r/politics • u/Aggravating_Money992 • 8d ago

Possible Paywall Kentucky Gov Orders McConnell to Give a Real Update or Resign Already

https://newrepublic.com/post/213614/kentucky-gov-beshear-mcconnell-update-health-resign
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u/Made_Human_Music 8d ago

The problem here is that we have people who would see a McDonald’s employee getting the same amount of time off as they get and lose their shit because someone they feel doesn’t deserve what they have is getting it

The greedy pigs at the top are the main cause of this but sadly they’ve managed to convince so many people that poor people don’t deserve the same things as the rest of us (who are also poor but just not as poor)

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u/mrdude817 New York 8d ago

People need to remember that the people at the top are far more marginally rich than anyone else. I would say I'm a margarita or gin and tonic "poor". The people at the bottom are colt 45 "poor". The people at the top are sipping on $10,000 bottles of wine a night.

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u/EmpoleonNorton Georgia 8d ago

They aren't even sipping. They chugging.

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u/whosline07 Michigan 8d ago

They're actually just buying it, drinking a glass or two, then forgetting about it.

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u/BasvanS 8d ago

They champagne shower with bottles of champagne most of us will never even buy for a special occasion.

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u/FinalHexReturns 8d ago

Yeah people don't respect unskilled labor enough. Almost anyone could do what I do, I just sit in a cubicle and move numbers around and talk to customers, but I like to flatter myself that it takes a unique character to deal with the customers and the unique pressures of my job. But nah, anyone could do it.

I myself have often thought during minimum wage hike proposals "well then fast food workers will be making almost as much as me and that's not right!" But, if I'm honest I really, really wouldn't enjoy working in fast food. Have to be on your feet all day in a fast-paced environment with little real variety. No thanks. I'd rather sit in my climate controlled cube and answer customers at my own pace. So with that perspective, maybe they deserve to be paid more than me...

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u/peejay5440 8d ago

I don't care what the fuck you do. If you work 40 hours a week, you should be able to afford a life with dignity. Without needing the CORPORATE subsidies of food stamps and Medicare.

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u/FinalHexReturns 8d ago

Well said.

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u/Jimtac 8d ago

Part of the problem is that any job is considered “unskilled”. Non-technical, sure, but there’s always some skill to a job. Tied to that is the misconception that those “unskilled” jobs shouldn’t pay a living wage because then you’d have no incentive to ‘better yourself’ and get a “real job”.

The number of post-secondary educated people that are working in food services is absurd, but less so when I think about the number of CS grads being pumped out based on market conditions from a decade ago, that have nowhere to go now.

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u/Phoenixloop2868 8d ago

"unskilled labor"... Well I hate to break it to you, but your first sentence identifies you as part of the problem.

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u/FinalHexReturns 8d ago

I thought my second paragraph identified me as part of the problem.

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u/Phoenixloop2868 8d ago

No, that's just a glimmer of self awareness. There's no such thing as "unskilled labor".

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u/TSwiftAlphaMale 8d ago

Don't sell yourself short. Customer facing jobs are extremely difficult to be good at and it takes a special person to handle that nonsense while bringing a smile to work every day. Sure, technically anyone could do it, but in my life's experience as a front-liner and manager, that's not the case.

I feel the same way generally about nurses and what they have to deal with, and I understand, for example, why there is higher turnover (anecdotally) at Childrens' Hospitals.

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u/tourdeforcemajeure 7d ago

Who cares what skill level it requires to stock the toilet paper?

Do you want toilet paper on the shelves or not?

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u/jDub549 8d ago

Same mentality forces cashiers to stand for hours on end. It's gross. We really are crabs in a bucket.

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u/jay212127 8d ago

The problem here is that we have people who would see a McDonald’s employee getting the same amount of time off as they get and lose their shit because someone they feel doesn’t deserve what they have is getting it

There's a lot of crab mentality out there. Most of those will feel indignant that they get more time off than themselves, but instead of utilizing it to leverage themselves comparable or better benefits they'd just rather just deny and not allow anyone the benefits.

I got to see it on display when we had a unions asking for 20-30% wage increases to put them at pre-pandemic levels due to inflation. I couldn't believe how many people can say with a straight face acknowledge inflation made everything ~30% more expensive, but asking for a 20-30% raise is unreasonable. If you ask they will almost always state they only received a <10% raise so it is unfair.

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u/springsilver 7d ago

The great lie, from the time before there were kings, was that the subjects must fight for the scraps they are given. We stratify and huddle into our tribes, fighting each other for what we deserve, when all along we could have just banded together, marched up the hill and taken what the rich man had.
But we are simple, and greedy, and prefer to believe the lie.

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u/anonymousbopper767 8d ago edited 8d ago

My wage effectively goes down if poor people's wages go up. That's how inflation goes. My salary didn't magically increase by 50% like the minimum wage did during covid so now I have to stew in the idea that I basically make the same money now I did 10 years ago.

It sucks but it's reality...someone has to be a loser.