to be to diffuse and stifle dissent rather than address the root causes.
The real problem with this is that the longer they put it off, the worse it gets until you have a truly monstrous situation at hand.
Why will that happen?
Our democratic process is broken to such an extent that Americans are almost 3rd class citizens in their own country simply because of the inability for our government to fulfill their charter and purpose. That purpose was to provide an EQUAL foundation in which we could all enjoy the ideals of freedom and the benefits of prosperity.
I am not disagreeing (although I see room for disagreement around the description of the purpose of government) but I can't really disagree with the observation that the democratic process is showing signs of strain, to say the least. That description matches the sense of disenfranchisement which is typical of revolutionaries. If you felt you had a place at the table, so to speak, you wouldn't be motivated to support the flipping of the table.
Government doesn't do that. They do the opposite, which is to serve monied interests that are intrinsically evil. Evil not by appeal to emotion or histrionics, but evil by definition; The monied interests only serve their short term goals while being perfectly aware of the harm they cause. The great tragedy is that it is most likely not a singular awareness at all. There is no Hitler. It's mob mentality. Only acting together with cognitive dissonance and the justification that everyone does it, and nothing can change, does the 1% act so abhorrently. It's broken the democratic process with flawed logic, fear, illusions of sustainable growth and wealth, and the more or less direct wholesale bribery of the EXACT people that should be above all that, the people that should know better, the people that should be the smartest and the wisest of us, capable of leading us and protecting us. The 1% has so fully pushed the political process from grace, that it wouldn't know the light if they were on fire.
They are a virus, a blight, a pox upon the civilized world. We are not dealing with it properly, and at some point, we either deal with it or perish.
I'm unsure that the 1% is a useful target. Depending on your definition, the 1% could be a fairly prosperous plumber, or a successful farmer after a bumper crop. It sounds to me as if you're more concerned with the political class, and the upper echelons of unelected officials, and the ecosystem of lobbyists and similar folk around them.
Revolution is not just a possibility, it's an inevitability if we continue to be paralyzed and fail to enact protections, reforms, and a movement back towards the legal embodiments of our American ideals. This revolution has the possibility of being without bloodshed of any kind, and might not even meet the definition of a revolution at all. It could be an evolution.
I sorely wish we did not have to wait 1 minute till midnight on the clock to act. I know from quite unfortunate experience (as do we all) that in the worst cases you don't get to appeal to God to get an extra few seconds. You can't stop your momentum if you try, and as causality is quite a bitch, you die.
I've heard it suggested that the revolution will come when the ACLU and the NRA have both had enough. When they make peace, and the NRA becomes the ACLU's armed wing, the revolution will come. I don't know how plausible that is, but it's definitely not a secret that both groups are showing increasing signs of frustration.
The best chance of peaceful evolution is the elected officials getting smart and working to restore civil liberties as written, but I am definitely not holding my breath. The priorities are too distorted.
(Score: 1) by velex on Tuesday March 04 2014, @07:47PM
I don't think the gender of the waiter/waitress here matters as much as you think it does. I also don't think the gender of the profiteers in the financial sector matter as much as you think it does, either. Besides that, your point is valid.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday March 05 2014, @05:24AM
I wrote it entirely from the point of view of the waitress, which I believe, is female by definition.
There are glass ceilings and wage disparity WRT to gender of course, but I will admit, that was mostly used as a "literary device" if you want to call it that.
I found the attitude that I was responding extremely offensive, simplistic, and patronizing, and it sounded exactly like what some rich person would say trying to justify their position of prosperity and assuage their own guilt (even if it just survivor guilt).
To be crude, it was like saying, "Yeah. You're getting butt fucked by a telephone pole, but think of all the money you will save on laxatives the rest of your life"
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday March 04 2014, @07:56PM
So is your argument that everyone is naturally entitled a high-paying job if they work hard in school? That hasn't been true in 30 years, if it ever was. Or is it that there is no point in educating people who weren't born into a position of privilege, because education won't make them rich?
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Tuesday March 04 2014, @08:23PM
As I read his point, I think you missed its meaning. You presented this picture of some happy waitress being richer for being educated even though she's slopping coffee to people who only see her as a waitress.
"I submit that an educated waitress has a fuller, richer life, is a better participant in the democratic process, and is more interesting to talk to than an uneducated one."
Whether or not she is interesting to talk to (assuming you can start a conversation with her) the poster's point was to show an opposing, and most likely realistic viewpoint of our waitresses future. Perhaps in year one, maybe in year two she's still thinking she's got chance, but by three four and beyond the resignation sets in and we find at some point a beaten down, worn out person who only can dream of what may have been. Is it a right to get a good job if you get educated? No, but it would be nice if the chances and opportunities were prevalent enough so it would be for lack of trying that she fails. There are more and more people looking at that future and it is sad state for a country when resignation is the norm, not the exception.
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday March 04 2014, @08:45PM
Actually, I was comparing an educated waitress to what her life would be like if she were uneducated, but still a waitress. I've been on both sides of that fence -- worked menial jobs before and after college -- and in terms of quality of life, it was (to me) the difference between night and day.
Don't get me wrong, it still sucks to make a bare subsistence wage, but it sucks a lot more to earn a bare subsistence wage while being ignorant. In my experience, at least.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Tuesday March 04 2014, @09:38PM
I don't want to get much into ya yo mamma type discussion, but you still miss his point.
I too worked menial jobs before college and after college. I also found gainful employment and was able to work my way up the income ladder to the point where I live a comfortable, yet not far from the edge life. Yeah Us!!
How would you feel if after college you never got past that menial job or the next or the next. Working as a carpenter for a year, with 20 years of experience in the IT world both humbled me in how little I knew about carpentry work and did bring about a level of work ethic and viewpoint to make it interesting. However I also found that my witty (to some), intelligent conversations did not go far when hanging out with folks that had not my background in education or work. I got back into my IT world, but being down had a profound effect on my life view. I learned that most people who do not have a similar education, background, or worldview will not accept you. It is either adapt or be outside.
So back to the situation you and I experienced. Menial work after higher education. This time you don't get out of the cycle. You drift further and further from your starting point and for you to have a life, friends, companionship you start to change. Friends you knew that got jobs, moved up, no longer hanging with you for they are busy with new friends. To build friends and have a decent working environment you start to accept a different world view. Where once the world was big, now it is no bigger then the next county or even town. One day you come across a picture, or maybe a physics book. You open it up only to find you don't remember much of what you learned. You think your the same, but in truth, your younger self would no longer recognize or understand who you are.
Feel free to deny, but I lived that 7 years ago. By Grace I got back on track to a lesser, but similar life I had and now can even look at making my own decision to make a life change, not by some corporation or private business. I was lucky though I did make some of my own.
People who do not have an education and make a subsistence wage most times don't have a clue that life can be different, they are relatively happy living in that moment, and most times could/can live a full life if they are treated with respect and they don't have a government/corporation shit on them. When Amerika lost its Labor Unions it threw its low income and poor into the crapper and hit the flush button (and that is being kind)
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Tuesday March 04 2014, @10:17PM
Well, I don't think I would have sat around feeling sorry for myself, and I don't think I would have let my intellectual life go completely to seed, or lost touch with my college friends. So yeah, I guess I don't follow your point.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Wednesday March 05 2014, @03:05AM
I like you. You are a funny guy with a certainly set view on life. That you would not have done that is a good thing. For those that did..well fuck em I guess. It is the prevailing attitude these days.
Me? Having been banged up a bit by life, I guess I'm just one of those has beens that actually cares about people, even those I don't know.
I'll leave it at that. We just differ I guess. Not a bad thing since diversity breeds innovation and introspection.
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 2) by edIII on Wednesday March 05 2014, @05:31AM
We are on the same page for sure, and your eloquent explanation was exactly the point I was trying to make to him. Albeit, I did that with the subtlety and tact of a hurricane in Florida.
In much the same way, I've had the benefit of education and a sophisticated intellect (I'm more grateful than anyone can know, that I can think, and understand I am no better than anyone else). Also, in much the same way, I've had the benefit of life handing me my ass, and as a result learned empathy through mutual suffering.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by Sir Garlon on Wednesday March 05 2014, @01:04PM
Thanks. I actually care about people too, I just show it through "tough love" sometimes. ;-) I have seen two close friends really get stuck in a rut working menial jobs after college, and I have had the satisfaction of playing a small role in helping them get their careers back on track. I think the problem we're discussing here is that is likely to get much harder to do. All I can say is, play the hand you're dealt. Sometimes unexpected opportunities come along. The educated waitress I knew got a job helping run a print magazine, which still ain't prestigious but she considered it a step up.
[Sir Garlon] is the marvellest knight that is now living, for he destroyeth many good knights, for he goeth invisible.
(Score: 2) by bucc5062 on Tuesday March 04 2014, @08:12PM
"Long. Fucking. Live. America." Yep, that about sums it up these days. Don't forget the variation on a theme; aging middle income STEM educated mind one days gets handed a slip of paper that says, all the work you did, all that education, we think it's now worth shit, have a nice day.
Now this person, who had worked hard to build a decent, comfortable, but not wealthy life looks for work only to find no one wants him/her any more. Tries to get reeducated, but can't afford the cost. Slowly the savings go, slowly the cuts are made, slowly the decent into poverty occurs til one day the man or woman wakes up to discover that just having that minimum wage is the last line holding him or her together.
While at the same time companies wonder why consumers aren't buying as much product anymore. It couldn't be because they shit on the same people that actually bought their crap.
God. Help. America. for its Government sure is hell bent on doing nothing save speed the downward progress.
The more things change, the more they look the same
(Score: 1) by HiThere on Tuesday March 04 2014, @08:47PM
FWIW, just TRY living on a "minimum wage job". If you're young, energetic, and healthy it's barely tolerable. Once you get past that...
OTOH, assuming the debt burden of a college education, and trying to live on a minimum wage job...you understand why they maneuvered to get those loans declared immune from bankruptcy protection. Not only will you never get out from under, the debt burden will keep increasing even if you attempt to pay it off. You need a high paying job to pay those off, so those who get one don't dare scruple over privacy or legal rights. (Was that intentional? No evidence. Is it NOW intentional? Yes.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.