They can see the writing on the wall. They know that unions will cut into their wealth and their affluent lifestyle. They are the definition of greedy capitalism!
Professor Reich: as much as i despise both elon musk and jeff bezos, this anti-union sentiment is not limited to them. when i was desperately trying to find a job to help pay my rent when unemployed in NYC, i interviewed for a job at starbux, and was denied a position. the reason? i was told i'd unionize the employees so they refused to hire me because they didn't want to deal with that problem. when i asked why they thought this, i was told i'm highly educated, so therefore, i'd be a troublemaker (on behalf of my fellow employees.)
basically, my point is, this pre-screening of employees occurs before they are even hired, so a megacompany headed by an abusive greedmeister like elon or jeff is reducing the chances they'll have to deal with unions.
The US obsession with money and profit over work/life balance has created and supported these robber barons. Union membership in Belgium is about 60%, while in the US it’s under 10%. I lived and worked in Belgium 30 years, and never heard of anyone who couldn’t afford healthcare or a college education for their kids - it was very low cost or free. The society is set up to take care of its people, not just to extract every shred of productivity and then cast them aside. Paid summer holidays, parental leave, subsidised public transport to work are all integral parts of this system. The entire US system needs restructuring based on human values rather than unbridled capitalism.
Sadly, given recent history I have little faith that the current majority of the Supreme Court will side with workers, there are simply too many rich people essentially paying for favorable rulings.
I would argue that this will be just one more casualty of the Supreme's casual propensity to overturn long standing precedent , which stands as the single most pernicious thread that runs through it's decisions, slowly but surely unraveling the social guard rails that have been put in place since the founding of the country.
If you are interested in a psychological profile of Elon, I spent months studying him so you don't have to. So much about him is both shocking & textbook. Indeed his narcissism was built by a dystopian homeland, racism, entitlement, a sociopath, a psychopath and massive childhood trauma. https://samray.substack.com/p/the-grooming-of-elon-musk-a-psychological-139
Thank you for shining the spotlight on the actions of these mega tycoons Mr Reich. There are a few signs here in the UK that the majority of voters have had enough of an elite enriching themselves as the rest suffer deprivation and the collapse of my country’s previously valued health and social services.
They also pay almost no taxes relative to what they owe for all the wear & tear on our roads and bridges from Amazon trucks alone. Our community tax systems were not set up for the rest of us to subsidize the wealth of Bazos and Musk but here we are. Musk wouldn't exist if not for all his government grants.
Yes, they're gaming their workers over compensation but they're also cheating every single one of us because we're covering the taxes they owe for the drain their businesses cause on our communities. That's why schools, fire departments, road and bridge repair fundings have to fight for money. The shame of it.
A narcissist recognizes nobody but himself. If their narcissism was not blocking their pragmatism, both Musk and Bezos (and Schultz for that matter) would realize that when their workers do better their corporate profit line improves also. Capitalism is not a zero sum game.
As always, Professor, you are absolutely correct. How and why these particularly avaricious men, like others, become so brutal is beyond my expertise. I do know others also talk a lot of nonsense saying it is because "Musk grew up in apartheid South Africa"! Not everyone who grew up there is trying to subjugate others in such demeaning and shocking ways. Bezos grew up somewhere else, didn't he? Yes, their childhoods were dysfunctional, but weren't ours, if we are completely honest? But, we have not grown up to be another avaricious sociopath, nor do we fail to use the brains we were given to consider, evaluate and act only after thought, not before bringing down the hammer of injustice. No, we do consider our fellow human beings, and try within our means to help them. We do not all have immense wealth and limitless contacts but we do try to live our lives as thinking people, not as automatons.
Three things must be done: boycott, Boycott, and BOYCOTT! Workers MUST stick together. A threat to a worker ANYWHERE is a threat to workers EVERYWHERE. Trust me on that. The tech bros are greedy, ruthless, and believe they are above the law.
At an NRLB hearing in January, Trader Joe's presented the same argument that the NRLB is unconstitutional, mirroring what Bezos and Musk are saying. Even though TJ's hasn't filed a separate lawsuit (yet), they should be called out too.
The 'it's never enough' sickness is something to behold. I always feel like if I had the kind of resources that these men have would take pride in giving my employees the best working conditions and compensating them well but then I wonder if the only way to end up with such resources is to be a sociopath who feels no responsibility for other people. These people will forever be a mystery to me and they don't seem to be outliers, at least in the US.
Ah, more villains of our ‘wealthy elite caste’ crying that they would be impoverished if labor unions could organize within their realm. The USA needs to tax these greedy suckers fairly! How about a 85 % tax rate on income and bonuses over $500,000.
They can see the writing on the wall. They know that unions will cut into their wealth and their affluent lifestyle. They are the definition of greedy capitalism!
Professor Reich: as much as i despise both elon musk and jeff bezos, this anti-union sentiment is not limited to them. when i was desperately trying to find a job to help pay my rent when unemployed in NYC, i interviewed for a job at starbux, and was denied a position. the reason? i was told i'd unionize the employees so they refused to hire me because they didn't want to deal with that problem. when i asked why they thought this, i was told i'm highly educated, so therefore, i'd be a troublemaker (on behalf of my fellow employees.)
basically, my point is, this pre-screening of employees occurs before they are even hired, so a megacompany headed by an abusive greedmeister like elon or jeff is reducing the chances they'll have to deal with unions.
The US obsession with money and profit over work/life balance has created and supported these robber barons. Union membership in Belgium is about 60%, while in the US it’s under 10%. I lived and worked in Belgium 30 years, and never heard of anyone who couldn’t afford healthcare or a college education for their kids - it was very low cost or free. The society is set up to take care of its people, not just to extract every shred of productivity and then cast them aside. Paid summer holidays, parental leave, subsidised public transport to work are all integral parts of this system. The entire US system needs restructuring based on human values rather than unbridled capitalism.
Sadly, given recent history I have little faith that the current majority of the Supreme Court will side with workers, there are simply too many rich people essentially paying for favorable rulings.
I hope they are wrong, too. In the meantime. I will boycott Amazon. Tesla, too.
I would argue that this will be just one more casualty of the Supreme's casual propensity to overturn long standing precedent , which stands as the single most pernicious thread that runs through it's decisions, slowly but surely unraveling the social guard rails that have been put in place since the founding of the country.
If you are interested in a psychological profile of Elon, I spent months studying him so you don't have to. So much about him is both shocking & textbook. Indeed his narcissism was built by a dystopian homeland, racism, entitlement, a sociopath, a psychopath and massive childhood trauma. https://samray.substack.com/p/the-grooming-of-elon-musk-a-psychological-139
Thank you for shining the spotlight on the actions of these mega tycoons Mr Reich. There are a few signs here in the UK that the majority of voters have had enough of an elite enriching themselves as the rest suffer deprivation and the collapse of my country’s previously valued health and social services.
They also pay almost no taxes relative to what they owe for all the wear & tear on our roads and bridges from Amazon trucks alone. Our community tax systems were not set up for the rest of us to subsidize the wealth of Bazos and Musk but here we are. Musk wouldn't exist if not for all his government grants.
Yes, they're gaming their workers over compensation but they're also cheating every single one of us because we're covering the taxes they owe for the drain their businesses cause on our communities. That's why schools, fire departments, road and bridge repair fundings have to fight for money. The shame of it.
A narcissist recognizes nobody but himself. If their narcissism was not blocking their pragmatism, both Musk and Bezos (and Schultz for that matter) would realize that when their workers do better their corporate profit line improves also. Capitalism is not a zero sum game.
As always, Professor, you are absolutely correct. How and why these particularly avaricious men, like others, become so brutal is beyond my expertise. I do know others also talk a lot of nonsense saying it is because "Musk grew up in apartheid South Africa"! Not everyone who grew up there is trying to subjugate others in such demeaning and shocking ways. Bezos grew up somewhere else, didn't he? Yes, their childhoods were dysfunctional, but weren't ours, if we are completely honest? But, we have not grown up to be another avaricious sociopath, nor do we fail to use the brains we were given to consider, evaluate and act only after thought, not before bringing down the hammer of injustice. No, we do consider our fellow human beings, and try within our means to help them. We do not all have immense wealth and limitless contacts but we do try to live our lives as thinking people, not as automatons.
Three things must be done: boycott, Boycott, and BOYCOTT! Workers MUST stick together. A threat to a worker ANYWHERE is a threat to workers EVERYWHERE. Trust me on that. The tech bros are greedy, ruthless, and believe they are above the law.
At an NRLB hearing in January, Trader Joe's presented the same argument that the NRLB is unconstitutional, mirroring what Bezos and Musk are saying. Even though TJ's hasn't filed a separate lawsuit (yet), they should be called out too.
The 'it's never enough' sickness is something to behold. I always feel like if I had the kind of resources that these men have would take pride in giving my employees the best working conditions and compensating them well but then I wonder if the only way to end up with such resources is to be a sociopath who feels no responsibility for other people. These people will forever be a mystery to me and they don't seem to be outliers, at least in the US.
If anyone is interested into how the first Robber Barrons (Rockefeller, Ford, Carnagie) affected American Politics and future, here’s a good history lesson: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/p/donating-to-a-good-cause-how-billionaires
Ah, more villains of our ‘wealthy elite caste’ crying that they would be impoverished if labor unions could organize within their realm. The USA needs to tax these greedy suckers fairly! How about a 85 % tax rate on income and bonuses over $500,000.