2020 summer of discontent

[exploited]

[Philly]

Yeah I sometimes wonder it critical theory studies in major universities is being covertly funded by the FBI. Only half joking. They’ve done a great job crush the left for the powers that be either way.

[John Galt]

without a cohesive plan, it can easily be cast as something it isn't or perhaps something that only some minority of the people want

without leadership, the criticisms cannot be deflected away

look at the Trump-right. it has no cohesive plan really. there's not GOP platform. it's whatever the fuehrer wants. but he's able to deflect criticism, whether it be from claiming it was just a joke or talking past it. but then he can attribute whatever fantasy he wants to the left about what they want since there's little to dispute it

"defund the police" should, IMO, be "descope the police". we ask too much of police, and police action should have a more defined and much smaller scope. the current situation results in us giving them more and more money, and they are able abuse the position to make sure they get more and more. the second important thing is "end public unions". i know it's like breaking an article of faith for the left, but they need to look to FDR for guidance on this, and realize that KKKroll, the Minneapolis Police Union Chief, is abusing his power and doing end arounds on the will of people. public unions are completely incompatible with democracy. we have inverted where unions should be in this country, with strong public unions and weak private ones. and the private ones are a major road block towards fixing health care: their unions fought hard to get their union members the healthcare they have and they don't want to give it up

[exploited]

Public unions are significantly stronger in Canada, and exponentially stronger in Europe, and and yet we do not have the same crisis of policing as you do. Yes, there are problems, and we even have BLM groups. But the reality is that, per capita, American police kill about ten times more people than Canadian police do. In other words, the problems you face have more to do with historic economic inequality, as well as the unique social circumstances of the descendants of slaves, than it does public unions. If it takes killing the police union to reform the police, than so be it. But to say "public unions are completely incompatible with democracy" appears to be false, at least based on their success in dozens of democratic countries.

(This is my way of saying please don't use these problems as an excuse to pursue ulterior agendas)

As for marketing, meh. There is nothing wrong with "defund the police." Conservatives and Knights of the Status Quo will criticize the proposals in the same way regardless of what it is called. However, rather than just putting some slogan out there, and letting it mean anything to anyone, they could at least have a real centralized organization that says exactly what it is and what it wants. You know, actual politicking.

I guess instead we're stuck airing our grievances forever, like a perpetual Festivus, but without the peace or resolution at the end.

[John Galt]

festivus also has Feats of Strength where you beat those who are inferior to you

public unions are completely at odds with democracy. a union exists to put the needs of its members above that of the boss. in a democracy, that means a a public union exists to defy the will of the people. that is its expressed purpose, which is why it is fundamentally incompatible with democracy.

[Spider]

[John Galt]

[Spider]

[exploited]

Being opposed to unions after the events of the 20th century is one of the most vivid examples of political propaganda at work. Unions appear, workers get eight hour days, five or six days a week, in conditions that only occasionally get them killed, resulting in a massive middle class. They disappear, and you get the single greatest and continuous transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top in human history.

Give your head a shake Galt.

Once corporations are abolished, once intellectual property is deemed a relic, once we've got truly free markets, you might be able to argue against unions in a rational, historical way. But until then it's just madness.

[John Galt]