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Doesn't add up
(thelemmy.club)
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this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
founded 3 years ago
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A lot of it (definitely not all of it) seems to be that Americans want things and don't want to pay for them. They demand care for the elderly but refuse to pay what it costs to staff a decent facility. They want healthcare but refuse to pay what healthcare workers are worth. But far more than that, they refuse to pay more than absolutely minimal taxes, unless they are terrified into doing so--fear of foreigners, Black people, immigrants, communism, etc. They've been believing politicians for decades who promise them the moon with no tax increases.
So Americans want healthcare but refuse to vote for a candidate who will divert money from cops or weapons toward making it affordable. They want college education for all their kids but keep voting for candidates who are Tough On Crime and Tough On Government Corruption while dodging questions about funding public education. They want better wages and jobs but keep voting for "pro business" candidates who remove regulations so companies can outsource the jobs to nations with cheaper labor. They want cheaper prices on everything but keep voting for candidates who block antitrust regulations and remove barriers to shareholder stock buybacks.
There's just enough distance between the voting decisions and their consequences that voters can convince themselves--they're motivated to--that the consequences are not connected to their decisions, and they're always provided with a raft of rationalizations in case they figure it out. It's motivated reasoning on top of ignorance. Like all good cons, these prey on the selfishness and greed of the hundred million or so marks.
Swing and a miss
The issue isn't paying for it. It's paying for it and not getting anything in return.
Daycare costs the same as a full time job, and there are a dozen kids there, yet the workers there earn minimal wages.
Healthcare is the same, pay thousands yearly for insurance just to pay thousands more of you ever need to go to the hospital or anything outside a routine preventative checkup
I never said we get what we think we're refusing to pay for, just that Americans think they can get something for nothing.
This is not up to your average American worker. They don't choose where their money goes after they spend it and they don't have a real choice otherwise. There is no well known burger joint that pays their workers a living wage. These are ultimately the decisions American business leaders make.
American managers do generally pay a much better salary to healthcare workers but only because the profit margins are insane and often literally made up.
As far as paying taxes it really depends on where you live. Certainly the fear of paying taxes exists in depressed red states but most blue states and metropolitan areas pay more taxes and get more services because of it. People live in these areas because they are good for families.
What America wants and what they vote for are two different things and this is related to politicians not being held accountable for anything. You can say you will do one thing and the moment you are elected you can do just the opposite without consequence.
Voting in the US has pretty much become just a rubber stamp for what the wealthy want. If people won't vote for it, they just do it anyways as seen in the current administration. This is because the government was designed by the wealthy for the wealthy and democracy exists only as a facade at the Federal level.