for students: What it is really like to Work in the USA

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A black lady I knew was working both a nine to five job and the night shift here in order to make extra money.  I’m not sure how she functioned this way, but she seemed to manage.

Until she didn’t.  She finally got so sick from lack of sleep that her daughter had to call an ambulance.  She ended up losing all the extra money she made by working two jobs instead of one.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/03/working-for-amazon-better-than-sex-worse-than-hell-part-2.html

Why was she working two jobs?  See earlier posts about the USA.

WARNING NOTE:  Strictly speaking, we are talking about “non-elite” jobs.  I believe that most of my students imagine they will have elite jobs, and to that I say (sincerely):  Good Luck!

Romana’s Question

Some people here have worked in other warehouse jobs, and they say this one is worse.  Talking like that pisses off one of my more muscular coworkers.  “If you don’t like your job, quit!” he declares.  “If you don’t like your life, kill yourself!”

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2017/03/working-for-amazon-better-than-sex-worse-than-hell-part-2.html

 

I have noticed that when I discuss employee-employer disputes, some students take the side of the employer, and others take the side of the employee.

So, for example, we can see with the UBER-CEO that some students thought the driver must have done something wrong.  Surely he could have found a better job. In other words, he shouldn’t complain.

I pointed out that there are not so many job possibilities for many people in the USA.  And, wages have been stagnant.  Working conditions have been getting worse.

Here is a chart to illustrate the history:

And, for an analysis, we will go to Professor Richard D. Wolff, in the following video link:

(further comments coming, but he answers the question starting at minute 34)