In a way, humiliation is the currency of the labor economy. A purely dignity-respecting economy wouldn't work. It wouldn't be liquid enough. The way you get it moving is to allow *unknowing* assaults on dignity.
-
Show this thread
-
Original version of joke in EoP -- Man: will you sleep with me for $1 million? Woman: Okay Man: will you sleep with me for $5? Woman: WHAT! What kind of woman do you take me for? Man: we’ve already established what kind of woman you are. Now we’re just haggling over the price.
1 reply 0 retweets 8 likesShow this thread -
Dignity respecting kinda non-joke (modulo your absolute moral view of prostitution) -- Man: will you sleep with me for $500? Woman: WHAT! Do I look like a hooker to you? Man: My apologies, in my country prostitution is legal, and I don't yet understand dress norms here
1 reply 0 retweets 9 likesShow this thread -
The boundary of the labor economy is a noise band around common knowledge of the local ecosystem of "dignities". It moves slowly towards "more corrupted" by traditionalist scopes
1 reply 0 retweets 9 likesShow this thread -
In an increasingly connected, globalized, remote transactions world, it is becoming harder and harder to price in the cost of navigating the fuzzy boundary of "dignity". Distant remote corporations can unknowingly assault local dignities for decades, with the resentment building
1 reply 0 retweets 9 likesShow this thread -
The dissonance shows up in the gap between performed and felt dignity. This is why the waiter may smile at you, but spit in your food. He's performing dignity in a way that allows him to go on living because he can't overtly challenge the expectations.
1 reply 1 retweet 8 likesShow this thread -
So a good question for economists to consider is: can price-based mechanisms price dignity in a way that lowers the rate of waiters spitting in your food?
1 reply 1 retweet 9 likesShow this thread -
And note that surveillance is not the answer, since people forced to perform a debilitating and dehumanizing level of dignity they are powerless to resist will always find some unobservable space to indulge in compensatory behaviors.
1 reply 1 retweet 10 likesShow this thread
In France, I noticed a) no tips b) a different standard for "good service" c) service workers acting with the kind of dignity that I'd expect of middle class peers here. Less smiling/emotional labor etc. America imposes a kowtow standard.
-
Show additional replies, including those that may contain offensive content
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.