Yeah, so, remember how the train workers wanted to strike because they knew the way things were going, there would be more train derailments and accidents, and Biden quashed it? About that.
This is always the argument that people bring up around this, and its woefully misrepresented. Biden signed a bill that 75% of the railroad unions agreed on. The bill was designed to be the bare minimum needed by the unions to continue their work. He stated after signing the bill that work still needed to be done, and that the fight for the unions for better wages and safety was not over, but he was signing this bill to prevent a total shut down of the economy that relies heavily on railroad infrastructure. Biden never said that the unions couldn’t continue to address the shortcomings of the system. He didn’t take away their rights to strike, or force them into compliance. He merely signed a bill (again, approved by the majority of the unions) to make sure that the railways stay open. If there is a continued failure of the railways, it’s not on him, it is because nothing has changed since then. There is still work to be done, it was only ever meant to be a stopgap to avoid a much larger crisis. If you think the writer’s strike and SAG-AFTRA was a big deal because movies couldn’t be made, imagine what would happen to the US if food supply lines were completely severed. Do you think the produce you get in the grocery store was all farmed within walking distance?
Hey maybe if it’s such a point of national security, and halting the trains would have such catastrophic consequences, maybe it’s time we nationalized the rail systems? Maybe having these rails in the hands of greedy profiteers who have demonstrated that they are willing to shirk on safety regulations is a terrible idea?
“The government is corrupt, and they can’t be trusted to run things. Our infrastructure should be in the hands of the people.”
“The people are corrupt, and they can’t be trusted to run things. Our infrastructure should be regulated by the government.”
Pick a side, but in either case, the only way that we overcome these obstacles is with oversight. It doesn’t matter who controls anything, all that matters is how much we hold them accountable for the greater good. You want to really solve the problem, figure out how to get everyone to agree on what’s best. Until then, we’ll have milquetoast regulations, oligarchs too preoccupied with someone’s sexual orientation to actually do anything, and allegiances that change depending on the signature line on the checks.
I’ve never heard someone say the government is corrupt and infrastructure should be in the hands of the people. The government is the people. Most people say it should be taken out of the hands of private companies and put into the hands of the people, managed by the government. Workers controlling the means of production and all that.
I’ve never heard someone say the government is corrupt and infrastructure should be in the hands of the people.
How long have you been on lemmy that you haven’t run into a communist or socialist, yet? Shit, even the Libertarians agree on that, and they’re fucking idiots.
The government is the people.
In a republic, sure. This ain’t a republic, though.
Most people say it should be taken out of the hands of private companies and put into the hands of the people, managed by the government. Workers controlling the means of production and all that.
Oh, ok, so you have seen a communist or two hanging around here. So, the problem that we have with the government controlling (or managing) things is that the government itself is at the behest of the massive companies, hence my cry for oversight. As long as Big Whoever is throwing money at the lawmakers, the government will suck the dick of whoever they think is paying them. Truthfully, I don’t really see the difference between infrastructure controlled by the “government” or the “people”, because no matter what stamp we put on it, it’s still the United States of Exxon, Nestle, Pepsi, Disney, Google, Amazon, Phillip Morris, Pfizer, or any of the other big names that throw all of their money into obstructing the 99%. The “people”, as in you and me, have no power, and we control nothing. Some will say that they want to see utilities and essential services controlled by the “people” and regulated by the government, but the only outcome for that is exactly what we have: lobbyist making laws based on the desires of the 1%. In short (too late), if we want change, it comes from accountability. The only way we can fight to regain control is to hold those we put in power responsible for their actions. Unfortunately, those we put in power have spent a lot of time making sure that they can’t be held accountable, so, fuck us, right?
See, I’m working on the assumption that the government is controlled by the people, not corporations. Otherwise you don’t really have a government.
To throw out another catchphrase, governments only exist by the consent of the governed, and that does ultimately mean the people.
You can work on whatever assumptions you want. You could assume that their is an eldritch council of Furries that dictate the laws based on how many episodes of Friends the Ugly Naked Guy was mentioned in, it won’t make it the truth. Governments do exist by the consent of the governed, unfortunately that consent is manufactured.
Why did such legislation come at the expense of the workers?
It was the company that built every one of these problems. It was the company that was responsible. It’s the company that has the resources and power to make changes.
But when Biden stepped in to keep the economy open, he punished the workers instead.
He didn’t “punish” anyone. He made a decision with two bad options, of which he had to pick one. That’s what being President is.
He also worked after this bill was passed and got them what they wanted anyway.
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/22Daily/2208/220917_thanks
So there’s an option to support the working class and option to support the rich, and he chose to support the rich, and only came back for workers later.
Why can’t we just expect him to do better for the workers in the first place?
The people who would have been negatively impacted by the strike would be working class people. If trains shut down, people die.
Every city is less than 48 hours from a starvation crisis, all the time.
It’s that bad, and he didn’t just give the workers what they wanted immediately? If they’re that important, why is it even a debate? If the country depends on them, give them what they want.
It’s that bad, and he didn’t just give the workers what they wanted immediately?
A) it’s not “bad” it’s just the way cities work. Always has been, and will be the case until we truly master vertical farming.
B) Presidents aren’t kings. There is a sizable portion of Congress that is extremely anti-Union.
Edit: lmao it should read “union” with lower-case but fuck it because those people tend to be anti-Union too
75% of unions representing what percentage of the workers? It’s less than 50%. It is NOT a minority that rejected the bill, it was the majority.
Biden signed a bill that 75% of the railroad unions agreed on.
You keep saying this like a majority of people agreeing to something somehow prevents them from being fleeced.
A majority of the workers rejected that agreement and that’s what matters. Stop trying to frame this as being the majority.
A majority of workers weren’t represented effectively, then, and that isn’t Biden’s fault.
It’s his fault because he’s the one that signed the fucking bill.
The workers were being represented effectively! They were going to go on strike! He and congress worked together to stop them for “the economy”. He stopped their unions from representing them effectively by forcing them to accept an inferior contract that they rejected.
The fact that you’re defending Biden on this is disgusting. Bet you defend him for supporting Israel’s genocide too.
Imagine a railroad company evacuating your town but promising to provide you with Thanksgiving dinner… What hell
Almost like you get what you vote for.
They are getting a whiff of the armageddon they voted for.
I know the history. Both parties are pro business though so I’m struggling, in this case, to see how any Republican would have handled it differently.
I don’t see where my choice comes into it in this case.
Trump removed all sorts of regulations for railroads.
And Biden fixed all that?
My point is neither have the incentive to do so because both are pro business.
Your point is to continue with a series of false equivalencies and whataboutism. This is what it sounds like this:
“You know that X happened, right.”
“Oh yeah, did you know that they did Y? So there.”
Why should I believe that politicians have not been bought and are actually representing our best interests instead of just representing money?
Truly, I don’t understand. Sure, Biden stopped the strike, forcefully. What evidence is there that Trump, or any other president that wanted a second term, wouldn’t do the same?
That’s what I’m not getting here.
And deflection.
It’s a sincere question. I’m saying that I don’t understand something. You’re welcome to choose to not engage. That’s fine, but this is not honest discussion.
The original reply said it’s almost like you get with who you vote for. I don’t understand how either party would have handled this differently. My statements route from this lack of understanding. If you choose to call it what about is them or whatever that’s fine I don’t really mind I guess but what I’m saying is that I have lost faith in either party to handle this type of situation in a way that benefits the people rather than corporations.
Maybe I’ve made some assumptions here for example I assumed that that person was saying that Biden is the direct cause of this, you get who you vote for and Biden caused this.
I’m saying is I don’t have faith that the specific situation will be any different with any other politician, regardless of party would have made this better. ITT, someone pointed out that Trump removed relevant regulations. I remember hearing about that when he was in office.
I am expressing a disappointment in seeing 2 succive administrations specifically making rail freight more risky (Trump) and then riskier and at the same time siding with large industry.
I suppose I could’ve just said “it do be like that”
Great deflection. Whataboutisms are so lazy. I hope you get better.
You might be focusing on the reaction rather than precautions.
We don’t know what caused this derailment, but I’d wager it’s some corner being cut so business owners can make just a little bit 🤏 more profit.
You know, based on history.
Oh that’s interesting. I didn’t know that either Republicans or Democrats improved regulation in such a way that might prevent this kind of accident. Not sarcastic
And most Kentuckians will continue to vote for Republicans who don’t want to improve their infrastructure (or “Democrats” who don’t aim to transition them into jobs which will be applicable in the future and to help them feed their families during this transition but say the words progressives want to hear).
Propaganda is a hell of a drug. It works especially well when you undereducate your populace. Oh wait, I wonder which states are doing that.
So after the last derailment I was watching some YT channel and they said that the railway company brought 3rd party lab to test the water and my immediate thought was “why would you trust a company paid by the culprit to asses the damage?” I mean it’s USA, of course it’s corrupt. Week later they were talking about this big company that bought all the labs and is now making tons of money by always getting results favourable to the corporations ordering tests.
The most amazing part of all this is that the American channel didn’t pick up on this at first and all the people drinking contaminated water trusted the results. The entire country was taken over long time ago and they still didn’t realize it. Insane.
Born and raised in Kentucky, as were my parents and their parents – fuck the government in that shit ass state. The governor is pretty decent but every other level of government is ass clowns all the way down. Glad I moved to a rational state when I did.
And what are the twats in power going to do about the hundreds of “minor derailments” every day.
Nothing. They got elected to do nothing.
The real question is, what is their constituency going to do next election cycle?
Blame Biden and vote R down the ticket.
No.
CVX?