What’s Going On in the Workforce?
“…we have an economic system that, by its very nature, will always reward people who make other people’s lives worse and punish those that make them better.” David Graeber expands on his theory of “bullshit jobs.”
Good news, art majors—Dilbert says, in a world of complete automation, artists will be king! 
The Chamber of Commerce says it will cost US businesses $700 million to estimate their CEO-to-average worker pay ratio. Aren’t those guys supposed to be the Big Data experts?
Paris Bakery workers have been occupying their worksite for a week, to protest the fact that many of them have up to 3 months’ worth of unpaid wages—and to keep the boss from emptying out the facility.
Geeking Out
Do you want an open-source, encrypted method for video chat & meetings that DOESN’T require reliance on Google? Try jitsi.
From Partners
Center for Popular Democracy is launching a new campaign called the Fair Workweek Initiative, to fight for predictable schedules for retail & other low-paid workers. As for me, I personally feel like we’re moving more and more toward a world where white collar workers complain about being too busy, and service sector workers are struggling to put together enough hours to get by… Here’s an interesting perspective on how to know when to stop working, if you freelance (or otherwise work for yourself). And check out this new magazine that was created specifically for freelancers.
“I don’t have to be degraded for a couple more dollars.” Restaurant Opportunity Center has a great video series about #livingofftips—watch this one about the link between sexual harassment and tipped work.
Sharing, Solidarity & Sustainability
Instead of building a separate ecosystem of civic-ly hacking apps—why not build civic possibility into apps that are already on the phones of millions of users? For some good examples of that, check out this article about using your smartphone for climate science. “It makes people feel like science isn’t just this kind of remote thing done by people in white coats in labs, but something rather more approachable.”
Felix Salmon looks at the economics of driving for Uber.
“Interpersonal forms of sharing are not enough to deliver social justice or environmental sustainability.”
Here’s an interesting idea—this reverse food truck collects food for the hungry, instead of selling it.
Organizing Theory
Organizer Melissa Byrne tells a story of self, student loan debt, and pushing through to find a long view within herself, even when it got really hard.
Final Thoughts
“Greed may be an inherent part of human nature, but that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do to temper the consequences of unscrupulous bankers who would exploit the poor & engage in anti-competitive practices. We can & should regulate banks, forbid predatory lending, make them accountable for their fraudulent practices & punish them for abuses of monopoly power.”
Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality