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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: July 13th, 2023

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  • But you’re working in that scenario because you’re being paid.

    If you had that job where your employer only had a say in what you deliver (ignoring the obvious pitfalls of that arrangement), and they suddenly stopped paying you, or started only paying you half…would you still be okay with it?

    If not, then you’re working because you like being paid, not because you want to work.

    On the flip side: if you had some sort of situation where you got paid a comfortable living that allowed you to cover all your expenses, indulge some luxury, and save…and you got this money no matter what, just for waking up…would you still work every day? Or work until your employer was satisfied with your output each day/week/pay period?

    Some might…most specifically (I would think) people whose jobs provide some sort of personal fulfillment like teachers, caregivers, etc. but I think the vast majority of people would take the money and live lives that offered personal enjoyment and fulfillment, doing what they wanted to do, not what an employer (who at that point isn’t their source of pay) would like them to do.









  • The more the old lies are proven as lies, the closer we get to the truth:

    Just as important as “getting the job done” is the notion among many employers that they truly believe that with their payroll they are buying human lives and happiness. That if they are paying a worker for their time and labor that they are entitled to also dictate how that person feels about it…and if that worker is not sufficiently miserable, then they can be squeezed further.

    I used to think that it was purely about money…that the idea was that if a worker ever got “all caught up” and had free time, then they should be generating more wealth for their employer in some other way…but then we had the pandemic.

    The pandemic where lots and lots of workers had to suddenly do the whole work from home thing. And in that time, these employers were thrilled to go along with it, since it meant continuing to make money. And in that time, most office workers eventually turned out to be happier and even more productive.

    …yet in the wake of the pandemic, many of these employers have chosen less productivity in exchange for bringing their employees back to offices. The only explanation for bringing employees back in who were happier and more productive from home is that these employers value the image of control and the ability to make their workers unhappy more than they value productivity and money.





  • Well said.

    The number of users here who think far left protest non-votes matter more in this election than centrists/moderates and disillusioned conservative Republicans is bordering on comical.

    This election will come down to the usual suspects lately:

    Moderates in PA, MI, WI, GA, NV, and AZ.

    Personally, I’m predicting overall lower turnout than 2020 and it’s more a matter of which candidate motivates their centrist voters from 4 years ago in these locations to actually get out and vote again.

    Given their track records, it is my prediction that centrist Biden voters from 2020 will be more likely to stay loyal and motivated than centrist Trump voters from the same time frame…who now have his trials as well as the Jan. 6th debacle, weighing on their minds. Further, I feel like the trump campaign has greater enthusiasm but among a smaller core, whereas the Biden camp has lukewarm enthusiasm among a broader set…and since a lukewarm vote has as much impact as a zealous one, the calculus favors Biden in that regard.

    So both guys get fewer votes overall than they did 4 years ago…but the amount that each one loses (and where) is what decides things. And if that’s how it plays out, I think the map is going to look very similar to the last go-round. I think Biden is least safe in AZ (depending on how the conversation about the border plays out) and GA (which is just the battleground in the country right now, it seems). I think he’s safest in Michigan, and the remaining states of WI and PA I’d say lean Biden but are certainly in play. I’m not as familiar with Wisconsin, but Pennsylvania has handed Democrats more and more wins since the last time, most importantly in the midterms, when Pennsylvanians gave Democrats the majority in the state house in 2022 for the first time in ages.

    So, barring any major shakeup in the campaigns, I feel like just looking at the Xs and Os, every state votes the way it did 4 years ago, except MAYBE the states Biden flipped. Of those, I feel Michigan and Pennsylvania stay blue.

    If those two predictions are correct, Biden can even lose Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin, and still end up with 270 electoral votes to Trump’s 268, and still narrowly win. While I’d like a fatter margin, I feel it’s a wholly reasonable scenario that Biden carries every state Clinton did in 2016, plus two of the 5 battleground states he picked up in 2020.


  • Honestly I’m not on the spectrum at all (that I know of) and your SO’s half of those exchanges sounds utterly exhausting.

    Like, in their shoes, I’d probably just start sharing less and less about how I feel, especially when I’m not feeling well, specifically because I wouldn’t want to have to play 20 questions every time until you finally gave up on the analysis.

    Like, I totally get that you’re just trying to help because you love them…but maybe you could simplify the process (and cut to the chase and give them some more agency) simply by saying something like “Ugh, I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. Is there anything I can do for you?”

    That lets them express their own thoughts/feelings/desires without having to pass a gauntlet of questions.

    Again, I totally get that you mean well (I end up on your side of this exchange whenever my own SO isn’t feeling well…you just want to fix it for them), but I’ve also learned by time and experience that often my best move is to offer help, and if the answer is just needing some time and quiet, I just tell my SO what I’ll be doing nearby (but not up in their business) and if they need anything at all, just let me know and I’m happy to help.