I love the French workers: Huge new strike paralyses France

[malaise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7102890.stm

<snip>
Hundreds of thousands of civil servants have joined striking transport and energy workers as France is crippled by a second week of industrial action.

Postal workers, teachers, air traffic controllers and hospital staff are holding a 24-hour stoppage to protest against planned pay and job cuts.

Students are continuing demonstrations over university funding reform plans.

It could be the largest protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's reform plans since he took power in May.

The latest stoppage left many schools closed, hospitals providing a reduced service and newsagents without newspapers.
-------------

[rjones2818]

1. Off to the Greatest Page with you!

Now, maybe US labor can learn a lesson or two from the French!

[soothsayer]

2. France is bankrupt, and we are not far behind

[tom_paine]

5. We were morally bankrupted toadies of tyranny (collectively) years ago

Whatever else France is, it is clear that the French People could teach we Imperial Subjects of Amerika something of what it is to be free.

Not that we'd listen nor care. There's a new development in the Britany Spears story, don'tcha' know?

Maybe you're just jealous of looking out from behind the Televised Curtain of Lies that is Imperial Amerika, at Free people behaving as such, and looking around at the toadies that make up the Imperial Subects of Amerika, a vast majority of us all, wishing you could see one JUST ONE spark that anyone around you (DU excepted) would show that Amerikans had half the guts of Frenchmen.

I wonder: it seems to me that the French, those supposed surrender monkeys, have kept their nature of resistance to tyranny and Nazi-Bushie-Sarkoczy Lies, while at the same time, we Imperial Subjects of Amerika have gone from those who helped defeat Hitler to the identical mentality (again, not for all, but for a vast and overwhelming majority) to the gutless toadies who sat back and allowed Hitler to take power.

Bitch at "bankrupt" France all you like, but you cannot change the reality that, if it came to fighting Nazi-Bushie Tyranny growing from within one's country, I would expect a battalion of Frenchmen to stand up and fight, while I would expect the Amerikans to assist the tyrants as best we could (maybe grumbling a bit to ourselves where no one would hear us, but still doing it).

You cannot change reality. The French are free, and behave like it. We Imperial Subjects of Amerika are NOT free (but for some vestiges left over)...

...and we behave like it.

[trumad]

6. tom_paine on a Tuesday mornin....

always good for my soul---- how are you you dang rabble rouser?

[tom_paine]

7. As good as any Jew in 1937 Germany, trumad.

:hi:

Shuffling forward down the path, pal. Knowing I probably will not live long enough to see Amnerica free again. Why? It's from knowing that Hitler lasted for only 12 years, but while the Bushies share many similarities with the Nazis in rhetoric and propaganda, among other things, the actual analogy here, I think is Imperial Rome.

And the Caesars took the Roman Republic and never gave it back. Four-hundred and fifty more years!

Life goes on, though. Personal happiness in the shadow of totalitarian evil is difficult, to say the least.

[trumad]

8. I hear ya....

If I could escape the madness--- I'd do it in a second. But I have a vision that all my progressive pals take that advice and then the fascists swarm like cockroaches and take the country forever---- so I plow on with my finger in the Dyke and hope that we can hold out---- at least until I'm dead.

[tom_paine]

11. At least you have a choice, pal. As a Jew I cannot consider running to Europe.

Here I stand.

Because while right now, Europe is currently the Beacon of Freedom for the world (if there even IS one of those anymore), what happened there before could happen again in the aftermath of Peak Oil and economic collapse.

So I could never go there. Yes, I am well aware such an attitude could cost me what it cost so many Jews who, for whatever reason, stayed in Nazi Germany even though they saw what was coming.

But here I stand, nonetheless, and if history paints me and the millions like me as it did the German Jews who stayed, as deceased dummies deserving of pathos for their victimhood, then so be it.

And the fascists have already swarmed over this nation like cockroaches. Do you still talk alot to the general populace at large? I don't as much anymore, because over seven (nine, really) years of non-stop "Paul Revere-ing" I see very little change and nothing that could be called significant.

I see that the Bushie Lies can still easily be laundered and reframed into Conventional Wisdom in the minds of 95% of Imperial Amerikans.

I see the 24/7 anti-Democratic commercial that the Corporate MSM has become is unchanged in full, despite a few cosmetic changes which only serve as Plausible Deniability, IMO.

I see that I was right. We now have as many as 15% who will staff the concentration camps, 15% who will silently approve but may have very slight reservations, and the great mass of 65% of the remaining 70%, who will just have their heads up their asses, be too tired harried or hurried to care who will just go along to get along.

And if you want to see how not- :tinfoilhat: this idea is, please read http://www.amazon.com/Will-Bear-Witness-1933-1941-Paperbacks/dp/0375753788/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195562812&sr=8-1 .

Focus especially on the times, relatively-speaking that we all have just lived through, 1933-37.

Notice how "normal" everything seems? Going to the market, taking long drives, buying a house, etc.

Notice how Klemperer's discussions with friends eerily echo conversations here at DU.

Notice how many things Klemperer notices and mentions about the Nazis, especially their rhetoric and propaganda, that could have come out of the mouths of half the DUers here (Klemperer's comments, not the Nazis').

I was going to highlight all the things in the book that represented eerie echoes, but it was so much, literally on the average of close to one directly observable similarity between Nazis and current-day Bushies (or current-day Imperial Amerika) per Klemperer diary entry.

I would have run out of ink had I tried that.

I wanted to calm myself down by reading that book, by showing myself that I was being overdramatic about the nazi-Bushie deep similarity. But I showed myself that Nazi Germany, even at it's most evil, and Imperial Amerika are decidedly and definitely similar, especially in the respective characters of their people.

The Germans were not as universally evil as is generally believed, not even close (in the 2nd volume, which covers 1942-1945, even THEN so many Germans were quietly and some not-so-quietly, opposing Hitler). It's quite astonishing to read. One example: A Jew is accused of an infraction and brought to the local police jail, as opposed to Gestapo-Homeland Security Jail.

The local police are all genuinely nice and sympathetic to him. They tell him upon his release that if he is hungry, he can just commit his small infraction and the police there would feed him and treat him well. This is in 1942!!!

This is actually BETTER than I would expect a Liberal to be treated in Amerika once The Penultimate and Final Solutions to the Liberal Problem start (what the exact details will be, no one can guess, but I speculate the Bushies will try to distance themselves from the Nazis they are emulating...no industrialized murder, gassing of Liberals, nor making soap out of Liberal Skin...it's only good marketing practices for the Bushies to avoid these things).

You know why I think that? Because the Bushies would NEVER overlook the local police in that way, and you can bet your ass that if it goes down this way, any local police jail by that time will be sure to be run by Loyal Bushies and none other, who will know to treat Liberals appropriately, like the vermin they are, to quote monstrous Jewish-Nazi Michael Savage.

Anyway, it may be a terrible mistake, but here I stand. And now you know why.

[trumad]

14. MSM and Paris Hilton----

are far worse that WMD's.

[tom_paine]

16. WMDs of the mind and soul.

n/t

[trumad]

17. exactly

[info being]

21. That's nonsense

To stay in a country that *Is* becoming increasingly fascist vs. going to one that is not, with the idea that it might one-day become...

[tom_paine]

22. Yes, unless you are a member of a targeted subgroup from that recent past

And yes, I consider 60 years ago quite recent, in terms of history.

It may be nonsense, and this may not satisfy you, but try being Jewish and running from the USA to Europe.

I hate to make an "appeal to authority" because that's usually bullshit. Maybe it is now, too, but I simply cannot, as a Jew run to Europe. Can't.

Feel free to think me a fool. You wouldn't be the first nor the last.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[bread_and_roses]

29. This is utterly vile language. "Jew card?" "victim card?"

And upthread, you made some reference to the OP being part of the "oppressor group" if I remember your language rightly?

This is language not far off the Nazi play-book. I don't remember ever hitting alert, but as I'm typing this I remembered it exists, and I plan to alert on your post.

This usage of "card" when applied to race/ethnicity/class/gender is invariably a right-wing trivialization of the experiences and realities of oppression based on race/ethnicity/class/gender.

[Dorian Gray]

44. Huh?

How does Judaism = being alligned with the oppressors?

That one flew right over my head.

(Well, it actually I don't think it did, but I'd like to hear your explanation.)

[Alexander]

51. Excuse me?

"being Jewish in the US means that you are more aligned with the oppressors."

Am I the only one here who finds this highly offensive?

[LeftishBrit]

55. No. You're not the only one.

Blimey!

I would personally add that as a secular Jew I personally feel safer here than I would in some (more Christian-Right-influenced) parts of the USA; though admittedly the UK never went to the extremes of some parts of Europe. But in some ways I think that the very fact that Europaeans still remember what happened, and actively seek to avoid it, makes it safer in Europe than some other places. I would except some parts of Eastern Europe; and indeed those parts of France where LePen has a significant influence - not good for any minority group.

[nick303]

49. Have you considered moving to Mars?

I hear Mars is an environment very safe from fascists and Nazis, though to be honest the Jewish community there is somewhat lacking at this point. I think they still get some sunlight though so you will still have your own shadow to be afraid of, but hey, it is an improvement.

[malaise]

10. Great post

Good morning :hi:

[tom_paine]

20. Thanks, and g'Morning.

:hi:

[seemslikeadream]

3. Situationalist International Guy Debord

On the Passage of a few People through a Rather Brief Moment in Time: The Situationist International 1956-1972

A video documentary combining exhibition footage of the Situationist International exhibitions with film footage of the 1968 Paris student uprising, and graffiti and slogans based on the ideas of Guy Debord (one of the foremost spokesmen of the Situationist International movement). Also includes commentary by leading art critics Greil Marcus, Thomas Levine, and artists Malcolm Mac Laren and Jamie Reid. Branka Bogdanov, Director and producer. NTSC-VHS 22 min. 1989





Situationalist International

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SvdWk8zRrI


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN8TcEBhxY0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R78CYo2a0Qg







Alice in Wonderland or Who is Guy Debord?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpUkNKP9eug

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxTaS1ERmwM

[malaise]

19. Thanks for those

:hi:

[Double T]

4. america's time for PROTEST grows near.

[reggie the dog]

9. I just went

to a demonstration in Draguignan. There were 1,000 protesters in a town with 40,000 residents. I brought my parents who were here visiting from the USA as well. It was a great morning demonstration.

[bread_and_roses]

12. Good for the French! I keep hearing on NPR that the French populace does not support

the strikers....that they back Sarkozy's reforms. The linked BBC story says:

Opinion polls suggest voters back the French leader's pension reforms but a majority sympathises with the civil servants' pay and job cut grievances.

So which is it?

It looks from this as if a lot of other workers oppose the "reforms." Wasn't Sarkozy's a close election? How deep is his support? "Hundreds of thousands" is a lot of leaven in the dough,

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

13. It was 53% - 47% in the second round.

How deep is his support? We'll find out soon enough if the strikes continue.

[malaise]

18. He was also elected by machines

so do we know if he was really elected? :shrug:

[BornagainDUer]

31. Exactamente! Sarkozy's links to BushCo need further scrutiny.

What machines were used? Is it the same company as in the US,or a subsidiary, etc. The whole thing smells of a rat.

[SharkSquid]

40. Oh get over it, It was pretty clear

Sarko was going to win before the election, its not like it was some sort of suprise. It is just the political wheel turning, just like in Germany. Even in the liberal orgy of Europe there are political shifts.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

42. I'd hardly describe Europe as a "liberal orgy."

There are plenty of wingnut racists here, and the "immigration issue" is giving them a lot of ammunition. I don't think that's really the case with Sarkozy, but that undercurrent is still strong in Europe.

[info being]

27. Strikes aren't necessarily about winning public approval

...they are about forcing a demand. Funny how Americans think everything is about winning "support", even as we see that support means jack squat w/ respect to the current administration.

That's why we're too timid -- too afraid of being unpopular in our stances.

[bread_and_roses]

38. I happen to know what strikes are "for"

You have a genius for making unsupported leaps of interpretation, it seems.

However, while strikes are not "about" public approval, politicians are about winning public approval, and the level of public approval for this strike might well influence Sarkozy's response.

[info being]

43. So let me explain...

1) Non-strikers in Paris initially don't support the demands of the strikers
2) They can't ride the bus or train to town for a week or two due to the strike
3) They say, "Shit, even though I don't give a shit about those strikers, can't the government do something to fix this problem and get me and my employees to work?"

So you see why the strike can be effective whether or not people generally "support" the cause?

[bread_and_roses]

48. er...do you notice my avatar?

As I said, you have a genius for mis-interpretation - and add to that, for arrogant smugness. There's an expression that I'll modify because in its' original form it sounds ugly to modern ears:

"teach your grand-mother to sew buttons."

[info being]

54. Hmm

Maybe the only problem is that you didn't make such a clear argument in the original post, which simply lead me to interject that a strike's effectiveness often has little to do with the actual policies or demands involved. You saw it as a question of "do they support Sarcozy or not" issue, and I don't think that's how the French see it. I don't know why that ruffled your feathers.

I don't know why you took it personally. As for making assumptions about you, I have no idea who you are and only judge you based on the words you've actually written.

[DFW]

37. I go down to France three times a month or so

Support for Sarkozy is pretty solid. The "reforms" are really nothing more than a scaling back
of some pretty hefty perks (full retirement at age 50, gimme a break!) because the State just
can't afford them any more. An employer has to pay the government a payroll tax of about 50%
on top of the worker's gross salary. In other words, a worker nets less than a third of what
his employer has to pay to hire him. No wonder they have 9% unemployment. No wonder that the
people were willing to give a man shot who said, this isn't working, we gotta try something
new, and not everyone is going to be able to keep all their perks.

I was on the phone to some friends who live outside of Paris (can't afford an apartment in town, who can?)
trying to get into work. It was a 4 hour combination of busses and hitched rides in crowded cars
stalled in traffic. You wonder why Sarkozy has a lot of support among the people? There are plenty
of non-government employees who do not enjoy the perks and benefits the strikers have, and these
are the ones who will back Sarkozy. Paying taxes is fine if you get something for it. Paying taxes
for people to receive lifetime retirement packages starting at age 50 doesn't sit well with people
ten years older than that trying to get to work at 6 AM. This is why the strikers are not receiving
universal support from all working people. The State apparatus is immense in France, and there just
isn't enough money to support it any more under the current system. It DOES need to be reformed. No
one is suggesting they give up their health care or free education, but getting full retirement perks
at age 50 is not something I would want my taxes to be used for, either.

[bread_and_roses]

41. Thanks for a report from the ground. However, why not retire at 50?

Especially if your work is physical. I don't know about you, but I'm well over 50 now, and though lucky enough to love my work, I would not be able to do many kinds of work that put physical demands on the body - including, for instance, standing on my feet all day.

As for the level of unemployment, I believe that estimates of the real level of unemployment here are at least that, if not above. And we don't have those safety nets.

We have unbelievably low expectations here for the workers legitimate share of the "goods" produced by our work. And there is no reason at all that we should be working an "eight-hour day" (a laugh for most people, whose "day" is at least nine hours)and talking about raising the retirement age.

An earlier retirement option has many societalal advantages. Including opening jobs for younger people.

Nor do I trust the "there just isn't enough money" arguement. "Enough money" depends on what the society deems valuable. For instance, we here seem to have endless money to slaughter children in Iraq and Afghanistan, but none for living children anywhere, including here. I would note that if the city is too expensive for most workers, then there's a lot of money somewhere.

You no doubt know more about the details in France than I do, so I can't argue them with you, nor do I want to. I think these issues are about how we view the social contract, and who we think should benefit most from our labor. And I think it should be us. I think the private-sector workers in France should be demanding the same benefits, looking to raise the bar for themselves, not to lower it for others.

Or do they want the same sort of social contract as we seem to have accepted here, with ever-widening income inequality, oligarchic concentrations of wealth, too few teachers, doctors, street cleaners, a crumbling infrastructure, constand pleas for food bank donations so working people can eat, a totally inadequate safety net, and expectations that roofers, say, will still be climbing at 67?

For me, it's one or the other, and I'm on the side of workers.

[DFW]

45. This is not back-breaking work

These guys are subway train drivers, train drivers, etc. The public sector
has always been especially privileged in France, ever since Napoleon, and
that is a special situation not repeated elsewhere in Europe. It is ridiculous
to offer retirement at 50 to a few people and not the rest of the country, and if
you do that, you reduce the tax base to pay for it all to next to nothing, as all
the taxpaying wage-earners become a burden on those left earning wages. France no
longer gets involved in stupid large military adventures abroad. Their last recent
big operation was to help stabilize the Balkans before we got involved, and a lot
of Bosnian lives were saved because they did.

The "who should benefit from our labor" question is a big one in France, as elsewhere.
But I don't want to be paying 65% income tax so that a subway train driver can retire
at 50 and live in Martinique. My shot at getting a job at all would be zip if I cost
my employer so much (payroll taxes would go up as well) that he would have to move
to Slovakia or shut down entirely. If you can't find a job at all, no one benefits.
These guys are striking to preserve privileges. It's fine as long as the tax base can
pay for it. It's not fine if they can't.

The French want no part of the American model, and they do not expect, or even long for,
the relatively low taxes we pay in the USA. They know that their long vacation time, their
free health care and their free education depend on it, and their social safety net is as
good as that of the Scandinavian countries. But they are fed up with Government employees
having special privileges while the rest of the country busts their asses. This is, again,
specific to France, and has nothing to do with the current dispute in Germany, where the
striking rail workers don't earn crap. One thing to remember is that the people now striking
in France are by no means those who earn the least, or get the worst deal, labor-wise. Indeed,
they are among those who have the best deals, and they are in no mood to share. The old PCF
(French Communist Party) boss, Georges Marchais, lived in a huge fancy villa with servants,
and saw no contrast, and neither did his followers, many of whom are now the leaders of the
strike (CGT). The rest of the country didn't agree.

In France, you aren't just on the side of "the workers." There are a lot of different groups
of workers, and their interests often conflict with each other.

France has always been a complicated place, and this is no exception. They just have a completely
different history, out of which grew a completely unique set of circumstances. You can't compare
the situation there using terms that apply to the USA, or even England or Germany. Different
rules apply. It's not easy to explain in a nutshell. But I've been going down there several
times a month for the last 30 years there, have friends and employees there, and speak the
language fluently. I know enough to tell you that it's not the same ball game as anywhere
else--by a long shot.

Private sector workers in France do just fine (I have a couple working under me), but
they cost their employers an arm and a leg. They enjoy the full health and education
benefits, along with six weeks paid vacation everyone else in France does.

[malaise]

46. Drive a train for 30 years and then tell me

it's not back-breaking. Most drivers of trains, buses and taxis have excruciating back pains.

[DFW]

47. I can't speak from experience there, but

That has not been a complaint, here or in France. The whole dispute
is about paid free time and money. No demands for better seats that
I know of have been put forth by the unions either here or down in France.

[bread_and_roses]

50. Thanks again for your on the spot reporting, but

I'll stick to my own view of the matter, much as I may respect your greater knowlege of the "complications" of the issues. Until and unless I have some reason not to think that taking away even what some see as "excessive" benefits (I don't agree on the excessive part, obviously, and nothing you can present will alter that - it's a matter of world-view) is always the first step in a "race to the bottom" for workers, I'll support the striking workers as a matter of principle. I may occasionally go wrong, but no one can keep up with all the "complications" everywhere, and I'll go wrong far less often than taking the opposite view.

I don't trust Sarkozy, I don't trust the analysis of the owners and Profiteers, and that looks to me to be the side he's on.

Again, thanks for your time and courtesy.

[DFW]

52. I respect your view, but have to disagree in this case

Most of the strikers are striking not against some fat cat corporation,
but against the state, i.e., the public sector. I trust the proletarian-
origined Sarkozy far more than I would have trusted the aristocratic
"socialist" Ségolène Royal, who would have kept up the pomp at the
expense of the very workers she would have claimed to have championed.
Her intended deficits would have, sooner or later, led to far greater curtailing
of workers' benefits down the road, and far more of them than just the ones now
on strike.

While my instincts tend to jive with your own, my experience in dealing
with many European countries in the last 30 years, with intimate experience
with France leads me to take an opposing view in this case.

[reggie the dog]

56. the proleterian sarkozy?

Nicolas Sarkozy de Nagy Bosca????

Son of a Hungarian prince.

And you spread bullshit lies here about him being a proletarian.

Ségolène Royal is the daughter of a soldier and you spread bullshit lies here that she is aristocratic.

Stop trying to pull one over on people. Stop the lies. Sarkozy is the one descended from royalty and Madam Royal is the one who is proletarian.

[DFW]

60. Sarkozy is the son of immigrants, did not grow up filthy rich

Royal pranced (still does) around like a rich model, not exactly proletarian.
I didn't say she was of blue blood, she just acts like it, like all prominent
French politicians. Marchais, the PCF "proletarian" leader, lived like a mogul, and
his followers didn't have a problem with that, go figure.

If you live in France and work there all the time, I'll accept a dissenting point
of view. I am there all the time (when the trains run, that is), work with people
of all walks, and have done so for over thirty years. I'll take the French people's
view over an outsider's any time. The victory of theory over reality never lasts
for a long time here.

[reggie the dog]

62. Sarkozy

is the son of a prince. He was never poor. My daughter will be the child of an immigrant but we were middle class before we came here. It is not as if Sarkozy was a poor immigrant that came to France for a better economic future. His family was wealthy before he came and has never known anything but the wealthy life. His brother is the head of the MEDEF, the CEO's union. The fact that his parents are from Hungary does not change the fact that they were wealthy there and here. He is in no way proletarian. I live and work in France. When the trains are on strike you either walk (if you are in Paris) take some RTT days, or carpool.

This does not change the fact that you tried to pull one over on folks that read here but do not know the real situation in France. Nicolas Sarkozy de Nagy Bosca comes from a royal line, has lived a life of luxury, and has never known poverty. Madame Royal comes from a military family and has only known the "wealth" of upper middle class life since she started making the salary of an elected official in the region she represents.

[Selatius]

63. Sarkozy is descended from Hungarian landowning nobility.

They were wealthy by Hungarian standards. His father became wealthy in Paris running an advertising agency.

[malaise]

64. He will learn the hard way n/t

[Selatius]

65. What? That French workers don't break easily when pushed? n/t

[malaise]

66. And a lot more

Maybe he should read French history and how they dealt with the royals.

[bdamomma]

15. it would be a cold day in hell if we did something like that.

maybe some day we will "get it", that our voices do count.

[malaise]

36. Now the SNCF state-owned rail operator is screaming

sabotage!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7105045.stm
<snip>
It said acts of sabotage overnight, including fires, caused huge delays to TGV services already hit by a long transport union strike over reforms.

The SNCF blamed militants for the attacks, saying they wanted to harm negotiations to end the strike.

The talks between rail unions and the government opened on Wednesday.

In a statement, the SNCF said there had been "several acts" occurring "at the same time" on lines in the north, east and south-west of the country.

It said these included a "very large" fire on the TGV's Atlantic branch that damaged signals affecting 30km (18 miles) of track.

Union officials deplored the attacks as acts of vandalism, warning that they put people's safety at risk.

[treestar]

25. When it is proposed here, people say they can't because they

will lose their jobs. Why do they think everyone will be permanently fired for one day off? The whole economy would shut down. This ought to prove to those people that we can do it. That's the thing. If everybody does it, they can't fire us all. Americans actually tend to assume they are more powerless than they are.

[malaise]

28. Well some of the French are on Day seven

They know their power.
Sp.

[kelligesq]

33. sheeple.

.

[BornagainDUer]

30. Goddamn it! How did Sarkozy get into power???

Something is dreadfully wrong when you have leaders that are so far out of sync with their people!!
I smell a rat and I'll bet it leads back to BushCo and dirty election tactics.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

35. People voted for him.

He told them he was going to do this before the election, so it should come as no surprise to anyone. The people in the streets are not the only people in France. Time will tell if the majority of the population supports his position or not.

[reggie the dog]

57. No

actually he promised on the campaign trail while talking to EDF GDF workers that he would not touch their special retirement plans.

[L0oniX]

32. This is what we need to do here ...shut the country down and demand the removal of Bush...

and his gang of criminals.

[kelligesq]

34. Once the truckers and farmers shut down DC. If only the rest sheeple had that guts. n/t

.

[Echo In Light]

39. If only Americans had this type of intelligence and bravery n/t

[MasonJar]

53. They should have elected the lady. She was for the workers.

[reggie the dog]

58. yep

And she wanted to legalize and tax the cultivation and sale of cannabis.

[Solar_Power]

59. American unions are weak

strikes rarely last most than a couple of days and have minimal impact

[Orwellian_Ghost]

61. This is what is required

Extreme institutions of power understand only one thing. This is unfortunate but is there any example where we workers attained anything by being passive? I know of none.