• ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    6 days ago

    There’s a great deal of room for improvement, but I think that a person who doesn’t realize that right now things are better than they have ever been is not a person whose ideas about what to change and how should be listened to. Our top priority should be to preserve the progress that has been made already but people who are ignorant of history are often willing to destroy what we do have with the naive expectation that things can’t get much worse.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Here’s an example of that history that was worse than today:

      This is 11 year old coal miner Otha Porter Martin. This photo was taken in 1908 in Macdonald, West Virginia.

      In this case, preserving the progress means continuing the ban on child labor and strong safety regulation for adult workers. Even these two things are under attack today:

      “Republican Wants to Loosen Child Labor Laws”

      “Johnson’s Teenagers Earning Everyday Necessary Skills (TEENS) Act would change the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to adjust federal requirements for child labor laws. It would allow states to create laws allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. year-round. Currently, federal law prohibits them from working past 7 p.m. during the school year. The bill would also increase the number of hours they can work during the school week from 18 to 24.”

      source

      “Anticipated Regulatory Changes with OSHA”

      “President Trump’s second term is poised to bring a lighter federal OSHA presence — fewer rules, softer enforcement, and potential reversals of recent policies”

      source

      • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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        6 days ago

        Thanks for your comment. It’s important to remember that we have won on some fronts, and could win on many more.

    • Ferrous@lemmy.ml
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      6 days ago

      right now things are better than they have ever been

      What wonderful news. I’ll be sure to alert the surviving Native Americans Indians and basically the entirety of the global south.

      At a time when the planet is incinerating before our eyes, parroting “akshually things are great right now” isn’t very brave.

          • shalafi@lemmy.world
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            6 days ago

            Poverty has dropped dramatically, worldwide, since I was a kid and there was only 3.7 billion of us.

            Just because the wealth disparity is radical, does not mean the poor are not better off.

            Go talk to your grandparents, or great grandparents, about the Great Depression. Hell, I’m only 54 and I’ve seen some shit IRL. You kids don’t even know what “poor” looks like. Hold onto your butts! Because you will see it, very soon.

        • Ferrous@lemmy.ml
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          6 days ago

          “We gave the Native American Indians a better life by genociding them.”

          Eat shit.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      6 days ago

      Hang tight if you want to see:

      people who are ignorant of history… with the naive expectation that things can’t get much worse

      And you can see those folks in the downvotes! Even if America reverses course, which ain’t happening in any meaningful way, the largest economy on Earth has gone straight retarded. And we’re going to drag the planet down with us.

      Sorry. Forgot where I was!

      We’re all persecuted and it’s the worst time in history for everyone! CapItaLisM BAD!