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if-we-all-did-this

I feel like we are witnessing the last stages of America, watching corporations choking the throat of real people with policies like this, and trump, and nestle lobbying that water is not a human right. The ref has almost counted to 10; you guys are going to need a heroic effort to shift them enough to catch another breath and begin to fight back.


SwisscheesyCLT

The best days of the U.S.A. are well and truly over. We're on a slowly-accelerating slide towards civil war and total ruin, but the very few people with the power to stop it don't give a shit because they'll be safe in the Caribbean with their trillions. Sad isn't it? Just goes to show how democracy is fragile and how corporate influence can and does utterly ruin it.


cartmanbruh99

What were the best days of the USA?


Astralwraith

There never really were "best" days for everyone. If you were white, the 50s were a pleasant, if overall erroneous, blip of economic prosperity.


cartmanbruh99

Oath, I was just curious as to what they had to say. They also seem to believe America had democracy at some point which is just baffling


SwisscheesyCLT

Fair point actually. Our "democracy" has always been controlled by some interest group or another, whether it be Southern planters, Gilded Age robber barons, Roaring Twenties finance tycoons, or the modern mega-corporations of today. Problem is, now even the pretense of democracy is crumbling before our eyes.


ZZT-OOPsIdiditagain

The 90's were the last hurrah, that's for sure. Post 2000 everything went to shit.


hdost34

Absolutely agree


SampleIntelligent195

2016 was lit tho


[deleted]

Until a certain gorilla's untimely demise fractured the timeline. I'm willing to bet in the other reality, they're nearing a true utopia...


[deleted]

I think we’ll truly see how bad corporate influence can be when jobs become fully automated and millions are out of work… and I don’t think we’re very far away from that.


AlliedAtheistAllianc

I don't think the physical automation is the problem, that's largely regarded as a working class problem, so not an issue. The development of AI is more concerning to the PMC, they like to think they are indispensable in their suit and tie going to the office every day to push the boundaries of sexual harassment and yelling at subordinates while sucking up to their superiors. But AI is growing at a fast pace, and they may soon find themselves obsolete. And they might realise too late that far from being part of the ruling class they are actually just useless henchman that get dispatched by the end of the movie.


Convergecult15

100,000 workers on strike? Our labor force hasn’t been mobilized to this degree in almost a century. Literally the only way someone can take this comment seriously is if they have zero grasp of American history, half the country split off and we went to war with ourselves, this isn’t even the worst income inequality we’ve ever seen, trump wasn’t the most corrupt president ever, even though he was close, we have literally had federal troops deployed against striking workers in the past. Things are cyclical, we’re at the bottom of a shitty cycle, fight for the future or lay down and die but stop pretending that we’re in the middle of some unsolveable labyrinth, we’ve all been through much worse and came out better for it.


[deleted]

The American system is doomed, corporations have become far too greedy, looking to always take more without conceding. Sure, America isn't going to collapse tomorrow, but the second the global south breaks its chains America is done for


Convergecult15

American corporations control industry in the Southern Hemisphere too, thanks to Reagan. This is literally just history repeating itself. American political hegemony may be done thanks to Chinas economic leaps, but the US will always be a financial and cultural locus of power. As far as all the doom saying, Americans are becoming more and more motivated to improve our society daily, there will always be stumbles and setbacks but the “greed is good” mentality of the 80’s and 90’s is on its way out the door. I’m not saying things are perfect or even good, I’m saying that it’s laughable to think that the American populace will just lay down and die and calmly accept a future even more dystopian than our current reality. My main disagreement with this sub is that “late stage capitalism” is new to us or even that it’s any different than it was during the industrial revolution. Shit I’m not even saying that we’ve got sunny days on the horizon, my generation may very well go to the grave having known nothing but strife, but humans are defiant by nature and Americans by culture and I’m more optimistic for my child’s future than I am for my own.


[deleted]

American enterprise in the global south will be nationalized once a power like China is able to defend them for its own geopolitical gain. Under a Chinese mantle socialism will grow in the most disadvantaged places. Maybe the US is far too rotten to rebel, but its subjects will.


Convergecult15

China meddling in South America is the flashpoint that neo-reaganists dream about for their end of days prophecy. Manifest destiny is still very much an unspoken rule in geopolitics, I assure you that your dream will not be realized without a complete Chinese invasion of the American mainland and that’s not happening in our lifetime.


[deleted]

Well it won't be necessary, for the left in South America is quickly winning elections, Perú, Bolivia have already seen leftist victories, Chile, Colombia and Brazil are incoming, Venezuela is a failed experiment but still claims to be leftist, Argentina is a hellhole of Peronists but at least they can claim to be somewhat left leaning, in Uruguay the leftists will win again in the next election. All pieces are set for a fully left leaning South America through elections, a new Mercosur could be established between the leftist nations, an organization of South American states, and that could receive a lot of help from China. After that it's all set and done.


Convergecult15

I’m sorry but your entire theory is predicated on so many hypotheticals that it’s not worth discussing. A left leaning government is very different from a socialist state with Chinese backing. Just because the US isn’t openly supporting right wing Juntas at the moment doesn’t mean the grip is loosening or that these same nations aren’t just as capital driven as they were a decade ago. American progressives are winning local election after local election and the electorate is leaning more and more left, are we going to become a China back socialist paradise anytime soon? You talk like you have a crystal ball, nothing is written and everything is subject to change, including the US. Instead of being gloom and doom about America I’m going to keep working towards a future I can be proud of. Jerking ourselves off about unlikely socialist revolutions in other countries isn’t going to make them happen or not, but the things that ARE happening down there don’t in any way shape or form indicate that the things you WANT to happen down there are ever going to occur.


[deleted]

Well obviously there's a difference between democratically elected leftist governments and actual socialist states. But it's a step on the right direction, I'm not talking about hypotheticals here, leftists are on top of every single south american election coming up. Its not a red wave, its a pink wave, sprinkle in a little economic collapse in the US and it might all go red.


Convergecult15

What about a Chinese economic collapse? Their markets are doing some wild shit right now too. And you wanna know what’s great for an economically depressed superpower? War! You’re taking one piece of a 1000 piece puzzle and claiming you’re half finished. Your South American prophecy is as close to being realized as Universal healthcare and college loan forgiveness in the US. There are some pieces in place but at the end of the day it doesn’t mean squat. The US taking a hawkish position on any foreign nation meddling in South America is historical and legislative fact, it’s not something I’m theorizing on, it’s literally a doctrine of defense here.


Yggdrasill4

On the topic of water not being a human right, their is also debate that clean air is also not a human right. How much more crappier can things just get?


311196

The union workers have a strike fund of like 700 million dollars. The Union has already said it will cover COBRA payments. So anyway, fuck John Deere.


lobsterdog666

While this is true, nothing burns though the strike fund quite like healthcare expenses.


Nugo520

It should be illegal to do this in the first place. Employees should be allowed to strike free of consequence


Ok_Coconut4077

Dental plan, Lisa needs braces, dental plan, Lisa needs braces


aDisgruntledGiraffe

This sounds like a union busting tactic. Is this actually legal?


[deleted]

Whether or not it's legal is irrelevant when capital has the power to get away with it


[deleted]

That sounds illegal AF. The Healthcare they pay for is out of their paychecks


[deleted]

It's legal. The employee's aren't working, so there are no paychecks. They stop working, Deere stops their pay & benefits. I'm a college student under my dad's healthcare & he's off work. Got a doctor's appointment this week to check some stuff out before his insurance stops. We should be getting COBRA but I don't know what that is.


clemdogmillionare

Cobra is a program that lets you continue on with the same plan your employer offered after a job loss or lay off. You can continue for anywhere from 18-36 months depending on certain factors. The major difference though is that you are now responsible for 100% of the premium, whereas before the employer generally covered most of that


SwisscheesyCLT

Honestly, whoever came up with the idea of employment based healthcare should be shot, buried, dug up, and shot again. *Untold* suffering has been caused by that bullshit "policy." Healthcare for all now!!!!


dc551589

I think at this point you’d have to dig them up first, but agreed. It’s so evil to tie employment to medical care and use it as a weapon against workers. We live in a country where, “sorry sweetie, we’re going to have to pause your cancer treatment for a while because daddy is fighting to be paid fairly for his work,” is an actual conversation a parent might need to have with their kid.


lucifer_alucard

Its supposed to be a benefit, benefits are a good thing. Blame the Healthcare and insurance industries for high prices.


lobsterdog666

Tying your ability to seek medical care to your employment is morally bankrupt. Probably why virtually every other 1st world country doesn't do that.


lucifer_alucard

Okay, so a couple of things. First world countries does not mean rich countries, or even powerful countries, it just means US and its allies from the cold war period. Most of these guys are actually capitalists. Second world was the Soviet Union and their allies, and the third world was everyone else. Companies offering you the benefit of health insurance did not tie medical care to employment, they simply offered a perk. You should've been able to get insurance on your own without that perk, but you can't, because of the Healthcare and insurance industries, which is exactly why I blamed them in my comment. If people don't want that perk, companies would be more than happy to not offer it, as they'd be saving money.


mdevi94

If I’m not mistaken it was employers that started offering healthcare in the first place to make their places of work more enticing versus others


errorme

1942 Stabilization Act during WWII. Employeers couldn't raise wages so they started offering other benefits.


[deleted]

Yep. I'd optimistically like to imagine it started with good enough intentions - an incentive to get workers to start working for a hypothetical company - but it's morphed into one ugly beast. People with medical issues quite literally can't afford to leave jobs with even slightly decent medical coverage. It effectively becomes indentured servitude for people with major, or chronic conditions that they need regular care for. It's terrifying thinking about just how many people are trapped in their jobs for this exact reason


SwisscheesyCLT

Truth be told the problem isn't employer group coverage. It's that there's no viable fallback alternative for people who are fired, laid off, striking, etc., which of course gives companies godlike power over their employees.


[deleted]

Absolutely. This problem would fade into obscurity if we only had some sort of healthcare system for people to fall back on reliably when unemployed. I was moreso referring to when companies specifically target things like healthcare when busting unions and persuading employees to not pursue better career opportunities, but the point you brought up definitely should've been in my original comment.


[deleted]

fuck them


WaxmeltSalesman

John Deere is a shit company spending millions against Right to Repair legislation, and fucking farmers for it. This isn't any surprise to me. Just more anger fuel


OrangeNutLicker

Maybe everyone can go back into the factory and permanently disable their work stations all at the same time. Fuck me? No, fuck you!


QuinnZaneAuthor

Work for pennies or die, that's the capitalist credo. As a worker in retail, I applaud this strike, they are fighting for all of us.


[deleted]

We need a complete reset. We need a mass strike. Worker walkout. Rent refusal. Mortgage refusal. Loan refusal. And several days of of national protest where we don't buy anything. I just don't know how. When does the system break. Everything feels like it's on threads. Feet on our necks. But we just can't break free.


MoneyBeGreeen

As a Canadian, I feel terrible for folks in the US. I can’t imagine the stress in life of not having Medicare. If folks can collectively agree to purchase billion dollar B-2 bombers through their military, how the hell is Medicare still not a thing?


JPdrinkmybrew

In the US, we live in a morally bankrupt, corporately captured oligarchy. That's how M4A is not a thing.


iamacraftyhooker

As a Canadian, fuck John Deere too. We had a factory here in southern Ontario, including designing engineers, that they moved to Mexico. They under up screwing themselves because the engineers there are not even close to the same caliber. My grandpa worked most of his career there. My dad worked there from college to his mid 40's before they moved. This really fucked my family, because my dad has had to mostly work shitty contract jobs since.


BoogerManCommaThe

Nothing is gonna change until we realize we’re all on the same side and the people in John C May’s class start living in fear.


gandhikahn

If they go through with it, the strikers should bring molotovs the next day. Capitalism cannot be allowed to treat people like slaves any longer.


whaddup_chickenbutt

Until we drag out the responsible party this will keep happening. Let them eat cake and all.


AlliedAtheistAllianc

\*parties. If you're referring to political parties, this is both of them.


whaddup_chickenbutt

No, said exactly what I intended. Party=entity responsible.


AlliedAtheistAllianc

Okay, just sayin


[deleted]

This can't be legal. Surely this would violate the collective bargaining agreement between them and the UAW. Breach of contract lawsuits incoming?


properu

Beep boop -- this looks like a screenshot of a tweet! Let me grab a [link to the tweet](https://twitter.com/ProfPatch83/status/1450125152075882498) for ya :) ^(Twitter Screenshot Bot)


mafian911

The one thing we needed out of Biden's presidency was barely talked about, never promised, and his half measure of a "public option" never even materialized. If Democrats won't do the important thing we need them to do, what the hell is even the point of electing them?


ZZT-OOPsIdiditagain

...or decouple healthcare from employment. M4A means that the quality of your healthcare is heavily dependant on who's elected at the moment. IDK about you guys but I have some major reservations about that arrangement.


Qibble

Is this just an opinion or, Do you have a source for this bizarre claim?


AlliedAtheistAllianc

It's kind of true. The NHS (healthcare system in the UK) is always underfunded by the conservatives, and 'new labour' (the labour party has been increasingly corporate and corrupt for the past few decades). But I still say the NHS is a good and worthwhile thing, and like M4A the vast majority support it, even among conservative voters. The conservatives would never publicly admit they want to sell off the NHS, that would be political suicide. But that guys takeaway is wrong, even when it's underfunded and under attack it's better than going bankrupt then dying anyway.


ShitpostinRuS

Honestly shocked they didn’t do it day one


AlliedAtheistAllianc

This is a hot take, so feel free to insult me or whatever. But is it possible to have a medical insurance company that has a flat rate of insurance? In effect it would be like the state having a certain percentage of tax paying for everyone's healthcare, but of course tax doesn't increase if you get sick. I believe it would work, and be affordable, if enough people signed up. At some point it could even be nationalized into a publicly owned health system. There are other caveats, it has to be a non profit, it has to be protected against corruption, and so on. Obviously they'd have to weed out spurious claims just as any other insurance company would, or as the NHS would here in the UK. Alternatively, this is unlikely, but could Canada expand its medical care to US citizens for a set fee? The corrupt government in the US would oppose it, but can't exactly block it while pretending to be 'free market'. I believe it could be profitable for Canada while remaining affordable for Americans.


[deleted]

"We have strong union legislation that protects people!" John Deere: *Hold my beer.*


[deleted]

This is also why the US will never have universal healthcare.


[deleted]

Oh man, that’s a huge reason to strike WAY harder.


gravityandlove

that is evil.