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"if they aren't getting paid what they think they should, then they leave that company and let it fail"

That's what they did, it's called a "strike".




A strike is not leaving the company. A strike is refusing to work until demands are met.


Indeed. Strike is kinda nicer, you're giving the company the option to reconsider their bad decisions, instead of killing them instantly.


A bit less biased, a strike is more like allowing the company a chance to make a deal with their employees before they quit.

Whether the decisions were bad is a matter of opinion, and it's not a given that union employees quiting in mass would kill the company instantly.

(personally I do agree the auto companies have acted in bad faith and would be screwed if these workers all quit, but we'll ever see that happen to know for sure)


I am not biased, just snarky. (The killing and other setup for the rebuttal came from the parent post.)

But I am also a socialist. I think the reverence for the capitalist class in the U.S. is unhealthy, and it permits lot of CEOs to be a-holes and wannabe dictators. I think Americans who are worried about unions destroying companies, you should look at Germany. They give unions a seat at the board, so that everybody is aware how the profits are split, and to see whether compensation is fair or not.

I think socialism can be distilled down to a really simple question (and that's when I really got Marx). If you want to start a new project, say building a genius invention, or an art piece, or just do something useful for the world, whatever it is. Why would you ever want an employee (a subordinate) instead of a coworker (a peer)? Is there any other reason than to control them? Why do you want to be "bossy"? And once you answer that no, I don't want to order people around as subordinates, just to cooperate with them as my peers, then socialism is just technicalities how to make it happen.




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