[Aurornis]

> Companies will literally pay you as little as they can get away with.

Everyone pays as little for everything as they can get away with.

Companies aren't doing anything unusual or evil. This is literally just how a market works.

A lot of people forget that the job market is a market. Or they wish it wasn't a market and they could block out competition for themselves so companies had to pay them more (at the expense of those excluded)

[Timon3]

This might be fair if the rules of the market were static, but companies are actively using their power and influence to affect the market rules so they can get away with paying workers less and less - that's not to mention collusion and corruption.

Just because this has been normalized doesn't mean it's not evil. If a healthcare company introduces processes that deny people life-saving interventions just to funnel more money to their shareholders, that company and its leadership are thoroughly evil.

I'd also like to add that I often pay more for things than I could get away with. I try to prefer locally owned businesses when possible, and if they have fair prices and give me good advice I often pay a bit extra (essentially a "tip" for the business) to support them.

[Aurornis]

> but companies are actively using their power and influence to affect the market rules so they can get away with paying workers less and less - that's not to mention collusion and corruption.

What do you mean? Labor is a market. Companies can’t force anyone to work for them. If the pay gets too low, people leave for other companies or jobs.

[Timon3]

Just like all markets, the labor market isn't an immutable natural structure. It is actively shaped by the laws and regulations of the market's respective physical location. There are too many specific examples to count, but a few of the most obvious ones are IMO: Child labor, minimum wage, max. working hours and/or overtime, worker safety & health, ...

> Companies can’t force anyone to work for them. If the pay gets too low, people leave for other companies or jobs.

In an ideal world, sure! But in the real world, there are many sources of friction that - when added together - keep people tied to a job, even if they feel the pay is too low.

[goatlover]

Markets are social constructs, not something given in nature. As such, there are rules enforced by laws to how the markets operate. Powerful money interests can shape those rules by influencing politicians to pass laws in their favor.

[yunwal]

Ah yes, the free labor market, where for some reason we’ve given one side a monopoly on whether you can see a doctor without going bankrupt.

[tstrimple]

> Everyone pays as little for everything as they can get away with.

Bullshit cop out. I regularly spend more than the “average” on technology because I’ve been burned by the bottom of the barrel too many times. Maybe you cheap out on all of your purchases, but it says nothing about “everyone”. The fact that you claim “everyone” has as few moral qualms as you is telling. But not in a way that reflects everyone. Just short sighted selfish assholes.

[Aurornis]

> Bullshit cop out. I regularly spend more than the “average” on technology because I’ve been burned by the bottom of the barrel too many times.

You missed the part about equal service. Please read my whole comment, not just snap responses to the first line.

Obviously nobody is hiring the person who has the lowest salary demands and ignoring their qualifications.

[Timwi]

> Companies aren't doing anything unusual or evil.

You literally just described an evil behavior. It's obviously not evil when you're shopping for gadgets, but if you think that's morally comparable to the livelihoods of human beings, I'm sorry to inform you that you're a psychopath.

> This is literally just how a market works. A lot of people forget that the job market is a market.

You say that like you think it's a law of physics. Markets don't exist in nature. Markets are a conscious, deliberate creation by humans.

> Or they wish it wasn't a market

Correct! We've unambiguously determined that applying market logic to people's livelihoods is inhumane and immoral. There shouldn't be a market for being allowed to live. It should just be guaranteed to everybody.