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Why would you say something so absurd? Who prefers that?
If you look at the behavioral patterns of people today vs in previous decades, it comes apparent. More people than ever would rather work for employers than become employers themselves. This has created a larger number of workers in the field that has empowered those who choose to become employers.
Those who plan on taking up jobs rather than creating them are contributing greatly to this empowerment.
If you look at the behavioral patterns of people today vs in previous decades, it comes apparent. More people than ever would rather work for employers than become employers themselves. This has created a larger number of workers in the field that has empowered those who choose to become employers.
Those who plan on taking up jobs rather than creating them are contributing greatly to this empowerment.
There are a lot of factors involved there that you're omitting. There's a lot of risk involved with starting a business. Some people do not have the financial means or backing to start a business. I've had a lot of ideas that I'd like to run with. Kind of hard to do when you're number one priority is paying off your student loans and buying a house.
You come from an affluent background, right? I wouldn't expect you to understand someone from my background, where $36k/yr in a six person family went a long way.
If you look at the behavioral patterns of people today vs in previous decades, it comes apparent. More people than ever would rather work for employers than become employers themselves. This has created a larger number of workers in the field that has empowered those who choose to become employers.
Those who plan on taking up jobs rather than creating them are contributing greatly to this empowerment.
I'm sorry, but the "Just work for yourself" mantra is antiquated. Very few people are able to be self-employed in this world of rapidly expanding technology and jobs that are erecting more barriers to entry. These aren't the days when everyone is either a farmer, shepard or carpenter, and become and apprentice to learn any of those skills before making it on their own.
"All your boss or supervisor has to do is decide that they don't like you for any reason whatsoever, and then they can fire you, decide not to give you a good reference, and you're henceforth doomed to a life of unemployment."
Most areas have at will employment but no that's not going to doom you to a life of unemployment.
"In the old days you could at least move to another town and start a new life quite quickly (The fact that the standard of living was lower is irrelevant to the topic at hand). Today everyone is tied to their employer through health care and benefits and through the fact that it is so hard to get a job if you quit your last one."
Everyone? If you have a 401k and leave you still have your 401k. I'd also add that although I might not be a fan of it but Obamacare/ACA and health exchanges pretty much allow you to buy health care. Yeah it might not be cheap but that's not really the point.
"Should I like Ron Paul's fan page? Oh, no! Probably shouldn't, because their might be some nosy,left-wing HR rep who gets me fired after befriending me on Facebook."
Most employers could care less about that.
I will say this though. When you work for a company it can be argued that you just are looking for a job, when you work in government it is more about the position and public service. With non profits though it generally appears to be what you believe in. I have seen linkedin profiles where people have worked for say a PIRG group, an animal rights group and some prochoice group. Combined this makes a political direction. Another I've seen is all for secular humanism and has a photo of himself with Richard Dawkins. And he's in Atlanta part of the Bible Belt. It's one thing to press a "like" but when you work for an issue organization it's hard to turn the time back on that.
I'd argue more for the inverse with companies. Most companies are deathly afraid of their image. Yes a company can fire someone at will pretty much for anything. But ALL it takes is just one bad tweet, video, or post to bring a company down. How many employees does a place have? Well how many people technically then have to be monitored? Eventually this gets to be too much work and a waste of time.
OP must not have a very good understanding of history or what sharecroppers were here in the US, or how in old Europe all of the land belonged to the nobles who allowed their tenants to work their fields and maybe even keep some of their produce as long as they paid their rent.
And then there is what happened to slaves where not only did they work and not get anything for it but a lousy hovel to live in and some rags to wear but could have their spouse and children sold to some other master and taken from them...
And it was all perfectly legal.
I think things have improved since then.
With the level of specialization today, the amount of information each employee contains is higher than ever before. It takes significantly longer to replace someone who up and quits with all of their knowledge than ever before.
With the number of lawsuits today, every employee is a potential liability, whether a misstep or malicious.
The employee has the power today. What can an employer do? Give a bad reference? Most places only care about verifying employment dates anyway.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The employer's power is not over their employees, only over job applicants, and that's only in the last 4-5 years.
I have had my own business and been a manager at two different organizations, and we have to constantly update our training in employment law to avoid pitfalls in employee performance evaluation, harassment (by supervisors, co-workers and customers), wage and benefit law in order to keep from being sued. It's even more complicated when unions are involved. Getting rid of a poor employee after they have passed probation is a long, tedious process for large organizations. For the small business (under 15 employees) it's easier.
Considering that any half-decent job today requires
(1) you to have no gaps in your employment history,
(2) 3 professional letters of recommendation,
and
(3) a perfect credit history
among other requirements, I think an argument could be made that your employer today has more power to control and ruin your life than in any other point in history. All your boss or supervisor has to do is decide that they don't like you for any reason whatsoever, and then they can fire you, decide not to give you a good reference, and you're henceforth doomed to a life of unemployment. In the old days you could at least move to another town and start a new life quite quickly (The fact that the standard of living was lower is irrelevant to the topic at hand). Today everyone is tied to their employer through health care and benefits and through the fact that it is so hard to get a job if you quit your last one.
Then there's the fact that employers are now like the North Korean government. Someone in this subforum mentioned that their co-worker got fired for being in a Facebook picture at a bar. Others in this forum say that employers use data brokers to check a potential employee's Internet habits including which porn sites they visit. A more proper analogy than North Korea might be the Christian idea of God. Employers are like an omniscient entity that records your every thought and deed and uses it to whimsically decide your fate. My every decision is now predicated on whether it might hurt my job prospects some time down the road. This includes such trivial decisions as whether I should "like" something on Facebook. Should I like Ron Paul's fan page? Oh, no! Probably shouldn't, because their might be some nosy, left-wing HR rep who gets me fired after befriending me on Facebook.
Why would you say something so absurd? Who prefers that?
It is worth asking why so many people are actually supportive of corporations having rights enshrined to individuals in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Stockholm Syndrome is the only explanation I can think of.
No, not even close. Go read up on some of the coal towns in PA or places like that garment factory in NYC where hundreds of people died due to the employer locking them in the building...
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