Kerynn Keeper

i work at a restaurant. i make $12 an hour, plus tips. minimum wage where i live is relatively high for my country - the national minimum wage is $7.25/hr, and has not been raised since 2009. before taxes, working full time, my yearly income is about $22,000 a year. ($25,000 if you count tips)

at my job, we sell various dishes, with an average price of about $10-$15. we get printouts every week detailing how much money we made that week; in one week, our restaurant makes about $30,000. (one of our other locations actually makes this much on a daily basis!)

i’m not going to go into details, but after the costs of production (payroll for employees, rent for the building, maintenance, and wholesale food purchasing) are accounted for, the restaurant makes an estimated profit of $20,000 per week.

this profit goes directly to the owner, who does not work at this location. the owner of my restaurant has actually been on vacation for a few months, but still profits from the restaurant, because they own it. i have met the owner exactly twice in my year of working here.

to put this into perspective, the owner of this restaurant earns in 2 days what they pay me in one year. and that’s just from this single location - the owner has several other restaurants, all of which make more money than the one i work at. this ends up resulting in the owner having an estimated net worth of tens of millions of dollars, even after accounting for the payroll for every single worker in their employ.

now, i have to ask you: does the owner of my restaurant deserve this income? did they earn it? did their labor result in this value being created?

the naive answer would be “yes”; the owner purchased the location and arranged for the raw ingredients to be delivered, did they not?

the actual answer is “no”. the owner may have used their initial capital to start the location, but the profit is a result of my labor, and the labor of my co-workers.

the owner purchases rice at a very low bulk price of about 25 cents a pound. i cook the rice, and within a few minutes, that pound of rice is suddenly worth about $30. the owner did not create this value, i did. the owner simply provided the initial capital investment required to start the process.

what needs to be understood here is that capitalists do not create value. they use the labor of their employees to create value, and then take the excess profit and keep it.

what needs to be understood is that capitalists accrue income by already HAVING money. the owner of my restaurant was only able to get this far because they started off, from the very beginning, with enough money to purchase a building, purchase food in bulk, and hire hundreds of employees.

that is to say: the rich get richer, and they do so by exploiting the labor of the poor.

the owner of my restaurant could afford to triple the income of every single person in their employee if they felt like it, but this would mean that they were generating less profit for themselves, so they do not.

the owner of my restaurant pays me the current minimum wage of my area, because to them, i am not a person. i am an investment. i am an asset. i am a means to create more money. 

when you are paid minimum wage, the message your boss is sending you is this: “legally, if i could pay you less, i would.”

i work at a restaurant. i make $12 an hour, plus tips. minimum wage where i live is relatively high for my country - the national minimum wage is $7.25/hr, and has not been raised since 2009. before taxes, working full time, my yearly income is about $22,000 a year. ($25,000 if you count tips)

at my job, we sell various dishes, with an average price of about $10-$15. we get printouts every week detailing how much money we made that week; in one week, our restaurant makes about $30,000. (one of our other locations actually makes this much on a daily basis!)

i’m not going to go into details, but after the costs of production (payroll for employees, rent for the building, maintenance, and wholesale food purchasing) are accounted for, the restaurant makes an estimated profit of $20,000 per week.

this profit goes directly to the owner, who does not work at this location. the owner of my restaurant has actually been on vacation for a few months, but still profits from the restaurant, because they own it. i have met the owner exactly twice in my year of working here.

to put this into perspective, the owner of this restaurant earns in 2 days what they pay me in one year. and that’s just from this single location - the owner has several other restaurants, all of which make more money than the one i work at. this ends up resulting in the owner having an estimated net worth of tens of millions of dollars, even after accounting for the payroll for every single worker in their employ.

now, i have to ask you: does the owner of my restaurant deserve this income? did they earn it? did their labor result in this value being created?

the naive answer would be “yes”; the owner purchased the location and arranged for the raw ingredients to be delivered, did they not?

the actual answer is “no”. the owner may have used their initial capital to start the location, but the profit is a result of my labor, and the labor of my co-workers.

the owner purchases rice at a very low bulk price of about 25 cents a pound. i cook the rice, and within a few minutes, that pound of rice is suddenly worth about $30. the owner did not create this value, i did. the owner simply provided the initial capital investment required to start the process.

what needs to be understood here is that capitalists do not create value. they use the labor of their employees to create value, and then take the excess profit and keep it.

what needs to be understood is that capitalists accrue income by already HAVING money. the owner of my restaurant was only able to get this far because they started off, from the very beginning, with enough money to purchase a building, purchase food in bulk, and hire hundreds of employees.

that is to say: the rich get richer, and they do so by exploiting the labor of the poor.

the owner of my restaurant could afford to triple the income of every single person in their employee if they felt like it, but this would mean that they were generating less profit for themselves, so they do not.

the owner of my restaurant pays me the current minimum wage of my area, because to them, i am not a person. i am an investment. i am an asset. i am a means to create more money. 

when you are paid minimum wage, the message your boss is sending you is this: “legally, if i could pay you less, i would.”

Floofy pup reminder that you don’t have to be productive all the time. 💕

Some interesting things:

- The black ring became an ace symbol 5 years before the asexual pride flag was created!

- The original post on this thread is from June 16, 2005, and the symbol was decided around June 20, 2005.

- One user came up with the idea that the left middle finger means “forever single.” This may be part of the reason why the white aro ring is to be worn on that finger.

- Some other suggestions for ace symbols that were turned down:

“Livestrong”-style silicone bracelets that say “asexual” or “AVEN” (people thought they were tacky/a fad that would die out)

Dog tag necklaces with “AVEN” engraved in them (too expensive, hard to see from far away)

Cake pins or stickers (could be used in addition to the rings, but not very sophisticated)

Hexagonal nut worn as a ring (again, could be used in addition to black rings, but not as popular with other users)

Something with a triangle emblem (triangles are common symbols for gays and lesbians. Also, nobody could really agree on why a triangle is the AVEN logo)

- There were issues with finding black rings and the cost of them. This was before the age of “Amazon has literally everything you could ever want” and Etsy wasn’t nearly as popular then (it was actually created the same week as this thread was!).

- Materials were also a problem. Hemitite and black zirconia rings were suggested, but hemitite is breakable and zirconia is really expensive. Now, there are tons of different affordable materials for black rings readily available, such as ceramic, silicone, stainless steel, and epoxy.

- Onyx rings were also suggested as the standard material for ace rings because apparently onyx is used to decrease sexual urges, which seemed appropriate. However, this was rejected because of the price. Some users did mention buying onyx rings anyway.

- One user suggested ace women wear the ring on their right middle finger, and ace men wear it on their right pinky. This was simplified to everyone wearing it on their middle finger.

In 1847, Elizabeth Blackwell wanted to go to medical school. Never mind that at the time women simply did not get medical degrees. The 26-year-old hadn’t planned to grow up to become a physician—rather, her interest in medicine was sparked by a personal encounter. A dying female friend remarked to Blackwell that her trials would have been made easier had there been a female doctor to care for her. The comment struck a chord.

Drawn by a challenge, she decided to pursue a medical degree and, after studying for a year under several physician friends, made her attempt.

She applied to 12 schools along the Northeast, in addition to every medical program available in New York and Philadelphia. In the end, only Dean Charles Lee of Geneva Medical College in western New York gave her application any real consideration—sort of. PBS’s Howard Markel explains:

Dean Lee and his all male faculty were more than hesitant to make such a bold move as accepting a woman student. Consequently, Dr. Lee decided to put the matter up to a vote among the 150 men who made up the medical school’s student body. If one student voted “No,” Lee explained, Miss Blackwell would be barred from admission.

Apparently, the students thought the request was little more than a silly joke and voted unanimously to let her in; they were surprised, to say the least, when she arrived at the school ready to learn how to heal.

And learn she did. Undeterred by her classmates’ and professors’ sometimes open animosity, Blackwell received her medical degree on January 23, 1849. She went on to study obstetrics and pediatrics in Europe before returning to the United States to start her own practice in New York City.

(Fact Source)

This magical bunny has been practicing helpful spells all week! ✨Other notable spells include: motivational spirit-booster, good weather charm, and ward against small irritations.

The horse sweater: a continuation. @necphilak​ @shiftythrifting

big tiddy centaur in a too-tight sweater… it doesn’t get any better than this. @necphilak​ @shiftythrifting​

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