6 ms·

No offense, but neither the 2 major parties in the US are left/workers rights. I don't see any candidate running on the "improve quality of life for wage earner

No offense, but neither the 2 major parties in the US are left/workers rights. I don't see any candidate running on the "improve quality of life for wage earners" platform. for example Joe "nothing with fundamentally change" Biden...and well the last 4 years.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
See the list of states with parental leave: https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/states-with-paid-family-leave/ https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/states-with-pai... Similarly, see the list of states (and cities) with half decent unemployment benefits, minimum wage laws, non tipped wages, sick leave, required meal breaks, non compete bans, Medicaid, marijuana legalization, etc. You will see a trend in which parties’ governance wage earners have these benefits (which are a pittance compared to civilized countries in the first place) and which don’t.
- criddell 6y ago
  While being a very Republican state, Oklahoma has a pretty long history of some very progressive programs. For example, Oklahoma funds pre-K programs for children: https://hechingerreport.org/why-oklahomas-public-preschools-are-some-of-the-best-in-the-country/ https://hechingerreport.org/why-oklahomas-public-preschools-...
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    That’s great, but unfortunately, it’s an exception. Again, my comment wasn’t to imply that one party is perfect, but to show that the policies they push make a real difference in people’s lives, especially lower income earners.
Loughla 6y ago
That's what people missed about Trump's supporters in 2016. People genuinely believed he was going to work for the common man. He talked about workers rights (in a xenophobic sort of way, but still) he talked about increasing pay for blue collar workers, and about restoring the lost legacy to places that have been abandoned by globalization. That never got talked about by Trump detractors. Union working class Joe-Schmoe's used to vote democrat, and now solidly do not. There's a reason for that. Edit: Please note that I never said he did those things, just that they were what he promised. He is completely full of crap on almost everything he says, those promises at the top of the pile. But that is the reason working class Joe love him. He says the things they want to hear.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  Talk is cheap. For whatever reason, the increased pay and benefits for blue collar workers exists, by far, in Democrat areas, and is implemented by Democrat politicians.
  - zests 6y ago
    Talk is cheap, voting is not. How do you explain blue collar workers voting red?
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      Some combination of temporarily embarrassed millionaires and tribalism. They may think of themselves as future rich people who can benefit from cheaper labor, and they may be step above the lowest on the socioeconomic ladder, and so want to maintain that hierarchy. As President Lyndon Johnson said: "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
  - refurb 6y ago
    You're perfectly demonstrating what's being discussed in this article.
  - TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
    Talk is cheap, but lies win elections, especially when supported by a massive media machine designed to mislead voters. The output of Fox is bad enough, but the QAnon nonsense isn't some weird aberration that appeared out of nothing. It's the logical conclusion of a huge social experiment to see how much political benefit you can wring from an industrial lie machine. And it's working far better than anyone on the left was expecting it to. The downside is that the US now has a huge voter demographic that is literally disconnected from reality. These are the people who scream that Covid isn't real - because something something George Soros and Bill Gates - while they're in hospital dying of it. This doesn't end well. You can't push a large percentage of your population into delusion without some very destructive consequences. Even if it does mean you keep your Senate seat.
justanother 6y ago
Can't believe you're being downvoted for this, it appears to be an objective truth. Both major American parties would be considered (at the very least) conservative in most other countries. Instead, we're guaranteed, year after year, to be one of the handful of countries without single-payer healthcare, a living minimum wage, mandatory vacation... you get the point. That's without considering that certain American policies affect non-Americans (ie record numbers of drone bombings and caged children will continue regardless of whose smiling face is on television). There are workers' parties in the United States, but they are conveniently relegated to minor/rump status.

lotsofpulp 6y ago

See the list of states with parental leave: https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/states-with-paid-family-leave/ https://www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/states-with-pai... Similarly, see the list of states (and cities) with half decent unemployment benefits, minimum wage laws, non tipped wages, sick leave, required meal breaks, non compete bans, Medicaid, marijuana legalization, etc. You will see a trend in which parties’ governance wage earners have these benefits (which are a pittance compared to civilized countries in the first place) and which don’t.

criddell 6y ago
While being a very Republican state, Oklahoma has a pretty long history of some very progressive programs. For example, Oklahoma funds pre-K programs for children: https://hechingerreport.org/why-oklahomas-public-preschools-are-some-of-the-best-in-the-country/ https://hechingerreport.org/why-oklahomas-public-preschools-...
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  That’s great, but unfortunately, it’s an exception. Again, my comment wasn’t to imply that one party is perfect, but to show that the policies they push make a real difference in people’s lives, especially lower income earners.

Loughla 6y ago

That's what people missed about Trump's supporters in 2016. People genuinely believed he was going to work for the common man. He talked about workers rights (in a xenophobic sort of way, but still) he talked about increasing pay for blue collar workers, and about restoring the lost legacy to places that have been abandoned by globalization. That never got talked about by Trump detractors. Union working class Joe-Schmoe's used to vote democrat, and now solidly do not. There's a reason for that. Edit: Please note that I never said he did those things, just that they were what he promised. He is completely full of crap on almost everything he says, those promises at the top of the pile. But that is the reason working class Joe love him. He says the things they want to hear.

lotsofpulp 6y ago
Talk is cheap. For whatever reason, the increased pay and benefits for blue collar workers exists, by far, in Democrat areas, and is implemented by Democrat politicians.
- zests 6y ago
  Talk is cheap, voting is not. How do you explain blue collar workers voting red?
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    Some combination of temporarily embarrassed millionaires and tribalism. They may think of themselves as future rich people who can benefit from cheaper labor, and they may be step above the lowest on the socioeconomic ladder, and so want to maintain that hierarchy. As President Lyndon Johnson said: "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
- refurb 6y ago
  You're perfectly demonstrating what's being discussed in this article.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y ago
  Talk is cheap, but lies win elections, especially when supported by a massive media machine designed to mislead voters. The output of Fox is bad enough, but the QAnon nonsense isn't some weird aberration that appeared out of nothing. It's the logical conclusion of a huge social experiment to see how much political benefit you can wring from an industrial lie machine. And it's working far better than anyone on the left was expecting it to. The downside is that the US now has a huge voter demographic that is literally disconnected from reality. These are the people who scream that Covid isn't real - because something something George Soros and Bill Gates - while they're in hospital dying of it. This doesn't end well. You can't push a large percentage of your population into delusion without some very destructive consequences. Even if it does mean you keep your Senate seat.

justanother 6y ago

Can't believe you're being downvoted for this, it appears to be an objective truth. Both major American parties would be considered (at the very least) conservative in most other countries. Instead, we're guaranteed, year after year, to be one of the handful of countries without single-payer healthcare, a living minimum wage, mandatory vacation... you get the point. That's without considering that certain American policies affect non-Americans (ie record numbers of drone bombings and caged children will continue regardless of whose smiling face is on television). There are workers' parties in the United States, but they are conveniently relegated to minor/rump status.