Sarah O'Connor (FT) asks what happens when AI removes basic work from which new/junior staff learn the ropes?
One source she consulted 'wondered if we might one day see a return of the old apprenticeship system that existed in much of Europe before the industrial revolution, in which families who could afford it would pay for their offspring to be apprenticed to a master. The implications of this for social mobility — already not great in many professions — go without saying'!
MEDEA: Of all creatures that live and understand,
we women suffer most.
In the first place we must, for a vast sum,
buy a husband; what’s worse,
with him our bodies get a master.
And here’s what’s most at stake:
Did we get a man who’s good or bad?
ΜΉΔΕΙΑ: πάντων δ᾽ ὅσ᾽ ἔστ᾽ ἔμψυχα καὶ γνώμην ἔχει
γυναῖκές ἐσμεν ἀθλιώτατον φυτόν:
ἃς πρῶτα μὲν δεῖ χρημάτων ὑπερβολῇ
πόσιν πρίασθαι, δεσπότην τε σώματος
[λαβεῖν: κακοῦ γὰρ τοῦτ᾽ ἔτ᾽ ἄλγιον κακόν].
κἀν τῷδ᾽ ἀγὼν μέγιστος, ἢ κακὸν λαβεῖν
ἢ χρηστόν.
Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 230ff (431 BC) [tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]
Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/euripides/75792/
@ianb I'm a big fan of Gary and his sentiment is bang-on, but as @RichardJMurphy points out there are huge practical difficulties in implementing a wealth tax, and there's no real need to since you can tax the rich very effectively by eliminating all the loopholes that they use to avoid tax on their income.
#wealth #economics #inequality #taxtherich
This is Rev Dr William Barber of The Poor People's Campaign, preaching against economic injustice and bigotry.
Regardless of belief or unbelief, this is the kind of passion Americans want in their leaders. Rev Barber minces no words about oppression of "the least of these."
No compromise with evil.
#Housing is a human right: How Finland is eradicating homelessness
"In the UK, a study by the homeless charity Crisis found that a policy of this kind in the UK could be more than five times as effective and nearly five times more cost-effective than existing services."
https://www.crisis.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/housing-first/
Related, and indicative of the issues of cost, size, and bureaucratic hassle associated with most housing in Korea.
If you're okay with bare bones accomodations, 400,000 won (US $274) a month and a simple contract with the landlord is pretty good
There are definitely two Koreas—within South Korea.
In one, massive demographic changes outside Seoul are collapsing regional housing construction companies.
In the other, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who never saw a problem he couldn't make worse, has tipped off a speculative real-estate rush by loosening regulations, creating impossibly high housing prices in parts of the city
Jon Davis (Guardian);
on that 'difficult decision'
South African here. The country has the world’s highest levels of inequality in spite of the enormous natural wealth. Over 30 years post liberation the wealth and land is still dominated by settlers.
And they should only be paid for the time they are actually working, not a second more!
Also every kind of income should be taxed like #WageWork and #BuyBorrowDie needs to be criminalized as illegal #TaxDodging and #SocialSecurityFraud!
Finland’s wealth gap hits record high as richest 10% own majority https://www.byteseu.com/824533/ #10 #distribution #Finland #GAP #households #Inequality #Inflation #majority #money #nation #net #own #richest #wealth
Bigger #cities, bigger #wealth gaps? New research suggests #inequality isn’t just historical or cultural, but inherent to urban growth itself - & that understanding these long-term dynamics could help us chart a course toward a fairer #urban future.
https://nature.com/articles/s44284-025-00213-1 @NatureNewsteam
'Government announces major plan for reduction in disabled people
How else would we pay for bombs? Tax the rich?'
https://open.substack.com/pub/normalislandnews/p/government-announces-major-plan-for?r=iwr6t&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
#uk @UKLabour #inequality #disabled
Huh. I had not previously appreciated that during the pandemic year of 2020, global billionaire wealth increased by slightly more than global workers’ combined earnings fell. #inequality
https://inequality.org/facts/global-inequality/
https://www.europesays.com/?p=1899989 Iranians live in poverty, don’t support Ali Khamenei, Islamic Regime #AyatollahAliKhamenei #Conflicts #Hamas #Hezbollah #Inequality #Iran #Israel #MiddleEast #Poverty
I assume you're aware of Gary Stevenson's work on how exactly the mechanism functions, and his idea of what to do about it?
Iranians live in poverty, don’t support Ali Khamenei, Islamic Regime https://www.byteseu.com/?p=812607 #AyatollahAliKhamenei #Conflicts #Hamas #Hezbollah #Inequality #Iran #Israel #MiddleEast #poverty
@incoherentmumblings @akshatrathi not really.
#China suffered over a century of #Colonialism, #Warlordism, #CivilWar, Japan basically genociding huge parts of it's civilians in it's expansionism, Civil War and #Maoism until the #CCP got their shit together.
Same as #Somalia today and many other places that git ravaged by conflicts but stabilized.
It's just that the "P.R." China had ~70 years of uninterrupted shouting of "Sit down, you will enjoy our progress!" and having everyone who didn't agree either "reeducated" or forcibly disappeared.
Just saw this cartoon posted on the enshittified, dying legacy blogging platform a few worthwhile writers still use. The article says the cartoon is banned on the enshittified, dying legacy social media platform still used by a few worthwhile people - and a lot more worthless ones. (Hint: it's now owned by the cartoon's subject, Cylon Musk.)
Good cartoon, imo.
