Comment on Get in the Hilux
nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 4 months agoRich people disappear, wealth is redistributed, somehow you guys think that building a house will suddenly take less work hours than it does at the moment? No it won’t, construction workers will be paid more to work just as many hours building that house, they won’t suddenly work 20h/week.
Probably a bad example. The wealthy are the cause of fewer houses being built than are needed to maintain the surplus allowing reasonable pricing in the market. And it is being done primarily to extract more money from people without actually producing anything. So, that house would actually get built and probably to better standards than are currently seen with the efforts to maximize profit.
Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Holy fuck! That’s not the fucking point! The time to end up with a finished product is the fucking same no matter how much people are getting paid! Your screws and nails don’t go in any faster! You can’t type faster than your fastest typing speed! You can’t call more than one client at a time!
You’re so blinded by rich people that you’re unable to analyze the rest of the issue!
oo1@lemmings.world 4 months ago
So paying higer profit share or wage to construction wokers won’t encouage more people to spend more time building stuff?
Did no one tell you about how competetive markets work? supernormal profits get bid down by market entry.
banks and oligopolistic top tier construction companies, and landowners don’t want more construction, or entry into the market.
by your logic we should just offer people slave contracts and they’d opt in.
Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Unemployment isn’t that high, people who don’t work at the moment don’t do so out of choice (because clearly unemployment isn’t the best way to pay rent!) and we’re talking about redistribution of wealth in all sectors, not just that one sector, so all wages would increase. You don’t end up with more workers suddenly wanting to work construction (which are already well paid jobs in most locations which doesn’t seem to help recruitment!), you still have the same unemployment rate and the same labor needs, you just redistributed wages in a more sensible way.
Hell, demand would probably increase in most sectors due to the general population having more money to spend instead of it being in the hands of so few people, that means more people required to make stuff without having more people to take those jobs!
oo1@lemmings.world 4 months ago
Not if you remove the excesses of market power
nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 4 months ago
That’s really not correct. Like, what you are saying here:
is literally contradictory to reality.
Automation and technological advances literally make work more productive. A carpenter getting a share of the value of their labor that is both keeping pace with inflation and productivity would mean that they can invest in newer tools and equipment that can allow them to accomplish more in a safer manner in a shorter time. They could, for example, purchase a cordless framing nailer and spare batteries, eliminating the need to setup a workplace generator and pneumatic compressor, which would need to be moved periodically as they work. It also eliminates the hose as a potential workplace tripping hazard. Assistive robotic exoskeletons increase carry capacity while reducing strain on joints, reducing likelihood of injury while increasing efficiency.
But you can automate repetitive tasks, allowing more to be done in the same amount of time. More resources allow one to invest in their own or others’ knowledge to accomplish that.
This is true. But how many calls or meetings really are needed and can’t be sorted via email or Slack?
I think that you may be projecting a bit here. I’m just tired of the bleeding of the working class that has been actively in progress in the West for the last half century at least. I’m happy to dig into the slews of data showing how and why people are worse off than their ancestors and where that money has been going (spoiler: the wealthy have been hoarding it and continue to insatiably claw back more via price gouging and wage theft).
Kecessa@sh.itjust.works 4 months ago
Man, you truly have no idea how construction works.
I’m done, goodbye.
nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 4 months ago
I grew up with carpenters, electricians, and other tradespeople and have worked on farms. I’ve got a pretty good idea.
G’luck.