4 ms·

We live in a country where everything important is owned and controlled by billionaires or hedge funds who also control the government via bribery. Events like

We live in a country where everything important is owned and controlled by billionaires or hedge funds who also control the government via bribery. Events like this make me think that it's much, much crazier to trust the government to keep us safe.

vorpalhex 4y ago
That would be great if it were true, unfortunately railway accidents are merely a reality of transporting dangerous chemicals hundreds of times per day. If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave, there are no secret cabals of the rich - that is purely the white house.
- colpabar 4y ago
  > If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave A huge part of what they were striking over were safety concerns. Maximum train lengths, minimum crew sizes (did you know trains can be run by a single person and the government has no issue with that?), and required maintenance were all things the union was fighting for, and were all totally ignored by good old union joe. > there are no secret cabals of the rich lol. lmao even.
  - jasonlotito 4y ago
    > did you know trains can be run by a single person and the government has no issue with that? So, let's add additional regulation and oversight. Let's just make sure we vote in people who want to add additional regulation and oversight. I'm sure American's vote this way... next time.
    - colpabar 4y ago
      The "most union friendly president in history" just signed a law making it illegal for the union workers to strike, and forced them to accept the terms they had already rejected. Who the fuck are we supposed to vote for if this is what we get with the people who are supposed to care about regulation?
- mindslight 4y ago
  > If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave, there are no secret cabals of the rich - that is purely the white house. The cognitive dissonance required to write these two bits right next to one another... Some blame surely does land on the White House for the union busting. But there would have been no union busting without those cabals of the rich turning the screws to begin with. This divide and ignore half the problem is at the very root of our political decay.
dfxm12 4y ago
The make up of the federal government changes greatly every two years. Our states probably have a similar turnover. This is why it's important to vote, not only in general elections, but also primary elections. Seats shouldn't be safe for incumbents who let this happen or anyone who takes huge donations from the billionaires or hedge funds you're talking about. Edit: I mean: the makeup of our government may change greatly every two years - this is why it is important to vote!
- cmmeur01 4y ago
  The class of people in the government doesn’t change.
  - dfxm12 4y ago
    Maybe in your district this is true (and some districts are more homogenous than others, for sure), but I'll challenge you to really take a look at the candidates of your next primary election. You'll probably find find meaningful differences between their political philosophies, even if class isn't among them. As an example, though, AOC and Joe Crowley are different in many meaningful ways. As are Connor Lamb and John Fetterman. These are cases where I think people of the political insider class were defeated by challengers that people didn't think fit the proper mold.
- agency 4y ago
  If the makeup of the federal government changes every two years, and yet nothing ever meaningfully changes, what does that say about the importance of voting?
  - kibwen 4y ago
    If oligarchs spend tens of billions of dollars buying media companies in order to influence how people vote, what does that say about the importance of voting?
    - kevviiinn 4y ago
TechBro8615 4y ago
A lot of people living in a small town in Ohio felt the same. Just stay away from the urbanization and cities and the government won't bother you... until a quasi-national freight train comes rolling through your town with a literal chemical dumpster fire in tow.

vorpalhex 4y ago

That would be great if it were true, unfortunately railway accidents are merely a reality of transporting dangerous chemicals hundreds of times per day. If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave, there are no secret cabals of the rich - that is purely the white house.

colpabar 4y ago
> If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave A huge part of what they were striking over were safety concerns. Maximum train lengths, minimum crew sizes (did you know trains can be run by a single person and the government has no issue with that?), and required maintenance were all things the union was fighting for, and were all totally ignored by good old union joe. > there are no secret cabals of the rich lol. lmao even.
- jasonlotito 4y ago
  > did you know trains can be run by a single person and the government has no issue with that? So, let's add additional regulation and oversight. Let's just make sure we vote in people who want to add additional regulation and oversight. I'm sure American's vote this way... next time.
  - colpabar 4y ago
    The "most union friendly president in history" just signed a law making it illegal for the union workers to strike, and forced them to accept the terms they had already rejected. Who the fuck are we supposed to vote for if this is what we get with the people who are supposed to care about regulation?
mindslight 4y ago
> If we want to blame the railroad union not getting any time off or sick leave, there are no secret cabals of the rich - that is purely the white house. The cognitive dissonance required to write these two bits right next to one another... Some blame surely does land on the White House for the union busting. But there would have been no union busting without those cabals of the rich turning the screws to begin with. This divide and ignore half the problem is at the very root of our political decay.

dfxm12 4y ago

The make up of the federal government changes greatly every two years. Our states probably have a similar turnover. This is why it's important to vote, not only in general elections, but also primary elections. Seats shouldn't be safe for incumbents who let this happen or anyone who takes huge donations from the billionaires or hedge funds you're talking about. Edit: I mean: the makeup of our government may change greatly every two years - this is why it is important to vote!

cmmeur01 4y ago
The class of people in the government doesn’t change.
- dfxm12 4y ago
  Maybe in your district this is true (and some districts are more homogenous than others, for sure), but I'll challenge you to really take a look at the candidates of your next primary election. You'll probably find find meaningful differences between their political philosophies, even if class isn't among them. As an example, though, AOC and Joe Crowley are different in many meaningful ways. As are Connor Lamb and John Fetterman. These are cases where I think people of the political insider class were defeated by challengers that people didn't think fit the proper mold.
agency 4y ago
If the makeup of the federal government changes every two years, and yet nothing ever meaningfully changes, what does that say about the importance of voting?
- kibwen 4y ago
  If oligarchs spend tens of billions of dollars buying media companies in order to influence how people vote, what does that say about the importance of voting?
  - kevviiinn 4y ago

TechBro8615 4y ago

A lot of people living in a small town in Ohio felt the same. Just stay away from the urbanization and cities and the government won't bother you... until a quasi-national freight train comes rolling through your town with a literal chemical dumpster fire in tow.