Conservatives seemingly borderline supernatural ability to gaslight themselves aside, this piece hinges on an argument that I have made myself in the past. It's not just about the raw wages, but the story we can attach to where that money comes from. I can in theory make the same amount of money doing package deliveries for Amazon as I could working at say a non profit actually helping people. I am making 20 bucks an hour either way. But one of these jobs would be so meaningless as to make me borderline suicidal if it was my only means of income for years on end, while the other provides some semblance of pride in your work which is necessary for the nourishment of the human spirit. We ignore this at our own peril. A nation full of gig workers with no consistent structural identity is going to be a miserable and unhappy one. This is just basic human psychology, our happiness is dependent on the ability for us to construct a story of ourselves and then execute upon that story over a long period of time. This is known as growth. If you take the opportunity for professional growth away from large amounts of us, we will feel like failures regardless of how much money we have in actuality. Our system used to understand this, but the billionaires greed cannot be sated and they no longer feel obligated to provide even the meagerest of economic and mental security for the masses. I sincerely hope the consequences of this are very dire for them in the long run.
Thank you for again taking on Noah Smith. When I read him, I sometimes like his points but much more often find myself asking, “What world is he living in?”
Insecurity and volatility of incomes AND expenses are not captured in any economic data and both have skyrocketed. One more is the vast increase in time required simply to belong to modern society -- to fight with shite glitchy badly written software just to get through the day. This is another insecurity -- we never know if what we need to do today or tomorrow, the website or app or log in we are told we MUST USE, will allow us to do that. This "micro-insecurity" pervades everything we do online. I spent an hour online today attempting to make a required payment.
I could go on all day. We never know if the company we like and have come to trust won't be bought by Blackstone tomorrow who will proceed to rapidly and comprehensively shittify the site and crank up prices while making everything more complex, all the better to get people to pay more than they want because the complexity. So there's corporate insecurity and volatility -- constantly having to deal with another new company.
I was an institutional money manager for 40 years -- it is OFTEN the case that economic data mask significant underlying structural issues.
Dismissing these things as nothing but "vibes" is moron level horseshit.
Your identification of the precariousness of employment, or frankly the fungibility of "unskilled" or "menial" labor (Uber, Amazon delivery, fast food, cleaning, generic/big box retail floor, assembly line worker) has emerged in several contexts and conversations since I read this.
It really does highlight that there are two tracks - one where someone can build depth and skill in what can become a career, or at least a vocation in which the employee can have some pride, and another where the employee feels no stakes or connection and cycles in and out over time (potentially adding a stint in prison along the way). The comp across these is functionally similar, the opportunities for advancement appear low, and while the base compensation flatters the aggregates, the feeling of uselessness and powerlessness are not captured in the numbers.
For people in "skill track" pathways, who build capabilities and gain responsibilities and some measure of control along with compensation, the economy is really delivering. The statistics show this, in the "K-shaped" spending patterns and increasing share of total spending at the very top end.
The result of this is not just an emiserated low end of the population, but worse consumer experiences for everyone, as the rapid cycling through of fungible workers means that almost no one really knows what they are doing and very few have built the "little tricks" of doing their job better. And on top of that most people are mildly frustrated and/or depressed, and that attitude is visible even when people try their best to restrain it.
I am excessively kind to every fast food worker and retail employee I encounter. I know from experience that they don't want to be there, their lives are mostly miserable drudgery and the least I can do is not be a jerk that makes it worse. I actually cannot even stand to use these types of services anymore because I can always see the sadness in the eyes of the employees trapped there and it makes me feel guilty as hell.
I’ve been arguing a similar theory about why everyone hates the economy in his replies for months. People are constantly being asked to pay more for enshittified products, subscriptions everywhere, and lunatics threatening to create a machine that could kill us all. He refuses to ever engage. It’s infuriating
Conservatives seemingly borderline supernatural ability to gaslight themselves aside, this piece hinges on an argument that I have made myself in the past. It's not just about the raw wages, but the story we can attach to where that money comes from. I can in theory make the same amount of money doing package deliveries for Amazon as I could working at say a non profit actually helping people. I am making 20 bucks an hour either way. But one of these jobs would be so meaningless as to make me borderline suicidal if it was my only means of income for years on end, while the other provides some semblance of pride in your work which is necessary for the nourishment of the human spirit. We ignore this at our own peril. A nation full of gig workers with no consistent structural identity is going to be a miserable and unhappy one. This is just basic human psychology, our happiness is dependent on the ability for us to construct a story of ourselves and then execute upon that story over a long period of time. This is known as growth. If you take the opportunity for professional growth away from large amounts of us, we will feel like failures regardless of how much money we have in actuality. Our system used to understand this, but the billionaires greed cannot be sated and they no longer feel obligated to provide even the meagerest of economic and mental security for the masses. I sincerely hope the consequences of this are very dire for them in the long run.
This is so right. Have been struck by it everywhere since reading this
It is painful to realize what is being done to us all and have no legal way to stop it because the rich are above the law.
Thank you for again taking on Noah Smith. When I read him, I sometimes like his points but much more often find myself asking, “What world is he living in?”
Insecurity and volatility of incomes AND expenses are not captured in any economic data and both have skyrocketed. One more is the vast increase in time required simply to belong to modern society -- to fight with shite glitchy badly written software just to get through the day. This is another insecurity -- we never know if what we need to do today or tomorrow, the website or app or log in we are told we MUST USE, will allow us to do that. This "micro-insecurity" pervades everything we do online. I spent an hour online today attempting to make a required payment.
I could go on all day. We never know if the company we like and have come to trust won't be bought by Blackstone tomorrow who will proceed to rapidly and comprehensively shittify the site and crank up prices while making everything more complex, all the better to get people to pay more than they want because the complexity. So there's corporate insecurity and volatility -- constantly having to deal with another new company.
I was an institutional money manager for 40 years -- it is OFTEN the case that economic data mask significant underlying structural issues.
Dismissing these things as nothing but "vibes" is moron level horseshit.
This is so fucking good, I'm gonna start sending you money.
Thanks.
Statistics don't have feelings, but people do. Statistics may have history, but if the context of that history is not recognized, they are worthless.
Excellent. The difference is everything.
Brilliant observations.
Wow! Articulating what has always been been obvious to me. Thank you
Your identification of the precariousness of employment, or frankly the fungibility of "unskilled" or "menial" labor (Uber, Amazon delivery, fast food, cleaning, generic/big box retail floor, assembly line worker) has emerged in several contexts and conversations since I read this.
It really does highlight that there are two tracks - one where someone can build depth and skill in what can become a career, or at least a vocation in which the employee can have some pride, and another where the employee feels no stakes or connection and cycles in and out over time (potentially adding a stint in prison along the way). The comp across these is functionally similar, the opportunities for advancement appear low, and while the base compensation flatters the aggregates, the feeling of uselessness and powerlessness are not captured in the numbers.
For people in "skill track" pathways, who build capabilities and gain responsibilities and some measure of control along with compensation, the economy is really delivering. The statistics show this, in the "K-shaped" spending patterns and increasing share of total spending at the very top end.
The result of this is not just an emiserated low end of the population, but worse consumer experiences for everyone, as the rapid cycling through of fungible workers means that almost no one really knows what they are doing and very few have built the "little tricks" of doing their job better. And on top of that most people are mildly frustrated and/or depressed, and that attitude is visible even when people try their best to restrain it.
I am excessively kind to every fast food worker and retail employee I encounter. I know from experience that they don't want to be there, their lives are mostly miserable drudgery and the least I can do is not be a jerk that makes it worse. I actually cannot even stand to use these types of services anymore because I can always see the sadness in the eyes of the employees trapped there and it makes me feel guilty as hell.
I’ve been arguing a similar theory about why everyone hates the economy in his replies for months. People are constantly being asked to pay more for enshittified products, subscriptions everywhere, and lunatics threatening to create a machine that could kill us all. He refuses to ever engage. It’s infuriating
Remarkably interesting insights here, sir. Well done...