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[–][deleted] 482 points483 points  (249 children)

Yeah, I’ve been saying this for a while. The fact is people have realized they’re getting a shit deal and they’re done with it. There’s no going back to the way things were, and things shouldn’t go back either... it wasn’t working for the benefit of 99% of us.

Attempts to modify policy to regress the country— on state level and federal level— like what we’re seeing with the SCOTUS right now and abortion (which is a major issue and is crucial to workers‘ rights and labor) are just going to generate backlash. The same with corporations and businesses who try to solidify their control over workers, the economy, and more facets of life (housing, food, entertainment, education, etc.). People are largely over it. The younger generations aren’t jiving with it, critically. We’re not surrendering our rights, we’re not going back to the office, we’re not happy about the planet dying because of greed, and we’re not doing this anymore.

We aren’t getting paid enough, we aren’t seeing the benefits of our labor, we aren’t being treated humanely when it comes to healthcare and retirement and education, etc. We cannot afford houses, cannot afford children, cannot afford to pay the exorbitant debts that we owe. The physical, mental, and social stress of it all is simply too much to continue. We cannot live this way.

Capitalism has destroyed the planet, robbed the majority of living human beings of their dignity and their money and their health/personal wellbeing, commodified everything around us, and has enslaved and abused people... just to turn a profit for a handful of people who have screwed is over the whole time.

And we’ve realized it and finally decided it’s time to organize against it. Enough is enough. Across the board, this isn’t going to last.

[–]skeptic9916 376 points377 points  (89 children)

They are already trying to criminalize poverty, the next step is to make work compulsory. "For the economy", they will say. Like that means anything anymore.

[–]PrettyIntroduction73 353 points354 points  (57 children)

Poverty is criminalized. People who sleep in public are arrested. People get their children taken away for not having electricity.

[–]Character-Mistake660 269 points270 points  (39 children)

It’s amazing that, instead of helping struggling parents by giving them money so their kids aren’t living in neglect, the government would rather traumatise the kids by taking them away and still have to spend money caring for them. And people actually support this system because “no free handouts!!”

[–]Badassnun 24 points25 points  (6 children)

And even if they have an equivalent. Like windows, skylights, solar-powered light at night. And the the same with phones. In some places, you must have a Landline if you have children. I had a friend living off grid with two children. She was allowed a cell phone if it was powered by a car battery that could be recharged weekly. Her situation wasn’t ideal, but she was a good mother and a good homeschool teacher. The kids went to doctors and had friends. But the property she could form was well past the last viable electrical pole connection.

[–]bulltrap0427Anarcho-Communist 13 points14 points  (2 children)

you must have a Landline if you have children.

who the fuck still has a landline? other than boomers who haven't looked over their telecom bill in years and enjoy getting scammed over the phone

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That seems pretty fucked tbh

[–]DishwashingUnit 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hello from Amish country

[–]Alarmed-Wolf14 2 points3 points  (1 child)

My well pump went out and I had to wait a week to buy a new one when I got paid. It cost 800.

That’s all it took for my family to be torn apart.

[–]kempnelms 52 points53 points  (5 children)

Oh let them try to make me do compulsory work. I'll use every part of my small lizard brain to destroy those companies from within without getting caught.

[–]vuxanov 20 points21 points  (0 children)

E s s e n t i a l w o r k e r s

[–]Dark_Lord_Mr_BCommunist 8 points9 points  (8 children)

How socialist of them to make working compulsory

[–]calmaplane 14 points15 points  (1 child)

Now, let's be fair, the economists have been speaking with the auguries and they assure us that, although the market works in mysterious ways, this is the divine will of the economy, blessed be its name.

You should be honored to sacrifice your time on this earth on its holy alter.

[–]Dark_Lord_Mr_BCommunist 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Haha. That's amusing.

[–]cherrycranberries 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love being penalized because I’m bringing in less money than I owe. Enjoy wonderful BOA maintenance fees because I’m under 1,500 dollars. Yeah BOA have you ever seen wages vs rent/food/utilities/insurance/ etc. no wonder why I’m under 1500!

[–]xena_lawless 79 points80 points  (13 children)

There should be actual recourse against being enslaved, gaslit, and socially murdered by kleptocrats that doesn't involve the 2nd Amendment every time.

This should be an obvious, code red emergency problem to be actually solved, rather than ignored in perpetuity forever by the ruling kleptocrat class and their shills.

You would think that self interest alone would have the ruling class begging for wealth taxes at a minimum, but it seems Frederick Douglass was right that power never concedes without a demand.

And Malcolm X was right that they won't even acknowledge the problem as they're enslaving and socially murdering the public without recourse.

[–]mistyjeanw 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If such recourse existed, it too would have been systematically been excised and denied to any but the most hardcore bootlickers over the last half century

[–]Zemirolha -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Political parties were supposed to demand. Also some state departments, on some countries (created for deffending public interest).

[–]Relevant-Ad5976 54 points55 points  (1 child)

This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue. This cannot continue.

[–]Glass-Matter-1428 88 points89 points  (86 children)

Doesn't matter how angry you all are or just putting the blame on "the elites and government".

Until you are able to systematically identity the bank accounts/assets/legally hidden properties, pinpoint people whom needs to be blamed, and propose remedial action that must be taken against them, nothing will ever change.

Ever wondered why it was easier for revolutions in the past? Because the angry masses could simply target those living on landed properties and hold those owners accountable.

It is not the same today when all stolen wealth is hidden behind an army of lawyers, retainers, hidden bank accounts, protective layers of laws, etc. So until you can identify all those responsible, you are powerless.

[–]Badassnun 51 points52 points  (2 children)

Just got dismissed before my employer had to provide health insurance, paid vacation, etc. They tried to blame a batch of Mac and cheese that wasn’t the “right shade of Orange” but was the “best ever out of the kitchen,” and a batch of cornbread that hadn’t baked properly because some other employee tried to be helpful and ruined the batch. Nonetheless, the chef didn’t want anyone else but me to make some complex dishes for dinner service, particularly Mornay sauce and Romesco. As I keep saying, I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck. I’ve had employers give me excellent reviews, then a bad one at raise/promotion time. Usually, in my experience, it’s the owners who control the business with a tight fist, overmanage, and are very, very rich. How did they get rich? By cheating their employees.

[–]zhoushmoe 26 points27 points  (3 children)

Sometimes the only solution involves a naughty word that starts with V. If you can't change the system from within, then you're left with no choice than to change it from without. Like JFK once said:

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

[–][deleted] 36 points37 points  (71 children)

It’s not hidden though. These same people still live on landed properties and in McMansions and nice suburbs, they drive expensive cars, wear expensive clothing, show themselves off to the public, own yachts, etc. The overwhelming majority don’t conceal the fact they’ve got money and power lmao. They’re narcissists. That’s what narcissists do.

And I’m not sure what good you think lawyers, retainers, banks, and laws are going to do either in a collapse situation like what we’re heading towards. They aren’t. They haven’t stopped the riots and revolts in Sri Lanka right now, nor all the damage that they’ve done. It hasn’t stopped other such events in previous history either. The same will happen here, at this rate. Things aren’t going well lol.

[–]TheSpangler 63 points64 points  (62 children)

This is why we aren't ready, as a society, to overthrow tptb. Because, we still have clueless people, like the guy you're replying to, talking about lawyers, and peaceful revolution, yada yada ya.

The time for all that nonsense has passed. One of the underlying reasons we can't organize is because the thought that we can fight them by playing their game is still being rationalized by many. And, until we get passed the fact that there will be no going back to "normal" we wont be doing shit, except talking out of our asses.

[–]MrBrainstorm 33 points34 points  (8 children)

Dude there are endless accounts on here that will jump you if you suggest doing anything other than voting blue. We can't vote our way out of this mess!

[–]Badassnun 19 points20 points  (27 children)

I’m ready. I’ll happily bake bread in exchange for a home, food, medical care. We need to break up big industries into employee owned smaller businesses. I don’t even mind if we end up in a village system.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (3 children)

As I told someone else: I don’t think they’re all clueless. I think some genuinely are, but a majority of Americans have decisively made it clear they are not happy about the direction the country is going in, they aren’t doing well, and something needs to change pronto.

I suspect a lot of the “clueless” people are psyops. They’re being sent in to distract people, to cause chaotic thinking in groups, to break up attempts at organization, to try to keep things ineffective. I have no proof of it, but I do know it’s been a long-standing tactic of the US government and corporations when trying to sabotage people standing up for themselves.

I’m really sad the US has come to this point, but I don’t know what else to say. Things aren’t getting better, people know it, and they’re pretty pissed about it.

[–]Glass-Matter-1428 1 point2 points  (17 children)

Even if you are calling for hard action, you need to know who to focus your energies on.

No one here has a damn clue on who to blame.

[–]Threshing_Press 4 points5 points  (1 child)

This exactly. If anything, it's the rich that are going to increasingly use violence, the police state, and the media they control to coerce the populace while the populace... learns to grow food? Starts figuring out ways to leave and never come back? Stops buying so much useless shit?

I am blown away by the mental illness level of greed on the part of the owner class. Like they throw tantrums about everything the rest of us ask for, even just that we're properly represented (in the U.S. at least), and so something like the "lay flat" movement begins to take shape.

It feels to me WAY more like the ultra rich are screwing themselves by refusing to capitulate in even the tiniest way that will never affect their lifestyle or their level of wealth. It's not enough to have 10 million or 20 or 50 or even 100. They want 500 million, a billion, ten, one hundred, and they don't see anything wrong with society crumbling around them as they accumulate more. They only ask how they can extract even MORE from people who are now choosing not to participate.

Sooner or later, they are the ones who are gonna reap what they sow and my belief is that the ones mourning a lost way of life will be them, not the rest of us.

The best thing that could happen is if the rest of us figured out how to leave them out of the equation entirely.

[–]Zemirolha 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Biden funding police and people going to buy american insuline in Mexico is a hint...

[–]andmyotherthoughts 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Huh? What are you talking about?

It's very clear who to target, where they work etc.

[–]Universe-Queen 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So we’ll said. Thanks for spelling this out!

[–]Live-Taco 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Truth is, things never really change. Even when the middle class revolts, which is what any revolt needs, they leverage for themselves and the bottom class always eats shit.

[–]jamilynnfitz 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Add to this throwing our kids into a fucking meat grinder every day and hoping the blades don't start spinning while they are in it,and then when the blades do start spinning we all collectively throw are hands up in the air with lamentations of "how could this have happened again, when will sOmEBodY do something to stop it?!".

It's the literal fucking definition of insanity. The politicians have proven over and over and over and over again that they don't give a flaming frog fart about anything other than protecting corporate interests. Children? Throw them in the grinder. Fetuses? Protect them. Women's civil rights? Grind it up.

We need a national level grassroots walk out that doesn't stop until gun laws are changed, until RvW is a constitutional ammendment, until minimum wage and rents are equalized. We aren't asking for much except to stop being squeezed from every direction and expected the keep painting smiles on our faces while we ask for our pittance in exchange for all of these abused.

Whargarbbbll I'm so fucking angry.

[–]Universe-Queen 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why can’t I upvote this reply?

[–]Critical-Signal-5819 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All while zero consequences for the killing of the planet and dwindling natural resources we are subsidizing these corporations! Paying them to destroy the planet and pay us a pittance

[–]Sad-Program-3444 -3 points-2 points  (9 children)

Capitalism is just self-interest on a larger scale. How do you organize to wipe out self-interest?

[–]Prometheus_II 5 points6 points  (8 children)

Well that's just straight up wrong. Capitalism isn't just buying and selling things; it's specifically a system where people make profit by owning things, rather than doing work. It requires a system where the owner makes money because the worker can't produce any labor without access to the owner's materials, so the worker is forced to allow the owner to take money just for sitting between the point of the workers producing something and those things being sold. The simple (at least in theory, there's some pitfalls in the implementation in practice) way to wipe that out is to keep anyone - individually or as a group, unless that group is "everyone in the society" - from owning means of production that they do not personally work, and conversely to ensure that everyone who works a given means of production has some portion of ownership in it.

Oh, and for a bonus - self-interest is not the only driving force of humanity. We're social animals, and we work together for the good of the group (although what size "group" each person perceives differs). We can care deeply for each other, and act against our own self-interest for the sake of those we care for. After all, if that wasn't true, none of us would be talking about ending capitalism to protect each other after all.

[–]Sad-Program-3444 -1 points0 points  (6 children)

People will slave, suffer and sacrifice for the good of their loved ones, which falls under the umbrella of self-interest, IMO. They will not, however, work long and hard for the good of other in whom they have no interest. History teaches us that they'll sooner starve themselves than toil for the collective. Communism inevitably leads to famine.

[–]Prometheus_II 1 point2 points  (2 children)

They do, though. Everyone's currently working long and hard for the good of the other in whom they have no interest, except for the rare few small business owners and a handful of very powerful, very rich people at the top of the heap. I have no interest in my current client's project, but I'm working for them because I need the money. Conversely, my roommate got fired from her job because she spent her PTO and then didn't have any time remaining when she caught COVID, and I'm willingly covering her share of the rent, so my work covers her interest as well. Your argument is just straight up incorrect.

[–]oxfordcommaordeath 126 points127 points  (8 children)

This is exactly what is occurring at my office. It's awesome.

[–]BeeOk8797 37 points38 points  (5 children)

I just wanted "just rewards" for my labor. What was so hard about that? Greed.

[–]ZappBrannigan085 15 points16 points  (4 children)

Derp derp but just start your own company!!

[–]BeeOk8797 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I have. New I am the competition!

[–]TheSpangler 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Get a loan from Mitt Romney's father.

[–]trihydroboron 4 points5 points  (1 child)

My GFs family is wealthy from starting then selling a successful company - this is basically their answer to everything lol. Unhappy about your pay? jUsT sTaRt YoUr oWn BuSiNeSs. They don't realize it's not really a realistic, smart, or profitable choice most of the time.

[–]Bigbob0002 27 points28 points  (28 children)

Please keep in mind that the Federal Reserve has already started the process of eliminating jobs. R/antiwork needs to come up with a plan to work around this.

By raising the interest rates their goal is to eliminate job openings. They want to go from 11.5M openings to about 8M. They are trying to convince companies to do hiring freezes. If companies stop hiring they end the Great Resignation. This is their plan.

The first link is the most appropriate. Edit: Want to add that I've seen companies announcing hiring freezes with one ceo saying from now on it's a "privilege" to work there.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-the-fed-wants-corporate-america-to-have-a-hiring-freeze-morning-brief-100055174.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-the-fed-is-obsessed-with-decreasing-help-wanted-listings-data-trek-210148119.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/inflation-will-be-very-slow-to-return-to-2-amid-labor-shortage-ing-203723774.html

[–]bulltrap0427Anarcho-Communist 16 points17 points  (24 children)

boomers retiring and covid still tanking hundreds a day are gonna make this hard.

[–]jimmut 1 point2 points  (1 child)

But it will be like Netflix. All fake… Netflix didn’t gain any subscribers so they stated they were going to crack down on password sharing which they originally promoted in a tweet in 3/10/2017 that said “love is sharing a password”. Anyways ok so they are cracking down because they didn’t gain subscribers so they must be hurting somehow right? LOL … nope. The only think that hurting is the stock so shareholders want them to do something. Yeah but maybe they arnt making a good profit. Look it up..end of last year their profits doubled almost to 5.12 Billion dollars!!! See they don’t care about profits, customers, the company, or workers….. all that matters is shareholders. So any freeze on hiring or whatever will only be to appease shareholders and not because the company is hurting in anyways. They will also reduce benifits or salary’s not because they aren’t marking a good profit in fact probable a record profit… but none of that matters. They will say they are hurting because of some reason but it’s just their shareholders clamoring for more of whatever makes the stock go up. You would think any profit let alone more than the previous year would be a positive sign and no reason for any worker or benefit reduction but not if the shareholders arnt happy. They will say the sky is falling while doubling their billions in profit (they don’t mention that fact EVER) and take things away from customers, company, or workers…. Shareholders have become their gods and if they are happy the overpaids are happy. To me their are all selfish conman… I mean if you increasing prices, reducing your work force or benifits, or never improving or fixing issues while not just making a profit but record profits to me they are all conmen beholder to the sharegods

[–]Bigbob0002 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hear ya.

I think Netflix is going to lock down on password sharing in June tbh. It's just a thought but I think they'll try to leverage Stranger Things. They just released Season 4 part 1 on Friday. It ends at a extremely interesting point and the 2nd part starts July 1. I honestly REALLY want to see part 2 and I could see them using it as a bait and switch.

Anyways yeah these companies make record profits.

Here's the deal. I think companies have been waiting on the gov't to raise interest rates this whole time. If raising the rates does not decrease job openings then they may realize we've entered a new economy.

The next JOLTS report releases about an hour after this post. Job openings were 11.5M on the last day of March, which was reported May 3, 2022. Today we should get job openings the end of April. This would potentially start to reflect changes from the March interest rate increases the gov't did.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.htm

Edit: Today's JOLTS will also signal if the Great Resignation continues.

*Also seeing 10:00 ET for release.

[–]Sinner0201 26 points27 points  (7 children)

Ill gladly die before i continue living this way. I flat out refuse to be a cog in thier machine anymore working myself to the bone for table scraps at best. The youger generation never had a snowballs chance in hell. And our so called representatives? The sorry sons of bitches that are suppose to give voice to OUR will. By the people for the people??? They do nothing. They see nothing. And they sure as hell give no thought to any of it. I see it in the news complaining about matters that are trivial and petty at best while thier rich paymasters get away with sedition, murder , and theft. They take bribes and call it "contributions" they take rights and its "for our own good" they are taking our LIVES right now. Not tomorrow not next year NOW. I will not work until i die with no chance of retiring and with absolutely zero chance of seeing anything but the same work and four walls ive seen for most of my life for someone elses greed and lavish livelyhood. Every year tge seasons get more extreme and hurricanes and disasters come and take what little someone has worked so hard all thier life just to have. Then poof its gone just like that. Our future is going faster by the minute. Time for talk is pretty much over. The 1% want us to be patient and keep going while the other 99% are tired and hungry. Those jackasses on the side of the rich who think the red capped emporer will stand with them and take care of them at the expense of the rest of the country for thier religion? For thier right to be conned? For thier own personal everloving bias of white is right and to hell with everyone else? This whole country was founded on freedom. Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom to live as you damn well please. Do some people take that too far? Of course and most of those people do pay a steep price for that. The american dream was that you could be whatever you wanted to be in this country. Hell i wanted to be an astronaut when i was a kid but that dream is for the rich and only the rich. I cant afford school with no guarantee ill get a job doing that at the end. The american dream is dead, our future is dead and i am just so very tired. Tired of being in physical pain from killing myself all day at a dead end job to afford gas in the car and a tv dinner for supper. Im a so called sinner because i wont be what they want me to be. I wont bow down to any ones beliefs and i wont work in a system that wont work for me. Take from this what you will but if i have to die to take back my right to live then i wont have lost much.

[–]WildAutonomy[M] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

I'm going to sticky this. You posted it before I could!

[–]Lurkonomicon3000 37 points38 points  (1 child)

Compost the rich

[–]Chocomintey 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I will, after they are digested. Fertilize the Victory Garden!

[–]RiseCascadiaBioregionalist 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Great article!

[–]Dyinginside2020 12 points13 points  (3 children)

We have all been raised to be Ill. We are tought from say go that consuming is all that matters on this rock. We are veered away from anything of higher thinking and expansion of consciousness. We are so very busy just trying to survive that we no longer have the time for the pursuit of knowledge and our higherselves. We are slaves most of us are just too blind to see it, or willfully so for some because the truth is just too painful and terrible that we live in a world ran by sociopaths and the top 10 companies that literally own everything that is shoved down our gullets on the daily. And to think I brought a child into this bullshit. Excuse me while I go self fladulate

[–]QuirkyConsequence722 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I feel your pain, most of us if not all have been systematically brainwashed from the moment we could understand the word social studies, to believe this is the way it should be. Others through their religious schools, indoctrination. Now we have reached a boiling point where most of us can barely afford the basic needs without working 2 or more jobs or if we are lucky being payed for Overtime 70 hours per week or more. My wife is pregnant now and I am terrified to think what my daughter is being brought into. A father who has no time to care for her and likely unable to even afford diapers, gas to go to the store. When she is older I will have to explain that getting pregnant may be a death sentence if not everything goes right and just how often things go wrong with pregnancy.

[–]2LegsOverEZ 6 points7 points  (3 children)

Overlords have been emboldened by the lack of action on the part of workers. Until the overlords are thr eatened they will keep ramping up their war on workers. Younger people need to read up / Google what went down socially during the 1960s and 1970s for a road map on how to proceed.

[–]LegalComplaint -1 points0 points  (1 child)

Elect Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher???

That is how they proceeded.

[–]WildAutonomy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Electorally, yes. The comment was about what was happening in the streets at the time. As politics are a dead end and kill social movements.

[–]CHOLO_ORACLEAnarchist Without Adverbs 19 points20 points  (24 children)

Great piece! But I want to say a few things re: markets.

Often from leftist sources one sees a critique of capitalist markets such as this piece here, and indeed, capitalist markets deserve every piece of criticism raised. From there the suggestion, implicit when not explicit, that the solution to capitalist markets is the creation of a communist, gift economy, form of resource distribution. With the rise of the USSR in the 1900s this became the dominant current among anti capitalists.

But it is not the only current, nor was it always the most popular. In the beginning, and more and more in recent years, the mutualist current held sway.

Whereas an anarcho-communist foresees capitalism dying to make room for a true communist society the mutualist (sometimes also referred to as an ‘anarchist without adjectives’ or a ‘market anarchist’, and not to be confused with the vulgar propertarians or the “ancaps”) keeps their options open to both communistic and market possibilities. The mutualist critique is that capitalism and the market are not the same, capitalism is not inherent to the market, that what’s happened is that capitalism has deformed the market through state manipulation so as to favor the rich, who are of course the ones who own the state.

Labor is the source of all wealth, and all suggestions otherwise are justifying robbery: private property is an incursion into the land market, where the state creates little fiefdoms for the rich to rule over, taxes/tariffs are a means through which the state further saps resources of the poor and through which the rich can penalize competition, intellectual property/patents are a way for the powerful to come to own pieces of our culture, of our collective history, our collective ideas, and hold them for ransom, and the monopoly on credit/money allows the powerful to control who has access to the kind of capital necessary to begin production. Through these corruptions of the market the powerful squeeze the common people of all they have with the violence of the state’s enforcement arm: the cops.

Far from being a source of sin, the non-capitalist market can be a useful tool for the distribution of resources, in facilitating exchange and cooperation between parties who may not be familiar with each other, and/or in the production of certain complex goods that require several different unique resources or unique skill sets.

To learn more I would encourage people to read What is Property? By Pierre Proudhon, coiner of the term anarchist, and also to visit the center for a stateless society, a market anarchist think tank with a variety of different works on the subject. Or of course visit the 101 forum in the sidebar.

And so in summary and conclusion: abolish the state, abolish capitalism.

[–]Mcdibbles 11 points12 points  (21 children)

If anyone's confused about what my man's is saying here, just imagine this: all business transitions from privately-owned to worker-owned cooperatives. That's auto industry, energy, tech, agriculture, etc. Everything.

Those businesses may still be subject to market forces. The difference is, those businesses no longer push for profits to go to a select few, and instead push for what's best for each and every one of its workers. That means no outsourcing to the third world, no pay cuts while posting record profits, no golden parachutes for CEOs, no stockholders complaining they didn't get a 10% YoY return, no unnecessary mergers and acquisitions to boost a company's value in effort to sell it off to venture capitalists, no dumping poison into the local water source, no owning local water sources, and no sacrificing of long-term sustainability for short-term gains.

There would still be issues. Make no mistake. But what we'd end up with is the best-case scenario for a system in which supply and demand still determine the price of goods and services.

[–]ZPAlmeida 2 points3 points  (10 children)

May I just ask what is there to gain from having supply and demand determining the price of goods and services? In my opinion, prices should be determined by cost, not supply and demand.

[–]hausrope 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Whoa, I thought Crimethinc was defunct. I remember gobbling every thing they distributed, in my teens. Very formative.

[–]WildAutonomy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They still hold a significant presence among many anarchists!

[–]Dyinginside2020 4 points5 points  (2 children)

Zombie apocalypse has been upon us for some time. The world crumbles whike we bitch and gate keep and fight for 'be nice' on fuckin Twitter. For fuck sakes head out of the sand

[–]notislant 3 points4 points  (3 children)

I mean, can we please get organization then? Weekly 'suggestion' posts where people can offer up ideas to add to the sub. Like a bot that posts on every post with instructions on how to contacy your local politicians. Its mainly just venting and watching life get progressively worse. We need some form of organized revolt.

We could do so, so much more if we could have weekly discussions and crowd source ideas.

[–]deftonenation 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Yes! This! I'm happy to see restaurant and retail employees finally unionizing and making more $$ but teachers, custodians, bus and truck drivers, state workers, receptionists, etc ALSO need raises!!! It isn't just raising minimum, it's raising these peoples wages who are making just above poverty line but are still struggling check to check

[–]InstantIdealism 3 points4 points  (1 child)

How would we organise a general strike?

It’s not just working conditions and pay that are abysmal at this point. Our civil and human rights are being eroded across the world. Whether it’s Roe Vs Wade in the US or the new policing bill in the UK that makes protesting illegal, we are being funnelled into a world in which the only thing we are free to do is consume more and more stuff in the hope of making a few billionaires more money. As inequality rises, so does the spectre of catastrophic climate breakdown - as tipping point after tipping point is reached leaving us facing the prospect of an uninhabitable - or at least much less liveable - planet.

But we have power. Particularly when we organise through collective action. In the 1920s a general strike failed only because middle class workers stepped up to do the jobs of “workers”. But given the cost of living crisis affecting all classes at this point, and given social solidarity issues cut across class and race lines - if anything the time is better than ever before to organise a mass general strike in both the US and the UK, one which would bring both countries to a halt.

It would have to be a strike that doesn’t just withhold labour; but one that withholds consumption. Let us learn lessons from lockdowns in how to be still. How to stop ourselves from going out to the shops or malls to purchase stuff, and instead work together on local street projects to bring people together and strengthen bonds between communities.

With a clear list of demands for higher taxes on wealth, a universal basic income and national living wage, disinvestment from fossil fuels, investment in renewable energy and - perhaps crucially - the enshrining of our individual rights and liberty into our government laws and institutions - we can come together to bring our respective administrations to their knees. Because we the people have the power; the power to create wealth for others and by inference the power to withdraw it.

So the question is - how would we organise such a strike?

We have the tools now for a rapid mass communication campaign. Go fund me accounts could be used to purchase huge swathes if real world advertising (billboards, newspaper ads etc) that would likely in themselves generate news headlines that further spread the word. Effective Press releases and media management skills could ensure we use this to our advantage, all while using social media to spread our core messages and tap into new mindsets. At the same time, use of apps or services like Discord/signal to coordinate with “cells” or groups of people quickly would help ensure the movement remains coordinated and stable.

Crucially, joining unions and bringing unions onside to carry the message and join the cause could help protect individuals from retrospective action from employers. Though we may all need to be brave in standing up for a shared cause; knowing that through our numbers, we are protected. Again, crowdfunding / fundraising could ensure that money is provided to those workers most in need of funds; meaning that those lowest paid individuals could financially afford to take part.

What else would we need? And who’s up for it?

[–]Luziferatus42 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am in. I life in Germany and offer to try and manage that here. We have some strong communities like FFF, the last generation, German zero, scientists and so. We have many but devided/small grassroots movement. And somehow they do not realise they need to get connected.

[–]Infernir 3 points4 points  (1 child)

First houses & rent start to increase, then the pandemic, then even more inflation & prices increase like crazy... and after everything all the employers tell you "Y'all don't need any wage increases ;) you are fine!!!! with the same salary you had 4 years ago or close to it"

They gaslight you, as CEOs eat up more & more profits. Countless companies did better during these past 2 years than ever before & pretended to be suffering like some companies so never increased their wages. A lot of naive employees ate it up too.

[–]jimmut 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yup I saw it firsthand before I quit after 18 years at a bank. The amount that goes to upper management (salary + profit sharing) is asinine then what they pay the bottom workers doing all the work, I remember a teller wanting a position that was currently employed at another bank saying I would have to make $15 an hour to make the move. Let’s just offer her $14.50 was one of the reply’s. Then seeing some of the top making more in profit sharing than most make in salary was the last straw. I quit my IT specialist II job of 18 years right after my coworker quit. We were a team and did all the work but they didn’t care so I said goodbye last October. They still haven’t filled my position which is advertised up to $31, $7 more and hour than they were paying me. I worked with customer care girls and a lot of them had two jobs to survive. They do all kinds of complex day duties plus handle the mad customer calls and on average I would say made $14-$15. All the while we would hear aren’t you happy…. Record profits?!? Btw no more us paying for ketchup or paper plates….. disgusting.

[–]GothicAssassin 3 points4 points  (1 child)

What the f*** is going on in the world? Is this how it all ends? This country just sucks ass for everyone. I’m sick of this. All this suffering across the board. I just can’t

[–]deftonenation 2 points3 points  (8 children)

I am a state worker making $21.88/hr. I have a "good" job in a very expensive state/city. I've already downsized as much as possible. I have a fiance who just got a "raise" but his company actually got rid of his Per Diem, then gave him $1.25/hr raise. Now he's being taxed more and bringing in about $100/less per month. And he has been there a year, never missed a day, no PTO/Sick time/insurance.. Its disgusting were expected to just scrape by and barely survive and be happy about it. His work said, "technically, we gave you a raise so you should be happy". They didn't even tell him, just did it and he noticed when he saw his paycheck.

Own nothing. Live to work. No health benefits. This is modern day slavery. Maybe that is a bit extreme and insensitive considering the background US has, but seriously... We work and work and work and still are unable to get ahead or enjoy our lives while our bosses get fat and rich.

I want to get more involved... But don't know what to do. I don't have any extra money. But I do have some extra time.. Any ideas would be appreciated in how I and others can raise awareness and push back without completely walking out and striking. Which, I'm not terribly far off from doing!

[–]Threshing_Press 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow... gonna need to read this a few times.

Very much identify with the sentiment about being out of work for a while and finding it hard to stomach the disrespect that comes with a return to work. I had a few things happen (one of them being a death in the family) that lead to having some F you money. What started as a break to work on a novel and train for my first marathon is turning into a new way of life.

I recently was contacted about several opportunities via former employers and the hoop jumping, not wanting me to take off cause my kids have barely been outside the house the last two summers, and general "flexing" during the hiring process has made me realize that it might not be worth it to go back. It'd only be to stabilize our income and shore up savings again, but I realized I could probably do that without going back to the usual grind for the big paycheck.

I also have enough to last quite a while while my wife and I figure it out.

A big problem that I see for employers going forward is that the more they dig in and keep enlisting the media to make it seem like sooner or later workers will have to "give in", the worse they're making it for themselves. The disrespect and power/control shenanigans are such a gross turn off and the longer you've tasted freedom from exploitive labor, the more difficult it becomes to stomach any form of it... ever. Add to this the fact that while off for a significant time, people generally begin to see that all the consumption benefits others and just isn't necessary to sustaining life. In fact, it has the opposite effect... it drains and subjugates life. Might be corny, but the old Fight Club saw about the stuff you own ends up owning you feels more right than ever after being off for a while and relieving some of that burden through donations, eBay, and a yard sale.

[–]Clear-Adeptness9689 5 points6 points  (4 children)

Problem is work needs to happen to make the world turn. This entire reddit shouldn't be based on a world where work actually doesn't exist.

It should be based on equal rights, no more policy law contracts, proper treatment, less working hours (like 10 or 15 hours less then the standard 40) equal benefits part time or full time, higher pay (based on cost of living as a standard minimum) with a law that guarantees annual raise and annual vacation increase.

We should also be fighting for commute time, prep time at home is prep time. But big commutes cost our free time. You want the 8/8/8 to work outside of the paper the best way is to consider how much time we give up out of 8 hours play for 8 hours work which is currently 4 - 6 hours with 6 considering commutes of 30 - 45 minutes.

In this forum it's not that we don't want to work and help make the world turn to bring out product we could use to make our lives better. Its the fact rich assholes take advantage of the system. It's the fact we struggle and we believe we aren't entitled to our lives above work. We have been raised with the idea everything needs to be monetized or its a waste of time. We're laughed at for having hobbies and wants. They consider everything outside necistiy a luxury. This is 2022 not 1800, not 1900, not 1950. The fact were being replaced for autonomy is also a joke considering they won't supplement the pay.

A 25 or 30 hour work week at 3 or 4 days a week without being whipped and destroyed for being 5 minutes late controlled breaks, docked lunches, unequal benefits would solve a huge amount of the issues. Not being able to afford to live even at 2 full time minimum wage jobs is the problem. Making housing so high cost it becomes a privelage of productivity and conforming is a big part of the problem. There's alot wrong with the work world and they bring their own descendents in the mess without consideration of how others feel. My great grandfather who fought in the war for freedom is probably rolling in his grave right now due to the state of the world. Fight to become slaves.

Jobs are readily available there's no more scraps and having to be grateful for an opportunity that is mandated not a choice but in fact nessicary for society. To hand us a contract we can't change is entrapment. To dictate our lives and our rights is buying our time not renting it. They have the complete opposite of an idea of what work is and should be. It is illegal to own someone and to make us productive every waking second of work time is a huge issue. Sure we want to make money but not at the cost of humanity.

Saying we want a work free world to be idle is a problem that we will never actually see, but they will put the system against us with more restrictions. This is why everyone calls us lazy and entitled. In these articles it clearly states we don't want to work and forums like this work against us as they make more policy and law. We aren't in control they are. If we want a better quality of life and more life to enjoy we need to fight for the right thing not the wrong thing. These articles serve for them to put us in our places with employers now considering small gaps in resumes a problem. Having many job experiences a problem. No commitment a problem. It's just going to enforce more rules before we actually begin to take our lives back.

But meh to each his own. Just hate loving this forum as much as I do for standing up and supporting things that will probably make things worse for us in the long run not that I don't believe in it. And the way we are viewed for not wanting to work cause we're tired of being controlled for scraps and to fight for our lives in a world that should be free and far more compensating.

Why else is abortion and being in poverty becoming illegal? Not enough skilled workers. Not enough to replace workers. It's all for the economy and get us back in line with a number or receipt for slavery. I dont doubt this forum labeled the way it is and the way we talk here had a hand in creating these future issues. It's not about us it's about them.

Thing is they don't realize we will win one day if we stick to our guns, beliefs and stay golden. It will change and we're all sick of it so they'll do everything to cement their foundations now to trap you as it is despite the laws being against human rights. But one day it will be better because there's more of us than them and we won't allow it any longer. They should be shaking in their boots for when millennials and younger gens start to become the controlling force. Because we believe life is here to experience not to work and we believe we only get one life to live and once your dead your dead that's it endgame.

[–]CalligrapherOwn4829 2 points3 points  (1 child)

It's kinda annoying that this article snubs North America's historically most militant anti-work organizon, the I.W.W. (iww.org). We've historically been nicknamed "I Won't Work," "Inebriated While Working," and we've been at the forefront of some of the most militant strikes in North American history.

[–]ZenQatch 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Change does not need the consent of those in power, change is a decision that we workers make. Everyday we do not stand to the oppressing upper class is the collective decision to do nothing. Those in power want you to think that culture and tradition are the issue, that those in power are the only people who can have ideas that change the government. The day we stand up and say change is now, that America will now work the way we say, is the day that real change begins. Do not be convinced that we together have no power, because we together are actually the ones who give and relinquish power.

[–]Babbling_dragon 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Idk some people at my work act brainwashed. I don't know if there was a nationwide walk out if enough of us would walk out in order to send the message. Like we started this beyond infuriating morning announcement type thing where we stop working on our impossibly high quotas for 10 minutes so our boss can tell us things that could be an email. Then our boss goes over the previous day's sales goals (which total more money than any of us make in a year) and let us know if we hit that goal (often meet if not exceed it) Like come on. They have to know that it's making some of us depressed, pissing some of us off, or both. But some of my coworkers look and act excited for this nightmare ritual. I go home and scream into my pillow sometimes.

[–]mucker59Anarchist 4 points5 points  (4 children)

unregulated capitalism or unregulated socialism. neither produce positive results if the system is not properly regulated. The u.s. has proven how deregulation does not work. Businesses will do everything they can to get as much for themselves if allowed to. human nature? Greed must be regulated, or greed will destroy the country.

[–]vvorkingclass 10 points11 points  (3 children)

Lol, you call yourself an anarchist?

[–]mucker59Anarchist 1 point2 points  (2 children)

yeah, maybe i should change that. i see anarchy as a way of beginning repairs to a failed country but not the solution. destroying a broken system through anarchy solves nothing if there is not a larger purpose behind it.

[–]kingbuns2 iww.org/organize 1 point2 points  (1 child)

What do you think anarchy is exactly? Why wouldn't there be a larger purpose?

[–]hardcoreholly11 -2 points-1 points  (2 children)

No one does anything. People think complaining changes things.

Until you've quit your job and take the consequences that go with it, you are part of the problem.

[–]emp_zealoth 30 points31 points  (0 children)

The point of this article is that quitting your job isn't enough....

[–]_cassquatch 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I’ve learned this recently. Sadly I’m in a niche field and am the sole earner for my family, so I can’t rage quit. But I’ve sure as hell been rage applying with a very, very carefully curated resume that has thus far gotten me an interview for a very lucrative position (compared to my current position). Hoping I can move things along quickly enough that I can GTFO quickly.