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    mrblergHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 9:52am

    Slight tangent: But I do not understand how the Christian Right can be so against everything Jesus taught (“It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven”) but claim to do everything in his name.

    I know about the prosperity gospel but my brain cannot fathom how these people think Jesus would be pro unchecked capitalism.

    Wouldn’t Jesus be pro helping the poor/sick/women/minorities?

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      Thrumboliomrblerg
      3/31/16 9:57am

      Jesus’s ideas would be viewed as inconvenient in the present day.

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      Darmok eats Challah at 12Nagramrblerg
      3/31/16 10:07am

      It’s Supply-Side Jesus, not Jesus of Nazareth.

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    PeteRRHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 9:51am

    Not being tied to a job because they are your source of health insurance would seem to be a good thing.

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      ReburnsABurningReturnsPeteRR
      3/31/16 9:56am

      So, you’re saying we should just do single-payer and be done with it?

      Sold!

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      Misteaks were madePeteRR
      3/31/16 10:01am

      I’m tied to my job because of the nice salary, yearly Xmas bonus, impressive profit sharing, great 401K match and countryside commute I get to take twice a day. Their healthcare is ok but not great. That’s what the wife’s job is for.

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    tito_swinefluHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 10:04am

    The gig economy is great! I don’t know what Hamilton is on about. I have been working in the gig economy my whole life. I do consulting for pharmaceutical companies and for-profit education systems, and they pay me $125 - $150 / hour. The only losers in the gig economy is those poor schmo’s who don’t have Northern European ancestry, an extensive fraternity network, significant inherited wealth and the social training from years of prep school and expensive colleges. They should get those things and stop complaining.

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      tito_swineflutito_swineflu
      3/31/16 10:51am

      OMG, I forgot the other thing that’s great about the gig economy. Cheap servants! My nanny, driver, masseuse, cook and maid cost so much less in an unregulated economy without strong unions. Thanks, gig economy! You make life great for the upper middle class.

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      detournementtito_swineflu
      3/31/16 11:17am

      cheap servants on demand from your smartwatch - 24/7. america is the greatest its ever been.

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    Vitamin VHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 9:55am

    To further this point, I would assert that many people who can afford to work like this long-term are writers, designers, etc., sitting in coffee shops in Brooklyn-like places with a partner’s income to help make ends meet. Some are also struggling, but for many, this option is for the middle class-to-wealthy sector who can afford to do this, maybe to be home when their kids get out of school.

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      Hello_Madam_PresidentVitamin V
      3/31/16 10:45am

      Yeah - there is a difference between opting into the gig economy and relying on it because your income is not sufficient otherwise.

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      shelwoodVitamin V
      3/31/16 3:16pm

      What a job sector is “meant for” seldom matches reality until you get to those high-salaried CEO jobs that are “meant for” the sons of rich people. Fast food jobs are “meant for” teenagers, but end up being taken by people who need to feed their children. With full-time jobs and whole swaths of market either disappearing or already being occupied by people who are meant to be farther up the food chain, part-time contract work is the only thing available to a lot of people who do not have trust funds or SOs to supplement their day jobs.

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    Flying Squid (I hate me more than you do.)Hamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 10:47am

    That means a strong public health care system, a strong Social Security system, and widely available social services for all.

    Doesn’t sound terrifying to me.

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      Honey Bee's Roundhouse KickFlying Squid (I hate me more than you do.)
      3/31/16 11:16am

      But we don’t have that. We only have the parts of the economy that benfits the rich owners of the companies not the parts that benefit the workers who are currently just being screwed.

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      Flying Squid (I hate me more than you do.)Honey Bee's Roundhouse Kick
      3/31/16 11:19am

      Oh I know, but if that’s the end result, which it sounds like it’s going to be or else the rich aren’t going to have any more Uber drivers, let alone artisanal cheese, there’s not going to be a choice.

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    Sid and FinancyHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 9:52am

    From each according to his fragility, to each according to his means.

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      gramercypoliceSid and Financy
      3/31/16 11:13am

      not enough stars on this one

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    Gillian HolroydHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 10:22am

    I’m curious how many workers are doing both a FT job and gigging on the side. Most of my fellow freelance writers and designers are either partially supported by a spouse, or they eventually return to regular employment. The money is great when it’s great, but it’s turbulent and there are zero protections. You have to be a disciplined saver, buy disability insurance in addition to regular insurance, and even then 1 small crisis can wipe you out. Most creatives I know cover their ass by doing both.

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      Hello_Madam_PresidentGillian Holroyd
      3/31/16 10:44am

      I think the creative field is slightly different because that’s been the deal with it for a long, long time. People who go into many creative fields are aware that they will be hustling jobs, and maybe bartending on the side or whatever.

      I think what this is about, is more a trend of people who ideally want to work a full time job needing to piece together their income, either due to low wages at their job or not being able to work full time.

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      corndogGillian Holroyd
      3/31/16 10:59am

      I’ve started gigging on the side because I’ve realized that my employer is never going to give me a raise. I could try to find a better job, but my skill set is not rare, and it seems safer to keep the steady job with good benefits and just add side gigs.

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    GeorgeGeoffersonLivesHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 9:44am

    What is that car doing wearing a merkin?

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      GeneDumpsterGeorgeGeoffersonLives
      3/31/16 9:57am

      Hiding its bare volvo.

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      GeorgeGeoffersonLivesGeneDumpster
      3/31/16 10:02am

      Well played.

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    HarrynWhitey4everHamilton Nolan
    3/31/16 9:53am

    This is why this election, and these democratic primaries are so important. The myth that it is impossible to get single payer health care is being pushed by the party who is supposed to be looking out for “us”. The pragmatic view hasn’t worked. The capitalism of today is a zero sum game, and they won’t be happy until they have it all. It is time for people to realize that we aren’t asking for “free stuff”. We are asking for a fair, progressive taxation, and for the revenue to be spent on the people, in the form of health care, infrastructure, things that benefit the common good. The revenue is there, the problem is that it keeps flowing up, even with “pragmatic” Democrats in power. Of course I will vote for Hillary over whatever piece of driftwood with a flag lapel pin the GOP happens to prop up. But enough is enough. The Democratic powers that be have been taking it’s base for granted way too long. Time for a change. And we can’t let up if she wins the nomination. This anger has to translate to action.

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      Hello_Madam_PresidentHamilton Nolan
      3/31/16 10:33am

      If we allow companies to increasingly push employees into part-time status, we have to strengthen our nation’s public social safety net correspondingly to replace the things that are being lost with the loss of full-time employment. That means a strong public health care system, a strong Social Security system, and widely available social services for all.

      This would enable the best of both worlds, really. As someone who went a few years as a freelancer, and then another few years very under-employed, there is both freedom and terror associated with it. The terror would have been eliminated if I’d been able to afford insurance (this was before Obamacare), and if I knew that my dry spells wouldn’t result in me starving. But I did it because I couldn’t find better steady employment at the time. I had no choice in the matter.

      Companies who want (or need, even) to cut corners by reducing full time employment should be supporting a social safety net. Not to mention healthy, less stressed workers will be better for their bottom line.

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