• lieuwestra @lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Skilled labor is economists jargon, so the meaning of it does not match the dictionary definition.

    No one is saying there is literally no skill involved in unskilled labor.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      1 year ago

      Skilled labor = real human deserving of a fair wage.

      Unskilled labor = meat machine that we need to pay by law, but we gladly wouldn’t pay them a dime if we could get away with it because they aren’t real people.

      -Asshat Owners

      • lieuwestra @lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Technically skilled as in requiring education (financed by the state), unskilled can learn on the job within days.

        But politics has a way with twisting those words into a us/them dichotomy.

          • kautau@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I’m a software engineer. There’s people on my team that went to Yale for computer science. There’s also people on my team that took a six month coding boot camp. They’re both great at their jobs.

            • uis@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Specifics of software engieneering. Doesn’t work with civil engieneering, electrical engieneering and many other fields.

            • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Some people just can’t be trained to write code. You still need the aptitude at the end of the day.

        • Asafum@feddit.nl
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          1 year ago

          For me it’s not really an us/them opposition, my disgust is with how unskilled laborers are viewed/treated because of our lack of education. That somehow makes us subhuman and undeserving of a living wage. That we should be thankful for a minimum wage.

          I have no issue with skilled laborers, I have an issue with owners/CEO/etc… us laborers of all skills are in the same boat. Best friend works for Intel, Intel makes tons of money, friend gets pay cut and added responsibility. ¿Que?

          • lieuwestra @lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            The problem lies in the fact that we need to categorise these subjects to write more effective policy. And it doesn’t matter what words you use, they always get these connotations as familiarity grows.

          • Incandemon@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            To add to this, the whole education level dictates importance thing never made sense to me anyways. I may see a doctor once or twice a year, but I need garbage collected every week. On the level of social importance it strike me then that the garbage person is therefor more important than a doctor.

        • Incandemon@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I think its unintended but by that definition then carpentry or other trades which used to be learned by apprenticeship on the job aren’t skilled?

      • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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        1 year ago

        What constitutes skilled labor and who should be paid a living wage are two distinct conversations.

        • unfreeradical@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Is it made less difficult to achieve a living wage for everyone by affirming, or by challenging, the practice of characterizing some labor as “unskilled”?

          • helenslunch@feddit.nl
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            1 year ago

            What it does it make you sound like a dunce for pretending like there aren’t many many jobs that require special skills.

            What you’re doing is applying manipulative tactics and blatantly lying to further an agenda rather than just applying simple logic and reason. When you do that, you inhibit the cause you claim to support.

    • unfreeradical@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sure. To the economist the terms are jargon, but to the bootlicker they are sacred words. Your heresy is unwelcome.