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Hump day open thread: Pitchforks when?


I love it when they say the quiet part aloud:
Let's be clear: people like Mr. Gurner wish to create an economic regime which would make the Gilded Age of the late 19th century seem like a time of Marxist revolution. This is why "wage slave" is not an oxymoron. If people like him could institute actual slavery, they would, without a second's thought.

We knew this backlash from the "wealth creators" was going to come. The pandemic was as much of a shock to the system of world capitalism as the Black Death was to Western European feudalism. In their estimation, workers have gotten too big for their britches. It is why conservatives are against national healthcare; if workers are no longer dependent on their employment for their healthcare needs, then employers lose a huge cudgel to hold over their employees.

Now, you all know me as a moderate center-leftist. But speeches like Mr. Gurner's make me want to build barricades and storm factories. They make me want to lead mobs against the homes of the comfortable and clueless. They make me want to plan a meticulous menu of how to serve and eat the rich. Make no mistake: there is no space for compromise with men like Tim Gurner. None. What he and his like want is a world dominated by themselves, while the rest of us should be grateful for the scraps off their tables. They dispense with such notions as "trickle down economics" and "a rising tide lifts all boats". They care not one jot if we live or die; they merely require a steady supply of workers.

There has been class warfare in this country for its entire history. For a few brief decades in the middle of the last century, workers held their own and gained many benefits. And employers have never forgotten this; they have plotted to take away those hard-won gains, and since the Reagan era have met with success in doing so. However, the pandemic upended this, and now we see a resurgence of union activity. Thus, the wail of despair from the masters of the universe.

We won't go back. We won't be wage slaves. The pandemic has been a tragedy, but out of tragedy can spring hope. And this hope must be crushed to maintain their vision of a properly functioning economy. It's nothing more than greed and the quest for power and control. Such a way of life is the only one men like Mr. Gurner can imagine. One in which they are lords of the manor and have the right of prima noctis over their serfs. It's vile. It's disgusting. But it's nothing new.

Men like Mr. Gurner turn people like me into economic and political radicals. We've had enough of his like. He had best remember that nothing lasts forever. Including his wealth. Including his power. Including his life. Desperate people have little to lose when the boot is on their faces.

This is your open thread.

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