4 ms·

They yearn for socialism and this is how they express it.

acdha 3y ago
Imagine finding internet humor in an online forum! Fetch the fainting couch! More seriously, while almost nobody is calling for actual guillotines there is a huge problem looming: income inequality started getting worse 40 years ago and that trend is only going to get worse as automation becomes more capable. Pair that with the demographic trends (fewer workers supporting more retired people) and climate change, and this century is shaping up to be quite volatile compared to most people’s lived experience. History has taught us that one of the greatest sparks for conflict is lack of hope; a slight increase in the taxes rich people pay will reduce that risk and it’s hardly a communist uprising to go back to the rates which balanced the budget two decades ago.
foofie 3y ago
> They yearn for socialism and this is how they express it. Socialism is not the bogeyman you think it is. Some of us who were fortunate enough to benefit from living in countries in western Europe can tell you that basic rights such as 10 weeks of paid parental leave including for the father is a very nice thing to have.
- hobotime 3y ago
  Paid leave has nothing to do with "workers owning the means of production." My employees get a ton of paid leave because I respect them, not because our business is socialist.
  - larkost 3y ago
    You are choosing that, and that is admirable. But in a democratic-socialist country (pick pretty much and country in Europe with the possible exception of Switzerland), that is not an employer being nice, but is the law so it is not up to the employer to decide if their employees get that or not.
- wakawaka28 3y ago
  I'm sure it is very nice to have extra vacation. That might be why European salaries are lower than US salaries, and their tax rates are higher still. Behold, a socialist "utopia" where people line up 3 days to see a "free" dentist: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/people-line-outside-dentist-third-174731321.html?guccounter=1 https://ca.news.yahoo.com/people-line-outside-dentist-third-... This is probably a little worse than average but I have heard many times that socialist countries with free healthcare will let you die before seeing you, because they simply don't have resources to live up to the promise. In that case you'd be lucky to have cash to get out and see a doctor in another country.
  - elktown 3y ago
    > I'm sure it is very nice to have extra vacation. Parental leave is not vacation.
    - wakawaka28 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - elktown 3y ago
        The quality of your comments is so poor it's on a caricature level. > basic rights such as 10 weeks of paid parental leave
        wakawaka28 3y ago
        [dead]
  - timeon 3y ago
    At the and of the day, life expectancy is lower in US than in western Europe.
    - wakawaka28 3y ago
      [dead]
- Aloisius 3y ago
  Paid parental leave? Western Europe? Who knew the socialist revolution would be won not through class struggles ultimately culminating in a violent popular uprising by the proletariat, but rather by redefining "socialism" to mean welfare capitalism?

Imagine finding internet humor in an online forum! Fetch the fainting couch! More seriously, while almost nobody is calling for actual guillotines there is a huge problem looming: income inequality started getting worse 40 years ago and that trend is only going to get worse as automation becomes more capable. Pair that with the demographic trends (fewer workers supporting more retired people) and climate change, and this century is shaping up to be quite volatile compared to most people’s lived experience. History has taught us that one of the greatest sparks for conflict is lack of hope; a slight increase in the taxes rich people pay will reduce that risk and it’s hardly a communist uprising to go back to the rates which balanced the budget two decades ago.

foofie 3y ago

> They yearn for socialism and this is how they express it. Socialism is not the bogeyman you think it is. Some of us who were fortunate enough to benefit from living in countries in western Europe can tell you that basic rights such as 10 weeks of paid parental leave including for the father is a very nice thing to have.

hobotime 3y ago
Paid leave has nothing to do with "workers owning the means of production." My employees get a ton of paid leave because I respect them, not because our business is socialist.
- larkost 3y ago
  You are choosing that, and that is admirable. But in a democratic-socialist country (pick pretty much and country in Europe with the possible exception of Switzerland), that is not an employer being nice, but is the law so it is not up to the employer to decide if their employees get that or not.
wakawaka28 3y ago
I'm sure it is very nice to have extra vacation. That might be why European salaries are lower than US salaries, and their tax rates are higher still. Behold, a socialist "utopia" where people line up 3 days to see a "free" dentist: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/people-line-outside-dentist-third-174731321.html?guccounter=1 https://ca.news.yahoo.com/people-line-outside-dentist-third-... This is probably a little worse than average but I have heard many times that socialist countries with free healthcare will let you die before seeing you, because they simply don't have resources to live up to the promise. In that case you'd be lucky to have cash to get out and see a doctor in another country.
- elktown 3y ago
  > I'm sure it is very nice to have extra vacation. Parental leave is not vacation.
  - wakawaka28 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - elktown 3y ago
      The quality of your comments is so poor it's on a caricature level. > basic rights such as 10 weeks of paid parental leave
      - wakawaka28 3y ago
        [dead]
- timeon 3y ago
  At the and of the day, life expectancy is lower in US than in western Europe.
  - wakawaka28 3y ago
    [dead]
Aloisius 3y ago
Paid parental leave? Western Europe? Who knew the socialist revolution would be won not through class struggles ultimately culminating in a violent popular uprising by the proletariat, but rather by redefining "socialism" to mean welfare capitalism?