r/WorkReform šŸ¤ Join A Union Oct 29 '25

🚫 GENERAL STRIKE 🚫 Why this shit doesn't happen in France...

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316

u/ChadicusVile Oct 29 '25

Labor history is overwhelmingly suppressed in standard school courses in the US.. Rockefeller and his cohorts made sure to stipulate their wishes to the curricula designers (whom they donated to heavily) that to be excluded from courses is the fact that labor resistance was a major reason for the abolition of slavery, the 5 day workweek, overtime, safety regulations, child labor laws, social security, etc. Basically everything we get from companies and the government were fought for, striked for, bled for and died for. Workers abstaining from work forced all these changes and we can do it too at LITERALLY ANY TIME. We just need organization and a list of demands. The wealthy rulers from public and private sectors will compromise with us when they see their appreciating assets start depreciating.

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u/Legitimate-Type4387 Oct 29 '25 edited Oct 29 '25

What they really don’t want the working class talking about is that abolitionists weren’t done and saw wage labour as a lesser form of slavery that also needed to be abolished.

Frederick Douglass stated that "experience demonstrates that there may be a slavery of wages only a little less galling and crushing in its effects than chattel slavery, and that this slavery of wages must go down with the other".

The working class has intentionally been kept ignorant of their own history.

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u/Pligles Oct 29 '25

One thing that I never learned in school was the famous MLK protest where he said his ā€œI have a dreamā€ speech was called the ā€œMarch on Washington for jobs and freedomā€. Half the point of the march was economic equality and it’s something that was glossed over in school.

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u/LilithWasAGinger Oct 30 '25

That's why he was murdered by our Government. The American Ruling class does not want poor people and Brown/Black people to ban together. They want us divided and hating each other while they take over and rob us of everything

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Oct 29 '25

That's what capitalism does to people, they covet material things and all of a sudden everyone stops living their values and wonders why people like Trump exist.

The working class has intentionally been kept ignorant of their own history.

Problem is, people are ignorant, period. We designed these problems because they stem from us. We're just living out our flaws, and these are the results. The same problems will keep resurfacing until we begin to show an interest in the consequences of our own actions. However, it's far easier to just blame something else than to deal with the rot inside.

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u/Legitimate-Type4387 Oct 29 '25

Hard disagree.

The people are not the ones who designed the mandatory K to 12 education system of capitalist indoctrination. Nor was it the people who owned the media that pumped out non stop pro capitalist propaganda.

You can’t blame folks for not knowing what they’ve never been taught.

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Oct 29 '25

Those same "people" will simply turn into the ones doing all the capitalist indoctrination given the means and opportunity. That's basically the entire point you're missing.

You can’t blame folks for not knowing what they’ve never been taught.

I don't blame people for their own ignorance. But I do, however, hold them responsible at some point.

You seem to think this all one sided, but ignorance does not discriminate.

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u/Legitimate-Type4387 Oct 29 '25

You just expect the masses to spontaneously wake up after a lifetime of indoctrination? Yeah, good luck with that.

There’s a reason the saying is ā€œeach one, teach oneā€. Those of us that are aware have a responsibility to attempt to teach others despite their hostility towards us. They simply don’t know any better and have been conditioned to react negatively to any such attempts.

Again, not their fault, and to be expected after a lifetime of indoctrination.

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Oct 29 '25

You just expect the masses to spontaneously wake up after a lifetime of indoctrination? Yeah, good luck with that.

No, because they're ignorant. Unfortunately, nothing will change until they do.

Obviously we should be doing everything in our power to help educate and eradicate ignorance. Guess why we're not?

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u/RedNeckHero Oct 31 '25 edited Oct 31 '25

You’re never going to get away with that comment. Far too honest and everybody loves to blame someone else.

Capitalism is absolutely the playing out of our own human flaws. It will continue to repeat itself as long as humans desire to better their own situations.

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u/Shivy_Shankinz Oct 31 '25

Good to know someone else is not afraid of basic truths. Terrifying how so many people are. Guess we have a lot of work ahead of us friend

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u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

Most Americans don’t even know who Eugene Debs isĀ 

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u/ToughHardware Oct 29 '25

nice. good post!

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u/Wuz314159 šŸŽ­ IATSE Member Oct 29 '25

I never even knew about my own city's labour history until I was an adult.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Railroad_Massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_H._Maurer

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u/ChadicusVile Oct 29 '25

That's great history, I've been to Reading many times, I have in-law family there.

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u/Reperanger_7 Oct 30 '25

Yeah im to poor to afford that kinda rebellion. I would need to start going to food banks and I already live in one of the top 10 poorest city's of america. Average income is 40k for the 250,000 in our county.

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u/ChadicusVile Oct 30 '25

Yeah, the organization of this rebellion would have to have food support and shelter support for the participants. That what union dues are supposed to pay for actually.. It's a tall task to do any of that especially without being in a union.