The Sheer Incompetence of Progressives

[DonGlock26]

/---/ And they call us weird.

If it was Joe Biden, I'd say he shit himself again.

 

[TruthNotBS]

I am frightened that people like you can vote. It is your right to have this opinion, but ironically, you wouldn't have that right if you got what you voted for.



Yes, indoctrination is very powerful.



Sure, we can all be happy and live in the same houses and all drive the same cars. Sounds like an interesting, fictional movie.



The average standard of living in the US far exceeds most countries. You have been indoctrinated to think otherwise.

Yes, indoctrination is very powerful.

You don't have to be indoctrinated to want the working class to own the means of production collectively and make the workplace democratic, nor do you need any indoctrination to see that when advanced automation and AI eliminate most jobs, socialism becomes a necessity.

Democracy won't just be in our government but in the workplace as well. No masters, only accountable leaders, elected by the people (both in government and at work where most people spend most of their waking hours).

SAY NO TO TECHNO-FEUDALISM​

You're just pearl-clutching because you see yourself as a member of the wealthy ruling class and you don't want "the peasants" (who BTW, work just as hard, if not more so, than you), to take over. Well, boohoo.

​

Sure, we can all be happy and live in the same houses and all drive the same cars. Sounds like an interesting, fictional movie.

When did I ever say everyone is going to live in the same houses and drive the same cars? You obviously have a reading comprehension deficiency. Nonetheless, if the houses and cars are modern and comfortable and the cars (or whatever other mode of transportation there is in the future), efficiently takes people from point A to point B, then who are you to think that you can selfishly deprive everybody else of that? You were never entitled to enjoy comfort and security at the expense of others. You never existed in a vacuum or in isolation but in a community of other people. If you don't like that...

TOO BAD.​

Isn't that what you tell the "peasants" you consider inferior and less worthy than you? Too bad.

The average standard of living in the US far exceeds most countries. You have been indoctrinated to think otherwise.

Most countries are third-world, developing countries. I lived in Costa Rica for a few years and despite it being a third-world country, I had much better healthcare coverage (it's free of charge for "Ticos") and my wife was able to get an advanced degree in its university, as a foreigner, for under $2000, which is recognized here in the United States. If she had been Costa Rican (a "Tica"), she wouldn't have had to pay a penny. Costa Rica ranks 30th in the world for life expectancy (the US ranks 49th) and has lower infant and maternal mortality rates than the US. That's a form of WEALTH, that assholes like you ignore.

The problem with you is that your values are shit. Your concept of "wealth" is warped and just STUPID. Shallow, selfish, and sociopathic. Your claim that the working class has it "good" here in the US underscores your delusional state. In other words, you're a piece of shit, just like I said earlier.

 

[TruthNotBS]

If we have a MIXED ECONOMY - how do you know that socialism is the one working beautifully ?

Because without the social component capitalism crumbles. Workers need a social safety net, rights, protections..etc, without it there's gross inequality and eventually the pitchforks come out. The smarter capitalists know this, and that's why they're for mixed economies. Here in the US, capitalists are for the most part stupid, and end up cutting their noses in spite of their faces. Some however have woken up:

​

At least they're more or less concerned for the working class. It's not enough, they don't push for democracy in the workplace, but at least they're thinking in terms of how to assist the working class within a capitalist-run economy when production is automated by intelligent robotics and AI.

 

[Contumacious]

Because without the social component capitalism crumbles.

Pure Unadulterated Bullshit

From 1787 until 1913 there was no" social component" - only after the corrupt politicians concluded that they could use the US Treasury to buy votes

A Welfare State = Government BUY the People

 

[TruthNotBS]

Pure Unadulterated Bullshit

From 1787 until 1913 there was no" social component" - only after the corrupt politicians concluded that they could use the US Treasury to buy votes

A Welfare State = Government BUY the People

You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, huh? For much of that era that you mentioned the capitalists had FREE LABOR, in the form of black slaves, and that contributed greatly to the development of this country. You're foolishly appealing to the Gilded Age of capitalism led by robber barons, when workers hardly had any rights and children were working the factories,12, 14 hours daily for peanuts. Is that your idea of a healthy, functional, humane work environment for the American working class? You're extremely confused, if not evil.

You're most likely a working-class person, hence you're an ingrate because this is what leftists did for you:

1. Worker Protections and Labor Reforms

​

1. Eight-Hour Day and 40-Hour Work Week

The push for shorter working hours dates back to the late 19th-century labor movement, which was strongly supported by socialist, progressive, and labor organizers.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, officially established the 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, and minimum wage.

2. Overtime Pay

Also established by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, requiring employers to pay workers time-and-a-half for hours worked over 40 per week.

3. Minimum Wage

First introduced at the federal level by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Progressive activists and labor leaders fought for a guaranteed wage floor to protect low-wage workers from exploitation.

4. Child Labor Laws

Child labor restrictions were championed by labor unions, progressives, and social reformers, culminating in federal regulations within the FLSA that set minimum age requirements and hour limits for working minors.

5. Right to Unionize & Collective Bargaining

The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) of 1935 guaranteed workers the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining without employer interference. Unions—and the broader left—were crucial in advocating for these rights.

​

6. Unemployment Insurance

Part of the Social Security Act of 1935, unemployment benefits were a key component of FDR’s New Deal, which progressives and organized labor strongly supported.

7. Workers’ Compensation

Many states began instituting workers’ compensation laws in the early 1900s, largely due to pressure from progressive reformers and labor organizations that sought protection for employees who were injured on the job.

8. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Established in 1971 under President Richard Nixon (though with strong backing from labor advocates and progressive lawmakers), OSHA enforces safety standards and regulations to prevent workplace injuries and deaths.


1. Social Security (1935)

A cornerstone of the New Deal, Social Security provides retirement benefits and disability insurance. It was heavily promoted by FDR and progressive allies in Congress in response to the Great Depression.

2. Medicare and Medicaid (1965)

Passed as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society,” Medicare provides health insurance to Americans 65 and older, while Medicaid offers coverage to low-income individuals. Progressive legislators, social justice activists, and labor unions were pivotal advocates.

3. Food Stamps / SNAP

Initiated as a pilot under President Kennedy and expanded under President Johnson, the Food Stamp Program (now SNAP) was a key part of the War on Poverty—a set of programs championed by progressives to fight hunger and poverty.

4. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) / Temporary Assistance to

Needy Families (TANF)

Originally part of the Social Security Act, expanded over time by progressive policymakers and social welfare advocates to provide financial support to lowincome families with children.

Voting Rights and Political Participation

1. Women’s Suffrage (19th Amendment, 1920)

Suffragists and progressive activists fought for decades to secure voting rights for women. Although support was widespread, left-leaning reformers and activists were generally among the strongest advocates.

2. Universal White Male Suffrage in the 19th Century

While not typically labeled “left vs. right” in the modern sense, the broader democratic movement (championed by Jacksonian Democrats and various populist groups) did away with property requirements, expanding voting rights to all white men. Early labor and populist movements pushed for more inclusive suffrage.

3. Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965)

Enacted under President Lyndon B. Johnson, these landmark laws outlawed segregation and discriminatory voting practices. Civil rights groups, progressive activists, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party were instrumental in pushing for these reforms.

4. Eliminating Poll Taxes (24th Amendment, 1964)

Poll taxes were used to disenfranchise poor voters (disproportionately people of color). The 24th Amendment abolished poll taxes in federal elections, a victory for civil rights organizations and progressive lawmakers.

4. Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination Efforts

1. Ending Segregation and Jim Crow

Activists from the NAACP, labor unions (like the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters), socialist organizations, and progressive religious groups were core components of the civil rights movement, which brought about the dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the South.

2. Fair Housing Act (1968)

Outlawed discriminatory housing practices. Advocates included civil rights groups and progressive politicians who fought for open and equal housing opportunities.

3. Affirmative Action

Initiated under President John F. Kennedy and expanded under President Lyndon B. Johnson, Affirmative Action programs were intended to address historical discrimination, strongly championed by leftists and civil rights activists.

4. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990)

While signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, it was heavily supported by progressive activists and disability rights advocates, ensuring people with disabilities have protections in employment, transportation, and public accommodations.

6. Broader Social and Economic Reforms

1. The New Deal Programs In addition to Social Security, the New Deal encompassed agencies and policies like the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Public Works Administration (PWA), which provided millions of jobs. These programs were a hallmark of progressive policy during the Great Depression.

2. The Great Society Programs

Under Lyndon B. Johnson, these included Medicare, Medicaid, the War on Poverty initiatives, Head Start (early childhood education), and more. All were broadly backed by liberal and progressive lawmakers.

3. Environmental Protections

While protecting the environment has broad political support, progressive and left-leaning advocates have been strong in pushing laws like the Clean Air Act (1970) and the Clean Water Act (1972), helping establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Nixon.

4. Expansion of Civil Liberties

Social Safety Net expansions (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance) came largely through progressive leftist legislative efforts, especially during the New Deal and Great Society.

This country was dependent upon free slave labor and the highly exploited poor working class for much of its history before the 20th century. Your definition of national "success" is quite odd, to say the least. Again you're an ingrate, because you should be grateful for what leftists have done for you as a working-class American. I didn't even mention education, and how leftists have pushed for the GI BILL and federal financial aid FAFSA..etc. I could've made the list of leftist contributions to the American working class much longer.

 

[Cellblock2429]

You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, huh? For much of that era that you mentioned the capitalists had FREE LABOR, in the form of black slaves, and that contributed greatly to the development of this country. You're foolishly appealing to the Gilded Age of capitalism led by robber barons, when workers hardly had any rights and children were working the factories,12, 14 hours daily for peanuts. Is that your idea of a healthy, functional, humane work environment for the American working class? You're extremely confused, if not evil.

You're most likely a working-class person, hence you're an ingrate because this is what leftists did for you:

1. Worker Protections and Labor Reforms

View attachment 1065650​

1. Eight-Hour Day and 40-Hour Work Week

The push for shorter working hours dates back to the late 19th-century labor movement, which was strongly supported by socialist, progressive, and labor organizers.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, officially established the 40-hour workweek, overtime pay, and minimum wage.

2. Overtime Pay

Also established by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, requiring employers to pay workers time-and-a-half for hours worked over 40 per week.

3. Minimum Wage

First introduced at the federal level by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Progressive activists and labor leaders fought for a guaranteed wage floor to protect low-wage workers from exploitation.

4. Child Labor Laws

Child labor restrictions were championed by labor unions, progressives, and social reformers, culminating in federal regulations within the FLSA that set minimum age requirements and hour limits for working minors.

5. Right to Unionize & Collective Bargaining

The National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) of 1935 guaranteed workers the right to form unions and engage in collective bargaining without employer interference. Unions—and the broader left—were crucial in advocating for these rights.

View attachment 1065659​

6. Unemployment Insurance

Part of the Social Security Act of 1935, unemployment benefits were a key component of FDR’s New Deal, which progressives and organized labor strongly supported.

7. Workers’ Compensation

Many states began instituting workers’ compensation laws in the early 1900s, largely due to pressure from progressive reformers and labor organizations that sought protection for employees who were injured on the job.

8. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

Established in 1971 under President Richard Nixon (though with strong backing from labor advocates and progressive lawmakers), OSHA enforces safety standards and regulations to prevent workplace injuries and deaths.


1. Social Security (1935)

A cornerstone of the New Deal, Social Security provides retirement benefits and disability insurance. It was heavily promoted by FDR and progressive allies in Congress in response to the Great Depression.

2. Medicare and Medicaid (1965)

Passed as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society,” Medicare provides health insurance to Americans 65 and older, while Medicaid offers coverage to low-income individuals. Progressive legislators, social justice activists, and labor unions were pivotal advocates.

3. Food Stamps / SNAP

Initiated as a pilot under President Kennedy and expanded under President Johnson, the Food Stamp Program (now SNAP) was a key part of the War on Poverty—a set of programs championed by progressives to fight hunger and poverty.

4. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) / Temporary Assistance to

Needy Families (TANF)

Originally part of the Social Security Act, expanded over time by progressive policymakers and social welfare advocates to provide financial support to lowincome families with children.

Voting Rights and Political Participation

1. Women’s Suffrage (19th Amendment, 1920)

Suffragists and progressive activists fought for decades to secure voting rights for women. Although support was widespread, left-leaning reformers and activists were generally among the strongest advocates.

2. Universal White Male Suffrage in the 19th Century

While not typically labeled “left vs. right” in the modern sense, the broader democratic movement (championed by Jacksonian Democrats and various populist groups) did away with property requirements, expanding voting rights to all white men. Early labor and populist movements pushed for more inclusive suffrage.

3. Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965)

Enacted under President Lyndon B. Johnson, these landmark laws outlawed segregation and discriminatory voting practices. Civil rights groups, progressive activists, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party were instrumental in pushing for these reforms.

4. Eliminating Poll Taxes (24th Amendment, 1964)

Poll taxes were used to disenfranchise poor voters (disproportionately people of color). The 24th Amendment abolished poll taxes in federal elections, a victory for civil rights organizations and progressive lawmakers.

4. Civil Rights and Anti-Discrimination Efforts

1. Ending Segregation and Jim Crow

Activists from the NAACP, labor unions (like the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters), socialist organizations, and progressive religious groups were core components of the civil rights movement, which brought about the dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the South.

2. Fair Housing Act (1968)

Outlawed discriminatory housing practices. Advocates included civil rights groups and progressive politicians who fought for open and equal housing opportunities.

3. Affirmative Action

Initiated under President John F. Kennedy and expanded under President Lyndon B. Johnson, Affirmative Action programs were intended to address historical discrimination, strongly championed by leftists and civil rights activists.

4. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990)

While signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, it was heavily supported by progressive activists and disability rights advocates, ensuring people with disabilities have protections in employment, transportation, and public accommodations.

6. Broader Social and Economic Reforms

1. The New Deal Programs In addition to Social Security, the New Deal encompassed agencies and policies like the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and the Public Works Administration (PWA), which provided millions of jobs. These programs were a hallmark of progressive policy during the Great Depression.

2. The Great Society Programs

Under Lyndon B. Johnson, these included Medicare, Medicaid, the War on Poverty initiatives, Head Start (early childhood education), and more. All were broadly backed by liberal and progressive lawmakers.

3. Environmental Protections

While protecting the environment has broad political support, progressive and left-leaning advocates have been strong in pushing laws like the Clean Air Act (1970) and the Clean Water Act (1972), helping establish the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Nixon.

4. Expansion of Civil Liberties

Social Safety Net expansions (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance) came largely through progressive leftist legislative efforts, especially during the New Deal and Great Society.

This country was dependent upon free slave labor and the highly exploited poor working class for much of its history before the 20th century. Your definition of national "success" is quite odd, to say the least. Again you're an ingrate, because you should be grateful for what leftists have done for you as a working-class American. I didn't even mention education, and how leftists have pushed for the GI BILL and federal financial aid FAFSA..etc. I could've made the list of leftist contributions to the American working class much longer.

/—-/ until 1864, the only slaves we’re on a small percentage of drmocRAT plantations.
The rest of the country had paid labor.
You big dope.

 

[TruthNotBS]

/—-/ until 1864, the only slaves we’re on a small percentage of drmocRAT plantations.
The rest of the country had paid labor.
You big dope.

You act like this country was built solely by “rugged individualists” who never once benefited from government or collective effort. That’s an absolute fantasy. The historical record is crystal clear: enslaved people, cheap laborers, and publicly funded infrastructure played a colossal role in making the United States an economic powerhouse. Pretending otherwise just exposes a lack of reading comprehension when it comes to basic U.S. history. Our economy was turbocharged not by some mythical free-market utopia, but through the forced labor of millions and the subsequent exploitation of the working class.

First, let’s get this out in the open: there’s nothing “pure” about capitalism in the United States. From the moment Europeans stepped onto this continent, land was seized, entire populations were displaced or enslaved, and local economies were forcibly reshaped. That pattern persisted well into the Industrial Era, when sweatshop labor, dangerous working conditions, and child exploitation were the norm. People literally died in coal mines, textile mills, and steel factories so certain individuals could accumulate obscene wealth. You can’t just wave your hand and claim “That wasn’t real capitalism.” It’s the system we got, and it was brutal for the working class, especially for Black workers, who first endured generations of chattel slavery, followed by Jim Crow, and then decades of ongoing labor discrimination.

The idea that prior to 1864 only a “small percentage of people” used slave labor is laughable. Cotton alone, harvested by enslaved Africans, accounted for a huge chunk of U.S. exports in the mid-1800s. According to data reported by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, by 1860 cotton made up around 60% of U.S. exports, an economic engine that lined the pockets of Northern textile industries as well as Southern plantation owners.

That capital accumulation didn’t evaporate into thin air after emancipation, it helped lay the foundation for the country’s industrial growth. And the rest of the country, by the way, was far from squeaky clean: it relied on exploited immigrant labor, from the Chinese workers who built the transcontinental railroad to Eastern European and Irish laborers in factories.

Over time, the working class fought tooth and nail for a social safety net, and yes, fought. Government policies like Social Security, unemployment insurance, the 40-hour workweek, and child labor laws arose because ordinary folks demanded basic rights and human decency from an economy that was crushing them.

These demands weren’t about “handouts”; they were about ensuring people wouldn’t starve or be worked to death just to boost corporate profits.

Even Milton Friedman, revered in free-market circles, conceded that some form of public assistance is necessary to address capitalism’s inherent inequality.

​

Neoliberal voices love to parrot the claim that raising taxes on the wealthy or strengthening unions kills economic growth. Reality says otherwise. When workers can bargain collectively, when they’re guaranteed a living wage, when their children aren’t forced into factories, consumer demand grows. It’s not rocket science: no wages, no paying customers; no customers, no markets. That’s not some radical slogan, it’s basic economic common sense.

If you still think wages and social benefits should be slashed to drive “growth,” take a look at the cost of living in cities where that logic was shoved down workers’ throats. Housing is unaffordable, entire communities are locked out of any economic progress, and the inequality gap widens at a staggering pace. According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the top 10% hold well over two-thirds of total U.S. household wealth. That’s a direct product of a system rigged to favor capital over labor.

And here’s the next crisis waiting to happen: advanced automation. Once robots and AI become capable of performing jobs more efficiently than humans, capitalism either adjusts by guaranteeing a baseline income for a disenfranchised workforce, or it collapses under mass unemployment and the evaporation of consumer demand.

​

There’s no “hard work solves everything” nonsense that can fix that. Absent major structural changes, an underclass of unemployed or underemployed folks will have zero purchasing power, dismantling the system from within. At that stage, society won’t have the luxury of ignoring the call for a real democratic approach to production, where workers actually own or control the means of creating value.

This isn’t some wild daydream: it’s the logical outcome of continued technological progress. In a world where human labor becomes secondary to machine labor, who benefits from the machines if not the people who need goods and services? Without democratic control, meaning workplace democracy and public oversight, wealth from AI and robotics will pool at the very top, leaving everyone else in permanent precarity.

An economy of, by, and for the people isn’t just idealistic rhetoric; it’s going to be necessary if we want to avoid turning our society into a dystopian plutocracy. Worker-owned and non-profit models-cooperatives and publicly accountable enterprises will become integral to ensuring we don’t destroy our own consumer base by eliminating jobs without providing new forms of income.

Until then, the only realistic path forward is a robust mixed economy that acknowledges the central role human labor plays in creating wealth. Social safety nets aren’t just “charity” programs; they’re essential elements holding up the entire system. People can’t buy goods if they’re destitute. They can’t participate in society if they’re bankrupted by healthcare costs or locked out of higher education. The minute you dismantle these supports, you shrink the consumer base and sabotage future growth.

Call it socialism, call it “government interference,” call it whatever you want. The label doesn’t change the fact that you need functioning wages, healthcare, education, and at least some form of wealth redistribution to keep the engine of the economy humming for everyone, not just the top 1%. If you’re still clinging to the fantasy that unregulated capitalism is some perfect equilibrium, you’re ignoring centuries of evidence to the contrary. The economy doesn’t magically right itself in everyone’s favor; it’s guided by power, influence, and, yes, government policies.

Workers built this country, literally, from the railroads and factories to the office towers, and they keep it running every single day. Deriding them or pretending they don’t matter is foolish. The simplest truth is that without the working class, there’s no production, no sales, and no profit. When workers are undermined, the entire edifice of capitalism teeters. Any society that values longevity and stability has to ensure those workers have the protection and the voice they deserve.

 

[Cellblock2429]

You act like this country was built solely by “rugged individualists” who never once benefited from government or collective effort. That’s an absolute fantasy. The historical record is crystal clear: enslaved people, cheap laborers, and publicly funded infrastructure played a colossal role in making the United States an economic powerhouse. Pretending otherwise just exposes a lack of reading comprehension when it comes to basic U.S. history. Our economy was turbocharged not by some mythical free-market utopia, but through the forced labor of millions and the subsequent exploitation of the working class.

First, let’s get this out in the open: there’s nothing “pure” about capitalism in the United States. From the moment Europeans stepped onto this continent, land was seized, entire populations were displaced or enslaved, and local economies were forcibly reshaped. That pattern persisted well into the Industrial Era, when sweatshop labor, dangerous working conditions, and child exploitation were the norm. People literally died in coal mines, textile mills, and steel factories so certain individuals could accumulate obscene wealth. You can’t just wave your hand and claim “That wasn’t real capitalism.” It’s the system we got, and it was brutal for the working class, especially for Black workers, who first endured generations of chattel slavery, followed by Jim Crow, and then decades of ongoing labor discrimination.

The idea that prior to 1864 only a “small percentage of people” used slave labor is laughable. Cotton alone, harvested by enslaved Africans, accounted for a huge chunk of U.S. exports in the mid-1800s. According to data reported by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, by 1860 cotton made up around 60% of U.S. exports, an economic engine that lined the pockets of Northern textile industries as well as Southern plantation owners.

That capital accumulation didn’t evaporate into thin air after emancipation, it helped lay the foundation for the country’s industrial growth. And the rest of the country, by the way, was far from squeaky clean: it relied on exploited immigrant labor, from the Chinese workers who built the transcontinental railroad to Eastern European and Irish laborers in factories.

Over time, the working class fought tooth and nail for a social safety net, and yes, fought. Government policies like Social Security, unemployment insurance, the 40-hour workweek, and child labor laws arose because ordinary folks demanded basic rights and human decency from an economy that was crushing them.

View attachment 1065688

View attachment 1065689​

These demands weren’t about “handouts”; they were about ensuring people wouldn’t starve or be worked to death just to boost corporate profits.

View attachment 1065687​

Even Milton Friedman, revered in free-market circles, conceded that some form of public assistance is necessary to address capitalism’s inherent inequality.

​

Neoliberal voices love to parrot the claim that raising taxes on the wealthy or strengthening unions kills economic growth. Reality says otherwise. When workers can bargain collectively, when they’re guaranteed a living wage, when their children aren’t forced into factories, consumer demand grows. It’s not rocket science: no wages, no paying customers; no customers, no markets. That’s not some radical slogan, it’s basic economic common sense.

If you still think wages and social benefits should be slashed to drive “growth,” take a look at the cost of living in cities where that logic was shoved down workers’ throats. Housing is unaffordable, entire communities are locked out of any economic progress, and the inequality gap widens at a staggering pace. According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, the top 10% hold well over two-thirds of total U.S. household wealth. That’s a direct product of a system rigged to favor capital over labor.

And here’s the next crisis waiting to happen: advanced automation. Once robots and AI become capable of performing jobs more efficiently than humans, capitalism either adjusts by guaranteeing a baseline income for a disenfranchised workforce, or it collapses under mass unemployment and the evaporation of consumer demand.

​

There’s no “hard work solves everything” nonsense that can fix that. Absent major structural changes, an underclass of unemployed or underemployed folks will have zero purchasing power, dismantling the system from within. At that stage, society won’t have the luxury of ignoring the call for a real democratic approach to production, where workers actually own or control the means of creating value.

This isn’t some wild daydream: it’s the logical outcome of continued technological progress. In a world where human labor becomes secondary to machine labor, who benefits from the machines if not the people who need goods and services? Without democratic control, meaning workplace democracy and public oversight, wealth from AI and robotics will pool at the very top, leaving everyone else in permanent precarity.

An economy of, by, and for the people isn’t just idealistic rhetoric; it’s going to be necessary if we want to avoid turning our society into a dystopian plutocracy. Worker-owned and non-profit models-cooperatives and publicly accountable enterprises will become integral to ensuring we don’t destroy our own consumer base by eliminating jobs without providing new forms of income.

Until then, the only realistic path forward is a robust mixed economy that acknowledges the central role human labor plays in creating wealth. Social safety nets aren’t just “charity” programs; they’re essential elements holding up the entire system. People can’t buy goods if they’re destitute. They can’t participate in society if they’re bankrupted by healthcare costs or locked out of higher education. The minute you dismantle these supports, you shrink the consumer base and sabotage future growth.

Call it socialism, call it “government interference,” call it whatever you want. The label doesn’t change the fact that you need functioning wages, healthcare, education, and at least some form of wealth redistribution to keep the engine of the economy humming for everyone, not just the top 1%. If you’re still clinging to the fantasy that unregulated capitalism is some perfect equilibrium, you’re ignoring centuries of evidence to the contrary. The economy doesn’t magically right itself in everyone’s favor; it’s guided by power, influence, and, yes, government policies.

Workers built this country, literally, from the railroads and factories to the office towers, and they keep it running every single day. Deriding them or pretending they don’t matter is foolish. The simplest truth is that without the working class, there’s no production, no sales, and no profit. When workers are undermined, the entire edifice of capitalism teeters. Any society that values longevity and stability has to ensure those workers have the protection and the voice they deserve.

/——/ I’m not wading through all of that. Make your point in a paragraph or two, or don’t bother.
Slavery accounted for 10% of the population and was confined to democRAT plantations.

 

[TruthNotBS]

/——/ I’m not wading through all of that. Make your point in a paragraph or two, or don’t bother.
Slavery accounted for 10% of the population and was confined to democRAT plantations.

I’m not writing these words for you anymore, I’m writing them for anyone else reading along who actually cares about historical facts and workers’ rights. If you want to plug your ears and pretend that slavery’s “only 10%” didn’t massively enrich plantation owners (and by extension, Northern industries trading that cotton abroad), that’s your willful blindness, not my problem.

And no, it wasn’t just Southern Democrats; Northern manufacturers, bankers, and traders happily profited off slave-grown cotton, which by 1860 constituted about 60% of all U.S. exports. That money didn’t disappear; it helped fund rapid industrial development up North and laid the groundwork for the United States to become a global economic force.

As for your flippant dismissal of social safety nets and the working class, it’s obvious you’re content to let billionaires exploit labor until the entire system implodes.

Go ahead, refuse to read. I don’t care. Everyone else can see why we need a system that protects workers, from the generations who slaved away, literally, to the working class people who power this country day in and day out. It’s precisely because of their labor that the American economy flourished, and if you can’t acknowledge that basic reality, your so-called “facts” aren’t facts at all, you're just full of shit.

 

[Cellblock2429]

I’m not writing these words for you anymore, I’m writing them for anyone else reading along who actually cares about historical facts and workers’ rights. If you want to plug your ears and pretend that slavery’s “only 10%” didn’t massively enrich plantation owners (and by extension, Northern industries trading that cotton abroad), that’s your willful blindness, not my problem.

View attachment 1065714​

And no, it wasn’t just Southern Democrats; Northern manufacturers, bankers, and traders happily profited off slave-grown cotton, which by 1860 constituted about 60% of all U.S. exports. That money didn’t disappear; it helped fund rapid industrial development up North and laid the groundwork for the United States to become a global economic force.

As for your flippant dismissal of social safety nets and the working class, it’s obvious you’re content to let billionaires exploit labor until the entire system implodes.

Go ahead, refuse to read. I don’t care. Everyone else can see why we need a system that protects workers, from the generations who slaved away, literally, to the working class people who power this country day in and day out. It’s precisely because of their labor that the American economy flourished, and if you can’t acknowledge that basic reality, your so-called “facts” aren’t facts at all, you're just full of shit.

/—-/ Congress placed tariffs on northern manufacturing to protect it, but not on imported cotton. That’s what northerners profited by.
One of the triggers for the war.

 

[TruthNotBS]

/—-/ Congress placed tariffs on northern manufacturing to protect it, but not on imported cotton. That’s what northerners profited by.
One of the triggers for the war.

Your claim that the North somehow didn’t benefit from Southern slave-grown cotton because of tariffs is disingenuous at best. Northern textile mills devoured Southern cotton, and Northern merchants and financiers made fortunes brokering those commodities on global markets. The idea that only one political party benefited from slavery is laughable. Both Northern and Southern businesses, regardless of political affiliation, profited directly or indirectly from slave labor, whether they were manufacturing textiles, shipping cotton, or financing the entire operation.

Let’s be clear: slavery wasn’t the only exploited labor force fueling this country’s growth. The Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad, Irish laborers in factories, and millions of other underpaid, overworked immigrants all contributed to America’s industrial boom. Entire generations had their labor skimmed by capitalists, both Republicans and Democrats reaped profits while workers fought for their basic rights. This pattern of exploitation, from the plantations to the sweatshops, underscores the need for a social safety net in a capitalist economy.

Without it, you just have a few people at the top siphoning wealth while the rest toil with no recourse.
So, stop cherry-picking statistics and acting like 10% enslaved people, and other exploited laborers, didn’t form the economic backbone of this country. The profits from forced labor and low wages didn’t vanish; they funded railroads, factories, banks, and a robust consumer economy. If you choose to ignore that, that’s on you. The rest of us understand that capitalism left to its own devices, feeds on cheap labor, which is why we need government protections and public goods for the people who actually do the work.

BTW, being that you're 73, are you benefiting from Social Security and Medicare? You have the gall to shit on the idea of a social safety net for workers while benefiting from that same social safety net. You're a fucking hypocrite, if you're collecting that monthly check from Uncle Sam and your government-funded healthcare. Are you one of these ignorant, delusional dolts that believe they covered all of the cost for the SS and Medicare that they now benefit from when they were in the workforce? That money taken from your monthly check for forty or fifty years, was supposedly being deposited in a government "savings account" for you, like an IRA?

​

 

[Nuthin' Fancy]

You’ll survive Trump’s second term, Nutbag Frenzy.
Why waste so much emotional capital with these daily whinges?

I won't and neither will Trump.
Until then.....................
I will post Trump's stupidity, hypocrisy and lies.

 

[Cellblock2429]

Your claim that the North somehow didn’t benefit from Southern slave-grown cotton because of tariffs is disingenuous at best. Northern textile mills devoured Southern cotton, and Northern merchants and financiers made fortunes brokering those commodities on global markets. The idea that only one political party benefited from slavery is laughable. Both Northern and Southern businesses, regardless of political affiliation, profited directly or indirectly from slave labor, whether they were manufacturing textiles, shipping cotton, or financing the entire operation.

Let’s be clear: slavery wasn’t the only exploited labor force fueling this country’s growth. The Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad, Irish laborers in factories, and millions of other underpaid, overworked immigrants all contributed to America’s industrial boom. Entire generations had their labor skimmed by capitalists, both Republicans and Democrats reaped profits while workers fought for their basic rights. This pattern of exploitation, from the plantations to the sweatshops, underscores the need for a social safety net in a capitalist economy.

Without it, you just have a few people at the top siphoning wealth while the rest toil with no recourse.
So, stop cherry-picking statistics and acting like 10% enslaved people, and other exploited laborers, didn’t form the economic backbone of this country. The profits from forced labor and low wages didn’t vanish; they funded railroads, factories, banks, and a robust consumer economy. If you choose to ignore that, that’s on you. The rest of us understand that capitalism left to its own devices, feeds on cheap labor, which is why we need government protections and public goods for the people who actually do the work.

BTW, being that you're 73, are you benefiting from Social Security and Medicare? You have the gall to shit on the idea of a social safety net for workers while benefiting from that same social safety net. You're a fucking hypocrite, if you're collecting that monthly check from Uncle Sam and your government-funded healthcare. Are you one of these ignorant, delusional dolts that believe they covered all of the cost for the SS and Medicare that they now benefit from when they were in the workforce? That money taken from your monthly check for forty or fifty years, was supposedly being deposited in a government "savings account" for you, like an IRA?

​

/----/ "10% enslaved people, and other exploited laborers, didn’t form the economic backbone of this country. "
It didn't, but there is no convincing you.
You are, however, correct about the Chinese labor force, but that was primarily confined to the Trans-Continental Railroad. And don't forget about the Irish brought here and sold as slaves.

 

[SeaMajor7]

Your claim that the North somehow didn’t benefit from Southern slave-grown cotton because of tariffs is disingenuous at best. Northern textile mills devoured Southern cotton, and Northern merchants and financiers made fortunes brokering those commodities on global markets. The idea that only one political party benefited from slavery is laughable. Both Northern and Southern businesses, regardless of political affiliation, profited directly or indirectly from slave labor, whether they were manufacturing textiles, shipping cotton, or financing the entire operation.

Let’s be clear: slavery wasn’t the only exploited labor force fueling this country’s growth. The Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad, Irish laborers in factories, and millions of other underpaid, overworked immigrants all contributed to America’s industrial boom. Entire generations had their labor skimmed by capitalists, both Republicans and Democrats reaped profits while workers fought for their basic rights. This pattern of exploitation, from the plantations to the sweatshops, underscores the need for a social safety net in a capitalist economy.

Without it, you just have a few people at the top siphoning wealth while the rest toil with no recourse.
So, stop cherry-picking statistics and acting like 10% enslaved people, and other exploited laborers, didn’t form the economic backbone of this country. The profits from forced labor and low wages didn’t vanish; they funded railroads, factories, banks, and a robust consumer economy. If you choose to ignore that, that’s on you. The rest of us understand that capitalism left to its own devices, feeds on cheap labor, which is why we need government protections and public goods for the people who actually do the work.

BTW, being that you're 73, are you benefiting from Social Security and Medicare? You have the gall to shit on the idea of a social safety net for workers while benefiting from that same social safety net. You're a fucking hypocrite, if you're collecting that monthly check from Uncle Sam and your government-funded healthcare. Are you one of these ignorant, delusional dolts that believe they covered all of the cost for the SS and Medicare that they now benefit from when they were in the workforce? That money taken from your monthly check for forty or fifty years, was supposedly being deposited in a government "savings account" for you, like an IRA?

​

Swim to CUBA for your communist paradise, ASSHOLE.
The American People have spoken and OVERWHELMINGLY REJECTED YOU MARXIST LENINIST ZOMBIE ASSHOLES.
STFU
GTFOH
GFY

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I can't deal with these fucking people anymore. I didn't vote for Trump. But now that Trump has been elected, I hope he crushes the woke progressive left.

Can anyone anywhere tell me what progressives have done to make life better for anyone other than their own elites mouthing bullshit platitudes?

The list of Massive Progressive Fails is a long one. But the fires in LA and the covering of the racist Pakistani rape gangs is beyond the pale. And the anti-Semitic pro-Palestinian bullshit of the Far Left is disgusting.

I'm a Canadian, and there has never been a worse Prime Minister in my lifetime than Justin Trudeau. Until a few years ago, immigration didn't even make my top 10 list of concerns. But now it's in my top two. Maybe first.

My brother is poor and handicapped. He has lived on the street. A few years ago, he was able to live on his own. But because that asshole Trudeau has let over 2 million people into Canada over the past two years, he can no longer afford rent, which has soared 40% in 18 months.

Sheer fucking incompetence. That's the progressive legacy. I hope they lose everywhere.

Switching teams again with you?
You must have a whole drawer full of jerseys

 

[TruthNotBS]

/----/ "10% enslaved people, and other exploited laborers, didn’t form the economic backbone of this country. "
It didn't, but there is no convincing you.
You are, however, correct about the Chinese labor force, but that was primarily confined to the Trans-Continental Railroad. And don't forget about the Irish brought here and sold as slaves.

First off, you’re repeating the debunked “Irish were slaves” myth. Indentured servitude existed, but it was fundamentally different from racial chattel slavery, which was permanent and hereditary. Indentured servants had contracts that eventually ended, and they weren’t legally considered property like enslaved Africans. Historians have thoroughly dismissed the idea that Irish people endured the same lifelong, race-based bondage as Black slaves, so equating the two is either bad faith or an unwillingness to check basic facts (see “The Irish Slave Myth” by Liam Hogan).

What you also keep ignoring is that when it comes to 19th-century U.S. cotton exports which made up around 60% of total American exports by 1860 the North benefited immensely from processing and trading slave-grown cotton. Harping on tariffs doesn’t negate the fact that capital, both North and South, was made on the backs of enslaved people. Meanwhile, exploited labor be it Chinese on the railroads or European immigrants in factories fueled the industrial boom, generating profits that capitalists happily pocketed, regardless of party affiliation.

However, the broader issue here is that capitalism, to remain stable, requires a strong working class with decent wages and social protections. When laborers don’t have enough income or security, the economy stagnates because people can’t afford the goods and services they produce. Trickle-down or supply-side economics creates gross inequality (the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances shows the top 1% consistently hoarding the lion’s share of wealth).

A genuine safety net, along with pro-worker policies, is the only way to maintain any semblance of a functioning marketplace where demand drives growth, not just the whims of the rich. The capitalist system rests upon human labor and its wages, without that, there's no paying consumer or market. The working-class is indeed the backbone and foundation of the economy.

 

[TruthNotBS]

Swim to CUBA for your communist paradise, ASSHOLE.
The American People have spoken and OVERWHELMINGLY REJECTED YOU MARXIST LENINIST ZOMBIE ASSHOLES.
STFU
GTFOH
GFY

You leave, I stay.

 

[SeaMajor7]

Your claim that the North somehow didn’t benefit from Southern slave-grown cotton because of tariffs is disingenuous at best. Northern textile mills devoured Southern cotton, and Northern merchants and financiers made fortunes brokering those commodities on global markets. The idea that only one political party benefited from slavery is laughable. Both Northern and Southern businesses, regardless of political affiliation, profited directly or indirectly from slave labor, whether they were manufacturing textiles, shipping cotton, or financing the entire operation.

Let’s be clear: slavery wasn’t the only exploited labor force fueling this country’s growth. The Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad, Irish laborers in factories, and millions of other underpaid, overworked immigrants all contributed to America’s industrial boom. Entire generations had their labor skimmed by capitalists, both Republicans and Democrats reaped profits while workers fought for their basic rights. This pattern of exploitation, from the plantations to the sweatshops, underscores the need for a social safety net in a capitalist economy.

Without it, you just have a few people at the top siphoning wealth while the rest toil with no recourse.
So, stop cherry-picking statistics and acting like 10% enslaved people, and other exploited laborers, didn’t form the economic backbone of this country. The profits from forced labor and low wages didn’t vanish; they funded railroads, factories, banks, and a robust consumer economy. If you choose to ignore that, that’s on you. The rest of us understand that capitalism left to its own devices, feeds on cheap labor, which is why we need government protections and public goods for the people who actually do the work.

BTW, being that you're 73, are you benefiting from Social Security and Medicare? You have the gall to shit on the idea of a social safety net for workers while benefiting from that same social safety net. You're a fucking hypocrite, if you're collecting that monthly check from Uncle Sam and your government-funded healthcare. Are you one of these ignorant, delusional dolts that believe they covered all of the cost for the SS and Medicare that they now benefit from when they were in the workforce? That money taken from your monthly check for forty or fifty years, was supposedly being deposited in a government "savings account" for you, like an IRA?

​

Get a job, LOSER.

 

[TruthNotBS]

Get a job, LOSER.

Just because you're a lazy loser without a job, doesn't imply I or anyone else is like that too. Reform yourself, little boy.

 

[SeaMajor7]

You leave, I stay.

Nope. I'm thriving within my 32 year CAREER in Capitalist America, thank GOD. Idiots like YOU are shadow boxing your perceived suppressors like a demented Bolshevik moron instead of WORKING TO EARN A LIVING.

Put on your swimming shorts and head to CUBA for your paradise.