#Fuck Capitalism

[nando161mando]

"You are not a tech bro, you are a modern day factory worker."

Oakland, California

[fuck-u-maga]

[playgroundeyes]

why do people dislike SING for some reason??!! It's basically the ultimate Danger Days song, with the anti capitalism and the art-is-the-weapon themes

plus the bridge goes SO fucking hard

[cynicalclassicist]

Like those people sort of get it right... then they pivot off to thinking that it's everyone but the rich, and say that it's the government being big and that the rich people are the people who will save us, that Trump and Musk are the people to heil on.

[guiltyidealist]

new favorite YouTube comment just dropped

[nando161mando]

Largest Execution in American History

[shrimpothy]

been getting my money up lately 🙏🏼

[fozmeadows]

Pointedly, the continuous throughline here is one of either direct improvements to, or continuing efforts to improve, working conditions and labour regulation, which have occurred in parallel to the rise of social safety nets. While I have no doubt that people in power complaining about the apparently lacking work ethic of those they own employ is as old as human civilization, the specific wording in the above examples is telling.

In the earliest example from 1894, the writer laments that "nobody wants to work these hard times," which acknowledges that difficult circumstances are material to the issue, while in 1905, the complaint that "none want to work for [?] wages" appears to similarly stem from a specific situation. This changes in 1916, when the quoted speaker opines that "the reason for food scarcity is that nobody wants to work as hard as they used to," (my emphasis); wording which implies an across the board decline in both the ethos of workers and the quality of their labour, if only in the realm of agriculture. (Which, if we consider what specific events were occurring in 1916 that might, perhaps, have had a material impact on food production, is certainly A Choice.)

But then, in the postwar world of 1922, this claim is expanded into "nobody wants to work any more unless they can - [redacted]," where the missing qualifier most likely represents some benefit or concession to the worker. And the presence of that qualifier matters, even when missing from the sample text, because it's an acknowledgement, however grudging, that the quality of work might be in some way dependent on how workers are treated, or that a desire to work might therefore be informed by that treatment (or lack thereof).

Which brings us to 1937, where - at least in terms of the provided examples - we get the first unqualified use of the hallmark phrase: the claim that "nobody wants to work any more," presented as a full and complete sentence. And what's particularly noteworthy about the date here is that 1938 is when the United States introduced the 40-hour, 5 day work week: meaning that, in 1937, worker mobilization, unionisation and protest to achieve this goal was in full swing. Can I be 100% certain, on the basis of this excerpt alone, that this quote was authored in response to the lobbying for the same basic working hours that we now consider standard? No, I can't - but it does seem highly likely.

In 1940, an identical assertion - "nobody wants to work anymore" - is further contextualised by an additional complaint: that "everybody is on relief or a pension." Assuming that this quote comes from an American source, this is particularly relevant as a framing, as 1933-1938 marked the institution of F.D.R's New Deal policies, many of which formed the backbone of America's social safety net. In other words: by this point, people were no longer universally being forced to work through injury, extreme poverty and in old age, but were instead provided a basic level of dignity and financial security. That someone was openly objecting to this in 1940 - which is to say, a year into WWII - is also, as with their spiritual predecessor in 1916, certainly A Choice.

By 1952, we're back into postwar prosperity, and while the complaint remains the same, it's now given a new contextual explanation: that "everybody was getting too darn lazy." Which is pretty much what every example from that point on, spanning a period of seventy years, either implies or says outright: that people don't want to work now, not because conditions are bad or times are hard or because there's a problem with wages, but because, with the success of social safety nets, they're presumed to no longer have a work ethic; because this new generation, whoever that happens to be in context, is spoiled.

But if you track the social and political changes that are happening in that timeframe, what we're really seeing is successive generations of employers, powerbrokers and older people reacting negatively to the ongoing fight for better working conditions by labourers, subordinates and young people. Each generation is broadly arguing that whatever conditions were normative when they first entered the workforce should continue unchanged; while those beneath them, either in response to legal reforms or the widening disconnect between what's expected of them vs what they're actually getting relative to predecessors in the same roles, are pushing for something better. Every generation of employers is thus simultaneously the beneficiary of those who came before and the bane of those who come after, wanting good conditions for themselves when they were coming up as workers, but reluctant to offer similar improvements to workers once the boot is on the other foot.

Which brings us to the present moment, where the endgame of late-stage capitalism in America is working hard to try and strip away all those previous, hard-won worker protections and social safety nets, the better to squeeze as much labour from workers as possible while outlaying the bare minimum level of recompense. Because the anymore in nobody wants to work anymore is the key to it hidden in plain sight: because once upon a time, work wasn't optional. Once upon a time, there weren't such things as parental leave and sick leave, holidays and weekends, overtime pay and worker protections, OSHA and a legal minimum wage, pensions and worker's comp, unemployment payments and food stamps.

Once upon a time, unless you were born wealthy, you either worked or you fucking died, and in many cases died anyway, because your lungs seized up from the coal dust or you contracted sepsis when your hand was crushed in a machine or one of a thousand other horrors, because capitalism does not give a shit about quality of life. It only cares about Number Go Up, and without successive governments around to browbeat its masters into at least pretending to give a shit - without legislation to force an easement on their grinding consumption of material resources and human lives - they simply will not do those things, because treating workers as people cuts in to profits. And all those legal protections that exist to stop companies from saving a few bucks at the expense of polluting the water table, poisoning their customers, maiming underage employees or otherwise causing harm? Those laws are what Trump is actively rolling back. Because he doesn't give a single, solitary shit about you, or anyone like you. He cares about his bank account, and he cares about Number Go Up, even when the shit he's doing will frequently result in Number Go Down, because he's a selfish amoral jackass who doesn't know what the fuck he's doing a solid 85% of the time.

So, yeah. It's not that nobody wants to work anymore. It's that employers and corporations resent being made to behave as though employees, customers and the environment have a greater intrinsic value than Number Go Up.

[existennialmemes]

Yeah, I believe in returning to Traditional Values™

Eating fruit in the sunlight

Living in walkable communities

Protecting the weak

Dancing and singing for the sake of it

Seeing the stars

Recognizing native plants

Tending livestock in small herds

Permaculture farming practices

[whereserpentswalk]

I have decided to become a walkablity extremist.

Cars should not be allowed in towns and cities at all. The only places where they should be at all present is in rural areas where any other means of transportation should be impossible.

High speed rail networks should allow for a trip from Mexico city to Montreal in under 24 hours.

All public transportation should be 100% free.

Lawns should not exist.

It doesn't make sense for single family homes to be built in most American cities.

Architecture must be beautiful again.

Every commercial street should have at least one bench.

Public restrooms must be free, common and accessible.

The pigeons are not enemies. The pigeons are freinds.

[bump-inthe-night]

It's depressing how 60% of Americans can't afford to live in this country due to the increasing cost of living. Food, rent, healthcare, education, and so many other things are only climbing up in prices while wages remain low, and we're expected to work ourselves to death to afford even basic necessities.

Capitalism only benefits the rich, who are leaving the rest of us to survive by the skin of our teeth while they continue becoming wealthier and making it almost completely impossible for us to survive.

[thegoblinpit]

This is legitimately the saddest I’ve been over any social media drama. It sounds so silly, but I really rely on discord. I’ve been active there in dnd/role play forums for ~3 years and the friends I’ve made there are some of the best I’ve ever had. It was a big leap for me, but it changed my life. One of the best friends I’ve ever had is someone I met there because we both love making silly characters. I’ve had a support system like never before. Probably a dozen people check on me regularly, and I, them, which has never been something I’ve had access to before joining a couple of little discord communities. I know this all makes me sound chronically online, but just having a few spaces to be genuinely liked has made my mental health recover like never before. I’ve become better at socializing. I’ve had motivation to do hard things that better my life. I’ve learned that some people can actually want an unmasked version of me around.

Idk why I’m having such a fit over this, but I don’t want to lose something that gives me regular access to so much fun and support. I know there are other ways, but I want the way I like to stay good and safe. Why can’t any service ever stay good and safe?

Remember when I told ya'll last month to be ready to start looking for a Discord alternative?

Yeah things aren't looking good for discord.

[marspumpkin]

***factually correct version since i didnt check sources v well last time

btw the katy perry/bezos' girlfriend/other irrelevant billionaires (with the exception of amanda nguyen go research her) 10 minute space stunt was not the first all female expedition no matter how much they try to market it as such. the first all female mission was in 1963 with soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who was working class and had to pass incredibly hard exams to be chosen from 400 potential candidates. just in case we started falling for the propaganda machine again

[defilerwyrm]

Growth capitalism is a deranged fantasy for lunatics.

Year 1, your business makes a million dollars in profit. Great start!

Year 2, you make another million. Oh no! Your business is failing because you didn't make more than last year!

Okay, say year 2 you make $2 mil. Now you're profitable!

Then year 3 you make $3 mil. Oh no! Your business is failing! But wait, you made more money than last year right? Sure, but you didn't make ENOUGH more than last year so actually your business is actively tanking! Time to sell off shares and dismantle it for parts! You should have made $4 mil in profit to be profitable, you fool!

If you're not making more money every year by an ever-increasing exponent, the business is failing!

Absolute degenerate LUNACY