Neoliberalism
Work
Fig. 1. The spectre of Death, in the form of a large skeleton, rises with the smoke and flames of the burning Asch Building during the Triangle fire, as people jump and fall to their death. Artist unknown, from International Ladies Garment Workers Union Photographs (1885-1985) at The Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
It shouldn’t even remotely have been a mystery. In my continuing, desperate, and hopeless job search, I had signed up with Upwork. There are a lot of kids wanting help with their homework, for not a lot of money, there, and I was so suspicious that the openings I seemed suitable for were almost all college kids wanting their assignments written, that I didn’t bid on many of them.
But now I know why I could not and will not get any traction there: If a U.S. parent can find a tutor there with a Ph.D. in mathematics for $4 per hour,[1] I simply cannot compete.
The trend means a different type of American worker faces overseas competition. While factory workers have seen U.S. jobs move overseas for decades, many types of service workers were more protected because, until recently, the jobs were done in person.[2]
Of course, capitalist libertarians think this is wonderful:
The option of outsourcing could help the U.S. economy by alleviating domestic-worker shortages, said Scott Lincicome, a trade expert at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. The U.S. unemployment rate was 3.5% in July, near a half-century low, the Labor Department reported Friday. In June, there were 3.6 million more open jobs in the U.S. than unemployed Americans seeking work.[3]
And I still can’t get a fucking job. Capitalist libertarians doubtless think that’s wonderful too. I have closed my account on Upwork (yes, it was a paid account).
The key is, the world is getting more competitive and that’s really good as long as we keep our own house in order and keep competitive here.[4]
I hear all this “free” (always ask, “free” for whom, to do what, to whom, at whose expense) trade bullshit, but can somebody please explain how I’m supposed to live on $4 an hour when my landlord wants to raise my rent to $1000 per month on a 300-square foot apartment in Pittsburgh?
Harriet Torry, “Where to Find a $4-an-Hour Math Tutor With a Ph.D.? Overseas,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-to-find-a-4-an-hour-math-tutor-with-a-ph-d-overseas-b5d9afce
Illiberalism
Israel
Fig. 2. “Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu signing the visitors book, at Teen Murti Chowk, in New Delhi. . . . The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi is also seen.” Photograph credited to Prime Minister's Office (GODL-India), January 14, 2018, via Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
Melanie Lidman, “‘This is my red line’: Anguished Israelis talk relocation amid judicial overhaul push,” Times of Israel, August 6, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/this-is-my-red-line-anguished-israelis-talk-relocation-amid-judicial-overhaul-push/
Secession
Fig. 3. “This vintage map, published in 1864 by H.H. Lloyd of New York, reflects anti-secession sentiment by taking secession to an extreme conclusion.” Credited to Boston Rare Maps, August 4, 2023, via Atlas Obscura,[5] fair use.
Frank Jacobs, “A nation divided into not two—but four—took the idea of secession to an extreme,” Atlas Obscura, August 4, 2023, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/strange-maps-the-disunited-states
- [1]Harriet Torry, “Where to Find a $4-an-Hour Math Tutor With a Ph.D.? Overseas,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-to-find-a-4-an-hour-math-tutor-with-a-ph-d-overseas-b5d9afce↩
- [2]Harriet Torry, “Where to Find a $4-an-Hour Math Tutor With a Ph.D.? Overseas,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-to-find-a-4-an-hour-math-tutor-with-a-ph-d-overseas-b5d9afce↩
- [3]Harriet Torry, “Where to Find a $4-an-Hour Math Tutor With a Ph.D.? Overseas,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-to-find-a-4-an-hour-math-tutor-with-a-ph-d-overseas-b5d9afce↩
- [4]Claude Barfield, quoted in Harriet Torry, “Where to Find a $4-an-Hour Math Tutor With a Ph.D.? Overseas,” Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2023, https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-to-find-a-4-an-hour-math-tutor-with-a-ph-d-overseas-b5d9afce↩
- [5]Frank Jacobs, “A nation divided into not two—but four—took the idea of secession to an extreme,” Atlas Obscura, August 4, 2023, https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/strange-maps-the-disunited-states↩