I can open a competing business.

No, you can't. There isn't enough money anywhere to compete with the Comcasts and Verizons of the world.

And, remember, you can always vote your elected officials out of office. Try firing the board of Comcast.

On the flip side, our water is provided by a private company. They are terrible. They're a classic example of a private company cutting every corner it can find, legal or not. We can't even fine them effectively, since business-friendly regulation allows them to simply pass on the cost of the fine directly to the customer, with no government oversight or influence. They have to lobby the town for rate increases (which they get, much to the voter's chagrin most of the time), but they can tack on all the fees they want to recover fines. Their infrastructure is totally inadequate and has about 4 hours of water in it in the case of a single pump failure. They're breaking the contract by doing that and numerous other things (for example, not having contract-mandated disaster plans written up and waiting to be used) but they have no competition and no incentive to improve. They're no better than a municipal service, and in some cases a lot worse. We had a boil order a few years back that went on for nearly two weeks.

They have no incentive to improve; so long as they have the contract (and how is anyone supposed to enter the market to compete with them), they have guaranteed business with no market pressure. At least a municipal service could have its house cleaned out by elected officials. There's actually talk of the town buying them out. Short of that, what are we going to do? They have a stranglehold on a vital town service and have no incentive to do anything other than make money.

If they're things you can absorb through doing other things, why hire someone with a degree at all?

Because HR won't put anyone without a degree in front of you. They've bought fully into the "everyone must have a degree" mindset, and use that criteria to weed out people arbitrarily. Figuring out if someone has the right skills and experience is hard. Tossing someone's resume into the bin because they don't have a degree is easy.

"No."

You've completely missed my point. The correct response to something like this is to present evidence that contradicts the theory. Why you insist on calling him/her names is a mystery.

Nope, when we're honest we say FRUITCAKE!

The scientific process requires that alternative (or unpopular) theories that seem to be supported by experimental observation be tolerated and given due consideration. Calling people names is the antithesis of the process. Maybe they are dead wrong about the steady-state theory of the universe, and/or maybe the big bang theory is dead wrong. Science allows for the possibility that the unlikely is true and the likely is false. To me, this is the maddening thing about general apathy/hostility to science; what science considers a strength (always allowing for new evidence to contradict current generally accepted theories), un-science (for lack of a better term) considers a weakness. Some people are so consumed by the need for absolute truth that they dismiss science out of hand, because by definition science defies the concept of absolute truth. They can't handle the fact that some things can't currently be explained fully, it's too much grey for them. The universe is a complicated, subtle, and unimaginably diverse place, with laws of physics that may not even be consistent in all locations.

Shill.

While everyone else is formed into "teams" to work on projects, and jockeys for position and recognition on the "team", I am (with management's blessings) a "team" of one - and I prefer it that way.

And the teams are probably thankful you're not on one of them, you sound like an ego with legs.

There's always one, isn't there. Fuck off back to Drudge or whatever you people read.

If you go to places where people are living for quality-of-life and not just money, you'll find...

people who have bought into the "better quality of life is worth more than money" bullshit that Big Business has pushed onto the public. Those two go hand-in-hand, any attempt to imply otherwise is a function of employers lying to their (current and prospective) workers.

All employers want nowadays are workers who are only capable of mindlessly following a given set of instructions.

FTFY.

You could argue that by conditioning the students to never question authority and do exactly what they are told with no questions asked (or allowed), they are preparing them with the skills they will need in their future employment, where wage slavery and a dependence on one's employer to provide the coverage that will keep one alive keeps the proles in line.

Until employment in the USA is more than one step removed from indentured servitude, this will be the way of the world. Don't question, citizen, know your role and consume.

Were these folks criminals or government employees? And yes, there's a small difference... generally found in the probability for prosecution.

There's always one, isn't there.

Anti-vax zealots are coming.

Companies will pay you what it takes to keep you and what it takes to keep you motivated.

Companies will pay you as little as they can possibly get away with and then 5% lower. The job market sucks, especially for new grads. They think you should consider yourself lucky that they allow you to keep working there.

Complaining that companies don't pay you more than you are worth is no different than companies complaining that they have to pay you at all.

Who's saying I should be paid more than I'm worth? My point was that the employers get to decide what you're worth, and that's as little as possible.

Would you rather have a job was just some form of charity because your boss feels bad for you?

No, I'd rather have a job that pays me what I'm worth, which, incidentally, I have.

If you answer yes to that then I am not surprised that you have had such bad luck in the job market.

I have a job. A good one. I've tripled my salary over the last 8 years or so. I can tell you that even highly-sought, highly-skilled workers like myself have to go through the HR bullshit you-should-be-grateful-we're-interviewing-you nonsense.

Employers don't care if you're happy or that you're getting paid what you're worth. They want power over you. They're kind of like car dealerships: So long as they all treat you like shit equally, that won't change. The right-wing freakout over fewer hours worked due to the ACA was really inspired by the fact that your employer can't hold your healthcare hostage as easily anymore, so they have less control over your life. (Anti-ACA trolls can fuck off.)

What makes you think employers base the salaries they offer on what you need or want? You'll take what they give you and you will like it, or go fuck yourself.