• roux [he/him, they/them]@hexbear.net
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    5 months ago

    I was told by family that I no longer associate with that a minimun wage was meant to b a “starter wage.” Like they were implying that working as a teen/young adult was meant for practice. I’ve also been told by another lib that “both sides”, as in Dems and Reps, need to “come to a compromise on minimum wage.” Which means, of course, still less than a minimum living(last I talked to that guy, he was selling his second Corvette since he didn’t need it but obviously was an authority on minimum wage). The thing is that people that are only slightly smarter than these 2 I mention run this country. Everything is fucked Death to America.

    • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      The whole “starter wage” idea makes sense if it’s paired with shit like on the job education, training, grace periods for fuck ups, schedules that encourage them to finish school etc. But it doesn’t. If somebody can’t live off the wages what the fuck are we starting? Debt peonage?

      • Zodiark [he/him]@hexbear.net
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        5 months ago

        I suspect that’s what it used to be, and that’s how boomers came of age under or how Gen X recall their parents career trajectory.

        • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          5 months ago

          Pretty much. That’s why they believe in things like being loyal to your employer. They would not believe in such things if it hadn’t been practical at one point in their lives. It even goes way back to ancient times. Apprenticeship is how you get artisan crafts and carry experience forward.

    • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      It’s actually only like eight hundred and six people they’re not smarter nor are they worth as much as they make but what they do have is unbreakable class solidarity to decide the rest of our standard of living.

      I know it’s meme but you had me until the doomerism. America is every man, woman and critter that has worked to make sure my family has electricity, clean running water, healthcare and shelter just as I work for their families to have the same. So I can’t in good conscious wish to end that.

      But hit me up when we’re ready to dismantle the owning class that decides who has access to these standards of living.

      • fox [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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        5 months ago

        Death to America means the termination of the imperialist, colonialist, capitalist socioeconomic structures that sit between Canada and Mexico, not the literal killing of its people. The State of America is that of an emotionless machine that turns human potential and bodies into numbers on a spreadsheet from which dollars may be extracted. The Nation of America is the people that live inside that machine and are in part its imperial beneficiaries but are mostly its marginally luckier victims. We want to destroy the machine.

        • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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          5 months ago

          Yeah, that’s a nice definition and all but others aren’t going to interpret it that way.

          I’m not a political or socioeconomic major but I believe if the working class dismantled the owning classes with economic reparations. The structures that oppress the “economic south” (I use that term with a vague understanding of what it means) would follow.

          But I’m also aware that this is a very pie in the sky belief. I apologize if I’m speaking from ignorance.

          • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]@hexbear.net
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            5 months ago

            Think it along the lines of someone saying “fuck the police.” They don’t actually want to fuck the police, they want to see the police stripped of power and immunity. Nobody should be having sex with cops. It’s just more fun to say and this is a place where everyone will understand what is really meant.

            Also consider that most of the time when “America” is invoked it’s not on behalf of the people living in its borders. For example, the bipartisan criticism of the war in Gaza that “America” is supporting. The American people’s interests are barely considered by our elites. If anything, saying “death to america” is using the ruling class’ definition of America in that sentence. Consider that when an American bomb blows up a house and the lone survivor blames America they are not blaming a retail clerk in Nebraska or a teacher in Tennessee or a stay at home mom in Oregon.

            Our ruling class and the people they oppress have a shared definition of America and that is the America that needs to die.

            • blindbunny@lemmy.ml
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              5 months ago

              Thanks for making an approachable comment.

              Also consider that most of the time when “America” is invoked it’s not on behalf of the people living in its borders. For example, the bipartisan criticism of the war in Gaza that “America” is supporting. The American people’s interests are barely considered by our elites.

              If I may, dismantling this structure would also be liberating our neighbors to the north, south and the greater economic south. Do I understand that correctly?

              If so getting people to recognize class consciousness would be a step forward to getting there.

              • GrouchyGrouse [he/him]@hexbear.net
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                5 months ago

                Yes, nationalism is a negative force. International working class solidarity is the greatest threat to the ruling class. Capitalism is a global force with global influence and power. It will require an international movement to combat and defeat it.