Gig workers are not employees and no one should make them be employees

Gig workers are not employees and no one should make them be employees

In order to understand why California’s new Assembly Bill 5, (AB 5) is lousy you have to decipher who wins and who loses in the gig economy. If the losers are politically connected, it is logical that the losers will try to change the rules.

This is the downside of most government interventions. The goals of the “do-gooders” are overwhelmed by the special interests. Laws should be simple and have as little interference in the personal lives as possible.

The gig economy has provided opportunities for millions of Americans to make money. That’s not the same as having a “job” but that’s the point. Many gig workers have other jobs and many of the ones who don’t are in school or want to work part-time to make a little extra cash. Obviously, some of these people would like to have a different job which they can freely look for while doing gig work without any repercussions from an “employer” looking for loyalty or firm work hours.

The reason the “gig economy” took off is because of the freedom it provides people who are willing to hustle to make extra money. You could set your own hours, accept work when you had free time, and not worry about an employer having that control. If you’re an employee, you might get benefits, but you lose that freedom and control.

The gig economy put millions of people to work in one way or another. Those new service workers upset many people that were being displaced by gig workers.

Any law that has lots of “exemptions” means it is a bad law. Lawmakers are saying what is good for one group (that may not be politically connected enough to get an exemption) is not good enough for another group (where they are politically powerful).

But people don’t sign up for gigs because they’re looking for health insurance, overtime, and a retirement plan. A gig means freedom, extra cash, and a chance to have control over when and how you work. Those other things are all important, but if that’s what you’re looking for, you look for a job, not a gig – and maybe you use a gig to pay some bills while you are looking for the perfect job.

Don’t kill one just because you think it should be the other.

Hopefully, this law doesn’t infect the rest of the country and hopefully, it stays in California, which is essentially a politically screwed up state anyway.

Here is John Stossel’s take on all of this.

Photo by raezer

Despite Citizens United fears, you cannot buy success with money

Despite Citizens United fears, you cannot buy success with money

America by Chicago

America by Chicago

I was feeling mellow this morning and listened to a little Chicago which is one of my favorite bands of all time. America from Chicago came on and I couldn’t resist looking up the lyrics and now I want to post them here.

“America”

America, America is free
America
America is you and me

The dream is fading before our eyes
Take some time to revive it
“We the people” must start right now
Don’t expect our leaders to show us how
They don’t have a clue what to do
If they knew how to stop the slide
We’d have seen some signs by now
To turn back the tide

We can’t keep havin’ you make our rules
When you treat us common folk like fools
It’s time we stand up for our rights
Put Congress in our political sights
Make them pass laws that help us all
The founding fathers echo will be heard in the hall
By the people, for the people, everyone equal
‘Cause this is

America, America is free
America
Everyone’s free
America, America is free
America
America is you and me

Our declaration tells us we’re all free and equal
No religion, no color, just people
No one better, no one worse
Everyone comes first

Time to unite as a nation
Go all-in with no hesitation
Let’s not shy away from what’s right
Let’s not shy away from the fight
If we work together at a steady pace
We will make the lane we love a better place
A better…

America is on Chicago XXXVI (yes, their 36 album and 24th studio album).

The new burger chef makes $3 an hour and never goes home. (It’s a robot)

The new burger chef makes $3 an hour and never goes home. (It’s a robot)

The response to the high wages demanded in low skill position was obvious.

Miso can offer Flippys (a robot for making food) to fast-food restaurant owners for an estimated $2,000 per month on a subscription basis, breaking down to about $3 per hour. (The actual cost will depend on customers’ specific needs). A human doing the same job costs $4,000 to $10,000 or more a month, depending on a restaurant’s hours and the local minimum wage. And robots never call in sick.

Sorry teenager trying to earn a few bucks to go to college, restaurants don’t need to hire you at the high wage that over-eager do-gooders are demanding.

https://www.latimes.com/…/flippy-fast-food-restaurant-robot…

Which is worse: Incompetence or intentional effort to upset a democratic election?

Which is worse: Incompetence or intentional effort to upset a democratic election?

Inspector General Michael Horowitz: “On the one hand, gross incompetence, negligence? On the other hand, intentionality? And where in between? We weren’t in a position, with the evidence we had, to make that conclusion, but I’m not ruling it out.”  (ABCNews)
 
This is obviously sad. Both are bad. The hand-picked inspectors by the top management of the FBI were either incompetent or they were intentionally trying to affect the outcome of their investigation in one direction.
 
If they were incompetent than why were they hand-picked by the FBI management to run this investigation? Does that mean the FBI management is incompetent? If they were incompetent on this, the most serious investigation that the FBI has conducted in probably a decade (the investigation of members of the out-of-power party’s nominee for POTUS), then do we need to go back to every other investigation that these hand-picked professionals have conducted to see where else they have been negligent or incompetent?
 
If they were intentional, then they should be charged with treason for trying to use the police state powers to affect the out-of-power party’s candidate for POTUS. That is a treasonous act similar to the tactics of a fascist state. That is the same as saying that Obama was a fascist and I doubt that many Americans want to say that.

 
Did you see Comey’s interview with Chris Wallace? He essentially says the same thing but of course, he gets it backward. He said that if the problem was systemic than it was worse than if this was an individual situation.
 
If it is systemic than it is the FBI leadership that has allowed incompetence to thrive in the organization. Yes, that is very bad indeed. But is it as bad as being an individual situation?
 
If it is an individual situation than it is a case of the top law enforcement organization appointing its best investigators and those investigators try to use their police powers to upset the activity of the opponent of the party in power. That is treason. That is being fascist-like.
 
I don’t know Mr. Comey. You may want to say that you are consistently incompetent than to say that your hand-picked team of ace investigators are plotting police-state activities to disrupt the democratic election of our leaders. IMO, incompetence may be a better tactic to staying out of jail.