Ned YeungJul 20, 2023

Boss made a dollar
I made a dime
That was a poem
From a simpler time.

Now boss makes a thousand
And gives us a cent
While he's got employees
Who can't pay the rent.

So when boss makes a million
And the workers make jack
That's when we strike
And take our lives back.

Show threadZathrasJul 21, 2023
@ned @lisamelton And now Florida Board of education is grooming students to think slavery wasn’t only not so bad, but gave slaves skills that they benefitted from? What is their end game? A return of indentured servitude?
Show threadMartin Lepage

@ericwelch @ned @lisamelton

A *return* of indentured servitude ? It never left the US, it just took on a different form.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/24/us-prison-labor-workers-slavery-13th-amendment-constitution

Movement grows to abolish US prison labor system that treats workers as ‘less than human’

Hundreds of thousands of incarcerated people work in US prisons as part of their sentences, often without basic protections and for little to no pay

The Guardian
Jul 21, 2023 at 3:41pmWeb
Show threadNed YeungJul 21, 2023

@M0untainG0at @ericwelch @lisamelton

Capitalism is all about indentured servitude. That's just what you get when you reach the end of the scale. The end of the scale is called "billionaires".

Show threadMartin LepageJul 21, 2023

@ned @ericwelch @lisamelton I always felt that capitalism was more akin to a classic pyramid scheme than anything else. Like the Tupperware clubs of old, only a select few ever make money in that system and it always needs new recruits to feed those on top.

The more capital you have (money and resources), the more you can leverage that against those under you.

Show threadZathrasJul 21, 2023
@M0untainG0at @ned @lisamelton Yep, and Amway. Had some friends who kept insisting Amway wasn't a pyramid scheme. (Notice I said, “had" friends.)
Show threadMark CrockerJul 21, 2023

@ned @M0untainG0at @ericwelch @lisamelton Although I can't find the original post, because it's Mastodon, I came across an interesting argument that in most cases where we complain about billionaires, we should be using the word "oligarchs" instead.

The claim was something like "not all oligarchs are billionaires, and not all billionaires are oligarchs". I'm pretty sure there was some push back on at least part of that, but, I do think it is worth disambiguating to emphasize the behavior.

Show threadM-Democrats-BLMJul 22, 2023
@mcrocker @ned @M0untainG0at @ericwelch @lisamelton Corporate Oligarchs -Thank you I have a new word to add in fighting White Collar Criminals-Corporate Oligarchs Wage Theft. It’s a huge business for them and almost never punished if ever caught. That is so wrong. Put them in the streets to be shot and killed or suffocated to like black men. At least they should be put in general population prisons. #StopWageTheft. That would help all