The Op-Ed columns of our newspapers are, theoretically, supposed to reflect the highest form of qualitative analytical insight about the world around us. Many people are questioning this particular pretense since the New York Times featured David Brooks’ searing insight, “Boy, I think marijuana is bad” and Richard Cohen’s epic, “Eww, interracial marriage is, like, eww.” Gawker put together this …
Four charts that show why Millennials are getting screwed
After a Twitter rant this past weekend about why today’s young people are being economically screwed by the policy decisions of their elders, I put together the following slideshow of economic data to show just exactly how Millennials are getting the worst deal in many generations. In short, they get all of the debt, none of the opportunity.
Judge rules that Fox Searchlight interns should have been paid
It’s the End of Free, my friends. The notion that free labor is anything but a corrupt hustle is emerging – and this legal precedent will speed that emergence considerably. A Federal District Court judge in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday that Fox Searchlight Pictures had violated federal and New York minimum wage laws by not paying production interns, a case …
An open letter to The Atlantic regarding the payment of workers
As a contributing writer to The Atlantic, I have been closely following the controversy that has erupted since Nate Thayer stepped forth to publicly expose your payment practices of freelance contributors. The statements from your leadership and staff editors around this issue of failing to pay trained, experienced adult professionals have exposed glaring inconsistencies and intellectual failings that tarnish the …
Do not work for free
One of the great hustles of the post-Crisis economy is the insinuation that every person entrenched at a powerful institution ascended to their post after a long period of getting “exposure” by producing high-quality work for free. Since the average 23 year old intern does not have the experience to automatically detect this as the Three Card Monte flim-flam that …