tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post7360058793501269545..comments2024-03-22T05:17:53.112-04:00Comments on Big Bad Bald Bastard: A Mute Witness to Human HorriblenessBig Bad Bald Bastardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01983025559556548658noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-20902391856363311822014-09-03T11:00:08.952-04:002014-09-03T11:00:08.952-04:00You are way too cheerful, mikey. Global warming i...You are way too cheerful, mikey. Global warming is going to get us before any of those things.<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-69774848453098904342014-09-01T19:19:28.228-04:002014-09-01T19:19:28.228-04:00In thinking about this, there is a 'perfect st...In thinking about this, there is a 'perfect storm' of conditions today that guarantee the end of Union/Labor power and a fundamental change in the social compact:<br /><br />1.) The corruption. They own the political and electoral systems, and that means more Scott Walkers, and more virulent versions thereof.<br /><br />2.) The economy. There has to be SOME demand for workers in order for corporations to pay more and provide education and training. They are happy to have people go deep into debt using government subsidised loans to learn their trade, and then pit them against each other in a reverse bidding war for wages.<br /><br />3.) The machines. Look at the labor force participation numbers since 1980. That decline is almost entirely premised on the replacement of human workers with machines. And as the machines become more intelligent, with better sensors and better decision-making capability, more and more jobs will be automated, and labor force participation will continue to fall towards 50%, which would seem to be a threshold number.<br /><br />Also, if you haven't been following the discussions, look up 'Secular Stagnation'. The future is even darker than Bouffant thinks, and some of you are going to still be here for it...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-82147667020844752372014-09-01T11:43:42.861-04:002014-09-01T11:43:42.861-04:00Unions are doomed. Even if they are not eliminated...Unions are doomed. Even if they are not eliminated, they will become powerless organizations, overwhelmed by the money and power of the corporations and a sick economy in the grip of secular stagnation and the resultant flat or declining wages and high unemployment.<br /><br />America has become a massively corrupt oligarchy, controlled by the owners of capital and managed in order to deliver maximum profits to those owners, at the expense of the community at large. <br /><br />As with mass extinction and climate change, it won't be until the people realize that the game is fixed and the future is disastrous and take the kind of large scale direct action necessary that there's any hope of changing the outcome...mikeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13057701313718589322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8526498499129692237.post-91490616926007240472014-09-01T10:26:19.489-04:002014-09-01T10:26:19.489-04:00Unions are routinely demonized in our country now....Unions are routinely demonized in our country now.<br /><br />And the threat to them comes not just from the GOP: Bill Clinton got NAFTA through Congress, and Our President (having run against Hillary on NAFTA) has been trying to pass NAFTA on steroids.<br />~ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©https://www.blogger.com/profile/06252371815131259831noreply@blogger.com