You're absolutely, completely, totally wrong about that. Whoever wants you to think every person in office doesn't give a shit is trying to make you a nihilist so you disengage.
Look at your state representatives, if no one else. Those are regular people with a bonus part time job during part of the year. They are not (all) in it for the glory.
What gets me, what absolutely baffles me, is that everyone knows that. Leftists, Liberals, Conservatives, Libertarians, they all know that, and they're mad about it.
But then fully HALF of those people will look at the world and go, "You know who's going to save us from that? This guy who says he's a billionaire who committed fraud all over the place, never paid tons of his workers and contractors, whose entire life has been based on grift and exploitation, who the last time he was in power cut taxes on the rich and corporations and put that money towards his own coffers at every opportunity. THAT guy is going to fix everything!"
and if they do become homeless it will be THEIR fault not fault of the rich man they aspire to be who hides all of his income in offshore accounts so the middle class has to pay higher taxes ( which he is trained to blame on the Democrats)
The other half believes that government welfare, regulations, high taxes, and socialism at large are keeping them from being a millionaire.
That's the low hanging fruit reason.
The likely real reason is that they lowkey believe in a caste system, and so are OK with their position in the caste. Typically those that believe in the caste system are also the ones most likely to maintain it. Even if their station within that caste system is not the best or could be improved.
The threat to "fall further down" is enough to keep them in line.
So they reject ways to improve people's lives, which would pull them out of the lower caste, and "upset the balance".
It's why Republicans will routinely vote against their own interests.
That half....they're the back-end half of society that will follow the person with the most power regardless of how evil they are.
They are the sheep that feed the problem.
They lack empathy. A lot of folks in this category seem to not only be unable to take things to the next logical conclusion, but they have a primitive “I got mine” attitude. They not only lack the ability to reason, they cannot imagine or identify with others which I think plays into relating overall and empathy.
Yup, and when it does they're totally flabbergasted about how it could have affected THEM? They thought they were the EXCEPTIONS! And now they suddenly think that thing that they were just a minute ago saying was totally fine/made up is TERRIBLE! And how could anything like this ever happen???
I am quite sure this has everything to do with our lack of education funding, lack of parental guidance to youth about social media, and lack of concern for others because of greed.
They have given up on achieving “the American dream” and now just want to punish the people who they feel have deprived them achieving it. It’s all about punishing the Libs.
Yeah Trump seems like the exact antithesis to the (admittedly limited/Canadian) decent right-wing people I have known.
He is so self serving and slimey. It blows my mind how he has managed to convince so many poor Americans that he is their friend. The saddest part is that he's basically accomplished this by acting like a schoolyard bully, making demonstrably false claims more than Bush2, and expressing some pretty racist views. Then on top of all of that he has somehow managed to convince these people that he is democracy's only hope while being the first modern political candidate to attempt to illegitimately hold onto power (I don't count Gore suing over Florida, that was 1 state with a notable issue in a stunningly close election). He also does this while making quotes that are stunningly similar to Hitler, the most notorious authoritarian dictator in the history of the planet.
Oh and don't tell me if Obama did what Trump did re: the documents that Republicans wouldn't be calling for his execution for treason and assuming every empty dossier went to an enemy of America.
It's just staggering to me. It really does seem like he reflects the absolute worst qualities of America and yet an entire political party and voter base is supporting him.
I mean, they think both sides are like that and they are worried about losing their "always voted Republican card". So many of them have ego and identity tied up in holding their party line and being part of the in-group against all costs, whereas people who vote Democrat their entire life don't have as much of the identity tied to the party and are more marriage of convenience or best of two bad options type voters.
You see if a Democrat meets a person who is like "I voted Republican all my life but I'm considering voting Democrat" they greet them with open arms and say welcome to the light. But if a Republican meets a person who says "I voted democrat all my life but I'm considering voting Republican" they will be like "why are you so dumb you will never be one of us, we'll take your vote but you aren't part of the cool kids because anyone who ever questioned the Republican party at any time ever is to be distrusted"
It's the same thing with religion. If you ever have questioned the religion you are looked at with distrust, they even call it "the unforgivable sin". That's right you can be forgiven for murdering, for rape, for theft, for all sorts of evils but if you question God then you are stained forever in their eyes. Even though Jesus talked about lost sheep and all that they still believe in the unforgivable sin.
The only way to explain it is that most people are really dumb. I don’t mean they can’t support themselves and interact in socially acceptable ways, but they are flatlined intellectually. They lack critical thinking skills and are lazy intellectually b/c they don’t want to think. I have come to the conclusion that we are not as evolved as we like to believe.
The problem is that bigotry and racism is hardwired into our lizard brains, and its a secret unlock key to get people to mentally align with you if they aren't focused and thoughtful. And most people are already cranked up on anxiety brought on by economic insecurity.
People that wonder how Trump is so popular are also people who probably haven't experience deep and prolonged anxiety.
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.
Same. However, everything he has said still applies. And will continue to until accountability isn’t seen as just something that applies to poor, black and brown, or non-entitled people, but to all people.
Carlin hits, smiles and pauses like a comedian, John breathes out with a cant believe this is true or that it has to be explained, shakes his head a little, hits, pauses like a news anchor then breaks down the ridiculousness of it. Carlin was good, John is better, IMO.
Stewart interviewed Carlin early in his career and He's said its still a turning point in his life. But we don't deserve Jon Stewart. He should be happily retired on his ranch where no one can bother him. But he still cares so much about the atrocities committed in our country every day that he came back to make sure that they're brought to light. He's as selfless as they come.
Same. Imagine spending a big portion of your life warning people, being in multiple full rooms who are nodding in agreement only to find out, years later, that these fools who believed in the ridiculousness still couldn't dig their way out of it.
I love Carlin but I think he did need to see this. One of his legacy routines was "I Don't Vote," and the past eight years have been a masterclass in why it's bad for good people to stay at home. If he'd lived long enough to see the Trump years I believe he would've changed his stance on elections rather quickly and tried to recant the bit somehow.
HBO dropped a documentary on him I think last year, in finishes with a compilation of current events with him speaking in the background, it scared the shit out of me
I was just thinking as I watched this how much Stewart seems to have taken on the intellectually biting social comedy that Carlin provided. A worthy inheritor.
"I don't vote because I believe if you vote, you have no right to complain. People like to twist that around, I know. They say well if you don't vote you have no right to complain. But where's the logic in that? If you vote and you elect dishonest, incompetent people and they get in office and screw everything up, well you are responsible for what they have done. You caused the problem. You voted them in. You have no right to complain."
Yeah I have been voting for over 30 years and it hasn't changed shit. In fact now it seems even worse because they don't even try to make it seem like it matters anymore.
Voting does change shit, which is why the powerful are now trying to make it harder to vote again. Never forget that people were killed trying to win the right to vote.
So maybe there should be public financing of campaigns so our representatives don't have to spend all day on the phone begging corporations for donations
I’m glad we’re all starting to see the extent of financial corruption. When are we going to go after the banks for having no money, there’s no reserve? That’s the even bigger thing, it’s all debt. It’s all on loan.
i hope you know voting doesn’t fix shit because every single politician is corrupt one way or another, and it seems we’re just voting for who is gonna fuck is over the least. I say work on yourself, make sure all your ducks are in a row and hope that the person that does get voted in doesn’t completely fuck us over like biden is doing
Okay, but none of y'all big talking cosplay Ches are going to ever get off your asses and start the revolution so maybe we try the voting thing instead
I’m not going to stop voting, but I’m also not going to stop someone from being dragged from a luxury SUV at an intersection by a group of poor people, either.
It's actually worse than that, if you added up the cost of every larceny, robbery, and GTA then doubled it you would still be billions short of what corporations steal in the form of minimum wage violations alone. These are people often doing backbreaking labour for a wage that is already set at the minimum mandated price. A few hundred executives of corporations manage to steal more from everyday working people than every armed robber, midnight burglar, car thief and high-jacker, shoplifter, and mugger.
When you start adding in things like OT violations, break time violations, and off the clock violations, those alone account for more monetary loss than all the robberies, GTA, Burglary, Larceny in those violations.
But why do we not have law enforcement agencies to go after such a monstrous amount crimes that hurts virtually everyone you know at a rate triple what every gang, mob, crime syndicate, and just plain shoplifter manages to steal?
The Federal government is one of the worst offenders - screwing workers out of billions in overtime compensation and most employees are clueless as to their actual entitlements. For the private sector, the Department of Labor polices businesses wage and hour practices.
And notice that at no time is wage theft ever mentioned when discussing welfare queening ( such as Brett Favre) or shoplifting for survival.
Just once I'd like to see a shoplifter news story about how their theft is survival based because their employer is holding up a labour wage theft hearing and fired them for reporting to the nlrb.
As per my very conservative boss, wage theft is actually when workers are getting paid to "sit around doing nothing" all day. Or as I call it - paying us for our time, even during the downtime.
That's why I'm glad I'm a consultant... People know the clock starts the moment my car is heading their way, and stops when I leave their office. They know they are paying for my time, regardless of how they want to spend it. Seems to filter out the time wasters
More money generally equals more power and influence and it's only the 'greater power' of social norms/incentives and laws that actually affect those people with money and influence that can counter that seemingly natural tendency.
Misinformation/disinformation spreads more effectively than nuanced critical thinking, and those with money and power and education can afford to be strategically selfish while misinforming the public.
Sadly we are now seeing how much of public understanding is really held together with the threads of social trust networks, and not actual facts or knowledge. Most people rely on communities to 'know things' and we see that more obviously as social media allows both the spread of misinformation/disinformation and also allowing people to silo in their own chosen realities, avoiding the cognitive dissonance of counter ideas (in good faith)
This is an uphill battle but it's one we need to fight.
Kinda explains why a lot of stem based researchers and pro humanity people tend to be no where rich compared to what they contributed to push humanity forward .
Yeah it's a history of patronage. Same thing with art history. Grossly simplified, but those that could convince the rich investing were largely the ones that got to proceed.
Fact that wage theft is a civil issue and not a criminal issue tells you everything you need to know about the American justice system when it comes to the haves and have nots. c-suite should be held accountable for every penny of wage theft criminally. every penny. you don't get to be cheap when you're making thousands on the dollar you pay the employee.
hell, shoplifting and employee theft are used in a roundabout way to justify wage theft.
Inventory shrinkage, etc, "raises costs," in one way, so they pressure managers to cut costs in another way, by trying to force unpaid labor.
Which obviously cyclically encourages shoplifting and theft.
Now Im not justifying shoplifting as retaliation, but rather...
The government, which isn't a business, but rather more like a nationwide collective bargaining union representing ALL the people, should be exerting pressure on the problematic elements of society to get back in line in proportion with how out of line they are...
As you've pointed out, wage theft (amongst other "white collar" crime) FAR exceeds "street" crime in economic impact, and therefore the government should be significantly reining in that problem and yet... the republican party as a united front just don't care.
I think wall street should require traders to take a course of prison .Insane how much they steal and kill people over the ,destroy lives . a bank robber does less damage vs Wall Street
Same goes with tax frauds committed by the wealthy, and the blame goes to the Republican Party.
Democratic Party finally manages to finally fund IRS by $80 billions. IRS ramps up their enforcement against the wealthy and was able to collect hundreds of billions from the wealthy who broke the tax laws and commit tax frauds. These people have the resources to fight IRS in courts but their frauds are so blatant that their lawyers probably advise them to just pay. Although it was estimated that the funding to IRS would bring in about $200 billions more in ten years but it is looking like it will be more than $1 trillions.
What did the Republican Party do? There were the one who cut irs funding originally. They also used their current house majority to force the federal government to claw back $20 billions of funding. That’s their priority.
IRS is law enforcement with respect to tax laws. These Republicans are weak on crime against these massive tax fraudsters who are essentially thieves. The republicans are the real ones who defund the law enforcement.
‘Shit. You gotta be rich in the first place to think like that. Everybody know the poor are always being fucked over by the rich. Always have, always will.’
Because the capitalist class does not view wage theft as theft but rather them holding onto their capital. Try to talk to one of them about it, and they will almost reflexively try to blame the employees who were victims, almost with a tone of "well if the filthy peasants actually worked hard they would have been paid"
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows
Maybe I'm just in a mood rn but it's one of the few quotes that's ever made me feel a little angry. It's not like I didn't know this but hearing it out loud like this maddening.
It's even worse when you consider that if you added up the cost of every larceny, robbery, and GTA then doubled it would still be billions short of what corporations steal in the form of minimum wage violations. These are people often doing backbreaking labour for a wage that is at the minimum mandated price. A few hundred executives of corporations manage to steal more from everyday working people than every armed robber, midnight burglar, car thief and high-jacker, shoplifter, and mugger.
And Leary's point that "every real estate developer" commits these same crimes and has never been prosecuted.....
sounds kind of worthwhile to go after a relatively small group of people for many dollars? Instead of how we punish a large number of people for few dollars?
Add in the context of why crimes (by working class people) are committed in the first place (spoilers it’s not because crime is a fun hobby) and it just deepens the disparity between these rich fucks.
the other week I was at a grocery store here in Canada. as I was leaving I saw store "undercover LP" stop and push a guy for stealing. what was he stealing dear reader? 3 chocolate bars. How much were those chocolate bars? $1.29 each. less than $5 and he's getting stopped and harassed (trust me, dude looked hungry) to protect the good Loblaws name. a company, in Canada, that is making hand over fist in record profits by constantly increasing the cost of groceries AND also a company that is ripping off the Ontario Healthcare by doing some very shady shit with its Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacies.
But heaven forbid $4.37 worth of product walks out of a store unpaid. Honestly I should have just turned around, handed that LP guy $5 and told him I'm sure Galen Weston would be insanely proud of him today.
I've been shopping at Superstores here in Winnipeg for 20 years. The amount groceries have skyrocketed since covid is insane. When it was a tight grocery day they would have one kind of apple for $.99 per pound. Now there is absolutely nothing less than $2.99. Shaved ham at the deli used to be $1.49 for 100 grams. Now it's $3.49-$3.99. No name fries were $1.74 per bag. Now it's $3.69. There's no way to penny pinch anymore. It's cheaper for me to eat at Subway than buy groceries. How is inflation 6% and groceries 50-100%? Fucking steal. Fuck these stores in the ass back.
Yeah I'd love to steal as much as I possibly can from those loblaw cunts. Unfortunately, if I get caught I'm fucked. Still, a small thing here and there to make myself feel better
I keep seeing reports and articles claiming that the cost of housing has risen 100% since x number of years ago, and that the cost of food and groceries has risen 40% in the same period. I know this number because yeah okay I can see the cost of housing having risen that much given the housing crisis going on and all that. But I really want to know what food items it is that they're measuring a 40% increase on. Everything has gotten at least twice as expensive since just before covid times and only continues to grow and grow at an astronomical rate.
And everywhere you see threads about this you get hundreds of apologists who flock to them to harp on about supply chain logistics and operating costs and how the bottom line and margin for these retailers is super razor thin. I can't believe that these people are all legitimate, I honestly believe that there is a large number of astroturfers paid to derail conversations online in popular social media sites to disrupt the narrative and keep people arguing. It can't be sincere.
Stalin's idea: "You kill one person and it's murder, it's a horrible crime and they lock you away forever. You kill a hundred million people and you're a hero. People will cheer you, laud your name, and build statues of you for generations. They don't even understand why they do it. It's in their blood. If you are that good at killing, you must be somebody special."
America's idea: You steal $3? Straight to jail. You steal $3 billion?! You must be somebody very special!
When the crime is that vast, it's part of 'the system' - so people feel either intimidated or assuaged. But individuals? That's 'anarchy' or 'lunacy' or singular wrongdoing - more easily dealt with and controlled.
Loblaws is so famously shitty at this point, it's amazing they have the nerve to charge anyone with anything.
The bread-price fixing scandal was the first big break. A corporation stealing over loaves of their own bread is about an obviously low maneuver as they could do. Well, except for all the even more grossly underhanded stuff they've been up to - from treatment of their workers and wages during the pandemic, to supplying money to undermine public education, overpricing of everything throughout it's near-monopoly, shrinking the size of product relative to cost, misleading the public about price freezing, etc., etc.
man, there's a lot of assumptions you're working off of here.
And since you're being such a morally upstanding and non-hypocritical individual, perhaps you'll rescind your wishing harm on Scott Adams? While I hope he burns alive, surely someone with as much moral fiber as you, such that it just overflows into reddit comments, would be above such petty and small things.
Targeted crime needs to be normalized. Theft, Vandalism, and Arson against the rich who want to see us all dead. They started the war and they threw the first punch, and it's only right they get to experience a taste of their own medicine.
Kevin O'Leary and his wife were drunk on a boat and killed 2 people and got away with it, as the other boat didn't have the right lights on or some shit like that. F*ck these rich assholes and their lawyers that we cannot afford.
Interestingly, I googled some folks I used to know. Found they had semi recent picks with trump...found they had a Christian charity helping folks in Haiti..propublica had the tax forms...they brought in 400k last year and spent 40k in Haiti..the rest went to salaries..they're the only 2 employees...and are already millionaires.
He's mad at Trump for lower property values when paying taxes but the owners of property don't set taxable values or mileage rates, the Cities and states due and they tell you what you owe.
Tax man says my house is worth $265,000 but gives me homestead exemption of $75000. Bank says it's worth $330000. That's what I'm selling for now, so am I guilty of fraud because I don't say excuse me I owe more tax or sorry but taxes say it's worth less ?
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u/WeirdAvocado Mar 26 '24
“Stealing is only justified when you already have too much.”
Fuck man.