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"Until the liberal factions realize they can pitch all of the great policies they want, if the general public can’t tell the difference between a con job and actual policies that will benefit them, it will never be enough."

"I know this is long-term, but what is needed in schools as early as grade school is a business and/or internet awareness course that teaches how they’re being marketed to, what marketing is, how it’s done, and the psychology behind it. Include marketing communication. By calling it a business course, both sides should be supportive."

Liberals are really bad at marketing their product.

And just posted by NBC 28% of American adults lack literacy skills.

"Otherwise, fear will continue to be used in all aspects of our daily lives."

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I agree with most of the points you make. Democrats focusing on rhetoric while refusing to address any structural issues has absolutely been to their (and all of our) detriment. I do, however, take issue with how you frame the debate around organized labor.

First, Biden, despite being the most pro-labor president I've seen in my lifetime, was still willing to break a railroad strike. I imagine if the longshoremen had been refusing to ship armaments as part of the strike he would've broken this one as well. Who knows.

I think the primary issue surrounding this strike was the way it was covered. While automation was part of the issue, it wasn't that they were refusing automation entirely, it was more the unfair practices surrounding it, and the primary reason, as always, was their employer's refusal to pay them a fair wage adjusted for inflation. Had their employer not waited until the last minute for negotiations, it probably wouldn't have even resulted in a strike.

Regarding automation, though, blaming it on the union doesn't really make sense. The workers are not the ones making the decisions about automation-- it's management that does that, with structural issues affecting their decision too, I'm sure. There are two main unions for longshoremen, and they both handle automation differently. The strike you're referring to was conducted by ILA who "negotiated a “container royalty” fund in 1960, in which every ton of goods that comes through an ILA-represented port in a container is assessed a fee, which is then distributed to workers."

You're framing them as Luddites (perjorative), whereas their actions make them more like the historically accurate version of Luddites (positive). The other union of longshoremen (ILWU) is currently locked out and being forced into binding arbitration in Canada. Automation issues are again a concern, but the problem is that their employees were making unilateral changes regarding the policies related to remote-control usage in a partially automated terminal. ILWU's approach to automation allows workers to take retirement payments early if their jobs are eliminated.

Sorry for the long comment. I really appreciate your writing. I just think blaming the labor unions for actually collectively bargaining is kind of silly. The real problem with the 2024 US Port Strike was how the media covered it. If you look into the actions of organized labor a little closer they're usually not making ridiculous requests or anything. Would fully automated ports better serve everybody's interests? Yeah, probably, but do you really think these big mega corps wouldn't use it as an opportunity to fuck all of us over if we don't stand together? I can almost guarantee it.

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Sorry, I hope that didn't come across as rude or anything. I'm more than willing to admit I'm biased and would gladly revise my decision if I'm incorrect.

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Not at all, this is a respectful and valuable counter. And I appreciate these additional details! I am generally for organized labor, but I am also for fully automating our ports. In this case, what do you think was the problem hindering that idea if not the organization?

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This is a hard question because in many ways I think the issues holding it back are systemic. If the ports were managed by a worker-owned co-operative like Mondragon Corporation, or at the very least the owners and management were willing to negotiate in good faith with their workers to institute the changes, I don't think you'd find the same resistance. Automation has the potential to benefit the members of these unions, at least insofar as they are fairly compensated for the increase in efficiency, but when the corporations pushing for the change are doing so mainly to devalue the labor of their workers while at the same time only sharing the profits with shareholders and management, there will be pushback.

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That’s a very good point, and I think I agree with you there. Mondragon, after all, embraces automation whole heartedly because their industries depend on being able to be competitive in the market. Without that, they wouldn’t have the ability to be a cooperative in the first place!

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I think this is spot-on. I'd add that along with audience capture, both parties suffer from donor-capture, but it hurts the Democrats way more, because donor interests are more likely clash with their (on paper) platform, making them look like hypocrites. That might be the backlash they fear most.

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Well that's the subject of today's post 😆 Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it...

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I love your insights on this issue. Compared to the GOP, I feel that the Dems were the only ones who proposed solutions to problems. There’s a large population of in-house people in the town across the river, and it also has several vacant hotels and motels. Why not use those for housing? And lo and behold, there’s an organization that does just that!

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/02/kentucky-homeless-arthur-street-hotel-housing-first?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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Elle this assessment is SPOT ON. As a longtime registered Dem I can barely identify with the “anti-everything” politics of the moment. Trying to lift EVERYONE without considering how to leverage existing systems that should be bipartisan (such as the ones you mentioned) is causing the moral weight of the this unofficial party platform to collapse on itself. I voted a split ticket in Ohio for the same reasons you stated, so thank you for letting me feel like I am the one being “seen”!

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So many things should be bi-partisan. It’s so strange to me that we’ve branded them on one side or the other instead. Glad it resonates!

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