
Work was once the way to a better life. Not any more - anarbadalov
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/27/work-once-way-to-better-life-not-any-more-property-pensions
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expertentipp
> If workers have any spare time, it doesn’t go into campaigning in their
> workplace for better terms and conditions. It is spent in the long queue at
> Aldi and Lidl for cheaper food. It is spent scouring the newspaper best-buy
> tables for a cheaper mortgage deal, a lower energy tariff or discounted car
> insurance.

I do feel like life is a bloody attrition war against the universe. Everything
is too complicated.

Income tax return? Months of paperwork and letters sent back and forth. Car
insurance? You better know what you need or the agent will sell you insurance
against squirrel attack. Renting an apartment? You better know all renting
regulation nuances or in the best case you lose the deposit. Job search?
Months long full time job. Health problems different than broken bone or blood
squirting out of your body? You’re looking at months and years long waiting
for diagnostics and specialist’s attention. Lawyers? Various legal trolls
stalk you, but once you need one, none is available.

Whatever goes wrong - it’s always your fault, never the fault of the corporate
or institutionalized other side, and penalty fees are waiting.

~~~
Gravityloss
Not all places in the western world have such legal and social traditions.

~~~
brokenmachine
Where is this small-print free paradise you allude to?

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stevenwoo
The sub heading says property and pensions have replaced work - what are the
differences between the USA and UK for pensions? As an American I think of a
company provided retirement plan benefit, and this is not very common here
outside of government work, so are they referring to the general system
providing for retirement benefits (so that would include USA's social
security/private retirement plans)?

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InclinedPlane
There are many underlying reasons for the ongoing deterioration of the
fortunes of the "underclass" but one aspect that doesn't get enough
acknowledgement is cultural change. In the 19th century society had extreme
class divisions and it was a common sentiment among the upper classes that the
lower classes were fundamentally (even perhaps genetically) inferior and
deserved to be relegated to poverty. In the 20th century some of that changed
a bit but then boomeranged back to an even more aggressively classist
sentiment which started growing sometime around the 1980s and is now
practically ubiquitous. That being something along the lines of "all is fair
in love, war, and capitalism", the idea that the economy is a game and any
behavior whatsoever is acceptable (within the law, -ish) so long as it follows
from the foundational axioms of personal selfishness and greed it is seen as
desirable behavior. Since the rich and powerful have all the wealth and the
power this unequal situation tends to further amplify itself given such a
values system.

Even more disturbing is that this values change has seem to be paired with an
aggressive demonization of and heartlessness towards the poor and infirm, even
compared to 19th century norms. Today it's very common to hate the poor, the
homeless, and the disabled as well as those injured by institutional
iniquities and injustices. If anyone gets ground in the gears of capitalism,
well, they probably deserved it. Also, why should we help the homeless and the
poor when their lives are full of so many problems and they are so dirty and
disgusting? That values system filters up all the way into the workforce. The
worker is seen as justifiably powerless, a pawn or a cog, and if they are
taken advantage of, well, they had the "choice" to not be taken advantage of,
right?

It's more than a little disturbing and disheartening that we've somehow
managed to end up here.

