Politics And Current Events

[grunthy]

You don't see a connection between unions and the jobs moving away?

You've really bought that line of BS hook, line and sinker, haven't you. Unions didn't force the jobs to move, greedy owners / shareholders, corrupt politicians and cheap ass customers did.

Unions retard growth and strangle industries.

Shareholders siphoning all the profit is what really strangles industry.

It's amazing that any cars are made in the US at all. Given a free market they wouldn't be.

And a 'free market' is desirable why?

It isn't just one or the other. They both contributed to the collapse.

[dodint]

It's funny to me. Greedy owners and cheap ass customers are why commerce exists. It's an interesting perspective, to me, to think that industry exists for the sake of the labor.

[large garlic]

I think I've posted something along these lines before, but I'm a somewhat reluctant union member. Overall, I think it's good to have our union in place, since it has resulted in slightly better salaries and and working conditions than similar places, and the union can call out the higher-ups when they try to implement some ill-advised changes.

The downside is that I feel like the default attitude of the hardcore union members is to always look for a fight with the management in order to play up the importance of the union and justify their positions in it. Instead of the first priority being the long-term health and stability of the institution, any proposed change is often automatically played up as some nefarious management plot to screw over union members, and people who question the union line are often shouted down with repeated cliches about the need for solidarity and trust in the union leadership.

[grunthy]

It's funny to me. Greedy owners and cheap ass customers are why commerce exists. It's an interesting perspective, to me, to think that industry exists for the sake of the labor.

WK is a communist, so...

[Troy Loney]

It's funny to me. Greedy owners and cheap ass customers are why commerce exists. It's an interesting perspective, to me, to think that industry exists for the sake of the labor.

Work and contributing to society are also supposed to contribute to individual fulfillment.

[columbia]

Not sure I agree, Troy.

I find my job to be interesting and fulfilling. However, my job doesn't exist to please me or be for my benefit. It exists because it's a necessary service in higher ed.

[dodint]

It's funny to me. Greedy owners and cheap ass customers are why commerce exists. It's an interesting perspective, to me, to think that industry exists for the sake of the labor.

Work and contributing to society are also supposed to contribute to individual fulfillment.

Sure. And yet, Universal Basic Income seems to be an inevitability.

It's going to be like the beginning of The Time Machine, we'll just be a bunch of Eloi with no discernible ambition or skill. Yay.

[Troy Loney]

It's funny to me. Greedy owners and cheap ass customers are why commerce exists. It's an interesting perspective, to me, to think that industry exists for the sake of the labor.

Work and contributing to society are also supposed to contribute to individual fulfillment.

Sure. And yet, Universal Basic Income seems to be an inevitability.

It's going to be like the beginning of The Time Machine, we'll just be a bunch of Eloi with no discernible ambition or skill. Yay.

The modern economic structure has pulled most workers out of roles that would provide that fulfillment. It's the way that society has evolved, I think the question just has to become whether live has developed for the benefit of the whole. I think the answer to that is clearly no. That's why things like mental health and drug abuse are so prevalent.

[tifosi77]

Not sure I agree, Troy.

I find my job to be interesting and fulfilling. However, my job doesn't exist to please me or be for my benefit. It exists because it's a necessary service in higher ed.

Which begs the question: What is the need for higher education?

Some might say it is to better prepare yourself for a job you will find fulfilling on multiple levels. Which doesn't change the fact the job doesn't exist to make the worker happy. But when the two intersect, it's usually a good thing for everyone.

[Troy Loney]

I doubt many jobs are designed to exist for that reason. There is a part of completing work that should allow the worker to derive fulfillment from it. I've never experienced that, outside of running my own small business, I don't see where I would get it myself.

[columbia]

It does in my case, so everyone gets what they need out of the arrangement.

[dodint]

I worked in a factory gluing IV tubes together right before joining the Marines. I haven't had a job since then that I didn't want, and I really hope it stays that way. I think to elevate yourself out of something like that you have to be willing to sacrifice *something*, and I don't think that mechanism exists in the majority of people. It's not meant to be condescending, some people are just content with their station, which is fine. Right up until they start thinking they're 'entitled' to more when they look around at their peers who have progressed. Which brings us back to the 2br apartment...

[Gaucho]

[AuthorTony]

You don't see a connection between unions and the jobs moving away?

You've really bought that line of BS hook, line and sinker, haven't you. Unions didn't force the jobs to move, greedy owners / shareholders, corrupt politicians and cheap ass customers did.

I'm not really pro or anti union but I agree with WK for the most part. Locally in Somerset, I'd say 3/4 of the factories have closed down over the last 15 or so years. Only one of them was a union shop. They made toilets and, when they were going to move production to China, the union offered to make every concession possible. The company told them the laborers could work for free and it would still be more profitable to manufacture overseas. Maybe other small towns are different, but unions have never had much of a foothold in Somerset and that didn't stop most of those types of blue collar job from vanishing.

[Algernon]

I worked in a factory gluing IV tubes together right before joining the Marines. I haven't had a job since then that I didn't want, and I really hope it stays that way. I think to elevate yourself out of something like that you have to be willing to sacrifice *something*, and I don't think that mechanism exists in the majority of people. It's not meant to be condescending, some people are just content with their station, which is fine. Right up until they start thinking they're 'entitled' to more when they look around at their peers who have progressed. Which brings us back to the 2br apartment...

You say this like it's only possible to get stuck at a horrible job if you're lazy and uninspired

It's really a shitty arrogant viewpoint

[count2infinity]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 3278048256


Uh... Donnie. You're trending in a particular direction:

[tifosi77]

That's a sharp spike in the Rasmussen number.

[Viva la Ben]

He needs to just fire Mueller and put this Russia thing to bed*

*actual Facebook comment

[tifosi77]

Trump cannot actually fire Mueller directly. Only the Attorney General (or, in this case, the Acting AG) has that statutory authority to fire the Special Counsel. So he'd have to fire Rosenstein and appoint someone who would do that, and good luck getting that person confirmed by the Senate. And I would remind everyone that the worm turned for Nixon when he asked his AG to fire the independent prosecutor, and the AG resigned in protest, and the Acting AG also resigned in protest. (The Saturday Night Massacre)

Trump appointed Rosenstein. Who neither, 1) recommended that Comey be fired (that came from Sessions), nor 2) is investigating Trump.... which is the entire point of Mueller's existence as SC.

[Troy Loney]

He would have to have Rosenstein fire him right?

And it seems like Rosenstein is going to recuse himself before that (because of his actions prior to the Comey firing). So, would the third in line at the DOJ be able to fire Mueller?

[count2infinity]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/mic ... ar-BBCH3Fo

Good.

[Willie Kool]

Disagree 100% with that verdict. Hope it's appealed and overturned.

[MR25]

Actions have consequences.

[count2infinity]

"The judge noted that the 18-year-old Roy climbed out of the truck as it was filling with toxic gas and told Carter he was scared. "Get back in," Carter told Roy, according to a friend who testified Carter described the conversation in a text message to her about a month after Roy died."

Disgusting. Also, the sentence could range from probation to 20 years. Her punishment could still just be a slap on the wrist.

[Willie Kool]

Actions have consequences.

Sure, but she took no actual 'action'. This is a very slippery slope. Freedom of speech n'at. Even the ACLU has condemned the verdict.

He said Carter had a duty to call someone for help when she knew Roy was attempting suicide. Yet she did not call the police or Roy's family, he noted.

"She did not issue a simple additional instruction: Get out of the truck," the judge said.

"Am I my brother's keeper?"