The decline in unions and collective bargaining has been a big part of this is my opinion. The anti-union propaganda was so effective that a couple generations killed it off before the younger ones could see it in action.
this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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Maggie Thatcher fucked the kids
Gotta keep the people off of the streets.
It's actually the opposite. The more we can automate and the more we produce with the same time and effort input, the less we earn and the more we have to work. Which has been happening for a long time, and is why anyone thinking that AI would help anyone other than billionaires is a dummy.
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It's almost like the lack of unions is causing workers to have worse conditions.
In recent times, for sure. But that's because the capitalist class have done a very good job of making people afraid to rock the boat like their ancestors did...
After all when you're one bad paycheck from starvation, or you're working two jobs just to make ends meet, your first priority is surviving.
And for those who aren't, there's a practically militarised police force to keep you down should you ever step out of line.
Hey now, what's a bigger reduction in labor hours than unemployment?
Your employer doesn't want you unemployed. They need to keep unemployment just bad enough so you would be afraid to lose your job, taking on more responsibilities for less money.
Your employer doesn’t want you unemployed.
I've been through enough layoff cycles not to believe that
This is what comes to mind to me every time "the demographic problem" of aging population comes up.
Lowering the number of humans in a natural way is a good thing and economy should evolve into supporting that, not the other way around.
But we depend on a system that relies on constant grow instead so a bunch of people can rape kids without repercussion...
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Just to put credit back in here, without bringing more clicks to Twitter:
Here's a weird trick I've learned: I just care a lot less than I used to and only do the bare minimum a lot of the time. If you're good at what you do, you can slack off quite a bit without drawing any attention to yourself most of the time. Obv only applicable in certain job roles / conditions, so I plan to stay at this job forever.
Slacking off doesn't cut it for me anymore. I've been doing it for years and I still long for freedom where I'm not paid to sit on a chair all day long.
I want to work.... on things that makes sense for me or others that I care more about than the company profit.
Paid work is preventing me from doing that. If the pay was higher I could afford to take more time off to work on my own interests.
Are you an air traffic controller? Lol
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It has a bit, but far far from what could have been possible (excluding the usa maybe).
The improvements were a result of labor struggle, not of the increased productivity.
Oh yes totally!
People died for these benefits.
There's a lot of improvements that have come about as a result of being technically feasible, in many cases over the objections of the workers.
E.g. safer working at heights - harnesses, scissor/boom lifts, scaffolding with kick guards and netting.
In other cases, both the workers and employers wanted improvements. Compare the nose end of a modern truck or freight locomotive with a WW2 era or even 1980s one, for example.
Ultimately the machine wants to preserve itself and strengthen. It does this by any means. Democracies stabilize the machine in that they prevents people from becoming bothersome. All people can voice their opinions, but ultimately everybody has to be in favour of the machine in fern to be taken seriously. If the people abandon the democracy, the machine will become less stable, and have to use more coercive means to maintain itself.
Strength is all under the machine.
It's pathetic that there hasn't been a raise in the minimum wage in like 50 years. The epstein class is completely opposed. Forget about 4 day work week. Never even mentioned. Politicians would rather serve capital than win.
Historically nothing changes until the pedophile class and corrupt politicians live in fear.
Plenty of things change if they don't live in fear.
For instance, a lot more little kids get buggered
Generally speaking increased worker productivity has lead to increased working hours, people today work more hours, now must be available at all hours, are being coerced into skipping legally mandated lunch breaks, into jobs with significantly worse conditions (because they can get away with it), in exchange for significantly less pay when you take into account the cost of living (yes inflation is technically stable but that doesn't matter for the average person, cost of living does).
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nothing to discuss. this is how capitalism was designed to work. real benefits to the working class come, sadly, from fights and often involve blood.
"When goods increase, they increase [the number] who eat them..."
Or increased pay.
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