I live in Tacoma, Washington, and we also just put into effect that no one under 18 needs to pay for public transit. It’s entirely free with a special Orca card. It seems like the whole state is on the path to making it free for everyone some day.
People complain that they don’t want a news media controlled by the government, but instead they have a news media controlled by corporate shareholders, where stories like these come out at least once a quarter, either touting the high hiring/low unemployment or bemoaning the opposite scenario, and it is right there at the top of the latest news.
Meanwhile the quality of work/life balance, worker satisfaction, and the happiness of citizens overall are topics left to the side as interest pieces rather than headlines of particular importance.
Why are we not reporting on climate change 24/7? Does it not threaten our very existence? Why are we not reporting on worker dissatisfaction? Are not the majority of us working?
It’s because these topics have no solution that is conducive with capitalism (or at the absolute very least, the current implementation of capitalism, but I’d argue, no, it’s just capitalism). The corporations, businesses, and individuals that have benefitted from capitalism have and will continue to suppress news stories that focus on these very real problems because to actually solve the issue would result in the eradication of their cushy lifestyle and decimate their hold on power.
So fuck stories like these, they mean less than the toilet paper I use to wipe my ass.
But for much of the economy where work doesn’t need to be in person, the demand to “return to office” is not rooted in any concern for employees, a large majority of whom want to work from home — not because they are lazy or don’t want to be productive, but because it gives them more freedom and control over their own lives.
So why do some bosses still feel it necessary to prolong the slow and necessary death of The Office? Beats me.
Well, that’s the answer. Some bosses don’t want their employees to have any freedom or control over their lives.
The Boss wants control over every aspect of their employee’s lives: from how early they need to get up, to how long they must sit in a car for on their commute, to when they eat/shit/smoke/stretch, to how long they stare at their computer monitor, to how many useless meetings they can squeeze into each day.
This is only about control, not empty office buildings or productivity or creativity. 100% control over everyone beneath them.
What it makes me think about is how much of the police in Uvalde was theater. They supposedly had training and even a SWAT team. There is a real difference between on paper and in reality.
I unfortunately wasn’t able to refinance, but I’m still significantly below 4%. I don’t think I could afford to buy my own house today with current rates and house values because my mortgage would more than double.
cnn.com
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