A desperate workforce is exploited by the overlords

[Horse with no Name]

I've seen the statistics on the chances of those aged over 50 getting jobs if they are unemployed. They are depressing.

It has been bitterly cold in our area all week. Wet, snowy, icy, and cold. Wind chills have been sub-zero at times.

We're told to keep out plants and pets in. They could be harmed with the exposure.

Has everyone seen those tax preparer places that have people dress up like the Statue of Liberty and Uncle Sam and wave people in? (personally I think rich people just get a kick out of making people do stupid stuff because they can--because someone dressed up standing on the side of the road wouldn't entice me into their establishment.)

Locally, during all of this extreme weather, a man that HAD to be in his 60's was bundled up dressed in his Uncle Sam suit waving people in. People need money and a job is a job, but to me, putting an elderly gentleman out in this weather reeks of employee abuse.

I wonder who will pay his bills when he catches pneumonia?

I'd be interested in a list of places where you have seen other examples of exploitation.

[Newest Reality]

1. Well, Horse

"What is the United States?"

Sorry for the Jeopardy question answer. Was that too broad? I mean, it is systemic, to me.

[JuniperLea]

2. Funny you should mention!

I'm highly upset with a local television news gimmick. I find it humiliating and I have been formulating my complaint letter all morning!

Dance Your Debt Off!

Here's your chance to get rid of $10,000* in debt! Submit a video of you (or your group, including you) performing a dance routine. We'll pick quarter-finalists and then everyone will vote on who gets to be in the final 10. Those 10 semi-finalists will compete on the KTLA 5 Morning news for the $10,000 prize. Good luck!


http://ktla.upickem.net/engine/YourSubmission.aspx?contestid=25896


Is it me? Or is this horribly offensive? It reminds me of a Knut Hamsun novel, Mysteries, wherein a little person is made to dance for his drinks at the local bar.

It reminds me of old western movies wherein the town bully makes someone dance by shooting at the ground near their feet.

What do you make of this?

[leftstreet]

4. omg

I wanted to believe that was satire

Holy crap.

Objectifying impoverished people for entertainment


omg

[JuniperLea]

6. I'm glad it's not just me!

I feel horrible... so many people need money. I'm sure they will have a lot of videos to laugh about. :cry:

[leftstreet]

9. Class bigotry is acceptable

:puke:

Imagine a dance contest for obese people, the winner receiving surgery, etc

How about one for disabled people? Winner gets a new leg!

:puke: :scared:

[JuniperLea]

11. Don't give them any ideas!

I was thinking that a far better contest would be to have people write in, or video in, talking about the charitible work they are doing... and the winner would get a big check donated to their cause.

Too humane... wouldn't fly... no ratings in empathy or good will.

[Horse with no Name]

5. Is IS horribly offensive

But those are American jobs now.

Reminds me of the days of Court Jesters....

[JuniperLea]

7. Court Jesters...

Yep, me too. What a horrible commentary. I'm sure a lot of people will enter the contest, and a lot more will watch... and laugh... I find it very offensive.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Ever seen the movie "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

It's about a desperate people who enter a dance marathon during the Depression -- where couples dance nonstop for days to try to win a cash prize. The last couple standing wins.

It's a very depressing movie. It's also depressing to know they are doing that kind of stuff again now.

[JuniperLea]

13. I remember that movie...

I couldn't watch the whole thing. There's so little progress in society. We are regressing.

[Horse with no Name]

15. What about "Hold your wee for a wii"?

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/hold-your-wee-wii-lawsuit

>>>snip
ANUARY 25--The family of the California woman who died from water intoxication after trying to win a video game console in a radio station stunt has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the architects of the 'Hold Your Wee for a Wii' contest. Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old mother of three, died on January 12 after drinking almost two gallons of water while taking part in a giveaway contest sponsored by Sacramento's KDND-FM. The contest awarded a Nintendo console to the person who could avoid urinating (or vomiting) after drinking a large quantity of water. Strange finished second among 18 contestants, and complained that her head hurt and she felt lightheaded when dropping out of the contest. Hours later, she died of water intoxication, according to the Sacramento County coroner. The wrongful death lawsuit, a copy of which you'll find below, names the radio station's owner and eight individuals as defendants. The complaint, which does not specify monetary damages, include a number of on-air statements made by radio station personnel, including one DJ who noted that they should have 'researched' water intoxication before conducting the contest. Also, when a caller who identified herself as a nurse warned that contestants could face illness or death, an on-air personality replied, 'Yeah, they signed releases so we're not responsible so it's okay.' Strange (pictured above in a family portrait) was awarded two tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert as a consolation prize. (10

[Hello_Kitty]

33. WTF??

I hope the family wins enough to put that sorry radio station out of business.

[foxfeet]

19. "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"

[Hannah Bell]

34. ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_Shoot_Horses,_Don%27t_They%3F_(film)

Among the other contestants competing for a cash prize of $1500 are Harry Kline (Red Buttons), a middle-aged sailor; Alice (Susannah York), a would-be Jean Harlow with delusions of grandeur, and her partner Joel (Robert Fields), an aspiring actor; and impoverished farm worker James (Bruce Dern) and his pregnant wife Ruby (Bonnie Bedelia). Early in the marathon the weaker pairs are eliminated quickly, while Rocky observes the vulnerabilities of the stronger contestants and exploits them for the audience's amusement...

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

42. how about the depression where people danced

until they collapsed for basically just a meal. Yeah, you're right, this is sick

sorry, posted this before I completely read the thread

[raccoon]

45. It reminds me of the movie "They Shoot Horses, Don't They? "

A must-see if you haven’t seen it.


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065088/

Looks like someone beat me to the post!

Still, it's a great movie.

[JuniperLea]

3. Oh, and on the tax service...

Those sign wavers make $8 - $10 an hour "plus bonus" whatever that amounts to... I feel for them. I parked outside one of their offices to go into an adjacent business, and I just hurt for that young girl. She was making the best of it... dancing and getting her exercise, smiling. I still felt badly.

[Newest Reality]

14. I agree with that and I've seen them out there.

What a befitting metaphor though, concerning the current value and meaning of Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty.

There they are now, out in the street, dancing for a dollar aa just another, useless gimmick in the shamocracy that profit-driven life has bore.

I wonder how many more people will be wearing strange costumes and standing out on the street in order to survive? How Disney-esque and what a tribute to Baudrillard as the Simulation now reveals glitch upon glitch as it casts us as costumed characters serving the corporate occupation for bread.

[JuniperLea]

17. Ugh...

Even I wear a "costume" that I'm not happy about. I'm a jeans and t-shirt person... shorts and tank top on the beach in the summer person... I detest business suits. But I wear one every day... and I complain about it being a costume. It feels hypocritical.

[Horse with no Name]

25. I was lying in bed thinking of this because it is truly bothering me

and MINSTREL SHOWS occurred to me. Those were horrid as well and served the same purpose.
I do believe we will end up being worse than they ever thought.

[MilesColtrane]

39. It could be worse.

You could have to wear a tux to your gig.

I despise them, yet for some reason many band leaders reflexively make their side men dress up like trained chimps.

Some day it's going on the grill with a full can of lighter fluid.

[louis-t]

8. I've always felt sorry for those people.

Where I am at, it is usually young, minority employees. I always try to wave back at them and smile. Who knows, we could end up like Egypt and our government will pay us to be thugs if things get bad enough.

[drmeow]

12. It is even worse

when they do it in Phoenix when the temp is over 100 and that's in the shade - there's no shade where those people are standing. High heat is even more dangerous to people than the cold - heat stroke will kill you faster than hypothermia.

[arbusto_baboso]

16. How about the guys wearing foam rubber hot dog outfits in 80+ degree weather?

I see that in areas of SoCal every summer and fall.

[dionysus]

18. at little ceasars they have some kid dressed in a bad ron wood wig with a rock band guitar, rocking

out on the sidewalk next to the traffic

[zeemike]

20. There was a TV commercial a while back.

That struck me as a perfect example of what you are talking about...or at least I think.
I don't remember what they were selling....but it stared an obviously rich kid of maybe 7 years and he was ordering around an older man with white hair mowing the lawn...the kid was saying..."Hop to it, it is my money your working on"
And that struck me...In another generation and culture no child would be permitted to talk to an adult in that manner no mater what the status....it would have been considered shameful for the parents of that child.
But out their somewhere is a bunch of people that think that is funny...why i don't know....shame is never funny is it?

[Horse with no Name]

22. I don't think so

but you are correct, in another time there was a word called RESPECT.
It rarely exists anywhere anymore.

[immoderate]

37. It's called the "halo effect."

You were respectful, so you remember when children were respectful. I'll bet you weren't a trust fund baby. When were rich kids taught to respect servants?

--imm

[zeemike]

40. Well it was probably more the ideal rather than reality

But thy portrayed themselves as raising their kids to respect their elders...and depicted it that way in media.
but here was a case where they dropped all pretense and just showed their cynical view of their servants.

[immoderate]

43. In the mid 1970s I was working in an apartment owned by a multi-millionaire.

We were using the apartment as a location to shoot a fashion catalog. It had 27 rooms, had been owned by a Rockefeller, and the artwork on the walls were occasionally switched out for those currently on loan to museums.

One morning one of the children was deliberately dropping food on the floor. When his mother told him to stop, he said, "Why should I? Whatever I drop, a maid will clean it up." The mother acknowledged that was so, but didn't say anything about respecting the servants. This is just one incident, and you can't generalize. What did Barbara teach little Georgie?

--imm

[zeemike]

44. Good points and good story.

And I have know some of the Old Rich so I get what you say.
But in the past it was portrayed in the media through media and books that the wealthy respected there servant class...and what that shows is that they actually knew it was disgraceful to allow children to behave that way.
But this commercial I spoke of just abandoned all shame and put it out their as something funny to be laughed at.

[immoderate]

46. Thanks. You need to watch some old Shirley Temple movies.

Formula: Shirley as a working class kid is plunged into wealth, treats the servants (usually Arthur Treacher, or Bill "Bojangles" Robinson) as buddies. She sings and tap dances with them. (I love tap dancing.) Her rivals are obnoxious rich kids. And so on. :)

--imm

[Kennah]

21. It's just one small step ...

... towards a 21st century Colosseum. Oh, just think of the games we'll play.

[thanks_imjustlurking]

27. Like this.

http://www.amazon.com/Gladiator-at-Law-Frederik-Pohl/dp/0671655663

[Donnachaidh]

23. during our ice storms skinny yuppies were making 80 year old grocery baggers

push carts out into the cold and load their cars while THEY got in and got warm in the car. These guys shouldn't have to be working period! And it's hard enough to watch the blue-toothed cow blather and walk ahead of the old guys. I'll bet these same women go to work out -- but they can't load their own cars?

:grr:

[NNN0LHI]

30. I understand your concern and good heartedness but ...

... what if someone complains about the old guys being forced to work like that and the store figures that it might be a good idea, for the sake of public perception, to let the old guys go and replace them with some younger looking ones?

So now we have younger guys doing the bagging, to make some customers feel better. but the old guys who may have been working to pay the property taxes on their home, are now homeless former-grocery baggers living under a bridge somewhere?

Its a tough call.

Don

[Donnachaidh]

32. I was not clear on my point, I guess

Considering how COLD and icy it was, those women could have pushed their own damned carts to their cars. It's disrespectful (my opinion, obviously) to expect an older worker to push a cart when you are fully capable of doing it yourself.

I'm a disabled woman, and I waved off the older guys, because I didn't want them to be subjected to the brutal weather. Perhaps it's my upbringing, I don't know. But we have a younger generation that is so self-involved and selfish it's embarrassing.

[bluestate10]

35. Younger people do not know better. nt

[kickysnana]

24. We have a gene in our family that allows folks to be out in extreme cold..

I don't have it. I have the gene that caused my blood to start to clot in the cold but my Grandfather, one son and one nephew do not have trouble with cold. Hopefully he is one of those.

[Enrique]

26. let's give that company the bad publicity it deserves

what company is it, maybe one of our friends in the media like Rachel Maddow can go find out the slimebag that is exploiting those people like that.

[NNN0LHI]

31. See post 30

[NNN0LHI]

28. The old guy who bags groceries where we shop looked to be on his last leg

Breathing real heavy and his hands were trembling badly. Probably 20 years older than me. He is definitely not doing it for the exercise.

Shit, I hope I don't live long enough to ever be in that position.

Jeebus.

Don

[femrap]

29. Goddess that is so

damn sad.

I think we need to start an "Unemployed and Pissed-Off Boomer Movement."

[Urban Prairie]

36. An unemployed man and his wife who are renting a condo nearby ours in our complex

Just had a baby a week ago. He confided to me that his wife is not a US citizen, and is now in the US illegally. Her work visa expired long ago. She most recently was working under the table as a nanny before becoming preggers.

He cannot get assistance from the government in the form of welfare for his wife and child, since his wife shouldn't be here in the US, and he said that his unemployment benefits will be reduced, because of some PT work he performed after being laid off from his job as a car salesman.

I know that there is MUCH more to his story than he is telling us, and I asked him if he and his wife had tried to straighten out her immigration/illegal status here, to make her "legal" he said that he had, and hired an attorney, but the attorney was unable to do anything about it, apparently.

Stupid and scary, WHY did they even have a child, considering the very precarious financial and legal circumstances that they are presently trapped in?

She is from England, and would very likely be deported if she gets caught, leaving him and their baby here in the US? I asked him how did they get married here, if she had no legal ID, and he said that they married in Ohio, and she did not have to present proof of US birth or citizenship (hmmmm...??)

I am very worried about them, and especially their infant child. If his UE benefits are cut off, and he still can't find work, what is going to happen then? I can't help them out with money or shelter, since my unemployed wife and my being on a fixed income from SSD, are barely making ends meet ourselves...Yikes!!!

[Hello_Kitty]

41. They might be better off in England.

Not sure how their laws work vis a vis the American spouse but the wife and child would be able to get benefits.

[MilesColtrane]

38. I could list a couple of things about some past jobs I've had that were exploitive.

(like unsafe conditions, using loopholes to deny benefits, etc..)

But, my situations were small cheese when you consider what goes on in some countries.

Suffice to say that Capitalism is designed to exploit the worker, and it will every time unless there are laws to reign it in.