$15/hr is not good money. Entry level jobs seldom are. But it's more than some jobs are worth. Minimum wage is a stepping stone to higher wages for those moving to more responsible jobs and working hard. "Do you want fries with that?" jobs ain't worth $15.

-- Chuck

 

Entry level job are just that; an entry to the work force. Never meant to be a career or support a family.

 

I mean, sure... but equating an Amazon warehouse job with "Do you want fries with that" is pretty myopic on multiple levels.

$15/hr also isn't minimum wage, which is a whole 'nother debate. I do agree on a basic level that there are "entry-level jobs" that should be used as a stepping stone, but not everyone has that capability to perform at a higher level than "entry-level." Annndddd... those jobs are still important. Where to draw the line is a hard decision that i am very much not qualified to administer. I don't think front line fast food workers need to make 6 figures. I DO think that a warehouse worker that performs an extremely demanding and important job function should be able to live a comfortable life to be able to relax when they're not beating themselves into the ground at work. And as i think we all agree: $31k/yr ain't that. It might be in certain areas, but those are areas that generally won't have warehouse jobs.

The fact of the matter is: There are more entry-level jobs than not. We can preach from high horses all we want about "just get better and engage upward mobility, forehead!" but that's just not realistic for everyone. Or even most people, statistically.

 

Right! But being CEO of a company is worth millions. And if you happen to get fired from that CEO job, they give you hundreds of millions to go away. Let me know when they're hiring, I'd like to apply for THAT job.
Sorry, forgot to add that I get my parts locally, and use big box stores as a last resort.

 

When it comes to auto parts, I usually use Rock Auto - I trust the source and the prices are fair.

 

Yeah. Order pullers have to pull so many orders per hour or you’re gone. So you have people holding their piss and shit because the corp they work for doesn’t factor that in. People hold their excrement until their lunch. Not any place that I would work. I’ve had some pretty bad jobs but nothing where I couldn’t go take a shit or piss. No thanks. F that company.

 

I worked my share of crap jobs, came from a family of business owners, and am around alot of people in "shit" jobs, I use quotes to quote how other describe it, not necessarily disagreeing. The reason why places like Amazon are so strict, because <$15/hr workers arent the most motivated. Alot of people fall into the vacuum of thinking everyone is that thoughtful, ambitious, self starting types. Fact is, many people are perfectly happy staring at their phone while customers line up, and then complain about not getting paid more. And this is not the exception, you're much more likely to run into a worker I described vs. the worker who understands the contract that they signed up for and puts in a honest day's work.

But let's not get into a debate about minimum wage.

I think what everyone is dancing around is Amazon isn't particularly evil since its competitors pay essentially the same thing, with Costco being a far outlier. Now I said particularly, because they are, and I think the Besos, Zuckerbergs, Dorseys, Jobs, etc etc of the world are terrible human beings.

But to get back on topic, I have no problem with Amazon, they actually support alot of small businesses who would stand zero chance against the Walmarts, Best Buys (back then), Nordstrom's etc etc of the world. Additionally, tons of businesses were able to sell their products that had zero chance of competing with all the established big brands out there. Alot of the change they made in business actually legitimized online shopping, allowing more brands to compete in an otherwise dominated market. So in that respect I dont have much of an issue with Amazon.

Where I do have an issue with Amazon, among many others but let's focus on this for now since this has not been mentioned yet, is Amazon's propensity to steal ideas. They see what works well, and then introduce and Amazon Basics version, and then the algorithm puts their product well ahead of yours. So I now avoid buying Amazon Basics stuff. Additionally, Amazon is making their nut more on the data collection, programming, and all that other non retail stuff, where they again will hold conferences for developers to show off their programs, apps, etc, and then blatantly rip it off. Best metaphor I could think of is if Google monitored what apps were selling well on the app store, and then blatantly ripping it off. Frankly, the tech world is straight crooked, a far cry from the progressive image they try to portray.

Lastly, the thing I'm doing more and more now is trying to buy not Chinese as much as I can now. Considering the trade imbalance and all of China's foreign fiscal policies, we really need to take away business from them. I have zero problem buying anywhere else, well maybe not just anywhere, but right now China is what I'm trying to avoid. Don't get me wrong, Domestic corporate leaders are friggin morons, if more CEOs ran their companies like Costco or In N Out, our world would be infinitely better. Problem with buying USA is that oftentimes their products aren't necessarily better and cost more. When I do find something great though, I try my best to buy it even if it costs more. I'm also the type that during this pandemic that pays a generous tip when I get takeout at restaurants I frequented prepandemic.

Final point, Amazon did a lot of good because it forced alot of other companies to step up their game, because frankly alot of companies didn't respect that sort of business enough. Majority of companies are ran by suit wearing, sociopaths who cut their mullets shorter and learned to talk without an accent, you'd think they would have learned faster but didn't. For me, the #1 benefit for shopping on Amazon are the reviews when I buy stuff I need but have zero care about researching. I can tell you who the transmission supplier is for the majority of cars out there, could not tell you which torque wrench I should get for my bicycle.

 

That last part is funny because Amazon review stuffing is so well known and prolific. I frequently get $5 Amazon gift card offers for a 5-star review, and would never buy a product based on any 5-star review. Much more insightful to read the 4 and 3 star reviews.

My biggest gripe with Amazon is that given how profitable it is, it could set an example and pay a better wage - aka $20/hr, but chooses not to.

 

All agreed, but at least i have some literature to read about some peoples experiences. Additionally, when something gets a ton of reviews, generally it works out.

Yeah, amazon is an evil company though.

 

Care to name some large multi national industry leaders that are good?