LoudUntamedWoman🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇺🇦
Robert ReichInstead of: no one wants to work anymore. Try: no one wants to be exploited anymore.
Daniel Freysinger@rbreich Very similar to "There is a worker shortage" vs "We are keeping workers out at the border"
@ChrisCorrigan has moved
Gigawatt121@rbreich THIS THIS THIS People are tired of being exploited. When being “employed” for pennies is basically the same as being unemployed, why work?
Keith DaggettThe worst nightmare of the oligarch class is everyone suddenly demanding more money and not letting up.
This is why professional sports exist, and the glut of banal, mind numbing TV and movies; to pacify the rabble.
Jennifer Kayla | Theogrin 🦊@ktdoggett @rbreich
When he originally coined the phrase (supposedly), Juvenal used 'panem et circenses' as a pejorative not just for the rich who used it to sedate the masses, but for the masses who demanded entertainment and bread instead of pursuing wider aims. Everyone loves a parade...
But overwork and stress have at least an equally soporific effect. A person forced to work 14 hours a day is not going to have the time or energy to fight a system which is very efficiently killing them.
Sova@ktdoggett @rbreich irony is that professional athletes demand more pay all the time, and get it.
Megane
MichelleRN, Former CHPN, Ret.@rbreich
Exactly this.
If you work full time, you should be able to put a roof over your head and food on the table. Period.
Exactly this.
If you work full time, you should be able to put a roof over your head and food on the table. Period.
SaftyKumaIn the city where they work, I might add.
ChopinsHeart ⚛️ 
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/etc/script.html
Here is the transcript of how Republicans; architect KARL ROVE put innocent Dem. Gov. Don Siegelman in prison for 7 fvking years for winning an election.
You want an example with VOTE TAMPERING? HERE IT IS.
Former ATT: Eric Holder was as DAMN COWARD.
A woman was almost killed over this
Don’s 2 kids became lawyers to clear him.
WHY? BECAUSE DON SIEGELMAN never lost an election; a PRESIDENTIAL guy
D. Barbera@rbreich True. Also workers died from covid, many more have long covid and are unable to work. Some people retired to avoid dying from covid.
Analisa
Cripple.Zero@rbreich no, it's that everyone got spoiled by the unemployment handouts & now expect the govt to swoop in & save them. There are "FOR HIRE" signs ALL OVER w/ $15-20 per hour & benefits & bonuses, so no it's not about exploitation; it's about laziness & entitlement. Just because a couple bad eggs-Amazon/Walmart-doesn't mean it drives the economy. Before the pandemic ppl actually worked & worked hard 2 succeed, but not anymore; they expect everything 2 B handed 2 them w/o working 4 it
SocialistStan@CrippleZero @rbreich We are entitled to whatever we want, we run this society, not the oligarchs.
AGHAST@CrippleZero @rbreich I used to hear about “market forces” all the time when it was about down-sizing and jobs being moved off shore and cuts to govt spending on social programs.
It cuts both ways.
Now the market says you need to pay more to get workers to stay.
It cuts both ways.
Now the market says you need to pay more to get workers to stay.
Ross Greensill@kathryncc @CrippleZero @rbreich
Market forces are nothing more than corporate entities, (boards and individuals) exploiting every legal loophole, every union busting, every shortcut to maximize profits. Whitewashing every pretense of having a social licence. GREED is the market force.
Market forces are nothing more than corporate entities, (boards and individuals) exploiting every legal loophole, every union busting, every shortcut to maximize profits. Whitewashing every pretense of having a social licence. GREED is the market force.
Losfromcp@CrippleZero @rbreich
In my area I saw lots of forklift driver jobs for $16/hr, which is $32k/yr working full-time. You're telling us that people are overpaid making $32k/yr...
In my area I saw lots of forklift driver jobs for $16/hr, which is $32k/yr working full-time. You're telling us that people are overpaid making $32k/yr...
tyork@rbreich Amen to that.
Denial 🐔 ShownNo one wants to pay for work anymore.
No one wants to work for jerks anymore.
No one wants two works anymore.
No one wants to be hurt anymore.
It's more than bad poetry.
It's just the labor economy.
It may be hard, but we can try.
Let's build the just economy.
anarchademic
brocolie (tots not a vampire)@emeritrix @rbreich This one is being very generous to the capitalist with the "teach a man how to fish".
Morgan Ziva 🧜♀️🔮💘@rbreich This is the perfect moment to share this story. True story, this man was asked by his boss to make a delivery while a hurricane was coming in Florida. He gave in to his boss, and on the bridge, a wave took his life. Start your own side hustle, or whatever, but realize the boss doesn't care about you. I never forgot this story.
@rbreich 100% agree with you.
Walker@rbreich
nailed it 🔨🔨🔨🔨
nailed it 🔨🔨🔨🔨
Crystal_Fish_Caves@rbreich I very much wanted to return to my electro mechanical #assembly line job at Lam Research. I have severe #asthma and was ordered back to work when #delta was just on the rise. I refused because they are not requiring #vaccination. Lam said I quit and tried to stop my #unemployment during #covid ; they always said we were a family. I treat stray dogs better than that. Now I make a quarter what I did. Covid broke my life.
Alyce Miller@rbreich Exactly. The "no one wants to work" trope is elitist, classist, and cruel.
Jim Neal@rbreich Amen Bobby 🤕
@rbreich I just worked a full day in the midst of a stomach bug because I get so little PTO I don’t want to waste it when I’m sick.
Allan Chow@rbreich *raises hand* uhm... I don't want to work anymore...
Southern Leftist@rbreich
I'm not even old enough to be legally employed, and I agree with this statement.
I'm not even old enough to be legally employed, and I agree with this statement.
Mark@rbreich I did my PhD in Hegel so Marx was sitting on my shoulder a lot of the time... but, I swear, it took years to come around to the idea of capitalism as fetish. But holy cats, I'm there now.
MechanїcalTurk@rbreich Central Banks: Oh, no. We should raise the interest so more people will get unemployed and desperate! It's the only way to get the economy back to full exploitation!
Azhron@rbreich We can curb exploitation by teaching people how to calculate the value of their own labor. Easier said than done but it still important if we want to move toward a more union positive society.
If one doesn't know how to effectively bargain for themselves how can we collectively bargain at all?
TomHere's an interesting way of explaining why inequality is inevitable is capitalism American-style. Would love to get your thoughts on this @rbreich .
https://pudding.cool/2022/12/yard-sale/
https://pudding.cool/2022/12/yard-sale/
Zeborah@rbreich I mean, that too. But also I'm pretty tired of working tbh.
(Also, thanks to Covid, a lot of people who'd like to work are no longer able to.)
Matthias Rex 🦣@rbreich Just lazy people who don't want to work? Or maybe the reason a lot of millennials and gen z people are disappearing from the work force is that many of them are using the internet to start businesses. Retail stores and fast food chains are disappointed now that they can't mistreat and underpay workers and still be entitled to their time.
@rbreich that is the truth. but just raising the min wage doesnt really fix anything. We need to start taxing the rich again. We need the progressive tax again with the highest level being above 51% or there is no way solve the concentration of wealth problem.
Lavender Gooms@rbreich Who the fuck WANTS to work? No one has ever applied for a regular job and been like "oh fuck yeah I can't wait to do data entry for a bank, it's been my dream."
People are offering their labor in exchange for wages, and they're getting tired of capitalists acting like the peasants should be thankful that generous businesses are deigning to bestow a pittance upon them.
Michi01@rbreich I'm about there myself. My boss can be a bit toxic. High expectations with no reality check. She doesn't want to hear excuses- but when key people quit and the work load is high- there's going to be excuses.
Voron@rbreich yeah 🤔 it’s market forces, if no one wants to work for low wages & little or no benefits while having crazy demands maybe it’s the employers that have to change to meet the market, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work? Big nah, those with money will tilt the pinpall machine again because rules aren’t supposed to apply to the ones in power
timzl 🍔@rbreich There was a good piece from @onthemedia about how this narrative and others are just replayed over and over. Tale as old as...the 1890s.
@rbreich
‘In war ... the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil for them all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. ... We have chains, though no eye beholds them; and are slaves, though men call us free.’ Oscar Wilde, “The Young King” 1891
‘In war ... the strong make slaves of the weak, and in peace the rich make slaves of the poor. We must work to live, and they give us such mean wages that we die. We toil for them all day long, and they heap up gold in their coffers, and our children fade away before their time, and the faces of those we love become hard and evil. ... We have chains, though no eye beholds them; and are slaves, though men call us free.’ Oscar Wilde, “The Young King” 1891
Will Allen@rbreich turns out, very, very few humans who don't have to work for money lie in bed all day. Virtually everybody wants to work at something. They often don't want to work at profit for someone else. And that's understandable.
@willallen @rbreich
I've always been interested in what people would do if they didn't have to worry about an income. I've asked dozens of people, and everyone had something interesting (at least to themselves) and productive that they wanted to do. I think only one person ever said she wanted to do nothing.
I've always been interested in what people would do if they didn't have to worry about an income. I've asked dozens of people, and everyone had something interesting (at least to themselves) and productive that they wanted to do. I think only one person ever said she wanted to do nothing.
@shadowbelle @rbreich yep. And I'll bet you a dollar that person was either exhausted from overwork, depressed and in need of therapy, or both.
Capitalism is a form of feudalism, and it's shocking how many people don't realize that. It's "work for the owner" instead of "pursue the life that makes you happy."
Almost everybody's "happy life" involves putting something new and productive into the world.
@rbreich Isn’t exploitation the reason for hiring someone? No one will hire someone just to break even.
Evey@rbreich Exactly the truth for sure!
Amber D (Button Marie)@rbreich modern day labor exploitation is now embodied by the salaried office worker. Pay them a flat salary, then give them more work than can possibly be completed in a 40hr work week. Employees work 50hrs per week to be successful at their job and no one pays any overtime.
Gurtbeef Robe@AmberDennison @rbreich add 10-20 hours to that estimate. Nobody makes less than salaried employees. An employee who makes $60k salary, barely clears minimum wage per hour where I live. You are expected to work between 8-12hrs a day, often 6 days a week, and then be available by phone or email all night. Low level managers always quit bc it’s always a pay cut and your entire life becomes the company
@twitterreject @rbreich it's true. I should have specified 60hrs/wk but even at 50hrs/wk it's robbery. We created 40hr weeks to be humane, but companies have found their way around it and government isn't doing a damn thing.
@twitterreject @rbreich to top it off, most office workers think they're lucky (better conditions than other industries) so they don't complain about all the extra work, and minimize the extra time they actually put in (kind of like a victim minimizes abuse and make excuses for the abuser).
@AmberDennison @rbreich I’ve always had issues with gratitude. Some bc I’m the oldest child so I was spoiled lol but also bc it can be exploited and used to get people to accept shit conditions. I worked at Hilton’s top hotel and one of the 5 key principles for us posted right by the door was “we have no entitlement.” We were supposed to think this was a good thing to not be entitled to any level of decent treatment or working conditions. We learned our “place” quickly
@twitterreject @rbreich wow. That's some ultimate corporate brainwashing. Psychology is powerful and now corporations are not just using it for marketing to consumers anymore.
Karoline 
@rbreich BINGO. Whenever someone I know says that, I always point out, well nobody wants to work a terrible job where they get verbally abused all day for no money. That usually gets the point across.
Benj Soule🫂💙HumanityFirst🌅@rbreich consequence of becoming "woke", I say good, good for us. 😀
greenkatydid@rbreich Or: A lot of people died or are sick or have family members who died. That impacted the work force.
@greenkatydid @rbreich they also cut the number of skilled labor immigrants who are recruited by employers to fill important jobs. We issued over 600,000 less visa’s to working age immigrants per year from 2019 on and that’s gotta account for some of it.