Cue the propaganda about there being a worker shortage again. There is no worker shortage. There are workers lined up to work in IT. US companies have a champagne taste and a beer budget because that's what drives these insane profits on the stock exchange. The champagne is the American workers, the beer is the foreign workers for the most part with a few exceptions. This is why we need to suspend the H-1B Visa program because American companies will have no choice but to compromise. They certainly can afford it. I think it's only fair, the American people have been asked to compromise and compromise and then compromise again since 2008 to do their part to help the economy recover from The Great Recession. We've fulfilled that obligation now and it's time for us to get a slice of the historically enormous cash pile that has built up and been stored overseas to avoid repatriation.
When I was a kid I also pirated a lot (in my case all software though, not movies or music), up through college. Then I stopped...
It wasn't because I saw more value in work though. It was because I HAD more money.
Exactly! And what I've noticed more recently is that the sticky prices aren't as sticky anymore and because good indie games are around there is actual a market for games where they have to compete on price instead of fixed prices. That also helps. Another thing about the sentiment for the big blockbuster game/movie studios, some of the stuff they churn out is crap while some indie studios produce significantly lower budget content that is FAR more enjoyable. On the games front: Darkest Dungeon, Halycon 6 Starbase Commandar, Game Tycoon, Legend of Grimrock, PixelJunk Monsters and many others. That's the content I'd prefer to pay for!
Don't you know we got smart bombs?
It's a good thing that our bombs are clever
Don't ya know that the smart bombs are so clever?
They only kill bad people now
And then what? Who'll pay millions of dollars to produce the movies/shows, that viewers can watch for free?
More content we don't need just to keep movie/music studios and artists/actors employed or keep coal burning power plants around instead of replacing them with cleaner, more efficient ones so that coal workers have a job? You do the math.
I think what you're missing is that those programs are still around despite the efforts of the Republican Party's Libertarian wing, and not for lack of trying, either.
Their main problem (in addition to the occasional opposition from the Democrats) is that many Republicans are retirement-age, or have children or grandchildren, and so when they realize that the "waste" that the Republicans are promising to cut is actually their own benefits, they rebel and put a quick stop to the proposed cuts. The libertarians are still working on a way to convince their Republican constituency that their draconian budget cuts will only hurt "other people", but they're running out of dog-whistles for that.
First of all, I think you're talking about a specific type of Libertarian. The core principle in Libertarianism is maximizing personal liberty. The type you're referring to is a minority in my experience.
Secondly, you and the GP, all you're really talking about is that the current economic system is broke with respect to the circumstances. In Capitalism especially the Keynesian flavor, it makes the assumption that Capitalism provides for infinite economic opportunity. That's the house of cards this whole economic system is built upon. What we're discovering is it can't keep up with population growth and it fell short on a lot of promises. That problem is also getting further exacerbated by innovation that is driving down the need for labor like robotics. There's no point in shooting holes in the current economic system endlessly because that's like shooting fish in a barrel. What we ought to focus on is if this is the wrong system for the circumstances, what then is the right system or a better system? If there answer is there is no better system, dark times truly lie ahead.
This is just more evidence that the current economic system is going to need to radically change with the advent of mass robotic automation. Taxing robots is like saying we need to take this new technological advance and shoe horn it into an existing system that is becoming antiquated. That's complete nonsense. Let me put this in perspective, let's take something that tax dollars pay for, I don't know like highways. If we automate that type of labor with robotics we don't need as much tax dollars for that right? Because we don't have to pay the robots. What we really ought to be doing is looking at how robotic automation affects everything not just the private sector. We need to dig into the details to see what the most rational, pragmatic thing is to do before we have knee-jerk reactions like "robots should pay taxes". Bill Gates is a smart man. It's quite possible he presented this idea not because he thought it made sense but to at least get people thinking about the issue more seriously.
That said, there still needs to be regulations that choke things that harm everyone. It does no good to preach to me that I should put in a well to get my own clean water when there is a major water polluter in the area that can act with impunity due to lack of regulation. I understand that no analogy is perfect.
Doesn't matter. The government is incompetent. What are you going to do about it? Just whine and complain? That's going to help the situation fo sho.
That's fine, and I heartily encourage people to do so. But this doesn't stop coal burning from affecting my health or my climate.
Let me walk you through this. You live in a community where electricity is primarily supplied by a dirty coal power plant. You and your neighbors all decide to get solar panels. You generate enough electricity that you don't need the electricity from the coal burning power plant. The coal burning power plant loses its revenue stream and cannot pay its workers or bills. What happens? That's a real CHOKE. Vote with your wallet. Just remember, when you do this, don't whine and complain about the job losses. You decided your health and wallet is more important than getting a paycheck from the coal burning power plant.
Your point is meaningless when everyone's retirement account is invested in the stock market. What goes up must come down. As people found out in 2009, the value of retirement accounts can easily drop 50% in a stock market crash.
Your point is meaningless when you consider the amount of retirement savings the average American has. Translation: Dow Jones matters to you not the majority of Americans. Majority of Americans are primarily concerned with GDP and actual economic opportunity. You're probably well educated in an in demand field. It's not surprising why you would be out of touch with reality. I am also well educated in an in demand field but I actually keep in touch with reality. You should try it some time. At a minimum, it makes you more thankful for what you have.
The economy cycles every 8-10 years. We're 9 years into a growth phase, it's only natural another recession is coming.
Are you completely insane? We're talking about the United States here. In case you didn't know we've been going through a LONG economic BUST owing to The Great Recession. We are just now starting to see the job creation come back. I'm hoping we're about to hit a BOOM for a few years. Do you even understand Boom Bust economic cycles? There is a certain line that we have to cross before it can be considered a BOOM as opposed to a RECOVERING. By your logic, you would consider the period during World War 2 to be a BOOM following The Great Depression. The boom came later in the 50's.
Candlelight dinner at McDonalds? Anyone remember this one? I remember them trying to his out in the late 80's and my Mom and I just bust out laughing reading the table mats thinking "Is this a joke?"
Or who can forget the "Make it Bacon!" campaign? They own the trademark. I can't find something to show it but McDonalds was test-driving a thing where you could add bacon to anything for a small extra fee. I used to be out on the road a lot and a buddy of mine and I rolled up to a McDonalds drive thru circa 1999 and were like "WTF?" I'm pretty sure it was in a more rural area.
Coal NEEDS to choke under regulations before it chokes us all and destroys our climate.
Here's a concept, how about instead of asking everyone to do things for you, do it yourself? Outfit your home with solar panels and then sell the electricity back to the power company. Campaign to convince your neighbors to do the same. If enough people do it, bam, community-fueled power grid. But you know, keep on asking the incompetent federal government to solve the problem and see where that gets you.
This demonstrates exactly how empty the campaign promises to bring back coal were. Nobody wants to burn coal when it's so much more expensive than everything else.
Campaign promises couldn't bring back the ice or seamstress industry either. It's called Creative Destruction a term coined by John Schumpeter. You can't make promises on something beyond your control no matter who you are.
I mean obviously, our larger social structure has a false quality to it, but really any civilization beyond subsistence agriculture does because of the structural aspects required to make it work. A lot of this just boils down to the demands associated with economics and economic specialization.
But at a certain point, though, the "rules of the game" have to kind of work to maintain the structure and order of the system. If it doesn't follow the rules, the system will break down.
Ultimately what is the point of the system? We seem to have gone well beyond the 1st tier of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. At what point should the system support the other tiers?
I'm pretty sure if you're employing people in different countries you have to abide by their labor laws. You can't just push American labor laws on other countries. Cost of doing business there uber. Want to be a global multi-national company? You have to pay to play.
Or maybe we should just all agree on some global labor standards but I bet you America wouldn't like that one bit.
And in many cases, they are shattering the long-term motivation by reneging on the essential bargain people believed they had.
Work hard, go to college, get a good job, and enjoy material prosperity and happiness.
This was covered quite well by Mr. Alan Watts in his talk Life is a Hoax. He was very much ahead of his time. When you realize these things, you truly do become free at least in the sense of being a free thinker.
Doesn't work on us. We can think at the same level as the creators of said algorithms. It's not a "War of Math Destruction" it's a "War of Meta Thinking". It is akin to playing a game of chess and trying to guess based on previous experience from playing your opponent what you think they will do and make a move to counter it. But if you're opponent is thinking in the same manner and is thinking you might think in this way and anticipates you arriving at that conclusion, he/she can counter your counter.
This is why society especially in America seems to have a preference for blind obedience. They are "easier" to deal with (read: easier to exploit) than those who are more aware of these types of games.
Slashdot Mirror
We also need to get rid of corporate tax inversions. That's also coming. They are very un-American and only driven by greed.
Cue the propaganda about there being a worker shortage again. There is no worker shortage. There are workers lined up to work in IT. US companies have a champagne taste and a beer budget because that's what drives these insane profits on the stock exchange. The champagne is the American workers, the beer is the foreign workers for the most part with a few exceptions. This is why we need to suspend the H-1B Visa program because American companies will have no choice but to compromise. They certainly can afford it. I think it's only fair, the American people have been asked to compromise and compromise and then compromise again since 2008 to do their part to help the economy recover from The Great Recession. We've fulfilled that obligation now and it's time for us to get a slice of the historically enormous cash pile that has built up and been stored overseas to avoid repatriation.
The old saying goes: Socialize the cost, privatize the profits. It's the American way to do it using any means necessary.
There is only one solution: we need an international committee to define what a continent is, and then decide that NZ is a dwarf continent.
If you figure that out could you get one for international labor standards too? That one's slightly more important...
There is no clear, universally agreed definition of what a continent is.
I go with the technical definition: big ass island
Imagine this... marketing that actually figures out the actual preferences of consumers and only targets them with relevant content. Mind blown.
When I was a kid I also pirated a lot (in my case all software though, not movies or music), up through college. Then I stopped...
It wasn't because I saw more value in work though. It was because I HAD more money.
Exactly! And what I've noticed more recently is that the sticky prices aren't as sticky anymore and because good indie games are around there is actual a market for games where they have to compete on price instead of fixed prices. That also helps. Another thing about the sentiment for the big blockbuster game/movie studios, some of the stuff they churn out is crap while some indie studios produce significantly lower budget content that is FAR more enjoyable. On the games front: Darkest Dungeon, Halycon 6 Starbase Commandar, Game Tycoon, Legend of Grimrock, PixelJunk Monsters and many others. That's the content I'd prefer to pay for!
Obligatory Danny Elfman:
Don't you know we got smart bombs?
It's a good thing that our bombs are clever
Don't ya know that the smart bombs are so clever?
They only kill bad people now
And then what? Who'll pay millions of dollars to produce the movies/shows, that viewers can watch for free?
More content we don't need just to keep movie/music studios and artists/actors employed or keep coal burning power plants around instead of replacing them with cleaner, more efficient ones so that coal workers have a job? You do the math.
I think what you're missing is that those programs are still around despite the efforts of the Republican Party's Libertarian wing, and not for lack of trying, either.
Their main problem (in addition to the occasional opposition from the Democrats) is that many Republicans are retirement-age, or have children or grandchildren, and so when they realize that the "waste" that the Republicans are promising to cut is actually their own benefits, they rebel and put a quick stop to the proposed cuts. The libertarians are still working on a way to convince their Republican constituency that their draconian budget cuts will only hurt "other people", but they're running out of dog-whistles for that.
First of all, I think you're talking about a specific type of Libertarian. The core principle in Libertarianism is maximizing personal liberty. The type you're referring to is a minority in my experience.
Secondly, you and the GP, all you're really talking about is that the current economic system is broke with respect to the circumstances. In Capitalism especially the Keynesian flavor, it makes the assumption that Capitalism provides for infinite economic opportunity. That's the house of cards this whole economic system is built upon. What we're discovering is it can't keep up with population growth and it fell short on a lot of promises. That problem is also getting further exacerbated by innovation that is driving down the need for labor like robotics. There's no point in shooting holes in the current economic system endlessly because that's like shooting fish in a barrel. What we ought to focus on is if this is the wrong system for the circumstances, what then is the right system or a better system? If there answer is there is no better system, dark times truly lie ahead.
This is just more evidence that the current economic system is going to need to radically change with the advent of mass robotic automation. Taxing robots is like saying we need to take this new technological advance and shoe horn it into an existing system that is becoming antiquated. That's complete nonsense. Let me put this in perspective, let's take something that tax dollars pay for, I don't know like highways. If we automate that type of labor with robotics we don't need as much tax dollars for that right? Because we don't have to pay the robots. What we really ought to be doing is looking at how robotic automation affects everything not just the private sector. We need to dig into the details to see what the most rational, pragmatic thing is to do before we have knee-jerk reactions like "robots should pay taxes". Bill Gates is a smart man. It's quite possible he presented this idea not because he thought it made sense but to at least get people thinking about the issue more seriously.
That said, there still needs to be regulations that choke things that harm everyone. It does no good to preach to me that I should put in a well to get my own clean water when there is a major water polluter in the area that can act with impunity due to lack of regulation. I understand that no analogy is perfect.
Doesn't matter. The government is incompetent. What are you going to do about it? Just whine and complain? That's going to help the situation fo sho.
That's fine, and I heartily encourage people to do so. But this doesn't stop coal burning from affecting my health or my climate.
Let me walk you through this. You live in a community where electricity is primarily supplied by a dirty coal power plant. You and your neighbors all decide to get solar panels. You generate enough electricity that you don't need the electricity from the coal burning power plant. The coal burning power plant loses its revenue stream and cannot pay its workers or bills. What happens? That's a real CHOKE. Vote with your wallet. Just remember, when you do this, don't whine and complain about the job losses. You decided your health and wallet is more important than getting a paycheck from the coal burning power plant.
Your point is meaningless when everyone's retirement account is invested in the stock market. What goes up must come down. As people found out in 2009, the value of retirement accounts can easily drop 50% in a stock market crash.
Your point is meaningless when you consider the amount of retirement savings the average American has. Translation: Dow Jones matters to you not the majority of Americans. Majority of Americans are primarily concerned with GDP and actual economic opportunity. You're probably well educated in an in demand field. It's not surprising why you would be out of touch with reality. I am also well educated in an in demand field but I actually keep in touch with reality. You should try it some time. At a minimum, it makes you more thankful for what you have.
We're overdue for a recession. However, I don't think Wall Street got the memo yet.
Dow Jones != GDP
The economy cycles every 8-10 years. We're 9 years into a growth phase, it's only natural another recession is coming.
Are you completely insane? We're talking about the United States here. In case you didn't know we've been going through a LONG economic BUST owing to The Great Recession. We are just now starting to see the job creation come back. I'm hoping we're about to hit a BOOM for a few years. Do you even understand Boom Bust economic cycles? There is a certain line that we have to cross before it can be considered a BOOM as opposed to a RECOVERING. By your logic, you would consider the period during World War 2 to be a BOOM following The Great Depression. The boom came later in the 50's.
Better hire some H-1B visas! Americans are lazy and won't get trained in STEM!
Candlelight dinner at McDonalds? Anyone remember this one? I remember them trying to his out in the late 80's and my Mom and I just bust out laughing reading the table mats thinking "Is this a joke?"
Or who can forget the "Make it Bacon!" campaign? They own the trademark. I can't find something to show it but McDonalds was test-driving a thing where you could add bacon to anything for a small extra fee. I used to be out on the road a lot and a buddy of mine and I rolled up to a McDonalds drive thru circa 1999 and were like "WTF?" I'm pretty sure it was in a more rural area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Coal NEEDS to choke under regulations before it chokes us all and destroys our climate.
Here's a concept, how about instead of asking everyone to do things for you, do it yourself? Outfit your home with solar panels and then sell the electricity back to the power company. Campaign to convince your neighbors to do the same. If enough people do it, bam, community-fueled power grid. But you know, keep on asking the incompetent federal government to solve the problem and see where that gets you.
This demonstrates exactly how empty the campaign promises to bring back coal were. Nobody wants to burn coal when it's so much more expensive than everything else.
Campaign promises couldn't bring back the ice or seamstress industry either. It's called Creative Destruction a term coined by John Schumpeter. You can't make promises on something beyond your control no matter who you are.
I mean obviously, our larger social structure has a false quality to it, but really any civilization beyond subsistence agriculture does because of the structural aspects required to make it work. A lot of this just boils down to the demands associated with economics and economic specialization.
But at a certain point, though, the "rules of the game" have to kind of work to maintain the structure and order of the system. If it doesn't follow the rules, the system will break down.
Ultimately what is the point of the system? We seem to have gone well beyond the 1st tier of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. At what point should the system support the other tiers?
I'm pretty sure if you're employing people in different countries you have to abide by their labor laws. You can't just push American labor laws on other countries. Cost of doing business there uber. Want to be a global multi-national company? You have to pay to play.
Or maybe we should just all agree on some global labor standards but I bet you America wouldn't like that one bit.
And in many cases, they are shattering the long-term motivation by reneging on the essential bargain people believed they had.
Work hard, go to college, get a good job, and enjoy material prosperity and happiness.
This was covered quite well by Mr. Alan Watts in his talk Life is a Hoax. He was very much ahead of his time. When you realize these things, you truly do become free at least in the sense of being a free thinker.
Doesn't work on us. We can think at the same level as the creators of said algorithms. It's not a "War of Math Destruction" it's a "War of Meta Thinking". It is akin to playing a game of chess and trying to guess based on previous experience from playing your opponent what you think they will do and make a move to counter it. But if you're opponent is thinking in the same manner and is thinking you might think in this way and anticipates you arriving at that conclusion, he/she can counter your counter.
This is why society especially in America seems to have a preference for blind obedience. They are "easier" to deal with (read: easier to exploit) than those who are more aware of these types of games.