It wasn’t a utopia by any stretch, but in today’s economy Intel will openly celebrate laying people off and having less employees.
…and…
The wealth distribution wasn’t perfect, great, utopian, or even good during the entire history of the US, but it’s worse now than it was in the – what I’m now calling the first – gilded age.
You’re painting the 1950s as a better time for workers than today, and except for the white, male, white collar workers, I think your position is just fiction.
There were some bad things that were even worse in some cases happening back to lots of other groups (again besides white, male, white collar workers).
Things like:
- 1952 President Truman using the power of government to suppress wages of workers to keep the price of steel lower to fund the Korean war effort. source
- 1950, a record (for the time) 4843 work stoppages PDF source
- 1956 Whirlpool Tracking workers and firing any the exhibited “pro union” ideas source
- 1951 police jailing children of workers that were on a strike picket line source
I’m not defending corporations of today, I’m pointing out that there’s been shitty behavior all along. The 1950s were not a pro-worker era as you’re trying to paint it as…unless you were white, male, and white collared worker. If so, then yes, it was great.
aesthelete@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I don’t understand what you’re trying to prove here to be honest. Of course there’s been shitty behavior all along. This is America. It’s a country founded by slave owners that wanted to be free. (Carlin)
My point is simple: corporations are a made-up concept and one of the main things people are supposed to get in the deal to allow them to exist in the first place is efficient allocation and utilization of human resources.
It seems to me they are admitting that they cannot do that. In which case, the deal should be renegotiated.
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 5 days ago
This is the first post you haven’t been praising the 1950s as a better time for workers. Thats what I was trying to prove. All your prior posts were speaking nostalgically about the “better time” for workers in the 1950s. Besides a small set, it wasn’t better, and many times worse. Thats all.
Efficient for the corporations. Not efficient for an individual.
Their goal isn’t your goal. There can be an argument made whether capitalism should exist, but under the current system they are behaving as capitalists. Workers welfare isn’t their primary goal, and in fact, only a goal at all as required by law (OSHA, DoL rules).
aesthelete@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Isn’t at all, but you’re reading whatever you want into my posts. So keep on keeping on. 👍
I get that you recently read some Marx or some shit, but corporations aren’t just capitalism. They have charters. They were put into existence via law. It is possible to still be “under capitalism” and restructure the laws. Full on gay space communism isn’t required to make any progress on any issue.
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Do I need to quote you back to yourself? Okay, these are your words:
“If you look at what many consider to be the golden age of American corporations after the second world war, the notion of a ‘company man’ was a celebrated one”
“but it’s worse now than it was in the – what I’m now calling the first – gilded age.”
I think we’ve hit the end of productive conversation between the two of us on this subject. I appreciate your conversation up to now. You’re welcome to keep going, but I won’t be responding on this thread anymore. I hope you have a great day!