[MrDresden]

Tell me, how do you see life being in the Consumerism States of America in the future where the handful of mega corporations, that will have been allowed to behave and merge for monopolistic dominance with impunity for decades, will have such power and size that their employees will work in horrifying conditions for wages that barely (if even) can support them, all the while making the very few individuals at the top richer than any individual or group ever would need to be. All in the name of innovation.

You'll have plenty of shiny consumer items to select from (most if not all actually designed and manufactured over seas to keep costs down of course).

And if you are good litle drone you might just keep the current job long enough to scrounge together enough to buy the shiny item, so that it will signal to everyone that you are truly one of the pack that everyone around you so desperately needs to feel as being a part too.

This isn't some scifi reality that won't come to pass.

What worker protection do tech workers in the US actually have? How about the conditions in Amazon's 'fulfillment centers' (this term is down right Stalin-esque btw)? UPS drivers?

How many mergers have there been in the aeronautical sector since WW2 (hint, used to be 50+ companies and now there are 5).

And what is currently happening with the US airline manufacturer (the singular other manufacturer of its size compared to the EU' Airbus)?

I could go on, and on, and on but am hoping that you are smart enough to get the point I'm making.

[xvector]

I see a life made far easier by AI that Europeans simply lack because they have adopted a "technology bad" mindset oblivious of the fact that half their siblings would have died in childhood if it wasn't for the technology they hate so much.

Don't know where you're getting your views on consumerism from, but it's not anything I've seen here.

Why as a tech worker do I need a union? Have you seen how they operate? They don't reward based on merit, but seniority. You're forced to join them and pay dues and the seniority passes the shittiest options down to you. I'd much rather work in big tech where I get rewarded for kicking ass.

The lack of worker rights in the US is a much smaller issue than the lack of technological muscle in the EU. Technology has a far greater impact on QoL historically.

[smoldesu]

As an American citizen, let me assuage your concerns; nobody here is adopting technology any faster than you are in Europe. We don't even accept cardless transactions in the majority of places, you're straight-up delusional if you think our proximity to Apple and Google helps us. No, we get dogfooded the worst technology and watch as it rots out beneath our feet and companies avoid taking responsibility. We let businesses expand to unrealistic, dangerous sizes and then shirk away from regulation and standardization because we're afraid of making it worse. American citizens are conditioned to accept whatever insane demand or TOS they are presented, because their FUD is stronger than their consciousness. Our lack of mediated progress has arguably ruined television, telecommunications, advertisement, and now the internet and software distribution at-large.

> Don't know where you're getting your views on consumerism from, but it's not anything I've seen here.

You won't hear it "here" because Hacker News is a bubble. Conversations shy away from disparaging consumerism because half the people here would sell their own mom to a pimp for investment funding or stock in Apple. Go read Y-Combinator's request for startups and just try getting optimistic for "America's future". It has the same nuance and vision as a loaf of sourdough bread.

If you don't yet understand why unions are necessary, just keep watching the American labor market. It will get far, far worse before anything gets better over here in the esteemed Land of Opportunity.