I believe that the above was simply trying to say that the North claimed to be opposed to slavery simply as a pretext for a desire to crush the Southern Economy, just in case that wasn't clear.
That's wrong, too. "The North" didn't just claim to be opposed to slavery. They ended slavery. Why do you think the Underground Railroad was northbound? There are even songs, like "The Drinking Gourd" which slaves taught each other so they'd know to use the Big Dipper to head North to freedom.
The trope that the "Civil War wasn't really about slavery" is just something racists say to make each other feel better. "Property Rights" and "States' Rights" were just veiled references the South used (and often still uses) to their deep-seated racism.
I'll be watching from here with popcorn, in a company that's actually selective about who it hires.
Let's see how long you'll be able to afford popcorn.
I know a few people who sincerely believed their companies were looking out for them like some benevolent corporate pappy, right up until the day they were told they weren't needed anymore.
On the other hand, if you want to organize programmers, go ask the Germans how a proper labor union works. US programmers will not join a sclerotic union system like the one that exists here in the U.S - where the unions exist mostly to stop progress and bleed companies until they're dead, rather than getting work done and improving the business.
The US labor movement is sclerotic because it served the financial elite to make it so. There's been a long term conspiracy to degrade labor unions since the 1950s. Why do you think so many administrations turned a blind eye to the takeover of so many unions by organized crime?
But I agree, the German organized labor system is very good. It's a shining example of how a manufacturing economy does better when workers are treated with respect and paid well.
If you're the typical American or European, you have no idea what "deep shit" means. You'd only know by growing up in a third world country. The competition in China or India is much more intense, the population much larger and more inclined towards STEM, meaning their top 0.1% is smart, numerous and works very hard. The few US citizens who even decide to get an advanced degree in STEM want to work 40 hours a week and get paid the same.
You misunderstand me. I'm well aware that the workers in third-world countries are being exploited by trans-national corporations. It's a struggle for everyone, not just Americans.
You want the globalization advantages of exporting manufacturing and pollution to Asia
No, I really don't. I think "globalization" is one of the big scams of the 20th century used to siphon wealth from the bottom to the top all over the world. The only thing I want to see globalized is the struggle for a more equitable distribution of wealth based upon productivity and worker rights instead of corporate financial shenanigans.
Well that's in the context of the North using slavery as a pretext to destroy the South's economy, so I'll take a pass on the infinite wisdom of this quote.
The North "used slavery" to destroy the South's economy?
That's some quality alternative history, right there. The South's economy was built on slavery, and Lincoln, you may recall, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
It really bugs you that an idea you ascribed to the "teachings" of Karl Marx was actually espoused by the first Republican president, doesn't it?
You really like that quote, you've been using it twice in this thread. Maybe you should get it framed or something. That's probably the only Republican president you don't badmouth.
Well, to be fair, he was the last Republican president (except maybe Eisenhower) who wasn't a complete dick.
Who in their right mind would host a file-sharing site in the US? Why not just put on a pair of fake antlers and run around in the Wisconsin woods on the first day of deer season?
Someone putting his money at risk to run a business is a piece of shit, while the people who get paid by the week for their time are the real heroes.
If someone is "putting money at risk" it's because someone, somewhere - did some real work.
Don't take it from me, listen to Abraham Lincoln:
"Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."
Then you have three choices - whether programmer or any other kind of worker - organized labor and collective bargaining, endorse a robust welfare state or prepare for abject poverty for the rest of your life.
There is no other option. All forms of labor are being degraded.
Just like it happened in the auto industry, workers got used to high wages and are unwilling to consider the actual value of their contribution in a world where programming is now a commodity, so they end up replaced by cheap labor from a developing country.
This kind of thinking is why US workers are in such deep shit. There are people who actually believe that setting a price for your labor is somehow bad.
When a company sets a price on a product based on a desired level of profit, it's considered "the Free Market". But when a worker does the same thing we're told it's bad for everyone.
It's the Stockholm Syndrome, and the supply-side is holding you hostage. You think everyone's wages should be on a runaway train to the bottom of the barrel. What's funny is how many of these same people think it's just horrible that low-wage workers come across to border to pick lettuce. It just may be that programming is the new farm labor and has become another job that US workers don't want to do, at least at the price that's on the table.
Sooner or later, someone will figure out that labor comes first. It precedes capital. There is no capital without labor to make it happen. When you reverse the hierarchy, economies (and societies) suffer.
Only in your head. A hobby is an activity you practice regularly simply because you enjoy it and without any other purpose beside said enjoyment. Of course, practice lead to mastery. "Hobby" doesn't say anything about the level of practice, just its purpose.
That's correct. Amateurism, on the other hand, is something done at a higher level, just for the love. The difference is a matter of quality and quantity (of practice).
Come to think of it I never did look into if there was an actual correlation between studying an instrument and academic merit or if this was just an old wives tale.
There is definitely an actual correlation between studying an instrument and cognitive skills. Whether or not that translates to "academic merit" is another question, but it absolutely increases intelligence (independent of IQ when musical study is started).
Slashdot Mirror
Titanium sternum? That's nothing. I had an aunt with a cedar chest.
I like to imagine the Australian police driving something a little more like this:
http://www.zupimages.net/up/15...
Did the money just rain down from heaven, bestowed upon the elect?
Somewhere, someone had to do some work to get that money. Labor precedes capital in procession and morally.
That's wrong, too. "The North" didn't just claim to be opposed to slavery. They ended slavery. Why do you think the Underground Railroad was northbound? There are even songs, like "The Drinking Gourd" which slaves taught each other so they'd know to use the Big Dipper to head North to freedom.
The trope that the "Civil War wasn't really about slavery" is just something racists say to make each other feel better. "Property Rights" and "States' Rights" were just veiled references the South used (and often still uses) to their deep-seated racism.
So are monopsonies, which we are moving toward in our job markets.
Let's see how long you'll be able to afford popcorn.
I know a few people who sincerely believed their companies were looking out for them like some benevolent corporate pappy, right up until the day they were told they weren't needed anymore.
The US labor movement is sclerotic because it served the financial elite to make it so. There's been a long term conspiracy to degrade labor unions since the 1950s. Why do you think so many administrations turned a blind eye to the takeover of so many unions by organized crime?
But I agree, the German organized labor system is very good. It's a shining example of how a manufacturing economy does better when workers are treated with respect and paid well.
You misunderstand me. I'm well aware that the workers in third-world countries are being exploited by trans-national corporations. It's a struggle for everyone, not just Americans.
No, I really don't. I think "globalization" is one of the big scams of the 20th century used to siphon wealth from the bottom to the top all over the world. The only thing I want to see globalized is the struggle for a more equitable distribution of wealth based upon productivity and worker rights instead of corporate financial shenanigans.
The North "used slavery" to destroy the South's economy?
That's some quality alternative history, right there. The South's economy was built on slavery, and Lincoln, you may recall, signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
It really bugs you that an idea you ascribed to the "teachings" of Karl Marx was actually espoused by the first Republican president, doesn't it?
Well, to be fair, he was the last Republican president (except maybe Eisenhower) who wasn't a complete dick.
Who in their right mind would host a file-sharing site in the US? Why not just put on a pair of fake antlers and run around in the Wisconsin woods on the first day of deer season?
it wasn't just Marx who said it:
http://www.brainyquote.com/quo...
Is that why countries that follow the teachings of Abraham Lincoln are such failures?
If someone is "putting money at risk" it's because someone, somewhere - did some real work.
Don't take it from me, listen to Abraham Lincoln:
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...
Then you have three choices - whether programmer or any other kind of worker - organized labor and collective bargaining, endorse a robust welfare state or prepare for abject poverty for the rest of your life.
There is no other option. All forms of labor are being degraded.
This kind of thinking is why US workers are in such deep shit. There are people who actually believe that setting a price for your labor is somehow bad.
When a company sets a price on a product based on a desired level of profit, it's considered "the Free Market". But when a worker does the same thing we're told it's bad for everyone.
It's the Stockholm Syndrome, and the supply-side is holding you hostage. You think everyone's wages should be on a runaway train to the bottom of the barrel. What's funny is how many of these same people think it's just horrible that low-wage workers come across to border to pick lettuce. It just may be that programming is the new farm labor and has become another job that US workers don't want to do, at least at the price that's on the table.
Sooner or later, someone will figure out that labor comes first. It precedes capital. There is no capital without labor to make it happen. When you reverse the hierarchy, economies (and societies) suffer.
Who's gonna pay attention to Programmers Day when the Bears and Packers are playing Soldier Field?
They don't have one because plumbers, car mechanics and kindergarten teachers aren't sensitive snowflakes who need constant validation of their value.
Do you think that opposition to illegal immigration requires you to make racist jokes?
Mr Trump, is that you?
Would you trust Apple to date your sister?
That's correct. Amateurism, on the other hand, is something done at a higher level, just for the love. The difference is a matter of quality and quantity (of practice).
Not at all. When people talk about meditation, or "turning your brain off" via relaxation, they're talking about the neocortex.
Intelligence is distributed.
Turning your brain "off" may also increase your intelligence.
http://psychcentral.com/news/2...
The list of autodidactic musicians is pretty long. And pretty impressive.
Skill is learned. And practiced. The thing about practicing an instrument is that you get better whether you want to or not.
Yes, Nobel Prize winners are well-known for being a bunch of lazy bastards.
There is definitely an actual correlation between studying an instrument and cognitive skills. Whether or not that translates to "academic merit" is another question, but it absolutely increases intelligence (independent of IQ when musical study is started).
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pm...
That's a study of young people, but a few weeks ago there was a study showing the same effect with older people in the news.