Both sides are not the same. Republicans are the ones who don't want to help the workers and lower/middle class. Tax the rich and the big business. Make public college free, make healthcare free, make child care free. How? Tax the rich and big businesses. They have hoarded all the money we generated for them. (They are using it to create space ships for fun and buying up EVERYTHING). If they want to do business in the USA tax them. Stop voting for republicans, they don't care about our democracy. Get more liberal justices on the supreme court to fix what republicans have done to our rights. Money shouldn't be speech and corporations are not people.
I'm sure that Republicans right now are trying to stop student debt relief, again. Stop voting for them. They have no policies to help the workers. Only tax cuts for the rich and hate, i.e. woke, i.e. minorites, LGBT, women, non Christains, and diversity.
I’m sure that Republicans right now are trying to stop student debt relief, again
lol what happened to Biden forgiving debt??
Remind me cuz I seem to have forgotten which party recently busted up a union strike, which one refused to repeal Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy, and worked directly with McConnell to make the bush tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, who was the one that forced for profit health care system on us and then mandated everyone participate? Which one was it? That should have gone through the higher education act to eliminate student debt but followed a route that was destined to fail? Which one is it that is now overfunding cops to the extent of pushing and funding cop city in Atlanta, to further subjugate minority communities, which party passed a far overreaching crime bill that specifically targeted black males, and the for-profit prison system that he's used to house them in? Which party had the crime bill that was so restrictive that it went too far for even Reagan, and he had to insert it into the violence against women act so people would not vote against it, which party was that?
No, no, see, we should just roll over and take all that with our asses up because they'll maybe try and throw a measly attempt at giving us back federal abortion rights and student loan forgiveness, maybe. And they can't do anything but give up if the Republicans slap any of that down. "oh well, we tried! But now we're busy starting proxy wars and throwing our young men and women into decade-long wars, so stfu and take what we give you and be thankful for it."
"Oh,it's election time? No, no, don't withhold your vote from us, if you do that, abortion will be federally banned this time around, probably! Listen, we'll do you a solid and attempt to throw another half-assed bill at the Republicans. Yeah, they'll slap it down, and no, we won't push back or anything, we'll be too busy funding more wars that we don't call wars, but, you know, at least we're better than them. So be a good little removed and roll over and stick your ass up.
Inb4: "BoThSiDeIsM" and "nAzI!!!"
Y'know, the only reason the Democrats struggle to win at all is that sometime in the post-Nixon era they collectively decided to stop standing up for labor's buying power. When they did this, (which helped them a lot in terms of their ability to get corporate donors to finance their elections), it meant that working people would go from having 1 party represent labor to 0 parties doing that.
In the 50s an entry-level job that a high-school graduate could get would support a family, buy a home and a couple of cars, and pay out a retirement. Today, that job won't even pay for an apartment without roommates.
That right there is the whole reason the GOP is a viable political party at the federal level- with both parties beholden to corporate donors, winning elections is more or less a matter of spending money on campaign ads attacking the other party because neither party has to do anything that voters want
As things stand right now, the GOP's platform is "let's pick a scapegoat to exhume the lower classes' frustrations", while the Democrats' is "let's not do that". It's no wonder why the Dems can only garner around ~27% of all elegible votes (vs the Republicans' ~25%), most of their voters don't particularly like their politicians nor their policies, they just don't want to be governed by fucking crazies.
Unfortunately progress is making and eating gradually less shitty sandwiches until all of humanity individually decide we don't like the taste of shit.
Most Dems do like their representatives and their policies and that's why those representatives win primaries
In the 50s an entry-level job that a high-school graduate could get would support a family, buy a home and a couple of cars, and pay out a retirement.
While I agree with the general thrust that more needs to be done for the average worker, your comparison of these times completely falls on its face if you speak to anyone with firsthand experience. It shouldn't be used because it is just noise, not relevant to the world we live in.
My dad grew up in the 50s and lives with me, due to his age/health. Here's a mix of his take and current data:
Homes have tripled in size on average. Providing for a family involves machines that take on 16 hours per day of household chores (and this number is set to increase further), which are expensive and taken for granted. Electricity and television, to say nothing of the internet, are taken for granted. Cellular phones are taken for granted.
6 children would live in a 3 bedroom house - I know this because this is how my uncles grew up in the 50s, and my grandfather wasn't just some regular guy, he was top salesman in his compamy. The vast majority of people did not have a "couple of cars." They had one car and the entire family packed into it without seatbelts.
You can absolutely live like it's the 50s right now. Cancel your cable, internet, and phone. Do not own a dishwasher, wash your laundry by hand, and only bulk-buy groceries in the forms of cereal grains, meat, eggs, and vegetables. Buy nothing pre-made. Mend your own clothes. Cook everything from scratch. Don't have air conditioning.
If this sounds like a poor, miserable existence, it's because almost everyone lives a standard of living unimaginable in the 50s except in science fiction, and that standard is expensive.
That's why we should help people - because our standard of living rose and we no longer see the 50s as acceptable, not because tradwives and nuclear families made the world safe for one white guy to provide for his family. We are the richest country in the world and our standard of living should be a cudgel we wield in soft-power diplomacy.
As my dad said when I read him this post: "this going back to the past shit is about the stupidest shit in the world."
Sorry but I do all of that and it's not any better at all. No washer/dryer, no washing machine, I live in a fucking garage and pay more rent than anyone in the 50s paid mortgage.
Houses that are glorified sheds in flood zones in the worst parts of town go for 300k+. I'm not even entry level and I can't afford the cheapest garbage excuse for a house out here without becoming house poor. I can't even "move where it's cheaper" because WFH people did and now it's not cheaper. The areas that are truly cheap, are so because there's no work to be had around them. Can't appreciate the low cost of an area when your unemployed.
Do not own a dishwasher, wash your laundry by hand
this ends up costing more where I live - its actually cheaper to run a dishwasher daily.
source: I own a dishwasher and my water bill is only like $30 - $40 in the US.
You can absolutely live like it’s the 50s right now.
No, you can't . You can't send your kids to a state college or university today and expect them to work their way through on part-time minimum wage and graduate without debt. Pensions are a thing of the past. Unions have been decimated and their protections have been unavailable to most workers for decades now. Today, banks are regulated by private trade associations made up of- you guessed it- banks. Today, employers buy back their own shares (which was made illegal in the 1930s and brought back in 1982) at labor's expense. Today's median wage buys you less than minimum wage did then.
My post above was not a call to go back to the 50s, (fuuuuuck that) it was a call to recognize that the buying power available to labor has been squeezed so hard that the middle class as a demographic is shrinking and that in turn probably causes people to lose faith in democracy. When both major parties have worked together to dismantle labor protections and to deregulate finance, is your democracy really working for you, or for corporate power?
Yes, today it's normal to buy things that didn't exist then, and most fatal childhood diseases have been all but wiped out, and bigger houses and a housing inventory shortage is a thing, but that's not the whole picture by a long shot. Raw material inputs (like lumber, and basic foodstuffs) cost more in normalized labor purchasing power terms and that's probably largely because of corporate mergers in the supply chain and wage standards have not kept up with basic costs.
I think it's remarkably silly that so many Americans that long for the 50s to come back think they're gone because the Democrats embraced civil rights or because of feminism and not because they joined the GOP in dismantling the New Deal.
For anyone that wants to really know exactly what the conservatives plan to do against the American people, read their ”Project 2025: Mandate for Leadership."
At least read the Forward, but here's the whole PDF:
https://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/project2025/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
The rhetoric just in the Forward is frightening, disgusting, and dangerous.
We MUST vote for the Democrats if we're going to maintain any semblance of real freedom for everyone and not just conservative white people.
(Side note, I found it hilarious that the "Forward" felt like it was 1000 pages down. And reading that much BS made me feel gross.)
Ok so, the Project 2025 thing is terrifying. Their Forward is terrifying. They have no plan for making this country better for anyone except themselves. They state very clearly they want to delete anything they don't like.
They want to ban books and open discussions.
They want to deny racism exists or ever existed.
They want to deny that biology exists outside of their narrow minded beliefs.
They want to force a single religion on everyone.
They cite problems and point the finger at everyone except themselves.
As if it wasn't abundantly clear at this point based on their ACTIONS what Republican rule will be... And yet we still have millions of people fully invested in that cult of hate and fear.
I'm not American, but reading the Foreword was just plain scary to me since it comes from a major party. There's nothing about economics and all about moral outrage. You guys need to diversify your parties somehow.
Yeah, by voting 3rd party. But the vast majority are too stupid to realize that they need to be apart of the change they seek instead of voting for the "lesser evil".
Bruh. I'm so fuckin sick of this 2 party bullshit.
"We Must vote for the Democratic party"
How about no. Fuck the Democratic & Republican party.
I’m sick of the two party system also but also recognize that’s the system in place. Requires voting reform for that to ever change, which I support. I’m still going vote for democrats in the meantime because anything else, to include third party or abstaining, is ultimately supporting the republicans whether one wants to admit it or not.
Thaaaank you. Looking at you getting downvoted cause idiots don't understand we can do something better than this two party bullshit.
But you're supposed to pick a side and be willing to literally lay down your life for them and their cause! Ra ra, go team go. Otherwise you're just part of the problem according to either side.
I agree with you and I'll go a step further and say fuck all politicians in general. Today, they're all owned in some way by the money that puts them in power. They'll all tell you what you want to hear. They're all experts in half truths. Never trust a politician.
no no no he has it all wrong. It's the party of the WORKING class. E.g. they are going to put you all TO WORK.
Keeping the wealth with the wealthy means you get to work for them. They're in charge don't you see? We're just their worker bees. There's enough of us that we don't need healthcare. Education is a luxury for the children of the wealthy elite, NOT the workers. The dumber and more ignorant the worker the less they need to offer them in compensation. If you don't know better, you don't ask for more!
It's all about being the smartest in the room. Why do good things for people when you can just fuck them over and have them sing your praises? This is why they want to teach that slavery taught valuable skills. They want to enslave us, and they are slowly doing that generation after generation with income disparities. Pretty soon we'll work our whole lives just to subsist and owning a home will be only afforded to the wealthy elite. The rest of us will work for them in the form of rent and they will be our land LORDS.
It's definitely the party of workers. More workers! Work for your owners!
BuT hOw ArE wE gOnNa aFfOrD iT!?!?!?!??!?!?!!?
the fucking pentagon can't account, literally cannot conceive, of where more than two thirds of its budget WENT.
Of almost a TRILLION DOLLARS, 886 billion dollars, they only know where ONE THIRD of it went.
That ~600 Billion Dollars have afforded all those things.
The Pentagon does know where there money goes but they are never going to tell a committee of idiots who cannot keep a damn thing secret. If you can't trust even the President to not run his mouth or expose classified satellite capabilities to our enemies then why would they ever tell anyone in politics where that money is going? I want a transparent govt as much as the next person but it isn't going to happen.
They're legally required to tell those things, and democracy is not built on secrecy.
This is the major interest point for me in UAP investigations - it looks exceedingly likely that the Pentagon is embezzling some of those funds through "pet projects" that are all legacy, ultra-secret, unaccountable, and need to produce nothing.
Where is the meme though?
There isn't one. A subset of Lemmy users have decided to go down the Reddit path where anything and everything MUST be politically related. Ideally it would be 24x7x365 coverage of "Republicans Evil" and nothing else.
I actually don't mind that. Life is inherently political, and Republicans truly do suck. I'm more upset that something is labeled a meme when it's not a meme at all.
This is not a meme.
"Oh no no no, you misunderstand, we're the party of WORKING the lower CLASSES to death, gotta read that fine print". - Lionel Hutz, GOP Supreme Court Justice Candidate
Image Transcription:
X/Twitter post by user Robert Reich @RBReich reading: "The Republican Party is against:
- National paid family and medical leave
- Universal childcare
- Universal pre-K
- Tax increases on the wealthy and corporations
- The expanded Child Tax Credit
- Student debt relief
Doesn't sound like the party of the working class to me."
[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]
It never was 🌎 👩🚀🔫👩🚀
It's just do much more obvious now. The only real values holding this shell of a "party" together are fear and hatred. Emotions >> platforms/issues in modern politics. It's pathetic, and this complete death grip on a two party system will ultimately kill American democracy.
I'd argue that right up until the three way brawl that was Taft V Roosevelt V Wilson, the Republicans were very much the party of the people. Roosevelt split the party, and all the lefties left the party, mostly to become Communists. Then the 1950s and 1960s happened and the Republicans leap frogged over the moderate right wing Democrats to leap head long into right wing extremism.
Admittedly that was only the first 50 or so years that the party existed.
I'm not American, so I curious why they have only two parties?
Their election system (basically winner-takes-all) pretty much guarantees that it will converge in a two-party system with roughly 50/50 share and people voting for "the lesser evil" rather than their favourite. If a third challenger appears, it will split the voter base of the more close candidate and guarantee a huge victory for the farther candidate (the opposite of what the challenger stands for). So essentially it's doomed to be a bipartisan circlejerk unless the election system itself is changed.
Correct. Also worth saying that because it was designed by rich white male British colonists over 200 years ago who deliberately made it almost impossible to change, our system is hopelessly outdated and very difficult to upgrade. This is especially true when there are certain demographics that get a ton of over representation through the existing system.
There are more parties than two, they just aren't very popular
That's a common fallacy. There's really just one party with 2 factions that pretend fight but really fight when any other party tries to pop in.
The Republican Party is against:
N
U
U
T
T
S
Republican party agains "free" (whatever that means) stuff.
Have you tried using a dictionary? Most people know what it means so it seems your education has failed you most spectacularly.
Have you tried being less deliberately obtuse?
You forgot unions outside of ones held for public servants. It's no coincidence the strongest unions and best worker protections are for judges, police and firefighters.
Most people on the left aren't willing to talk openly and honestly about why we lost and continue to lose so much of the working class.
The answer is almost always something to the effect that it's because they're stupid brainwashed rubes, which is highly counterproductive.
The truth is that the elites and elite institutions in this country have utterly failed the working class in every way. The right uses this to stoke class and regional resentment while steadily pushing exploitative policies, while much of the left takes only half measures and views much of what's important to the working class with basically open contempt.
One of the above tactics has been far more effective than the other.
Yeah because the liberal elite really cares about you /s
The fun part is that the democrats are neither
Didn't the Democrats just get free pre k in Colorado? You NEVER see Republicans wanting to do this. I am sure Republicans right now are trying to stop this free schooling for kids that helps working class people.
Stop voting for Republicans. They are Un-American and not for our democracy.
You NEVER see Republicans wanting to do this.
Oklahoma, Florida, and Alabama not only already have it but the enrollment of students is higher than Colorado's.
Fuck Republicans but your statement is inaccurate.
First, I'm not American and thus have an outside perspective of how shitty your politics are
Second, since when is having an opposition party against democracy? After all, you can only have one. If you removed the only opposition party you have you'd get the opposite of a democracy
You either vote for the Bad Party, vote for the Very Bad Party, or organize a coup to overthrow the government and install a political class which frees the US from the two-party system and maybe implements ranked choice voting too.
The third option seems kinda hard, so what you gonna do?
That third option sounds like 4 steps forward, three steps back
Overthrow the government in order to... change just one thing about how the government works??
How about we overthrow the government, gut the whole thing and rebuild it with the proletariat in charge, and let it wither away once class is abolished
Lmfao I'm pretty sure liberals also hate the working class, watch them talk about rural people for 5 seconds. The utter disdain for rural working class people is a real thing.
Rural people are the foundation of this country and need the most support for they often are over looked. Probably because they vote for people that don't have their well beings in mind.
The only reason I dislike them is because they actively vote against their best interests for the people who are fucking this country and planet into the ground. I just don't understand them... As people, they're fine. Voters, not so much.
Rural people as in the people who consistently vote for and cheer for all the vile shit Republicans want to force on us? Gosh, why would we have anything against those people?
They care about the working clases that votes for them lol. Give imigrants the right to vote so they can vote for me as I give them "free" stuff
So I felt like I had helped pushing debt relief forward in the US, hope that is okay with you folks here.
And I would agree with the image. But can I be risky and question some things? I can delete my post if people don't like it.
But, Ok regarding tax increases on wealthy and corporations: won't they just find loopholes? Heck wasn't the tax rate raised to like 80% for the wealthy as one point in the US?
I would prefer if culture steps away from tax the rich to either simplify tax rules or remove loopholes, which I would think both sides of voters in the US would be happy for? (Assuming both sides hate the current tax system)
Or assuming politicians are in in the loopholes too, making the tax easier or the loopholes more complicated that labor wise it would be better to just pay taxes?
Sorry... why do you think people on the left wouldn't be in favor of removing tax loopholes for rich people?
Sorry I didn't intend to bring sides into this, I am referring to the super rich and poor. Not left or right. Is that okay?
I think both voters on both sides would be in favor of removing tax loopholes. But I imagine the wealthy on both sides would be hesitant?
Assuming if you are super rich that takes priority over political parties. Would the Military Industrial Complex be a similar example?
Oh another Q I had was the student debt relief.
Isn't student debt relief just a short term fix? Yes debt relief is something I would vote for, but Like that money has to go somewhere right? Wouldn't it be better to lower the cost of the out of control education or health care first to make it easier to provide more affordable universal care in the future?
Unless other country with universal care charge $20 for a cough drop at the distributor level for hospitals, then disregard my statement 😄
How do you think loopholes creep into the tax laws? It’s done by politicians who accept bribes from lobbyists who work for the mega corporations and the ultra wealthy. Yes those kind of politicians are in both camps. But one side is full of them and the other is slightly less full of them. Vote for better politicians and show up to every election even the local ones. That’s how you can put a “radical” into power who might want to do something about the current system. And those “radicals” aren’t a member of the Republican Party.
✊agreed
Edit to tldr: one of the richest men in the world “ paid a total tax rate of 17.7%, the average tax rate for people in his office was 32.9%.”
— No one is advocating for the old days with 90% tax on the wealthy. We all know that won’t work
— we have a progressive tax, meaning wealthier pay a higher rate, which is good. However many “tweaks” have eroded that so it’s no longer as true. Most people just want to undo those tweaks
— There are multiple tax brackets so you pay a higher percentage as you earn more. I do earn more than average so I pay more, fair. But I’m far from wealthy, so why am I in the highest tax bracket? Why do the Elon Musks of the world pay the same rate on income as my upper middle income?
— our income taxes are more complex than people realize, but many tax cuts of the last few Republican administrations have been for sources of income that mostly benefit the wealthy. Why is my salary income taxed at such a high rate compared to Elon Musk’s capital gains income?
— why do I pay taxes on all my income while a well known real estate grifter can incorporate hundreds of times and play shell games with his money, and claim to be both a billionaire with huge income AND writing off all that income as a business loss to avoid taxed
— but this fiasco really tells the story. How is it that when even one of the wealthiest thinks it’s unfair, we keep doing it? https://www.fool.com/taxes/2020/09/25/why-does-billionaire-warren-buffett-pay-a-lower-ta/
Interesting stuff to look into, thanks!
