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Does Amazon's Clickworker Platform Exploit Its Workers? (techrepublic.com)
500,000 people signed up for Amazon's Mechanical Turk, one of several online microjobs platforms that "let companies break jobs into smaller tasks and offer them to people across the globe," reports TechRepublic. But though these workers have trouble communicating directly with Amazon, in any given month about 20,000 of them may be active, "part of an invisible, online workforce -- one that is increasingly in demand for their vital role in helping train intelligent machines."
But are these platforms part of a disturbing new trend? Long-time Slashdot reader Paul Fernhout writes: Hope Reese and Nick Heath at TechRepublic ask: "do they democratize work or exploit the disempowered?" The article says: "Just over half of Turkers earn below the US federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to a Pew Research Center study." The article quotes people who believe "it will become increasingly common for computer systems to orchestrate labor." That trend was also was the beginning of Marshall Brain's "Manna" short story.
But are these platforms part of a disturbing new trend? Long-time Slashdot reader Paul Fernhout writes: Hope Reese and Nick Heath at TechRepublic ask: "do they democratize work or exploit the disempowered?" The article says: "Just over half of Turkers earn below the US federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, according to a Pew Research Center study." The article quotes people who believe "it will become increasingly common for computer systems to orchestrate labor." That trend was also was the beginning of Marshall Brain's "Manna" short story.
How did I get modded down while you get modded up?
I said, "But maybe the solution is to tax the rich, including rich companies, to help pay for a basic income of sorts."
And taxing 10% of AGI isn't just taxing poor people, it taxes middle income and upper income people too. And the 10% thing is for a fairness. So if some 21-65 year old is earning $10k/year, they'll pay $1k, but they'll be getting $6k for a net of $5k for the year. Not factoring in any children they have.
My suggestion of a Basic Income as such wasn't to detract from the topic of exploitation, but offer a solution to the nature of being an independent contract, which is income instability. If said independent contractors were to receive a guaranteed income, then the desperation to work for low wages becomes less so, or more of a choice.
From TFA:
"Who are Turkers? [...] About 75% are Americans, roughly 15-20% are from India, and the remaining 10% are from other countries."
So Britain's system of universal, government-run healthcare drives people to suicide and... you think that's an argument for universal, government-run healthcare?
Even assuming for the moment that is true, it's irrelevant; the comparison should be whether such a system drives more people to suicide than a system in which they can't get health care at all. Right now there is an immense profit motive in fucking over the patient. For example, one acquaintance just posted about getting basically no medical care (they were denied medication because of an out of state but perfectly valid prescription, in spite of every state being constitutionally obligated to respect the laws of other states) and charged a thousand dollars for the privilege of being fucked over. You don't think that drives people to suicide? Going further into debt in exchange for not getting health care?
If you want to make some kind of meaningful comparison, be our guest. Until then, please fuck off.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"