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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   28426 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 11, 2024

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From "Book Review: On The Road" by Scott Alexander:

Even more interesting than their ease of transportation to me was their ease at getting jobs. This is so obvious to them it is left unspoken. Whenever their money runs out, be they in Truckee or Texas or Toledo, they just hop over to the nearest farm or factory or whatever, say “Job, please!” and are earning back their depleted savings in no time. This is really the crux of their way of life. They don’t feel bound to any one place, because traveling isn’t really a risk. Be it for a week or six months, there’s always going to be work waiting for them when they need it. It doesn’t matter that Dean has no college degree, or a criminal history a mile long, or is only going to be in town a couple of weeks. This just seems to be a background assumption. It is most obvious when it is violated; the times it takes an entire week to find a job, and they are complaining bitterly. Or the time the only jobs available are backbreaking farm labor, and so Jack moves on (of course abandoning the girl he is with at the time) to greener pastures that he knows are waiting.

Ha, I guess that does sorta line up! Still a bit different to work for a few weeks rather than a few hours, though. But yeah, definitely a different era for job hunting... and they were able to make enough money from those few weeks of basic work to pay for another cross-country trip!

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