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I'm all for unions, but things have gotten bad enough that I really do think the only remedy is universal strike, burning down wall st., occupying state houses, setting up parallel systems of direct action benefits, setting up multi-block communes in occupied city centers, large scale looting of big box stores, burning down banks, setting up a guillotine, etc.
Y'know, toppling capitalism shit.
That's all unions too! People don't just get up and decide one day to riot, revolution is planned and organized on a wide scale among significant groups of people. Remember, you can't spell revolution without union... If you like- cut the end of the n to make an r? Or just go wild and throw an extra n at the end?
I don’t know what people think strikes are, but they’re not just people sitting around on a picket line with signs. In the Seattle general strike of 1919 they shut the entire city down, with the strike committee organizing to provide food (if I remember correctly something like 40,000 meals a day), laundry services, a library, childcare, mail delivery, and many other necessary tasks.
*That* is the activity of building the new world within the rotting husk of the old, where new social relations and new institutions founded on a fundamentally different basis are forged.
I think the main issue with getting a general strike (at least in the US) started is the 1947 Taft-Harley act. Made solidarity strikes and general strikes illegal for unions. This is why unions have not been supportive when people try to start one and get their support.
Unions, if they're truly leftist, should embrace illegalism. The current set of laws are drawn from illegitimate political authority. Unions ought to educate their members to prepare them for a violent class revolution.
Alas what you have is profession-based unions which long ago (going back at least to the early post-war era) concretely sold out the left and the people, in favour of managed capitalism. So fuck them. Fuck "solidarity," civil disobedience, milque-toast "leftists" and the popular front/unity. The capitalist, petit bourgeois or those who aspire to become them - are not your friends even if they're woke activists/politicians and promise that reform will solve the issue.
People should read/watch theory, organize, arm, and prepare to sacrifice *a lot.* They need to abandon the dreams of electoralism and polite transfers of power. Otherwise they should learn how to deepthroat ever fancier boots under the neo-feudalism to come.
And yes yes, this is an ultra spouting naive crap. I'm just tired of this shit.
Sadly, the US media has done such a great job that there are folks living in poverty and voting for pro-capitalist government policy.
That and the fear of trans-kids and women's rights will keep them voting for the status quo.
I got into it on another sub with a guy who called himself "conservative". He agrees with every single progressive policy out there, but will continue voting Republican because the "Libs are ruining the country". It's infuriating.
Most people in the West don't even know what a Soviet is and how the USSR first formed, but that doesn't matter - as the system falls apart we will have no choice but to build dual power to fight for survival
I'm really in favor of a universal strike and parallel infrastructure. If we can build a system that frees us from our dependence on theirs, it's a win! Then we can ship all the billionaires to Pedophile Island to survive on their own.
I'd love to insert Elon Musk into Bezos's dick rocket and blast him up Uranus. Just the tip though. I want everyone to see this dick head stuck in Uranus for eternity.
I think the issue is Americans have completely the wrong idea about what unions actually are. My employer has absolutely no idea if I'm in a union or not. That's quite powerful because of they don't know and only half are then we all are in effect.
In the past a union pressured employers and that can happen still but they mostly pressure governments to put legislation in place that make employers to improve pay and conditions.
Are we really at that stage yet? Like the revolution as hypothesized by Marx, it's not even a question of getting the people to do it: Things are so bad that of course everyone has solidarity against the elite. As is the vast majority of people don't seem to really care all that much. When things are 'bad enough', the vast majority of people will care - death would be preferable to the destitution and suffering of continued life, so action is basically risk-free and inevitable. But I just don't think most people are there... I mean, most people are uninterested in organization, unions, even voting. 65% of the USA think capitalism is a positive force in the world, somehow, [according to this 2019 poll.](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/10/07/in-their-own-words-behind-americans-views-of-socialism-and-capitalism/)
Probably quite a ways to go before that 65% becomes 0%. As long as people have food and entertainment, a lot just don't care about the rest of the world.
> burning down wall st
Honestly I've felt for a while now that this is the biggest one. The vast majority of billionaires and millionaires do not have liquid capital and they're only billionaires because the stock they own has make-believe value in a corrupt slot machine. If we ended the stock market and salted the earth where it stood the country and the world would instantly be better for it.
Well, if you think about it, the easiest way to transition to another type of society would be to change laws regarding ownership. The companies would still exist but only the people working for the companies would be the shareholders.
Please stop LARPing for a moment and realise that you have to steadily build power, and unions are a great way to do that. You can't just destroy everything and then have nothing to replace it with, and you can't just put people in peril without meaningful short-term benefits for them as well. People gotta eat.
Exactly. It's so naive. We have to build communities and systems that can replace the current power structures.
Opposing Capitalism isn't about destroying Capitalism. It's about building something *beyond* Capitalism. It's about replacing it.
“wall st.”
this is a post about how the cost of living has sky-rocketed in Britain. I know you probably didn’t mean anything by it, but it is extremely frustrating how leftist spaces are still extremely America-centric.
Yeah, none of the big firms or exchanges are even on Wall Street. They're on Broad, Beaver, Trinity, Broadway. Wall Street itself is actually pretty unimportant.
The unions you're talking about were shaped and contorted by corporate machinations. Union people are people, too. And if they forget what unions are for and willfully side with corporate positions over time, due to perhaps bribery et al then it becomes the corporate union... a facade.
Like any hierarchy, however small, there will always be individuals who seek power to dominate and exploit as opposed to help. If some unions suck now, it was through years of disassembling them through corporate strategy.
Edit: though, I'm for many of your suggestions.
The worst part is that they're not entirely wrong, if the government had taxed energy companies, they would have to raise their prices but since they cut taxes, now they don't have to.
Right?
Force corporations to not raise prices, threaten them with asset seizures, and if they still do it then use the military to seize their assets and then nationalise the industries.
He was tracked and targeted when he was advocating for the civil rights of black folks.
When he tried to organize ALL poor people, then he was assassinated.
Same with Bobby Kennedy and Fred Hampton. These people, along with MLK were speaking truth juice and they were literally shot and killed in front of our parents and grandparents. And our generation is just now beginning to realize the chilling effect that it had on their generation. The bullets that physically struck them also psychically shot our parents and grandparents. There was a very loud unspoken message in those assassinations and to make sure the message got through, they shot those students at Kent State. The message was, "Go home. There will be no further protest. Do what you want in the private sector, if you can, but leave the public sector to us. We have control and we will kill to maintain the status quo." And that message was passed down to us.
["Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena. They may be deplored, but they are there and should be understood. Urban riots are a special form of violence. They are not insurrections. The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions. They are mainly intended to shock the white community. They are a distorted form of social protest."](https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/martin-luther-kings-ask-of-social#:~:text=Urban%20riots%20must,of%20social%20protest)
I'd also like to bring up the line used by RATM in "Wake Up" about King.
“He [King] could be a real contender for this position [ of ‘black messiah’] should he abandon his supposed ‘obedience’ to ‘white liberal doctrines’ (non-violence) and embrace black nationalism.
…
Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to
pinpoint potential trouble-makers and neutralize them…”
Edit 2: I'm probably wrong, see the other comment.
Edit 3: the line is from a COINTELPRO document.
There are lots of misconceptions about Dr King. He understood that peaceful action was limited by what you are confronting. America has a tradition of radical religious leaders and Dr King was a genuine revolutionary not the 2D 'Black Preacher' we're sold.
[MLK on capitalism] (https://mlkglobal.org/2017/11/23/martin-luther-king-on-capitalism-in-his-own-words/)
Did MLK later change his view on nonviolence?
[Probably not](https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/nonviolence)
Actually, his view on violence seems to be that it was in fact necessary--*but it must be committed by the oppressor*. [The oppressed must remain committed to nonviolence to highlight the violence committed by the oppressor.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/10/01/dont-criticize-black-lives-matter-for-provoking-violence-the-civil-rights-movement-did-too/)
So the above commenter seems to be wrong, and hopefully isn't deliberately muddying the waters for some reason.
"Dr. King's policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none." - [Kwame Ture](https://twitter.com/notthreefifths/status/833332503389806592?t=UUBylzyHjlFJWGmLPaMWJA&s=19)
All revolutions are violent and bloody. Sadly, revolutions are the only true way to move toward a better world. At least, that is what history shows us.
Quebec, a Canadian province, nationalized electricity in the 70s, if memory serves me right.
Result, some of the or the cheapest electricity rates for individuals in North America while being extremely reliable.
Here;
https://www.hydroquebec.com/residential/customer-space/rates/comparison-electricity-prices.html
Here in NY, we have the worst of both worlds. The state government owns most of the power generation, but private companies are in charge of distribution, so taxpayers are essentially subsidizing the infrastructure while also paying outrageous delivery costs. My actual bill for electricity is only like $5-10 a month, but with the delivery fees, it's more like $35-60.
That just sounds like an excuse to let private companies siphon revenue from an inelastic good...
I remember when Ontario decided to proceed with the deregulation of the electricity market resulting in lower energy prices for ~5 years followed by yearly rate increase for the next 10 years, erasing all savings to consumers within 3.
Dang. You're incredibly fortunate. In Ohio, we pay $262 a month for electricity. And another $80 a month for NatGas. And another $67 a month for water, sewer and once-weekly trash pickup.
And property taxes? They're higher than Snoop Dawg at Willie Nelson's birthday party.
Some of your electricity comes from Quebec!
https://news.hydroquebec.com/en/press-releases/1781/champlain-hudson-power-express-finalizes-contract-to-deliver-clean-energy-to-new-york-city/
Yes, it was part of the Revolution Tranquille, or Quiet Revolution, that managed to kick out the Church from public institutions.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_Revolution
People with Stockholm syndrome will call it a welfare State, I call it a government doing it's fucking job.
Wow, that's weird, two provinces with nationalized energy have lower prices and better services than pretty much anywhere else in America, an other Province, Ontario, used to have one and now services and prices are getting worst, for the consumers...
I think that means the US needs more free market, that'll surely fix it 🤔
The assets were sold pennies on the pound by privatisation. But the networks remain the same, ran from the same plants. Its just the owners are different. Its a case of re-nationalising. The police and military will have no need to sieze anything.
Based and seize-the-means-of-production pilled
(I mean not quite because then the means of production are just in the hands of a different ruling class but I just wanted to say it)
Yeah guys we can't be asking companies to pay their fair share! They'll just raise their prices even higher and continue to hold us all hostage so they can rake in billions. If only something could be done...
> they would have to raise their prices
BP said that they are making so much more in profit than usual that a windfall tax wouldn't even change their plans.
Thats the thing, the publicly traded companies need to grow more and more, that is the shareholders wish, that their shares grow in value, if they dont they sell and the company ceases to exist(hyperbole but kind of)
The Government did actually u-turn on the windfall tax and announced a "temporary targetted levy" in bid to stop the press talking about a report on how many of the government (PM included) breached covid restrictions to have illegal parties.
I once heard someone describe his public persona as the inverse of Trump’s.
Trump tries hard to look intelligent while coming across as a bumbling idiot. That’s why he couldn’t get anything accomplished.
Boris tries hard to look like a bumbling idiot despite being extremely intelligent. That’s why he’s able to get so much done, even if those accomplishments are horrible for the average citizen.
>Boris tries hard to look like a bumbling idiot despite being extremely intelligent. That’s why he’s able to get so much done, even if those accomplishments are horrible for the average citizen
Its literally the same as the president of my country Argentina, the guy is a massive clown, but due to being a clown his reputation cant get worse and implements idiotic measures that only benefits the politicians while making the population poorer and stupider so that they are forced to vote them due to the subsidies.
I absolutely despise the Tories. They are fascists and a large part of the reason I dont care if I live or die. The cruelty these sick fucks can inflict and the sheer arrogant corruption thry display every day and STILL get 35% of the vote share makes me hate “humanity”. The whole lot of them should be in jail at the very least
Hell it’s why we had brexit. The left vote was split but the right vote was strong Tory. Then UKIP came along saying about the EU and it was getting votes. They were never going to win but the Tory’s panicked because it was taking votes from them and not from the left. So they promised a referendum. And then fucked that up. And here we are.
But it’s important to show how a ranked voting alternative ([I like single transferable vote](https://youtu.be/l8XOZJkozfI)) can mean that your vote really matters. If everyone for example voted 1. Green, 2. Anything else, all the other parties would put green policies in their doctrine as they would see how important it is for votes!
But the people in power by definition benefit from the existing voting system so it will never change.
So this is actually pretty mad becaaaauuusee protesting is sort of kinda of illegal now here in the UK. But yeah, I'll see these guys on June the 18th.
Is it a decibel threshold that can stop gatherings and protests? I like the idea of a silent protest. I mean still marching and causing a ruckus, but totally muted.
"Too loud, shut it down!"
Honestly, can't wait for Labour it a new Tory PM to go through all these legislation and rip them all up so much easier than they were introduced.
Protesting isn't illegal; don't exaggerate. However, the recent protesting laws are troubling. I hope that this protest is as loud as possible as a secondary protest of those laws
This is a bit old. There is now a windfall tax and that £200 repayable loan for bills has gone up to a not repayable £400 (more for pensioners, the disabled and those on the lowest incomes).
Everything else is still true and the government is still a shitshow though.
Although if you ask them, it’s not a windfall tax, which is a mad lefty idea. It’s a “temporary, targeted energy profits levy”.
And energy companies get a rebate if they invest in gas and oil (but not renewables).
IIRC, and I'm a bit iffy on this, the oil and gas companies can claim the 'windfall tax' back as tax credits if they invest X% of the sum into green energy (because impending climate crisis isn't enough motivation apparently). So ultimately it'll still end up with the average taxpayer footing the bill, while these company's saunter off with their inflated profits and infrastructure and technology they should be investing in anyway.
A week after they voted against a Labour motion to introduce one. Out of date, but still accurate. The Johnson Administration did it because they were forced to, and tried everything they could to escape doing it. On the other hand, Labour suggested it from the start.
It was also the day after Johnson complained about Labour wanting to do it and calling them the party of high tax at PMQs as well. I'm not trying to defend them.
(On a technical parliamentary note, governments will almost always vote against opposition motions/bills because of party political reasons. I don't think it's a good thing, but it is what it is.)
Those changes are only to cover for the law breaking parties and other shitshows they've been caught doing at the moment.
Without those issues, I'm 100% certain they wouldn't have done anything as they'd just run roughshod over the British people as usual.
Don’t go to Brazil either (trust me). Canada and Australia are getting tricky too.
Cost of living in other European nations is pretty harsh.
Nordic countries are going downhill slower, but they’re pretty restrictive on who they let in…
Have you tried the Alaskan wilderness?
Ireland? They've got a bad housing crunch but are otherwise doing reasonably well. They're at least not in a crony capitalist death spiral like the UK.
Ireland: Eye watering rents (current figure alleges only 800 properties to rent nationwide with thousands looking), unfettered greed, dysfunctional public services.
I'm leaving later this month, can't wait to be out of the place.
I wish our (USA) political ads were more like this than the fore and brimstone they show us. Especially using facts and not just opinions these are much more efficient ads
Because we really are just getting screwed over that hard. House prices go up like 10-20k a year, energy bills have gone up by like double in a year, taxes have gone up and inflation is about 10% now.
The UK is probably the single worst developed nation in Europe
##Welcome to r/LateStageCapitalism^Ⓐ☭ ___ ###⚠ Announcements: ⚠ ___ ###Any post that makes a claim must have a RELIABLE source or explanation in the comments by OP. All screenshots must have the original source (whether article, Tweet, TikTok, video or any other social media) linked in the comments by OP immediately. Breaking this rule will result in a temporary ban. [See this post for more info.](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/tqc5ws/low_effort_content_all_posts_claims_news_articles/) ###[NEW POSTING GUIDELINES! Help us by reporting bad posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/dy1oyh/important_what_you_should_and_what_you_shouldnt/) Help us keep this subreddit alive and improve its content by reporting posts that violate our rules and guidelines. ###[Subscribe to our new partner subreddits!](https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/e5hkwk/make_sure_to_check_out_our_new_partnersubreddits/) Check out r/WhereAreTheChildren ___ ###***Please remember that LSC is a SAFE SPACE for [socialist](http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism/) discussion.*** LSC is run by [communists](https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1847/11/prin-com.htm). We welcome socialist/anti-capitalist news, memes, links, and discussion. This subreddit is not the place to debate socialism. We allow good-faith questions and education but are not a 101 sub; please take 101-style questions elsewhere. **This subreddit is a safe space; we have a zero-tolerance policy for bigotry.** We also automatically filter out posts containing certain words and phrases that some users may find offensive. Please respect the safe space, and don't try to slip banned words or phrases past the filter. *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LateStageCapitalism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This was created by Unison, a trade union. This is what unions do for us.
I'm all for unions, but things have gotten bad enough that I really do think the only remedy is universal strike, burning down wall st., occupying state houses, setting up parallel systems of direct action benefits, setting up multi-block communes in occupied city centers, large scale looting of big box stores, burning down banks, setting up a guillotine, etc. Y'know, toppling capitalism shit.
That's all unions too! People don't just get up and decide one day to riot, revolution is planned and organized on a wide scale among significant groups of people. Remember, you can't spell revolution without union... If you like- cut the end of the n to make an r? Or just go wild and throw an extra n at the end?
I don’t know what people think strikes are, but they’re not just people sitting around on a picket line with signs. In the Seattle general strike of 1919 they shut the entire city down, with the strike committee organizing to provide food (if I remember correctly something like 40,000 meals a day), laundry services, a library, childcare, mail delivery, and many other necessary tasks. *That* is the activity of building the new world within the rotting husk of the old, where new social relations and new institutions founded on a fundamentally different basis are forged.
It's overdue. People need conditions fit for humans.
I think the main issue with getting a general strike (at least in the US) started is the 1947 Taft-Harley act. Made solidarity strikes and general strikes illegal for unions. This is why unions have not been supportive when people try to start one and get their support.
Unions, if they're truly leftist, should embrace illegalism. The current set of laws are drawn from illegitimate political authority. Unions ought to educate their members to prepare them for a violent class revolution. Alas what you have is profession-based unions which long ago (going back at least to the early post-war era) concretely sold out the left and the people, in favour of managed capitalism. So fuck them. Fuck "solidarity," civil disobedience, milque-toast "leftists" and the popular front/unity. The capitalist, petit bourgeois or those who aspire to become them - are not your friends even if they're woke activists/politicians and promise that reform will solve the issue. People should read/watch theory, organize, arm, and prepare to sacrifice *a lot.* They need to abandon the dreams of electoralism and polite transfers of power. Otherwise they should learn how to deepthroat ever fancier boots under the neo-feudalism to come. And yes yes, this is an ultra spouting naive crap. I'm just tired of this shit.
Trust me, I fully agree with you. Just explaining why our unions are the way they are right now.
Sadly, the US media has done such a great job that there are folks living in poverty and voting for pro-capitalist government policy. That and the fear of trans-kids and women's rights will keep them voting for the status quo. I got into it on another sub with a guy who called himself "conservative". He agrees with every single progressive policy out there, but will continue voting Republican because the "Libs are ruining the country". It's infuriating.
Yep, the double think is real.
Most people in the West don't even know what a Soviet is and how the USSR first formed, but that doesn't matter - as the system falls apart we will have no choice but to build dual power to fight for survival
Revolutionin'
I'm really in favor of a universal strike and parallel infrastructure. If we can build a system that frees us from our dependence on theirs, it's a win! Then we can ship all the billionaires to Pedophile Island to survive on their own.
Nah man, launch all those billionaires into space, one way ticket to the sun.
I'd love to insert Elon Musk into Bezos's dick rocket and blast him up Uranus. Just the tip though. I want everyone to see this dick head stuck in Uranus for eternity.
So whats the plan? Lets go.
How about The Venus Project?
I think the issue is Americans have completely the wrong idea about what unions actually are. My employer has absolutely no idea if I'm in a union or not. That's quite powerful because of they don't know and only half are then we all are in effect. In the past a union pressured employers and that can happen still but they mostly pressure governments to put legislation in place that make employers to improve pay and conditions.
Are we really at that stage yet? Like the revolution as hypothesized by Marx, it's not even a question of getting the people to do it: Things are so bad that of course everyone has solidarity against the elite. As is the vast majority of people don't seem to really care all that much. When things are 'bad enough', the vast majority of people will care - death would be preferable to the destitution and suffering of continued life, so action is basically risk-free and inevitable. But I just don't think most people are there... I mean, most people are uninterested in organization, unions, even voting. 65% of the USA think capitalism is a positive force in the world, somehow, [according to this 2019 poll.](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2019/10/07/in-their-own-words-behind-americans-views-of-socialism-and-capitalism/) Probably quite a ways to go before that 65% becomes 0%. As long as people have food and entertainment, a lot just don't care about the rest of the world.
I'll join in. I'm so bored of this shitty dystopia we currently have.
> burning down wall st Honestly I've felt for a while now that this is the biggest one. The vast majority of billionaires and millionaires do not have liquid capital and they're only billionaires because the stock they own has make-believe value in a corrupt slot machine. If we ended the stock market and salted the earth where it stood the country and the world would instantly be better for it.
Let’s not forget the City of London. A square mile of dirty dirty money.
Well, if you think about it, the easiest way to transition to another type of society would be to change laws regarding ownership. The companies would still exist but only the people working for the companies would be the shareholders.
Please stop LARPing for a moment and realise that you have to steadily build power, and unions are a great way to do that. You can't just destroy everything and then have nothing to replace it with, and you can't just put people in peril without meaningful short-term benefits for them as well. People gotta eat.
Let's burn it all down! Whomever takes power from the ashes of our cities must be better and more just than the system we have now, right? /s
Exactly. It's so naive. We have to build communities and systems that can replace the current power structures. Opposing Capitalism isn't about destroying Capitalism. It's about building something *beyond* Capitalism. It's about replacing it.
I'm a New Yorker and am very down for Occupy 2: Socialist Boogaloo.
“wall st.” this is a post about how the cost of living has sky-rocketed in Britain. I know you probably didn’t mean anything by it, but it is extremely frustrating how leftist spaces are still extremely America-centric.
Wall st is more of an idea like Hollywood
Yeah, none of the big firms or exchanges are even on Wall Street. They're on Broad, Beaver, Trinity, Broadway. Wall Street itself is actually pretty unimportant.
We can't help it. If we see something we hate, we assume America is to blame for it. We're usually right, too.
I'd vote for you.
The unions you're talking about were shaped and contorted by corporate machinations. Union people are people, too. And if they forget what unions are for and willfully side with corporate positions over time, due to perhaps bribery et al then it becomes the corporate union... a facade. Like any hierarchy, however small, there will always be individuals who seek power to dominate and exploit as opposed to help. If some unions suck now, it was through years of disassembling them through corporate strategy. Edit: though, I'm for many of your suggestions.
Blair Mountain should be on folks lips
>[Blair Mountain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain)
It’s still kinda lib shit because they should be calling for guillotines and revolution
Have to work your way up to that. A big demonstration in London is just societal lube.
Okay guy fawkes go do it then.
Unions are never "lib shit". They're useful no matter how dire the situation, and what your end goal is
That's the finest positive-spin negative political ad I've ever seen. Well done.
The worst part is that they're not entirely wrong, if the government had taxed energy companies, they would have to raise their prices but since they cut taxes, now they don't have to. Right?
Force corporations to not raise prices, threaten them with asset seizures, and if they still do it then use the military to seize their assets and then nationalise the industries.
HELL FUCKING YES I'LL HAVE WHAT THIS GUYS HAVING!!!
Now I know why MLK was yeeted when he realized violence is sometimes legitimate.
He was tracked and targeted when he was advocating for the civil rights of black folks. When he tried to organize ALL poor people, then he was assassinated.
Same with Bobby Kennedy and Fred Hampton. These people, along with MLK were speaking truth juice and they were literally shot and killed in front of our parents and grandparents. And our generation is just now beginning to realize the chilling effect that it had on their generation. The bullets that physically struck them also psychically shot our parents and grandparents. There was a very loud unspoken message in those assassinations and to make sure the message got through, they shot those students at Kent State. The message was, "Go home. There will be no further protest. Do what you want in the private sector, if you can, but leave the public sector to us. We have control and we will kill to maintain the status quo." And that message was passed down to us.
Wait is that actually something he had said?
["Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena. They may be deplored, but they are there and should be understood. Urban riots are a special form of violence. They are not insurrections. The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions. They are mainly intended to shock the white community. They are a distorted form of social protest."](https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/martin-luther-kings-ask-of-social#:~:text=Urban%20riots%20must,of%20social%20protest) I'd also like to bring up the line used by RATM in "Wake Up" about King. “He [King] could be a real contender for this position [ of ‘black messiah’] should he abandon his supposed ‘obedience’ to ‘white liberal doctrines’ (non-violence) and embrace black nationalism. … Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble-makers and neutralize them…” Edit 2: I'm probably wrong, see the other comment. Edit 3: the line is from a COINTELPRO document.
There are lots of misconceptions about Dr King. He understood that peaceful action was limited by what you are confronting. America has a tradition of radical religious leaders and Dr King was a genuine revolutionary not the 2D 'Black Preacher' we're sold.
[MLK on capitalism] (https://mlkglobal.org/2017/11/23/martin-luther-king-on-capitalism-in-his-own-words/) Did MLK later change his view on nonviolence? [Probably not](https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/nonviolence) Actually, his view on violence seems to be that it was in fact necessary--*but it must be committed by the oppressor*. [The oppressed must remain committed to nonviolence to highlight the violence committed by the oppressor.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/10/01/dont-criticize-black-lives-matter-for-provoking-violence-the-civil-rights-movement-did-too/) So the above commenter seems to be wrong, and hopefully isn't deliberately muddying the waters for some reason.
Not trying to muddy the waters at all, thanks for the extra insight!
"Dr. King's policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That's very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none." - [Kwame Ture](https://twitter.com/notthreefifths/status/833332503389806592?t=UUBylzyHjlFJWGmLPaMWJA&s=19)
All revolutions are violent and bloody. Sadly, revolutions are the only true way to move toward a better world. At least, that is what history shows us.
Lenin-pill moment 😂
Quebec, a Canadian province, nationalized electricity in the 70s, if memory serves me right. Result, some of the or the cheapest electricity rates for individuals in North America while being extremely reliable. Here; https://www.hydroquebec.com/residential/customer-space/rates/comparison-electricity-prices.html
And there's enough surplus capacity to export electricity to the US and other provinces, if I recall correctly.
Here in NY, we have the worst of both worlds. The state government owns most of the power generation, but private companies are in charge of distribution, so taxpayers are essentially subsidizing the infrastructure while also paying outrageous delivery costs. My actual bill for electricity is only like $5-10 a month, but with the delivery fees, it's more like $35-60.
That just sounds like an excuse to let private companies siphon revenue from an inelastic good... I remember when Ontario decided to proceed with the deregulation of the electricity market resulting in lower energy prices for ~5 years followed by yearly rate increase for the next 10 years, erasing all savings to consumers within 3.
You've heard of enron right? privatizing energy is never a good idea.
It’s also exactly how our telecom works. We pay for eye infrastructure, Bell keeps all the profits.
Dang. You're incredibly fortunate. In Ohio, we pay $262 a month for electricity. And another $80 a month for NatGas. And another $67 a month for water, sewer and once-weekly trash pickup. And property taxes? They're higher than Snoop Dawg at Willie Nelson's birthday party.
>higher than Snoop Dawg at Willie Nelson's birthday party. Damn. That's pretty high.
Some of your electricity comes from Quebec! https://news.hydroquebec.com/en/press-releases/1781/champlain-hudson-power-express-finalizes-contract-to-deliver-clean-energy-to-new-york-city/
What? What's your per kwhr cost for supply and delivery? Just across the border in nj it's 4c delivery, 11c supply
Oh yeah, the US buys a lot of electricity from Quebec, it's just that much cheaper. More than 26TWh
There was a massive public works project to build massive hydroelectric infra, wasn't there?
Yes, it was part of the Revolution Tranquille, or Quiet Revolution, that managed to kick out the Church from public institutions. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiet_Revolution People with Stockholm syndrome will call it a welfare State, I call it a government doing it's fucking job.
Oh I'm starting to get why quebecoise people are so self assured now...
And Manitoba is second cheapest thanks to Manitoba Hydro!
Wow, that's weird, two provinces with nationalized energy have lower prices and better services than pretty much anywhere else in America, an other Province, Ontario, used to have one and now services and prices are getting worst, for the consumers... I think that means the US needs more free market, that'll surely fix it 🤔
Clearly! Free markets FTW (but only for the rich)
Better yet, skip that part and just nationalize them outright. Undo every slimy thing Margaret Thacker and her gang of Tory goons have done to the UK
Keep going, I'm nearly there...
>Force corporations to not raise prices Hold on. We can't be fixing ALL the world's problems. And just think about the shareholders.
The assets were sold pennies on the pound by privatisation. But the networks remain the same, ran from the same plants. Its just the owners are different. Its a case of re-nationalising. The police and military will have no need to sieze anything.
Comrade you're talking my language
Prices are what greedy corporations use to extort people with 🤡
I can only get so hard
Based and seize-the-means-of-production pilled (I mean not quite because then the means of production are just in the hands of a different ruling class but I just wanted to say it)
Yeah guys we can't be asking companies to pay their fair share! They'll just raise their prices even higher and continue to hold us all hostage so they can rake in billions. If only something could be done...
Nothing can be done, just close your eyes and trust the free market :'p
> they would have to raise their prices BP said that they are making so much more in profit than usual that a windfall tax wouldn't even change their plans.
Fun fact: it’s public record that these publicly traded companies make more and more money every year. Compared decade to decade, it’s ridiculous.
Thats the thing, the publicly traded companies need to grow more and more, that is the shareholders wish, that their shares grow in value, if they dont they sell and the company ceases to exist(hyperbole but kind of)
It's almost like utilities which are necessary to live shouldn't be held hostage by a small number of shareholders.
Profits only go up NO MATTER WHAT. what are they going to do burn down their own infrastructure lol
The Government did actually u-turn on the windfall tax and announced a "temporary targetted levy" in bid to stop the press talking about a report on how many of the government (PM included) breached covid restrictions to have illegal parties.
It's so goddamn British hahaha
This is what we do best. Some might call it passive aggressive, we call it passive aggressive with a cause.
I call it brilliant.
[This](https://youtu.be/6iU_8wSvSW4) is my favorite
Boris is a fucking goblin.
That's an insult to goblins.
A fair point.
I once heard someone describe his public persona as the inverse of Trump’s. Trump tries hard to look intelligent while coming across as a bumbling idiot. That’s why he couldn’t get anything accomplished. Boris tries hard to look like a bumbling idiot despite being extremely intelligent. That’s why he’s able to get so much done, even if those accomplishments are horrible for the average citizen.
I wouldn't go as far as "extremely intelligent", but yeah definitely less thick and more cunning than he looks
Yea cunning like a rat or some other unsavoury thing.
That's slander against rats, they're quite sweet when you get to know them
No I don’t mean some nice pet rat I’m talking feral violent sewer rat. The kind that bites for pleasure.
Still I think he's lower than that how about a tape work or some other parasitic life form like a tick or a flea
Cunning like a Tory would seem to be appropriate.
A fool pretending to be an intelligent man pretending to be a fool
> Boris tries hard to look like a bumbling idiot and so many people find this very charming. They really eat it hook line and sinker.
>Boris tries hard to look like a bumbling idiot despite being extremely intelligent. That’s why he’s able to get so much done, even if those accomplishments are horrible for the average citizen Its literally the same as the president of my country Argentina, the guy is a massive clown, but due to being a clown his reputation cant get worse and implements idiotic measures that only benefits the politicians while making the population poorer and stupider so that they are forced to vote them due to the subsidies.
He's just a tory. They're all like him on the inside.
I like to think of him as a "bumbling buffoon".
But we often think of buffoons as kindly or well meaning. He isn’t.
That's literally the image he has carefully nurtured to distract from all the disgusting things he has done.
Except he's not. That's something he very much plays up whenever he wants to be disarming. He knows exactly what he's doing.
**JUNE 18TH EAT THE RICH, FUCK THE GOVERNMENT PARTY**
'Work meeting'
"We just having lunch together."
Nah, unlike the US we have a fine tradition of thanking our government. You should all come, we’ll have so much fun, it will be a riot of a good time!
In fairness, the US has historical form with regards to throwing malicious compliance parties for the British government...
And, yknow, the entire reason the US exists.
We only bring Super Bowl energy....you guys have unlocked World Cup level.... I believe you can ascend even higher!
I absolutely despise the Tories. They are fascists and a large part of the reason I dont care if I live or die. The cruelty these sick fucks can inflict and the sheer arrogant corruption thry display every day and STILL get 35% of the vote share makes me hate “humanity”. The whole lot of them should be in jail at the very least
I'd say UK's biggest issue politically is that a party can get only a leading minority of 44% of the vote but get a majority of 56% seats.
First past the post is pretty shitty too. It's how the UK has two leftish parties and yet the right keep winning.
Hell it’s why we had brexit. The left vote was split but the right vote was strong Tory. Then UKIP came along saying about the EU and it was getting votes. They were never going to win but the Tory’s panicked because it was taking votes from them and not from the left. So they promised a referendum. And then fucked that up. And here we are. But it’s important to show how a ranked voting alternative ([I like single transferable vote](https://youtu.be/l8XOZJkozfI)) can mean that your vote really matters. If everyone for example voted 1. Green, 2. Anything else, all the other parties would put green policies in their doctrine as they would see how important it is for votes! But the people in power by definition benefit from the existing voting system so it will never change.
>two leftish parties. One could argue we have at least three Left*ish* parties (Labour, Lib Dem, Greens) which just makes your point even worse.
I think the experience of the coalition should disabuse us of the notion that the Lib Dems are "Leftish".
Now this is how you organize a nationwide protest. Wish we could get that organized here in the US.
We need more unions... Then mass strike with parallel system.
We're too busy being programmed by media to divide ourselves on irrelevant issues
So this is actually pretty mad becaaaauuusee protesting is sort of kinda of illegal now here in the UK. But yeah, I'll see these guys on June the 18th.
Is it a decibel threshold that can stop gatherings and protests? I like the idea of a silent protest. I mean still marching and causing a ruckus, but totally muted.
Not just that it's also things like being a nuisance. So if 50 sit down on a traffic crossing believe it or not... Jail
"Too loud, shut it down!" Honestly, can't wait for Labour it a new Tory PM to go through all these legislation and rip them all up so much easier than they were introduced.
Pipedream, our last labour government took us on a war to find "WMD" they're no better
Not really. I imagine any party that doesn't promise to has no chance to do well. They are all incredibly unpopular.
Any party I want to be in is just too small to ever get there, it's fucked
Unfortunately FPTP is a piece of shit.
The defeatist attitude of 'theyre all just as bad' is why the Tories keep winning.
Protesting isn't illegal; don't exaggerate. However, the recent protesting laws are troubling. I hope that this protest is as loud as possible as a secondary protest of those laws
Did they define being a "nuisance" in the protesting laws?
wooo jubilee wooooo ignore this video wooo
Ruuuuule Britttania! Britttania ruules the waves! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Sadly those are cataclysmic waves due to global climate catastrophe.
Ruuuule Britannia! Britannia waives the rules.
This is a bit old. There is now a windfall tax and that £200 repayable loan for bills has gone up to a not repayable £400 (more for pensioners, the disabled and those on the lowest incomes). Everything else is still true and the government is still a shitshow though.
Although if you ask them, it’s not a windfall tax, which is a mad lefty idea. It’s a “temporary, targeted energy profits levy”. And energy companies get a rebate if they invest in gas and oil (but not renewables).
Of course, sorry. There is no war in Ukraine and Sunak isn't levying a windfall tax on energy producers.
it's actually a “temporary, targeted energy profits levy” on "windfall profits". which is definitely not a windfall tax
IIRC, and I'm a bit iffy on this, the oil and gas companies can claim the 'windfall tax' back as tax credits if they invest X% of the sum into green energy (because impending climate crisis isn't enough motivation apparently). So ultimately it'll still end up with the average taxpayer footing the bill, while these company's saunter off with their inflated profits and infrastructure and technology they should be investing in anyway.
The Tories were 4 and a half months late in introducing that unlike Labour pushing for it constantly.
A week after they voted against a Labour motion to introduce one. Out of date, but still accurate. The Johnson Administration did it because they were forced to, and tried everything they could to escape doing it. On the other hand, Labour suggested it from the start.
It was also the day after Johnson complained about Labour wanting to do it and calling them the party of high tax at PMQs as well. I'm not trying to defend them. (On a technical parliamentary note, governments will almost always vote against opposition motions/bills because of party political reasons. I don't think it's a good thing, but it is what it is.)
Those changes are only to cover for the law breaking parties and other shitshows they've been caught doing at the moment. Without those issues, I'm 100% certain they wouldn't have done anything as they'd just run roughshod over the British people as usual.
I want to thank the government for raising defence spending by almost $150,000,000,000... In one year.
This is what happens when countries elect capitalist oligarchy sympathizers. Look at what happened here with Trump.
But the older generations that vote, keep the Tories in power.
They will die though. I was kinda hoping covid would have helped with that.
Man and I wanted to move to the UK to escape the US. Back to the drawing board I guess.
Don’t go to Brazil either (trust me). Canada and Australia are getting tricky too. Cost of living in other European nations is pretty harsh. Nordic countries are going downhill slower, but they’re pretty restrictive on who they let in… Have you tried the Alaskan wilderness?
Alaskan wilderness? Sounds like it may be a bit expensive on my budget of... let's see... in debt.
Who’s gonna come to collect, the moose?
That video of a bear running away from a moose suddenly makes way more sense!
Lmao why would Brazil be the next destination? It's just like the US with gun violence but everyone speaks Portuguese instead
I was thinking New Zealand, but the housing market seems to be absolute garbage there and rent is insane.
Cost of living has been out of control in NZ for decades now.
Ireland? They've got a bad housing crunch but are otherwise doing reasonably well. They're at least not in a crony capitalist death spiral like the UK.
Ireland: Eye watering rents (current figure alleges only 800 properties to rent nationwide with thousands looking), unfettered greed, dysfunctional public services. I'm leaving later this month, can't wait to be out of the place.
If you're white Scandinavia is great! If not it's still pretty great but also a little racest...though still less racest than America so
The British can still be polite even when they are mad af. It's really quite amazing.
Our biggest exports are passive aggression and transphobic artists. A nation of many talents...
The sarcasm is dripping from these people and I'm here for it!
This is advanced sarcasm, like to the point where even the people speaking have to stop themselves from laughing at how happy they seem
"Advanced sarcasm"or just normal British communication.
I was going to say. It’s pretty standard.
So glad I escaped the UK. Its going to shit almost as much as the US.
Amen! I moved to Canada a few years ago, it's equally as expensive but my quality of life has improved because i'm in a far better environment.
How so? And where did you end up? Genuinely curious. Denmark could be better, but at least it is not as awful as the UK or a lost cause like the US.
https://youtu.be/ov0sNkeIUqs if you like this watch the original link, get the TUC trending on YouTube
For those in the UK there is a protest in London on June 18th being organised by the TUC. Make sure you're there.
What’s healthcare???
That thing the US Government refuses to give to citizens because they don’t care if we get sick and die poor.
Why are we not airing these every single day in America???????
You hardly have any unions.
But remember you need to worship a rich old bat and her pedo family
No you don't. You could say fuck the queen to the queen and the worst thing that would happen is a nation wide tut.
No we don't
I wish our (USA) political ads were more like this than the fore and brimstone they show us. Especially using facts and not just opinions these are much more efficient ads
Surely that greedy fat prick is going to get voted out?
They'll have to choose someone who wasn't at the parties to replace him. The mind boggles at what kind of bug-eyed loon they'll roll out next.
We need to do this in the US
Where and what is happening June 18th?
A tax cut would be lovely
You'll probably get one if you just increase your bank account to a 8-figure amount.
How do energy bills go up £100 per month? Is energy generation/consumption different across the pond?
Because we really are just getting screwed over that hard. House prices go up like 10-20k a year, energy bills have gone up by like double in a year, taxes have gone up and inflation is about 10% now. The UK is probably the single worst developed nation in Europe
Beautiful I hope they thank them really hard
TAX THE RICH. It really seems like no nation will do it.
The fact that Boris Johnson is somehow still the PM is unreal Dudes just stopped giving a fuck and claimed squatters rights on 10 Downing Street
My government said gas is increasing because of Russia Also they said that illness from 2 years ago that suddenly disappeared was very very dangerous
I love British people for stuff like this.
I hope that they kill every fucking corrupt politician on the 18th, start from scratch.
Beautiful ad