(but with the working class effectively neutered then)
It took decades to properly neuter the working class. I might argue that labor militarism wasn’t really put in the ground until Clinton. I’ve definitely seen a few folks around here posit that the end of the USSR was the real death blow of domestic labor agitation, entirely because there was no countervailing global force. Although I’m more inclined towards the theory that the Volcker Shock of the 70s was what laid all the union efforts low.
But its always worth mentioning how, even into the '08 crash, life in the US was relatively fat and happy compared to our global peers. Its only in the aftermath of the Great Recession that you can say quality of living in the US has taken a solid step backwards. And then COVID was another big step back. And now we’re just waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Hard to be a labor militant when going along to get along is nice enough. Less hard as living standards grow more and more dire.
Maybe saying the working class was neutered by the new deal was a bit too strong, but I still believe the moment the labor movement in the US hitched itself to the Democrat coalition, it was joever
the moment the labor movement in the US hitched itself to the Democrat coalition
It was eat or be eaten. A populist movement divided was not going to stand. The Labor movement’s real failing wasn’t hitching itself to the Democrats but failing to hollow out its leadership and wear it like a skin-suit into the next century.
The US objectively had the best deal post WWII. Other than Pearl Harbor, there were no bombings so our infrastructure was back in place. The war was a boon for the economy (but for once it was based since the enemy was the west), we got the economic miracle like many other countries. Noncompete has a video on it that does a good job explaining this leagues better than I can
Now thanks to capitalism becoming a religion rather than a flawed economic system where any smart capitalist would at least try to find a synthesis or side with the workers upon every contradicion, we’ve clawed our way back to “normal” in great depression/1930s times. However, the red scare has done its damage and with fascism being seen as the ‘perfect’ ideology by the lumpens. we’re going to hit the cool zone.
It took decades to properly neuter the working class. I might argue that labor militarism wasn’t really put in the ground until Clinton. I’ve definitely seen a few folks around here posit that the end of the USSR was the real death blow of domestic labor agitation, entirely because there was no countervailing global force. Although I’m more inclined towards the theory that the Volcker Shock of the 70s was what laid all the union efforts low.
But its always worth mentioning how, even into the '08 crash, life in the US was relatively fat and happy compared to our global peers. Its only in the aftermath of the Great Recession that you can say quality of living in the US has taken a solid step backwards. And then COVID was another big step back. And now we’re just waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Hard to be a labor militant when going along to get along is nice enough. Less hard as living standards grow more and more dire.
Maybe saying the working class was neutered by the new deal was a bit too strong, but I still believe the moment the labor movement in the US hitched itself to the Democrat coalition, it was joever
It was eat or be eaten. A populist movement divided was not going to stand. The Labor movement’s real failing wasn’t hitching itself to the Democrats but failing to hollow out its leadership and wear it like a skin-suit into the next century.
Second this.
The US objectively had the best deal post WWII. Other than Pearl Harbor, there were no bombings so our infrastructure was back in place. The war was a boon for the economy (but for once it was based since the enemy was the west), we got the economic miracle like many other countries. Noncompete has a video on it that does a good job explaining this leagues better than I can
Now thanks to capitalism becoming a religion rather than a flawed economic system where any smart capitalist would at least try to find a synthesis or side with the workers upon every contradicion, we’ve clawed our way back to “normal” in great depression/1930s times. However, the red scare has done its damage and with fascism being seen as the ‘perfect’ ideology by the lumpens. we’re going to hit the cool zone.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: