Comments for beyond the times

Comment on American manufacturing, “flexibility”, and labor costs by K. Frick

K. Frick — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:04:54 +0000

As stated elsewhere in the article, you also need a manufacturer able to consistently make labor violations and lie about it, which you lack in the U.S:

“The company disputed some details of the former Apple executive’s account, and wrote that a midnight shift, such as the one described, was impossible “because we have strict regulations regarding the working hours of our employees based on their designated shifts, and every employee has computerized timecards that would bar them from working at any facility at a time outside of their approved shift.” The company said that all shifts began at either 7 a.m. or 7 p.m., and that employees receive at least 12 hours’ notice of any schedule changes. ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html?pagewanted=all

Comment on Ping U: Bringing open courseware to your inbox by Walter

Walter — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:24:26 +0000

Working on a project definitely makes it seem easier. But generally I think a lot of people start doing online ed stuff so that at some point in the future they’ll be able to take on cooler projects. So there’s the basic tradeoff of doing stuff they don’t really want to do short term (drill on the basics of something new) so that they can do cooler stuff later. Certainly there are lots of ways to drive engagement. By no means is email/rss reminders the only (or even most significant) one. But I do think it’s a very simple one that I’d like to have the option to use.

Comment on Ping U: Bringing open courseware to your inbox by Chris Williams

Chris Williams — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:21:07 +0000

Walt,

I like your response to this, I too have started using the site.

Two thoughts/questions.

1 – This is the best review of codeacemdy I’ve read by someone who really knows how to build technology for education, I think you’ll like it: http://blog.oreillyschool.com/2011/12/my-thoughts-on-codecademy.html

2 – Is the only think that would make you like Code Academy better an email/Rss reminder? What if you actually looked forward to the lesson because you had a specific project you were completing? Or what is your were competing against a friend to learn something? I’m just trying to figure out if there is something extra, other then an email that would make you interested.

Chris

Comment on How inequality harms by Matt

Matt — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 23:26:27 +0000

Walt, I think you are right to focus on opportunity costs as the real harm in inequality, but I don’t think that you’ve touched on the pernicious assumption that undergird an assertion that inequality is not harmful. Economic wealth is valuable, not because it allows for consumption (we over consume as a political body), rather, its useful because it gives an economic actor freedom to choose among options – e.g. what college to attend, whether to make the investment of homeownership or opt for the relative freedom of being a renter, or whether to relocate in search of a more fulfilling life/career. The real harm of unequal wealth distribution is that individuals who would otherwise have had a positive impact, are not able to do so and we’re all worse off because of it. Its foolish to think that the only thing that set Einstein apart was his intellect- he had genuine economic opportunity. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had economic opportunity, but only the history of the winners gets written. Untold numbers of humans that could have made the world a better place have not had the opportunity to do so because they have been relegated to lives of toilsome labor because of the moral luck of their birth. You’ll often hear people claim that “anyone can pull himself up by the bootstraps,” but these Horatio Alger stories are a fiction in contemporary America and most such stories commit the logical error of generalizing from the specific to the general (‘so and so made it out of poverty so anyone can make it out of poverty’). To deny that inequality is a problem is to deny the fundamental equality of all men, women, minorities, ethnicities, etc. If you do not believe that economic inequality is a problem then you tacitly support the position that the less wealthy are inherently less able to contribute to the social good. The opportunity cost of continued inequality is that 99% of the country will never be given the opportunity to make public policy, go to graduate school, or fully participate in the democratic process. How many brilliant minds never have the opportunity to address nearly intractable problems for no reason other than an unequal concentration of wealth. For every MLK or Steve Jobs, there are untold numbers of individuals with equal measures of talent who will forever remain anonymous because they did not have the economic freedom to chose their path in life.

Comment on How inequality harms by Walter

Walter — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:05:59 +0000

Thanks Harris! Short version: no, not really. Longer version: only to the extent that mitigating the inequality would dampen the prospects for creating new wealth. In other words, to the extent that redistributing the $1000 that you earned keeps you from creating new wealth going forward, sure I care. But if it turned out that it didn’t – that you were intrinsically motivated, say – then no, the fact that you created the wealth for yourself wouldn’t matter to me. A consequentialist view where deserts are valued only to the extent that they incentivize. Not necessarily the most common view, I know. But I think this gets addressed once you get passed “it’s not hurting anyone” and start talking about the mixture of rights/property and growth.

Comment on How inequality harms by Harris

Harris — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:58:03 +0000

Hey Walt,

Enjoyable post and definitely an important topic right now. I do have an issue with your hypothetical “windfall” situation though. How do you think this changes if the new wealth is created by conscious productive human action, not through happenstance since wealth can’t actually be magically created. Or conversely, through theft (i.e. crony capitalism)?

Do you think the cause of income inequality is an important consideration?

Comment on Young, unemployed, forced to rock by Tom

Tom — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 21:57:55 +0000

Remember what your parents always told you: don’t join Titus Andronicus.

Comment on Young, unemployed, forced to rock by Tonry

Tonry — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:59:37 +0000

Way to turn a witty intro for posting a Facebook link into the first draft of a blog post! Good job!

Wait… this is the whole thing? There’s not a link to a second page at the bottom? It’s a sad day when art (aka “things you write for FREE”) suffers due to someone trying to making a buck. FOR SHAME.

Comment on NYT ignores draconian copyright terms by Walter

Walter — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:42:47 +0000

I know this is controversial, but I am not convinced that the only way to benefit from making music is if you can live off it entirely. I’m pretty open to a “folk” culture in which the musician has a day job (with a good wage and benefits, but that’s another discussion) and contributes to the culture – in exchange for respect, adoration, fulfillment, etc. on the side.

Comment on NYT ignores draconian copyright terms by Robert

Robert — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:12:18 +0000

I understand the need for this works to become public property — from both a social and cultural perspective. However, it is really hard not to side with the musicians. They created music and the only way they could make a living from it was if they signed a deal with the devil. Creating original songs and music and then performing what you have created is like giving a little bit of yourself to everyone who listens. So it is only fair that they should be able to reclaim that bit of themselves after having given it away to the corporate music industry for so many years.

It is a shame that the corporations got to keep the songs for that long!