this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2024
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US Authoritarianism

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[–] Illuminostro@lemmy.world 110 points 1 month ago (9 children)

Did this guy miss the part where it's been virtually impossible for Democrats to pass any legislation due to a lack of a majority in any branch of government, and downright childish obstruction by Republicans?

[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 52 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

Yeah I'm confused, this is the democratic party's fault?

Like, did/do people watch the news whenever they talk about the minimum wage? Fox News and the republican party and the libertarian party go absolutely NUTS.


Update:

Anybody complaining about this still is like having two parents. One is flawed as hell and makes dumb decisions and is conflicted, and the other is a deadbeat, beats you, steals your money and credit cards and causing you long lasting damage.

Everyone is basically yelling that the prior one isn't doing enough.

Are you wrong? No? At the same time, what the hell are you even talking about?

"The DEMS AREN'T PASSING <>". Well the republicans are trying to REMOVE DEMOCRACY.

If you guys aren't understanding what's going on. I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

You don’t understand. Liberals bad.

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 22 points 1 month ago (2 children)

totally. the only really way to get progressive reform is to allow the extreme right to run the country.

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[–] clearedtoland@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

*childish obstruction by Republicans and Joe Manchin.

[–] hark@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago

Democrats don't do things even when they have power: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFi73TzEN_8

Stop making excuses for them. You're not going to get anything from them if you play along with their dog and pony show. Hold them accountable.

[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They had the house and 61 in the senate in 2008 when this was proposed, and instead raised it by 10 cents.

They had the house and senate from 2020 to 2022 and did fuckall once again.

[–] pop@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Get out of here with your facts, commmie.

THIS IS USA, where we hide inconvenient truths, repeat propaganda talking points, and blame it on someone else.

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[–] pachrist@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

For real. Childish Republicans are the problem. I mean, if there were a point in the past 15 years where Democrats had controlled the presidency and both houses of congress, they would have increased it, right?

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

Surely so, one would think. Ah well, the joke's on us!

[–] xenoclast@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

More like "tried for Decades. Constantly obstructed by corporate fascist"

[–] orcrist@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago

You mean when they had the White House and Congress? That time? I don't think he missed it, but the Dems sure did.

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[–] neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone 89 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The push for a “$15 minimum wage” was first made law in Seattle, and the law included annual increases to keep up with inflation.

The current minimum wage in Seattle in 2024 is $19.97 / hour.

Any minimum wage law that doesn’t address inflation is not taking itself seriously.

[–] teejay@lemmy.world 88 points 1 month ago (7 children)

... As opposed to the superior Republican plan for increasing minimum wage?

Crickets

[–] TwiddleTwaddle@lemmy.blahaj.zone 37 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What if I told you the viable alternative wasn't to look further right, but further left?

[–] _stranger_@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (6 children)

Well, I don't know about you, but I can't teleport. the last time I checked, neither can the u.s. political zeitgeist. If we want more left, we are going to have to get there the long way.

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[–] Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago (5 children)

I think the real lesson is that our government is so broken that it can't do its job.

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[–] zloubida@lemmy.world 20 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'm not American but, “the other party would do worse” is not a very… powerful argument. Even if true.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 23 points 1 month ago (3 children)

unfortunately it is for a two party system. if you don't vote Dem, the only lesson they'll take from it is "oh, people must want more conservative positions" and go further right.

the solution to this isn't to not vote Dem, it's to elect representatives that align with more leftist positions, which to the credit of democratic voters, has been happening more than in any time in history.

that is partly thanks to a new generation of people who don't fall for the red scare propaganda that previous ones did, and leftism and socialism being less stigmatized.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

What really amazes me is how set up to maintain the status quo 'murican politics is. Political parties have to be registered on every state, otherwise they don't "exist". Gerrymandering ensures voting districts are always drawn in favor of specific parties. Delegate votes means popular vote isn't as important. Even fucking Brazil is more democratic by comparison.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

don't forget that the election is on a Tuesday and a lot of people can't take a day off, and there's serious push to limit or remove early voting.

forget brazil, a lot of countries Americans would see as "shitholes" are actually more democratic in their process. they think they have it better because they don't have an obvious strongman on top (though that may change now, we'll see) but the people's will has been systematically suppressed more and more over the years. the boot of corporations has been firmly pressed on the neck of the public to make sure they can't raise their head for long enough to breathe, let alone participate.

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[–] StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Classic whataboutism: shits on the topic without adding anything worthwhile to the conversation. These responses are only exceeded in worthlessness by trolling.

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[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 81 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Pretty sure liberals are past 15 an hour and have been for awhile. Centrist Dems are still on board for 15, at least in the party platform. And regardless it's a damn sight better than those calling for the elimination of the minimum wage altogether.

Meanwhile Congress has never missed a pay raise and that receives minimal attention.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Its always baffled my how many government positions have perioidic pay increases, sometimes annually, a good pension usually as well, but they will never pass legislation to make other employers do the same.

[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 34 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Companies pay damn good money to ensure their payroll stays as low as possible. It's cheaper to ~~buy~~ donate to politicians than raise base pay.

[–] FireRetardant@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Which is why the government should take responsibilty and deny the ~~bribery~~ lobbying and enforce better wage and labour laws

[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

Absolutely. It's unfortunate that the ones we need to make those changes are the ones who benefit from the current system. The cycle has to be broken, and that's an enormous task.

[–] HubertManne@moist.catsweat.com 11 points 1 month ago

one universal health care idea was to allow all citizens to buy into the same healthcare plan as congress at the same rate they pay.

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[–] alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 month ago (27 children)
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[–] paddirn@lemmy.world 45 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Why isn’t minimum wage just tied to the Consumer Price Index? It should rise alongside Social Security, instead of getting these band-aid increases once a decade.

[–] chuckleslord@lemmy.world 39 points 1 month ago

It was. Then Reagan

[–] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 28 points 1 month ago (10 children)

We need a UBI. Then we could scrap minimum wage entirely. If a job can't pay you enough, you simply don't have to do that job.

Tie it to the GDP and now you double down on the incentive to work, produce, and buy local.

The downside is like 100 multibillionaires would be sad because their score multiploer went down.

[–] magikmw@lemm.ee 14 points 1 month ago

Capitalists wont let that happen. How else can they exploit humans for work if they don't have to work.

[–] brygphilomena@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ubi is only a piece of the puzzle. We need to uncouple healthcare from employment as well.

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[–] catsarebadpeople@sh.itjust.works 30 points 1 month ago (2 children)

How could the checks notes DEMOCRATS do this to us?! Pretending that the Dems are responsible for things this meme admits they're actively fighting against is so braindead that it's no wonder everyone thinks all these leftists are just Russian bots or right wing trolls. The premise here is just so moronic and short sighted that it's depressing to think that a real human could actually post this and genuinely think they're being honest.

[–] enbyecho@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago

Oh it gets worse. The Democrat's "failure" to do X, Y, or Z (in the face of fierce Republican opposition but never mind that) becomes a reason to either not vote or... gasp... vote Republican.

Like... WTAF?

[–] sparkle@lemm.ee 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (7 children)

Remember when the Democrats had both congress and the presidency twice? Remember when the Democratic party kept promoting extremely conservative Democrats that beforehand constantly voiced their opposition to progressive policies, over their progressive enemies? Remember people like Joseph Lieberman? Remember Jay Rockefeller, who was the deciding vote for the ACA who suddenly reversed his pro-public healthcare rhetoric and opposed it he said because "the timing wasn't very good"? Remember what they did to progressives like Jamaal Bowman? You know, putting all their resources into George Latimer (a blatantly pro-wealthy, pro-corporation, pro-Israel conservative) to get Bowman unseated, making it the most expensive house primary in the entire history of the United States? Remember the Democrat party leadership frequently donating tens of millions to centrist non-profits whose sole purpose is to get centrist/conservative candidates elected over progressives, and act as a "spoiler" for progressives in the party? Remember Democratic Party leaders infamously going on to work lobbying jobs time and time again when they leave the party? Remember when Obama and the Democrats could have gotten progressive Supreme Court judges in despite Republican opposition, but they just lied down and accepted not doing that in the name of "compromise"? Because I sure remember.

The Democrats constantly, intentionally, pump millions into blue conservatives which they can use to block leftist measures and use as the scapegoats to point to as the reason they couldn't get anything done. They always have a bunch of people to spare to block bills which are "too progressive" that they don't actually want passed. They ARE responsible for this shit.

Leftists have good reason to be absolutely pissed at the party. They know they're the only "left" option, and they abuse the FUCK out of that. Blue Dog Democrats even existing is a sin in and of itself.

Why would the Democrats do this? As with most things wrong with the American democratic process, the reason is lobbying. Corporations lobby the Democrats seemingly just as much as the Republicans to ensure they don't take away too much of their power. Shit's fucked.

The fact that you have the audacity to blame progressives or leftists for being mad at the clear lack of democracy and the messed up stuff the Democratic party does to block important bills & candidates is so fucked up, holy shit. People are starving and dying because of the Democrats actively working against progressives in the party. Them giving us a few crumbs of good does not absolve them of intentionally absolutely fucking us over again and again. The party isn't the friend of progressives, they're just the "only choice". I can only hope that the upcoming elections change that, and we don't just get a dozen more obstructionists who the Dems use to block any vaguely center-left policy.

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[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 28 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Peak "leftism" is creating posts like this that are completely inaccurate and take all responsibility away from one of the two major parties when they did everything they could to obstruct the process and posting them on the Internet for head nods, meaningless upvotes, and "that's so true" responses.

We should make this fun, how about if someone under this posts MLK's quote about white moderates, you have to buy us all a round of gin and tacos?

[–] LANIK2000@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Reminds me of a relative. He often hits me with a "And why doesn't Biden do more for Ukraine? Like use the money he has available as president?". He never manages to understand that 1. he did end up sending a part of that money (intended for emergencies) and 2. his preferred option (Trump/MAGA) was the one fucking blocking the aid for half a year! (the before mentioned emergency)

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[–] Cosmicomical@lemmy.world 21 points 1 month ago

Drink less gin:

  • Democratic Party is not liberalism
  • The republican party would keep the minimum wage where it is now or remove it altogether
[–] leadore@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (2 children)

IOW Dems have a razor thin majority a couple of times in the last 20 years for a 2-year period each. They are expected to pass legislation to fix every single problem in that time frame. They manage to get X, Y, and Z done in spite of Senate rules that tie one hand behind their backs and full out raging opposition by the repubs, and the response is "goddammit why didn't you get the whole alphabet done, you assholes?"

Even worse are the ones who think the POTUS position is some kind of emperor who can just simply decree "Make it so" and boom it happens, so why hasn't he done this or that like I want (yes I'm mixing metaphors but you get the point).

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[–] 5714@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What many legislative bodies with outdated minimum wages need are minimum wage committees or commissions, i.e. institutions that arbitrate between democratic employer and employee (e.g. unions) associations on a regular time frame (say 1 or 2 years) who create binding minimum wage tariffs.

[–] Stern@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago

Oregon changed their minimum wage to step up over several years, split slightly between the major urban centers and rural areas, and go up based on consumer price index after that. Works well.

https://www.oregon.gov/boli/workers/Pages/minimum-wage-schedule.aspx

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