Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for April 02, 2013

Boy, out of the mouths of Stoners ! Zonk has, unfortunately,seen the enemy and spake the truth !

I have had employers who communicated that sentiment to workers rather frequently. Different words, same meaning.

“I hated that job – until I got laid off.”

I’m gonna tell you fascistsYou may be surprisedThe people in this worldAre getting organizedYou’re bound to loseYou fascists bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop usThis one thing we knowYour poll tax and Jim CrowAnd greed has got to goYou’re bound to loseYou fascists bound to lose.

All of you fascists bound to lose:I said, all of you fascists bound to lose:Yes sir, all of you fascists bound to lose:You’re bound to lose! You fascists:Bound to lose!

People of every colorMarching side to sideMarching ‘cross these fieldsWhere a million fascists diesYou’re bound to loseYou fascists bound to lose!

I’m going into this battle And take my union gunWe’ll end this world of slavery Before this battle’s wonYou’re bound to loseYou fascists bound to lose!

-WOODY GUTHRIE

Union MaidWords and Music by Woody GuthrieThere once was a union maid, she never was afraidOf goons and ginks and company finks and the deputy sheriffs who made the raid.She went to the union hall when a meeting it was called,And when the Legion boys come ’roundShe always stood her ground.

Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union,I’m sticking to the union, I’m sticking to the union.Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union,I’m sticking to the union ’til the day I die.

This union maid was wise to the tricks of company spies,She couldn’t be fooled by a company stool, she’d always organize the guys.She always got her way when she struck for better pay.She’d show her card to the National GuardAnd this is what she’d say

You gals who want to be free, just take a tip from me;Get you a man who’s a union man and join the ladies’ auxiliary.Married life ain’t hard when you got a union card,A union man has a happy life when he’s got a union wife.

Zonker didn’t know about the food stamps or thought about striking because he doesn’t totally depend on his job to live. He’s just a contributing member of B.D.’s household.

well,we got to woody so far..mebbe joe hill or norma rae..we gonna make the marx?

or pro sports?

If I died and went to Hell, it would take me a week to realize I wasn’t at work anymore.

Socialism is extreme left wing. Fascism is not bound on a left/right economic spectrum, it’s an extreme authoritarian position. In a modern Western democratic environment, current American Democrats are moderate right wing and moderately authoritarian. Republicans are extreme right wing and extreme authoritarian.

And considering all that at least half of you guys vote Republican every time anyway.

Communism, far left

Fascism, far right.. Don’t let the word socialism throw you, Guard sgt..

with 40 years of propaganda, i am amazed at how well the idiots “repeat” the lies. so sad. robots, mindless idiots.

right about the feudalism returning. we are experiencing the first wave, the zombies repeat the lies and refuse to “see.”

Why people would want feudalism for their children. as they say, none so blind as those who will not see.

at least there is hope in the 3rd world, as we used to call the rest of the population. there, the lies have had years to be exposed for what they are.

used to be ‘Go West, young man." now, it’s go South, young man." the Chicago economics have been totally discredited there. here in America, well we have at least 2 generations before the lies die out with the Zombies who repeat them

Cabbies are routinely cheated in Boston MA

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/04/02/boston-taxi-cab-drivers-often-cheated-work-world-where-risk-and-reward-are-mismatch/8eMj0MMOOQlUa6sdpOAclM/story.html

6 Charts That Show How Conservative Politics Are Destroying America

http://www.alternet.org/economy/6-charts-show-how-conservative-politics-are-destroying-america?akid=10264.231609.snokFS&rd=1&src=newsletter818003&t=7

The whole “fascism and communism same place on political spectrum” claim is ignorant to the point of bizarre.Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union fought each other with savage ferocity for four years on a thousand mile front. The largest and bloodiest warfare in human history. An area the size of the eastern US completely destroyed – twice. Scorched earth. Mass bombings. Countless suicidal human wave attacks. At least 30 million dead.And all this because they both were ‘in agreement’ in their ‘left-wing philosophies’???It’s not just insane to claim this. It’s a monumental blasphemy to the memory of the horrible suffering of tens of millions of innocent people.

Good lord man, where did you study ()if you ever studied at all) government. Facisn is right wing, everything for the state,socialism/communism is the state for everything. When you get to thextreme ends, you do have nothing but authoraterian rule. Or as my policitcal science proffesor showed on a board. Take the two sides and turn it into a circle where they meet.

I have delivered to many Mall-Wart D.C.s around the country, and have seen very few more disorganized, slipshod companies

They pay a very nice dividend for a disorganized and slipshod operation. I suppose it is fashionable to demonize a large company and claim they mistreat their employees under horrible working conditions. But I would say their employees are their strength and I do know the company promotes from within. If you want to see draconian check out SOME of the Mom and Pop operations that employ a few employees and are under the radar of regulations and labor laws.

For Joe Hill and Caesar ChavezWho fought in their own timeFor our brothers and our sistersUp and down that picket lineFor the unnamed and unnumberedWho struggle brave and longFor the union men and womenStanding up and standing strong

From THE UNION SONG

Thank you for supporting China with your frequent visits to Walmart. And you complain about the national debt.

For the fired auto workersWho were twisted, tricked and robbedTo the peasant in GuatemalaIn a sweatshop got your jobAnd she can’t feed her familyOn the pennies that she makesMeanwhile the crime rate’s risingUp and down the Great Lake states

Now dirty scabs will cross the lineWhile others stand aside and lookBut ain’t nobody never got nothin’That didn’t raise their voice and pushLike the steel worker in OhioThe miner in West VirginiaThe teacher in ChicagoJanitor in MississippiFrom the sweatshops of L.A.To the fields of Mission FlatsThere’s a thunder cloud explodingAnd I’m free at last

Ibid

I knew this story line would bring out the trolls. They spout hate and anger and tell everyone that everyone else is a hater and a racist and whatever. So remember folks, what we as a nation really need is to rise up, arm in arm, and forget about one another’s color, religion, lifestyle and educational level. If we are to survive this we mustn UNITE.

Also remember:Flag, Flag, Flag; the Trolls are marching.

@John Pike

Hear, hear!!! But what if instead of forgetting about each other’s color, religion, lifestyle, and religion we actively appreciate what’s interesting and good in them. Celebrate the differences, as well as the commonalities!

**

Belatedly, I’d like to express my own appreciation for your stalwartness and forthrightness during last fall’s campaign-and-election period, when all eyes fell for a time on the subject of religion. Yours was a cheerful voice of reason amid the fray. And still is.

Some days here I’m reminded of the “fight” between Lewis Carroll’s Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Haven’t read it in years, but I can still see the original illustration of the two, with their absurd costumes, blindly flinging their swords all around.

In reading today’s comments, I realize how unclear I am as to the meaning of “right” and “left,” and I wish somebody would explain it to me in a simple way so I can understand it.

“You’re lucky to have this job”.“People in the street would be happy to have this job”.“We can find people to work cheaper than you”.The mantras of the employer when the worker complains about mistreatment.

I have always disliked the comment, “It is what it is!” knew someone (a co-manager) who over used it.

OK, I’m a history teacher, and I can’t stand it anymore, so let me do my best to explain some terms (gonna stay out of the rest of it—too hot for me!).

Communism, socialism and capitalism describe economies, not government systems: in pure communism, there is no private property and all economic decisions are made by the state. In pure capitalism, everything is private property and all decisions are made by the market. (“pure” anything is hard to come by—most systems are somewhere on the spectrum in between). Socialism is between the two: some or most economic decisions are made by the state.

Fascism describes the degree to which governments control the lives of their citizens—in a fascist state, the state controls all or most individual decisions. The opposite end of the spectrum from fascism is, technically, anarchy—a system under which the state makes no decisions at all b/c there is no state—but we usually talk about fascism as being the opposite of freedom.

There have been capitalist fascist governments (Nazi Germany, Franco’s Spain) and communist fascist governments (Stalin’s Soviet Union).

Left and right are trickier, b/c their meaning has changed over time and because they tend to describe a constellation of ideas, rather than variation along a single spectrum. We generally think at the moment of left wingers in the U.S. as supporting more government involvement in the economy, equal rights for minorities, and a more secular approach to cultural issues and the right as supporting less government involvement in the economy, a more Darwinist, competitive model, and, in some cases, an evangelical Christian take on cultural issues which leads them to advocate more government regulation there, but none of these generalizations holds true across the board, and, say, in 1870, the groupings of those ideas were quite different. So left and right are quick shorthands, but it’s better to be more specific.

Just my two cents. Hope that’s useful.Now back to the fight.

@Linguist

Well, clearly I should have done my homework before posting that Tweedle comment! I found my copy of The Annotated Alice (annotations by Martin Gardener), and located the illustration I’d been thinking of earlier. It seems that after the aforementioned intervention by the crow, the two brothers decide to stage a battle, and Alice helps them suit up. That’s the picture I remembered, except I misremembered, because they’re just getting outfitted, not yet fighting. The crow returns, and the brothers (in full regalia) scatter. Thanks for sending me back to the source!:))

@jerechase

Thanks for that clear, straightforward explanation. My public-school education had much to recommend it, but somehow they never gave me even a basic civics course. But then, civics in the 1960s might or might not have involved the same definitions/viewpoints that you’ve brought out anyway.

War on the Workers, Anne Feeney

Listen up,. we’ve got a war zone here today Right in our heartland, and across the USA These multinational bastards don’t use tanks and guns it’s true But they’ve declared a war on us, fight back! It’s up to you

Going to work could be the death of you and me But we’re not unarmed—Our weapon’s solidarity Jim Beals and Karen Silkwood The list goes on and on With every year that passes 60,000 more are gone

When they boost your co-pay, (it’s a war on the workers!) don’t you know what to say – (it’s a war on the workers!) When they talk privatization (it’s a war on the workers!) and co-operation (it’s a war on the workers!) They call it “flexibility” (it’s a war on the workers!) But every working stiff can see (it’s a war on the workers!) When they poison our water (it’s a war on the workers!) We’re like lambs at the slaughter (it’s a war on the workers!) When they foul up the air (it’s a war on the workers!) We’ve got to show that we care (it’s a war on the workers!) Oh, it’s a war on the workers— It’s a war on public education, It’s a war on child labor protections, it’s a war on the 8 hour day, it’s a war on occupational health & safety, a war on social securityNow thanks to WTO it’s a world wide war

There’s a war on the workers There’s a war on the workers There’s a war on the workers And it’s time we started calling the shots

What a silly statement. You have no idea of my buying habits, wants, or needs. At 81, my needs were purchased years ago, and my wants are few and far between.

Again, the cost of food is ridiculous and I can’t imagine how people who are earning minimum wage can afford to feed their families. The film “A Place at the Table” explains why so many Americans who live near or below the povery line are fat.

“It is the left that supports authoritarianism.All you have to do is look at all the rules, regulations, and laws that restrict or even try to eliminate freedoms and even rights.”

Oh, you mean like anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, anti-birth-control, anti-science, anti-evolution nuts the ones who want to regulate your bedroom rather than who you can mow down on the street with your auto-murder weapon. I get it.

There are many complex reasons why the poor in this country are fat. There are food deserts, in which only convenience store and fast food places are available, no fresh food. Another problem is that higher quality foods such as produce are more expensive and can’t be kept as long on the shelf. Another issue is that poor people often have food insecurity issues, meaning that they tend to go for foods which are higher in calories and fats, since psychologically they feel that they better go for the high cal foods since they don’t know when or where they will have access to food again, so they go for what they know will keep them satiated longer, which isn’t carrots and lettuce. And there are other reasons…

The poor also have to deal with unsafe conditions in which to exercise. The children of the poor often must stay away from playgrounds and are discouraged from going for a walk since they are in areas which are not safe. The poor don’t have access to gyms. There are no spas, no fat farms for the poor. And there are other reasons…

Often, the poor have to work long hours and get little sleep. It is now been found that lack of sleep causes one to crave all the wrong things. The high fat carbs and sugary foods are desired by people who are not getting enough sleep. When you are really sleep deprived, you can easily gain weight at frighteningly fast pace.

Lots of folks in this country are fighting the battle of the bulge. However, like everything else, it is an even tougher fight if you have limited resources.

The restaurant workers I know make lots of money; the food stamp people must not ask to see 1040s, which show tips as well as the low salaries.

I never worked so hard for so little then when I worked in the restaurant. Got a job in the stock room at Sears then at the hospital and made a lot more and worked a less hectic pace.

Another silly statement that doesn’t address the statement you are responding to. I’m Dem, don’t shop Walmart, and read labels to avoid China’s products. Will admit, the world is stuck when you need tech products, so I am guilty there.

I want to thank you and all other Michiganers for helping re-elect President Barack H. Obama.

And I refuse to shop at Satan’s Superstore, and pay more to avoid Chinese products when given the choice.