Sunday, June 5, 2016

Lazy Millenials, unreciprocated work ethic, and the right-wing race-to-the-bottom

Listening to Mighty House on WCPT-820 Saturday morning, the discussion turned to how the millenials entering the workforce expect a good job and benefits to be handed to them and are unwilling to pay their dues. Callers and Hosts lamented the lazy, entitled attitude of the younger generation.

This feeling about how the modern American worker is unwilling to do the menial tasks, or expects to much, or doesn't work hard enough is nothing new. Plato expressed dismay at how the young greeks weren't as industrious or studious as the young egyptians.

But, why should any American Worker exhibit unquestioning loyalty to Corporations? Why should a young worker bust his ass, put in his dues with the expectation of reward after achieving a level of seniority? Why would any worker give his time and life over to an American Company? Long ago Employers and Companies broke their end of the deal. Over the last 45 years, "American" Companies have turned their backs on the American Worker and actively sought to undermine the standard of living for every American.

Over at Fortune, Gene Marks tells employers what to do with a long-time, loyal, hard-working, dedicated, 20-year employee; Fire his Ass! Why You're Not a Jerk for Firing a Longtime Employee

So why should millenials or any American Worker break their backs, work overtime, miss holidays, weekends, family get-togethers, when it is incontrovertible that companies will dump that worker, raid their 401k, and off-shore their job as soon as a "Free Trade Deal" allows them too?

This false nostalgia and back-in-my-day bullshit of how American workers used to have can-do spirit and were willing to work-your-way-up-the-ladder should go the way of the private union. When Labor had a more equal footing with business in the mid-20th century, after bloody battles in the 19th and the efforts of America's Greatest President FDR, workers knew their sacrifice and hard work meant they would be rewarded. But, since then the Republican Party allowed itself to become the lapdog guardians of the 1% and began to crush Labor laws and protections.

Before his ousting for being insufficiently orthodox, Republican Eric Cantor was leading the effort by Republicans to ensure Companies could work employees hundreds of overtime hours and then never pay them for that work. Fortunately, that scheme failed and under Obama's NLRB and Department of Labor, other Conservative machinations, like Wage Theft and classifying hourly employees as management, have been severely punished.

This is why Republicans are furious with President Obama. For years the right-wing efforts to get Americans used to less benefits, lower pay, longer hours, and less employment security, while abolishing Unions and worker's rights had been progressing nicely under the direction of the Republican Party. And here comes Obama, ensuring employees get paid for overtime, expanding SSI coverage, increasing wages, and undercutting the right-wing dream of reducing the American worker to mercenary status pitting their time against any other worker in the world in a worldwide race to the bottom.

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

Donald Trump continues the Republican tradition of Pissing on Veterans

Donald Trump has scammed Veterans Groups. This is not a surprise because Donald Trump's entire business model is scamming people out of money. Veterans are just another mark for Donald Trump to steal from. But, when called on it Trump executed a standard right-wing pivot and blamed the Media. Of course, pointing this out to the Trumpenproletariet is a useless endeavor. Criticism of Trump serves to reinforce his supporters defense of Trump, especially when the "sleazy" or "nasty" Liberal Media is doing the criticism.

Trump won over conservatives when he began his campaign by appealing to right-wingers sense of victimhood. Trump's blatant racism, mysogyny, and bigotry is what conservatives have yearned to hear for decades. Conservatives are no longer assauged by dog-whistles, conservatives are no longer satisfied with that svelte Southern Gentleman Newt Gingrich saying,
"I’m assuming that there’s some rhythm to Barack Obama that the rest of us don’t understand. Whether he needs large amounts of rest, whether he needs to go play basketball for a while or watch ESPN..." 
It's a reaction by the Reactionaries. While the last two generations of conservatives had to get along with oblique references to racism, 'State's Rights', 'Busing', 'Welfare' and so forth; Today's conservatives have had enough! Today's conservative is very, very angry they've been "shackled" by America's PC Culture and want to go back to yelling Ni[clang], Ni[clang], Ni[clang] while cheering on the police as they choke and shoot black people.

One need look no further than the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), a safe space where conservatives feel free to let their Confederate Battle Flags Fly.

At CPAC 2012, two White "Rappers" Steven Crowder and Chris Loesch at CPAC 2012 laid down a dope rap. When their rap-song "Mr. America" reached it's apex they yelled Ni-[clang], pretending they we're saying “knickers.” Then when the crowd groaned they responded,
"What? Knickers? I can say ‘knickers’ because I wear knickers.” 
Eeriely at CPAC 2013, a discussion panel was entitled: Trump the Race Card: Are You Sick And Tired Of Being Called A Racist When You Know You’re Not One?

Also at CPAC 2013, a spokesman for the Frederick Douglass Republicans, K. Carl Smith, was brought into CPAC to provide cover and excuses to conservative racists in attendence.

While Smith spoke, a conservative named Scott Terry while flanked by his Confederate-flag festooned compatriot Matthew Heimbach, rose to complain the Republican Party was alienating, "young Southern white males" and minorities were "systematically disenfranchising” him and whites. Terry then scoffed when Smith spoke of Frederick Douglass forgiving his former slave masters and replied,  "For giving him shelter? And food?"

Donald Trump has simply removed the filters. His supporters (i.e. Conservatives) are incensed over Political Correctness. This Atlantic piece an interview between Connor Friesdorf and a Right-Wing 22 year old white San Franciso resident covers the entire culture of aggrieved wimpy white victimhood. Here are few excerpts;
  • For me personally, it's resistance against what San Francisco has been, and what I see the country becoming, in the form of ultra-PC culture.
  • I don't know how to describe it, exactly, but I feel in a lot of ways that my identity as a white man is shamed. 
  • If Hillary wins, we're going to see a further tightening of PC culture. But if Trump wins? If Trump wins, we will have a president that overwhelmingly rejects PC rhetoric. Even better, we will show that more than half the country rejects this insane PC regime.
  • But I see this overwhelming PC culture, especially online. I get frustrated by the dialogue of letting immigrants into the country without control, letting Black Lives Matter protest without consequence... 
  • With Hillary Clinton, we have a stable America, sure, but one where we have to police what we say in fear of being fired by an overly liberal manager. With Trump maybe we can restore some sanity to this country and fight back against this PC craze.
While I've gone far afield from Trump's despicable but, typical right-wing use of Veterans the key is nothing is going to dissaude conservatives from voting for Trump. Despite the fact he doesn't possess any of the characteristics (Business success, Military Experience, or strong Family Values) supposedly necessary to be a True Conservative and fetishized by right-wingers. Donald Trump does check off one esstential quality conservatives demand from their politicans; Unabashed Racism.