[duxup]

I don't see James from HR being all that good at "urban cleaners" or wanting to get paid what an "urban cleaner" gets paid. Let's assume he lost his job, I'm not sure he or the others no longer paying much in the way of taxes means there's a lot of money to pay "urban cleaners".

[sodokuwizard]

That's because of the current paradigm of status and success chasing that is driven solely by marketing. Marketing will hit a wall and it won't beat actual suffering faced in the wake of quality of life decline. People are still a little cozy right now so they buy into hype but when their belly is rumbling , what is bought is what exists at the lowest price , its the only vector that matters.

When James from HR actually gets unemployed for an extended period of time and lose his yuppie status, and has to suffer , he will count his blessings that all he has to do for work is "urban cleaning" and can dilly dally with free internet / subsidized utilities in the remainder of his time or you know - join a club , meet people and become human again.

Without a doubt - "quality of life"/everyone gets a pickup truck or a $10 000 bike if they save up real hard is going to dip.

But I see this as a market correction - western lifestyle was always inflated in nature/high consumption. The average dude in south america lives on what , a $1 a day? Nobody will be able to afford inflated products / industries at inflated prices- true cost will begin to be reflected more and more in the market.

But EVERYONE will have to take the hit / eat the loss , so there won't necessarily be as much shame in being an urban cleaner , everyone on the inside understands you did what you have to do to survive.

[gus_massa]

> The average dude in south america lives on what , a $1 a day?

Hi from Argentina. Minimum salary here is approximately US$250 per month, approximately US$8 per day, and it would be very difficult to feed a family with that.

[duxup]

Honestly, this just reads like you anticipate an event and you're substituting your own values rather than any rhyme or reason or even knowledge here.

[sodokuwizard]

You're right about the rhyme and reason; from my perspective I'm just letting a bunch of thoughts out so there's no cohesiveness to it.

But it doesn't change the underlying answer about what will happen to "James", when push comes to shove, people will work what they have too is all I was getting at. This was in response to you essentially saying James is not "built" for this kind of work or wouldn't accept it even if it presented itself. I don't think there's anything factually incorrect about saying he would take it even if not initially because he hasn't swallowed his pride. It's just pragmatism/survival instinct. Most white collars are where they are because they wanted to choose a viable career. If whats defined as a viable career shifts, the people will shift with it.

I wouldn't say I'm anticipating an event so much as exploring a hypothetical, I'll admit I speak with some "sureness" but its really just presenting statements and kinda seeing what sticks or doesn't. A sounding off board.