10 Comments

I love the quote from Krugman about how the purpose of the economy isn't to make bosses happy. I think we're in a media era that relies too heavily on the opinions of owners/C-suite without taking into consideration whether the facts support their assertions. Remote work isn't perfect, but having it available to your employees can improve productivity by allowing your workers to take care of their actual lives (children, caring for relatives, exercise) without burning out.

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Yes, that quote from someone as knowledgable as he is (to put it mildly!) really hit me hard. Certainly agree that we rely way too much on what business needs and wants per businesses gobbling up time on media outlets and elected officials prioritizing their need for greater profit. Time for the balance of power to shift just a bit.

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Yes, Harlan County, yes, yes, yes. I do think the Democratic Party, and the far left in particular, have in many ways abandoned the working class.

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I certainly agreet the Democratic Party seems to have abandoned the working class, but still holding on to hope for the progressives. I know a lot of people agree with you, though—I'm still trying to figure it out.

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I'm lucky enough to have been a full-time writer for 32 years now so I've worked from home for a very long time. But, during the pandemic, as I had food and other things delivered to me (and having been a pizza man and sandwich maker during college) I certainly realized that people were able to work-from-home because of the underpaid labor of people who couldn't work from home. I present no grand economic theories about this. But when I read the news about Amazon employees striking here in Seattle due in part to return-to-office orders, I thought of all the underpaid service workers in Amazon's neighborhood and their employment prospects.

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It is definitely a privilege to have the option to work from home, no matter the type of job, and often, that privilege is on the backs of the front line, lower wage workers. I remember how brutally the "necessary" workers were treated during the height of the pandemic —forcing them to come in with little to no safety measures in place, and so many dying as a result—all to keep profits flowing, I guess. The meat processing plant workers are a particularly egregious example. I hadn't read about the Seattle area strike of Amazon workers—I'll look that up. The dynamic between employers and employees is...at best, unbalanced. I just want to see the power shift to favor employees.

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I'm pro-labor and always hope that white collar workers are including blue collar workers in their demands.

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That is a good point...I wonder if they do? I don't even know whether the respective unions overlap and/or their demands overlap?

Just in case you haven't seen the documentary, Harlan County USA, I certainly recommend it—a life-changer for me. Directed by Barbara Kopple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2aPy_XVVZ4

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In New Zealand, we only had a limited period of remote working before we were expected back in the office. Although some things were definitely better with people all in one room, I definitely found that remote working suited me.

I ended up changing to a job which has me entirely working from home. I'm highly productive working this way, although I occasionally miss the human company.

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It's almost like employees are going through the enlightenment, given the massive change that's breaking with the shift to home work. I think the benefits to employees in time, money and energy expenditures is enormous... I cherish the friendships I made at each place of employment and have been lucky to maintain many of them, but I am sooo much more productive working from home. Now I just need a full-time job that allows me to do that!

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