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> But at the end of the day, the notion that the folks you are leaving behind are not essential to society as a whole is a capitalist dogma not supported by rea

> But at the end of the day, the notion that the folks you are leaving behind are not essential to society as a whole is a capitalist dogma not supported by reality. The idea that society isn't built on essential but socially dismissed and denigrated labor like construction, cleaning , and even sex work is a fantasty. It's the Victorian desire to have a "dumb waiter" all over again, only on a much larger scale. And this myth largely persists because western industrialists imagine a fantasy world in which Taiwan and China are full of magic robots and not millions of skilled (and socially oppressed) humans. But you see, part of the magic of neoliberal thought is that imported workers don't qualify as an economically oppressed population. If you import laborers, pay them less than minimum wage, force them to live in substandard living conditions, and work them half to death, this is still considered "fair" (and maybe even "laudable") because conditions were bad for them back home. Their life is possibly better now, slightly. And it's more affordable than raising wages. > Eventually, folks are gonna stop believing in all the delays. Already, fascists interests in the US are gathering people who've hit that breaking point and organizing them to point at perceived enemies. Already, we see people who question truths known and trivially observable for thousands of years because they're so convinced the entire system is out to get them. Already, folks know that their punishments for challenging the rule of law are only truly enforced towards the poor and the forgotten. Unfortunately for all of us, the people in power think they can prevent this eventuality using technical solutions. My fear is that they won't realize their plan has failed until it's too late to stop a true fascist movement from getting off the ground. Suppress moderate popular movements for long enough and you will create a radical popular movement; in today's America, this would probably be fascism.

KirinDave 7y ago
> But you see, part of the magic of neoliberal thought is that imported workers don't qualify as an economically oppressed population. If you import laborers, pay them less than minimum wage, force them to live in substandard living conditions, and work them half to death, this is still considered "fair" (and maybe even "laudable") because conditions were bad for them back home. Their life is possibly better now, slightly. And it's more affordable than raising wages. It's true, they're still economically oppressed. That's more or less a constant. But I'd also like to think that if they say, "I'm here because I'm less worse off" that I can take that statement at face value and provide protection for them. I am quite tired of the notion that we have to hurt people and ignore their own agency to "save" them. We often see people handwave these concerns away with talk of trafficking, which magically invokes the specter of prostitutes in chains in the trunks of cars, and then we stop talking about what people want or need and instead about how the state can "protect" them. I am of the opinion that both longer-term structural reform and short term workarounds are not only compatible, but the only consistent position for a compassionate human. > . Suppress moderate popular movements for long enough and you will create a radical popular movement; in today's America, this would probably be fascism. Hence the essential role of antifa actors and free information folks.

KirinDave 7y ago

> But you see, part of the magic of neoliberal thought is that imported workers don't qualify as an economically oppressed population. If you import laborers, pay them less than minimum wage, force them to live in substandard living conditions, and work them half to death, this is still considered "fair" (and maybe even "laudable") because conditions were bad for them back home. Their life is possibly better now, slightly. And it's more affordable than raising wages. It's true, they're still economically oppressed. That's more or less a constant. But I'd also like to think that if they say, "I'm here because I'm less worse off" that I can take that statement at face value and provide protection for them. I am quite tired of the notion that we have to hurt people and ignore their own agency to "save" them. We often see people handwave these concerns away with talk of trafficking, which magically invokes the specter of prostitutes in chains in the trunks of cars, and then we stop talking about what people want or need and instead about how the state can "protect" them. I am of the opinion that both longer-term structural reform and short term workarounds are not only compatible, but the only consistent position for a compassionate human. > . Suppress moderate popular movements for long enough and you will create a radical popular movement; in today's America, this would probably be fascism. Hence the essential role of antifa actors and free information folks.