Shawn Fain for President

[Zacha341]

I say let's see how the automotive industry here in the US fairs LONG-TERM post latest negotiations per Fain's leadership before we start spouting him off for anything bigger.

As the middle-class is pressed it will be interesting to see if this admin remains cosy with unions demanding higher wages against policies severely impacting the cost of living, deficit spending etc.

Against the affirmed wave of migrants who'll work for less and robots, and AI.

Let's see how Stellantis [Chrysler] and Fain look in say three years?

IME Fain's too intelligent for national politics. Same goes for Sean O'Brien AFAIK.

[Henry Whalley]

...LONG-TERM post latest negotiations per Fain's leadership before we start spouting him off for anything bigger...

Agreed.

But IME Lowell's original point wasn't literally about Fain, but rather about the fact that we need national leaders who aren't pretending, but who are in fact committed to rebuilding the middle class.

Also, IME three years is hardly 'LONG-TERM' considering that it took neoliberals fifty-five years, plus the assassination of Walter P. Reuther, to kill the middle class. Three years isn't even one bankruptcy cycle for an automaker.

Walter Reuther - Wikipedia

[Richard]

Agreed.

But IME Lowell's original point wasn't literally about Fain, but rather about the fact that we need national leaders who aren't pretending, but who are in fact committed to rebuilding the middle class.

Also, IME three years is hardly 'LONG-TERM' considering that it took neoliberals fifty-five years, plus the assassination of Walter P. Reuther, to kill the middle class. Three years isn't even one bankruptcy cycle for an automaker.

Walter Reuther - Wikipedia

Do a little research instead of parroting political talking points,58 % of Americans consider themselves middle class,the people do not even support switching from a service economy back to an industrialized and manufacturing economy,so how are you going to force people to do something they do not want to do?

We “need to rebuild the middle class” is code speak for justifying middle class wages for flipping burgers,all the tools are there anybody,can become anything they want.

In the early days Detroit auto workers earned the highest wages in the country without having a skill,because they built stuff.

You cannot say you do not want to build stuff anymore and expect a burger place to pay middle class wages,unless you are ready to pay $50 for a burger.

The people demand cheap products,the politicians cannot change that no matter what they do.

As you can see in the EV thread,you can only squeeze a company so far until you price them out of existence,because Americans thirst for cheap crap will make sure the competition has plenty of advantages.

[Zacha341]

Good points regarding how long it took the past neos, but the radical left has accelerated change quite fast in just these last three years!

...Also, IME three years is hardly 'LONG-TERM' considering that it took neoliberals fifty-five years, plus the assassination of Walter P. Reuther, to kill the middle class. Three years isn't even one bankruptcy cycle for an automaker.

Walter Reuther - Wikipedia

[Henry Whalley]

...the radical left has accelerated change quite fast in just these last three years!

What's so "radical left" about a living wage?

Even the philosopher of capitalism argued for it:

"Servants, laborers and workmen of different kinds, make up the far greater part of every great political society. But what improves the circumstances of the greater part can never be regarded as an inconvenience to the whole. No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable. It is but equity, besides, that they who feed, clothe, and lodge the whole body of the people, should have such a share of the produce of their own labor as to be themselves tolerably well fed, clothed and lodged." —  Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations, I .viii.36

P.S. Unfortunately after Engels, Marx and Lenin, every decent and humane idea could and would be conveniently dismissed as subversive.