What do we have to do, and why aren’t we doing it?
The list of worker protections needed for that kind of solidarity would take a book series to properly explain. The majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, meaning they can’t walk out without losing everything. They would pretty much instantly lose their jobs, which is a huge deterance.
And culturally, the situation is fucked. The U.S. has a much workers solidarity as La Croix has taste. Nobody wants to be the first to stick their neck out for a general strike. Nobody takes the ideal of a general strike seriously. A third of the population is republicans, whom vehemently oppose unions and worker protections.
The culture, values, and worker protections of this country need to dramatically change. And I wish I had solutions.
The list of worker protections needed for that kind of solidarity would take a book series to properly explain. The majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, meaning they can’t walk out without losing everything. They would pretty much instantly lose their jobs, which is a huge deterance.
I mean I hear you, and I agree with all of that… But people are already losing their jobs without these safety nets anyway. This meme is in response not to just the general discontent, but specifically the trend of corporate layoffs despite record profits.
We are already taking losses in the battle without ever actually stepping onto the battlefield, so what the hell do we have to lose?
But people are already losing their jobs without these safety nets anyway.
And it’s absolute bullshit. But from the average workers perspective, there is a strong incentive to not lose your job even if you know there is a high chance of losing it to begin with. So the resulting behavior is that workers try to keep their head down and postpone that eventual job loss.
Until a worker can be confident there will still be food on their table and a roof over their head when they strike or try to form a union, the incentive to keep your head down will continue to remain too strong.
I don’t know man. That feels defeatist to me. We’ve made these kind of big pushes in the past, and we are capable of doing them again. Maybe the unrelenting brashness of this current wave of assault by the wealthy can be the tipping point. I think we need to be having hard conversations with our neighbors and coworkers right now, because I think more might be able to see the writing on the wall today than have in a long time.
Yeah, it is a bit defeatist. And I don’t have high hopes for this country to unfuck itself of the current situation. I’ve mentioned unionization to co-workers in the past. At best they don’t bat an eye and engage, and at worst they treat you like an enemy, and no matter what the word is treated in a hushed manner.
I’m not saying it is impossible. It’s just a ball busting-ly hard job to get done.
I guess the way I see it is either we don’t try anything and fail regardless, or we try our damned and probably fail but maybe succeed. 2% chance for success sounds better than guaranteed 0% to me.
The list of worker protections needed for that kind of solidarity would take a book series to properly explain. The majority of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, meaning they can’t walk out without losing everything. They would pretty much instantly lose their jobs, which is a huge deterance.
And culturally, the situation is fucked. The U.S. has a much workers solidarity as La Croix has taste. Nobody wants to be the first to stick their neck out for a general strike. Nobody takes the ideal of a general strike seriously. A third of the population is republicans, whom vehemently oppose unions and worker protections.
The culture, values, and worker protections of this country need to dramatically change. And I wish I had solutions.
I mean I hear you, and I agree with all of that… But people are already losing their jobs without these safety nets anyway. This meme is in response not to just the general discontent, but specifically the trend of corporate layoffs despite record profits.
We are already taking losses in the battle without ever actually stepping onto the battlefield, so what the hell do we have to lose?
And it’s absolute bullshit. But from the average workers perspective, there is a strong incentive to not lose your job even if you know there is a high chance of losing it to begin with. So the resulting behavior is that workers try to keep their head down and postpone that eventual job loss.
Until a worker can be confident there will still be food on their table and a roof over their head when they strike or try to form a union, the incentive to keep your head down will continue to remain too strong.
I don’t know man. That feels defeatist to me. We’ve made these kind of big pushes in the past, and we are capable of doing them again. Maybe the unrelenting brashness of this current wave of assault by the wealthy can be the tipping point. I think we need to be having hard conversations with our neighbors and coworkers right now, because I think more might be able to see the writing on the wall today than have in a long time.
Yeah, it is a bit defeatist. And I don’t have high hopes for this country to unfuck itself of the current situation. I’ve mentioned unionization to co-workers in the past. At best they don’t bat an eye and engage, and at worst they treat you like an enemy, and no matter what the word is treated in a hushed manner.
I’m not saying it is impossible. It’s just a ball busting-ly hard job to get done.
I don’t disagree at all with that.
I guess the way I see it is either we don’t try anything and fail regardless, or we try our damned and probably fail but maybe succeed. 2% chance for success sounds better than guaranteed 0% to me.
Yeah, that’s pretty much where I’m at. It’s worth tying, even if the chances are small, and they are definitely small.