Unpaid labor only works if it leads to paid labor.
butts
here’s a hot take: unpaid labor doesn’t work, ever, in any context, and even if it leads to paid labor it’s still taking advantage of a section of the workforce with no bargaining power
Undrave
Totally agreed! Intership should always be paid. Unpaid internship is just slavery under disguise!
Chris Phoenix
Um, no, actual slavery is a lot worse, and let’s not trivialize it.
Freemage
Agreed. There’s no reason to go overboard, since there’s plenty to criticize about unpaid internships without going into overwrought comparisons.
It’s not entirely clear to me what you’re talking about with “slaves in industrialized nations”, but if that’s meant to refer to the interns or to wage labor in general, it’s bullshit.
There are plenty of problems, but slavery is a giant step for the worse and it’s got damn little to do with “high standard of living due to cheap luxuries”. There is slave labor in the US, generally trafficked from other countries and even when it’s not sex slavery, it’s still not comparable to a McJob.
Librain
Well, that depends on what sort of slavery you are talking about. The trans-Atlantic slave trade where people were treated worse than animals? Sure. That’s a whole lot worse than what’s going on here. But that’s one of the most extreme examples of slavery the world has ever seen (thanks Colonialism!).
Compare an unpaid internship to, say, a sweatshop – something which meets the legal definition of slavery under modern international law. The internship has better working conditions, but the sweatshop has better pay. Neither really benefit the worker at all. Both are generally a genuine job that would normally have a fully paid employee, but instead the business is cutting costs by having someone do the job without getting proper pay, if they get anything at all.
So… how is an unpaid internship so much better than a sweatshop? Because they can leave if they want to?
Jimbotherisenclown
What about volunteer work? Unpaid internships are awful, but not all unpaid labor is bad regardless of context. There’s also job shadowing, which is typically short-term and is more of a training thing than an exploitation thing.
desolation0
Volunteer work is usually not coerced by the potential of actual paid work doing the exact same thing you’re doing right now later. You’re not going to be fired from volunteering except under relatively dire circumstances. Yes it stands as an exception to the pedantic reading of ‘unpaid labor’ in a discussion about unpaid internships, but the reasons it is an exception are a great illustration of exactly why internships shouldn’t be an exception.
Unpaid internships can be a very good thing for the interns, at least in high end fields. The biggest problem with them from my point of view is that they’re a class filter. If you can afford to take the unpaid job because you’ve got family money, then you get your foot in the door and make the connections that the other student who needs to get paid doesn’t make.
Paradox
Unpaid internships are NOT good for the intern
Interns are only about 1% more likely to get a job from their internships
And in the US, they are completely illegal unless some very specific conditions are met (must be genuinely educational; employer cannot directly benefit; cannot promise employment at a later date; cannot displace paid positions)
Most unpaid internships are illegal, but companies do it anyway because the interns don’t know
thejeff
1% more likely than who? Paid interns? Or people who don’t get internships?
I think that latter is the difference.
Elisto
Eh, I knew an upaid congressional intern and she did not have family money to support her. She did a lot of couch surfing (which is how I met her) and did babysitting on weekends/evenings to earn money for food and the bus.
Based on what she told me, her situation seemed to be a pretty common one, so no, don’t think congressional interns are all a bunch of rich kids who can afford to exist in an exploitative system.
I knew an unpaid congressional intern and she did not have family money to support her
Not sure about Congress, but in industry internships are often used to winnow out people who need money for their labor, so the “right sort of people” get the ins, the exposure, acquainted with the powerful people, and the juicy lines to put on their resumes.
Just say some dumbass shit about how immigrants used vaccines to cause 9/11 and you can get hired by Fox News. Rearrange those keywords and it makes no difference.
No, the trick is to grind up the immigrants to turn them into the type of jet fuel that creates chem-trails that will turn the fricking twin towers gay.
Nah, you gotta use all the keywords. Like: Fox News said 9/11 used some dumbass shit to cause vaccines and hired immigrants.
Charlie Spencer
You left out ‘Trump tweeted’ (goes after ‘Fox News said’), ‘Liberal Democrats’ (between ‘some’ and ‘dumbass’), and ‘Hillary’ (before ‘hired immigrants’).
Fox News said Trump tweeted 9/11 used some Liberal Democrats’ dumbass shit to cause vaccines and Hillary hired immigrants.
NEXT!
Jhon
Hillary hired immigrants who used vaccines to turn the Twin Towers gay. That’s why they needed to be taken down.
(the towers not the vaccines)
Is she actually Latina? Has it been established that she’s that and not Italian or Spanish or other European origin?
Undrave
“DeSantos” isn’t exactly italian…
BBCC
Yup – first in Walkyverse, then Becky knew right off the bat that Roz was Latina (calling her ‘that Mexican chick’ after only seeing her once) at least Roz is visibly Latina (which suggests to me she and Robin aren’t supposed to be white) and when Robin was trying distract her opponents in Patreon strips, one thing she did was pull out a sombrero.
when Robin was trying distract her opponents in Patreon strips, one thing she did was pull out a sombrero
Does noone remember Shortpacked? (and following strip).
Also it appears there is a new comic on the shortpacked-site (which i don’t link because it will get me into moderarion) every April 1st.
Or she could just “Arglebargle guns are more important than anything!” and get a job with NRATV. Especially if she wears “These glasses make me look smart” glasses like Dana Loesch sometimes does.
Someone should tell her that they don’t really make her look smart, or at least not smart enough to overcome the sheer vomitus stupidity flowing from her mouth
Gigafreak
That’s okay. The United States doesn’t elect the smarter candidate anymore anyway.
Schpoonman
We tried, dammit.
Paradox
About fifty percent of our population tried, if I remember the numbers right. A lot of people didn’t bother to vote.
Cannonshop
and we got eight years of Barack Obama, and then the DNC picked Hillary while the voters wanted Bernie, and thus, we have “Orange Man Bad”, political censorship on social media, congress chasing their tail over russians under the bed, and Feminists hating Trans people.
not someone else
(Certain) Feminists hating trans people has been going on for decades and has little to do with the current political situation.
King Daniel
…also just to clear the record, Bernie would’ve lost the primary anyway, by sheer number of votes alone. The “DNC picked Hillary over the People’s Objections” myth needs to go.
“…whatever you’re throwin’ at the wall seems to be sticking’.”
I love how Robin only cares that Becky’s posts are keeping her numbers up. She doesn’t know or seem interested in the content. Becky could be advocating for fat Klansmen in tutus clubbing baby seals in prime time but as long as it gets ‘Likes’, Robin’s good with it.
Yeah, it will be hard for Robin to run on a platform of conservative stuff that comes out of her mouth and very liberal stuff on the internet.
Politicians can lie all they want but they do need to have a story and more or less stick to it.
thejeff
Honestly, I don’t see how she runs anyway.
She’s lost her GOP base and it’s hard to believe that Becky’s tweets are brilliant enough to convince Democratic voters that she’s completely changed and is serious about and it’s really going to stick, when there’s an actual reliable Democrat running against her.
198 thoughts on “Manager”
Ana Chronistic
Becky learned Hard Bargain
It’s Super Effective!
Harvey Janus
Robin used Unpaid Labor!
But it failed…
Plasma Mongoose
Unpaid labor only works if it leads to paid labor.
butts
here’s a hot take: unpaid labor doesn’t work, ever, in any context, and even if it leads to paid labor it’s still taking advantage of a section of the workforce with no bargaining power
Undrave
Totally agreed! Intership should always be paid. Unpaid internship is just slavery under disguise!
Chris Phoenix
Um, no, actual slavery is a lot worse, and let’s not trivialize it.
Freemage
Agreed. There’s no reason to go overboard, since there’s plenty to criticize about unpaid internships without going into overwrought comparisons.
Ed Rhodes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh2JyX9cxos
thejeff
It’s not entirely clear to me what you’re talking about with “slaves in industrialized nations”, but if that’s meant to refer to the interns or to wage labor in general, it’s bullshit.
There are plenty of problems, but slavery is a giant step for the worse and it’s got damn little to do with “high standard of living due to cheap luxuries”. There is slave labor in the US, generally trafficked from other countries and even when it’s not sex slavery, it’s still not comparable to a McJob.
Librain
Well, that depends on what sort of slavery you are talking about. The trans-Atlantic slave trade where people were treated worse than animals? Sure. That’s a whole lot worse than what’s going on here. But that’s one of the most extreme examples of slavery the world has ever seen (thanks Colonialism!).
Compare an unpaid internship to, say, a sweatshop – something which meets the legal definition of slavery under modern international law. The internship has better working conditions, but the sweatshop has better pay. Neither really benefit the worker at all. Both are generally a genuine job that would normally have a fully paid employee, but instead the business is cutting costs by having someone do the job without getting proper pay, if they get anything at all.
So… how is an unpaid internship so much better than a sweatshop? Because they can leave if they want to?
Jimbotherisenclown
What about volunteer work? Unpaid internships are awful, but not all unpaid labor is bad regardless of context. There’s also job shadowing, which is typically short-term and is more of a training thing than an exploitation thing.
desolation0
Volunteer work is usually not coerced by the potential of actual paid work doing the exact same thing you’re doing right now later. You’re not going to be fired from volunteering except under relatively dire circumstances. Yes it stands as an exception to the pedantic reading of ‘unpaid labor’ in a discussion about unpaid internships, but the reasons it is an exception are a great illustration of exactly why internships shouldn’t be an exception.
Clif
But think of the exposure.
Deanatay
Exposure is something you DIE of.
Clif
Think of the glorious death from exposure!
Ana Chronistic
You can’t be fired from a volunteer position
…asked to leave, sure
thejeff
Unpaid internships can be a very good thing for the interns, at least in high end fields. The biggest problem with them from my point of view is that they’re a class filter. If you can afford to take the unpaid job because you’ve got family money, then you get your foot in the door and make the connections that the other student who needs to get paid doesn’t make.
Paradox
Unpaid internships are NOT good for the intern
Interns are only about 1% more likely to get a job from their internships
And in the US, they are completely illegal unless some very specific conditions are met (must be genuinely educational; employer cannot directly benefit; cannot promise employment at a later date; cannot displace paid positions)
Most unpaid internships are illegal, but companies do it anyway because the interns don’t know
thejeff
1% more likely than who? Paid interns? Or people who don’t get internships?
I think that latter is the difference.
Elisto
Eh, I knew an upaid congressional intern and she did not have family money to support her. She did a lot of couch surfing (which is how I met her) and did babysitting on weekends/evenings to earn money for food and the bus.
Based on what she told me, her situation seemed to be a pretty common one, so no, don’t think congressional interns are all a bunch of rich kids who can afford to exist in an exploitative system.
ValdVin
I knew an unpaid congressional intern and she did not have family money to support her
Not sure about Congress, but in industry internships are often used to winnow out people who need money for their labor, so the “right sort of people” get the ins, the exposure, acquainted with the powerful people, and the juicy lines to put on their resumes.
ValdVin
Oops. I would like to edit my post, simply to what TheJeff said.
Spocky McSpockface
(laughs in graduate student)
Freezer
Unpaid Labor has a stupidly low hit rate, unless you have “Exposure” or “Resume Builder” equipped.
LookingIn
couple it with “College Credit” and it takes a while to have any value overall.
parismio
Hella hustled
Danielle
RIPobin
Doctor_Who
Desantowned.
Darkoneko
you win an internet
Stephen Bierce
I don’t want no damage
But how am I gonna manage…you?
You want a percentage
But I’m the one paying the dues!
Lingo
Hold me hold me hold me me me…..
(come on and)
Reed
wow i can’t wait for Becky to start posting anti-propaganda propaganda memes on robin’s twitter.
butts
you are not immune to cadbury cereal
Cattleprod
Just say some dumbass shit about how immigrants used vaccines to cause 9/11 and you can get hired by Fox News. Rearrange those keywords and it makes no difference.
Some1
9/11 used immigrants to make vaccines?
Plasma Mongoose
No, the trick is to grind up the immigrants to turn them into the type of jet fuel that creates chem-trails that will turn the fricking twin towers gay.
Delicious Taffy
There’s a very real possibility that somebody on Earth actually thinks like this.
Freemage
That sounds more like Breitbart.
Schpoonman
I was already impressed, but turning the twin towers gay makes this the best right-wing/IW parody I’ve ever seen.
Jimbotherisenclown
Nah, you gotta use all the keywords. Like: Fox News said 9/11 used some dumbass shit to cause vaccines and hired immigrants.
Charlie Spencer
You left out ‘Trump tweeted’ (goes after ‘Fox News said’), ‘Liberal Democrats’ (between ‘some’ and ‘dumbass’), and ‘Hillary’ (before ‘hired immigrants’).
Fox News said Trump tweeted 9/11 used some Liberal Democrats’ dumbass shit to cause vaccines and Hillary hired immigrants.
NEXT!
Jhon
Hillary hired immigrants who used vaccines to turn the Twin Towers gay. That’s why they needed to be taken down.
(the towers not the vaccines)
Doctor_Who
She’d have better odds if she dyed her hair blonde.
BBCC
But then she’d have a harder time being the token Latina Lady who agreed with them.
Freezer
Split the difference and go “auburn.”
LookingIn
Is she actually Latina? Has it been established that she’s that and not Italian or Spanish or other European origin?
Undrave
“DeSantos” isn’t exactly italian…
BBCC
Yup – first in Walkyverse, then Becky knew right off the bat that Roz was Latina (calling her ‘that Mexican chick’ after only seeing her once) at least Roz is visibly Latina (which suggests to me she and Robin aren’t supposed to be white) and when Robin was trying distract her opponents in Patreon strips, one thing she did was pull out a sombrero.
Amazi-Stool
when Robin was trying distract her opponents in Patreon strips, one thing she did was pull out a sombrero
Does noone remember Shortpacked? (and following strip).
Also it appears there is a new comic on the shortpacked-site (which i don’t link because it will get me into moderarion) every April 1st.
tim gueguen
Or she could just “Arglebargle guns are more important than anything!” and get a job with NRATV. Especially if she wears “These glasses make me look smart” glasses like Dana Loesch sometimes does.
Djenk
Someone should tell her that they don’t really make her look smart, or at least not smart enough to overcome the sheer vomitus stupidity flowing from her mouth
Gigafreak
That’s okay. The United States doesn’t elect the smarter candidate anymore anyway.
Schpoonman
We tried, dammit.
Paradox
About fifty percent of our population tried, if I remember the numbers right. A lot of people didn’t bother to vote.
Cannonshop
and we got eight years of Barack Obama, and then the DNC picked Hillary while the voters wanted Bernie, and thus, we have “Orange Man Bad”, political censorship on social media, congress chasing their tail over russians under the bed, and Feminists hating Trans people.
not someone else
(Certain) Feminists hating trans people has been going on for decades and has little to do with the current political situation.
King Daniel
…also just to clear the record, Bernie would’ve lost the primary anyway, by sheer number of votes alone. The “DNC picked Hillary over the People’s Objections” myth needs to go.
BrokenEye, the True False Prophet
Say 9/11 used immigrants to cause Fox News, and get a job making vaccines?
das-g
I doubt that’s how big pharma HR ticks, but I can’t rule it out completely either.
Charlie Spencer
“…whatever you’re throwin’ at the wall seems to be sticking’.”
I love how Robin only cares that Becky’s posts are keeping her numbers up. She doesn’t know or seem interested in the content. Becky could be advocating for fat Klansmen in tutus clubbing baby seals in prime time but as long as it gets ‘Likes’, Robin’s good with it.
Eyebrow
Yeah, it will be hard for Robin to run on a platform of conservative stuff that comes out of her mouth and very liberal stuff on the internet.
Politicians can lie all they want but they do need to have a story and more or less stick to it.
thejeff
Honestly, I don’t see how she runs anyway.
She’s lost her GOP base and it’s hard to believe that Becky’s tweets are brilliant enough to convince Democratic voters that she’s completely changed and is serious about and it’s really going to stick, when there’s an actual reliable Democrat running against her.
Amazi-Stool
“reliable Democrat”
Cited for ….
Well let your own imagination complete that sentence!
Darkoneko
Wonder what Leslie is gonna think about that
abysswatcher1993
Leslie: Are you helping Robin?!
Becky: I am making her a puppet of our left wing goals.
Leslie: okay, that is still evil but acceptable.
Zero
She’s attempting to redeem an evildoer. It fits her alignment.
DaveM
Hmmm, I’d put Becky in the chaotic good box rather than lawful good (she’s more Elan than Roy).
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0489.html
thejeff
Except smart.
Bagge
Something along the line of
“Wow, life find yet ANOTHER way to make my life more complicated. I’m so very surprised.”
Bagge
And of course
“Oooooh, maybe Becky can find a way to get us back toge… NO! BAD JESSICA, BAD!”
Opus the Poet
Who’s Jessica? I thought we were talking about Leslie?
ktbear
I could be (by which I mean I probably am) wrong but did it occur to you that Bagge has an alternative identity? All the best superheros do you know.