#wagetheft — Public Fediverse posts

#DemocraticSocialism Is the Compromise Position

Given our scale of #inequality, the #egalitarian reforms of democratic socialism are only the start of what we should strive for.

Kyle Schmidlin, Jul 31, 2026

Excerpt: "Reforming the #SecondGildedAge

"Whether or not one agrees with such ideas, it’s a discussion that free people are within their rights to have. Though we often treat #capitalism as a national religion, there’s nothing sacred about it. Even the US Constitution is surprisingly agnostic on questions of economic organization. It’s not encoded in our DNA—in fact, we are much more naturally inclined toward cooperation than competition. Humans have a virtually infinite number of ways we can arrange society, and we are in desperate need of rethinking ours.

"Because for the last few decades, the American economy has grown ever more off-balance, to the point where many analysts now say we’re in a second #GildedAge. We recently minted the world’s first trillionaire, while about half of us would be wiped out by any major illness, accident, or job loss. Workers have lost power, essentials like housing and healthcare are increasingly out of reach, and practically all the gains of our productivity have been accumulated at the very top, with #corporations posting record profits. #Billionaires are multiplying their wealth faster than ever, building anti-revolution doomsday bunkers, and plotting to rule their own fiefdoms as #CEOKings.

"We live in a society that’s obsessed with law and order for things like #shoplifting or overstaying a visa, but largely looks the other way on #CorporateCrimes like #pollution, #WageTheft, and #fraud—not to mention #WarCrimes and #genocide. The president is a convicted felon who wants you to ignore his decades-long friendship with a child sex trafficker and instead fear and hate the immigrant next door.

"In such a system, elites should feel relieved that people are only demanding, say, a few public options for groceries, rather than revolting. The wealthy surely all took note of the public reaction to #LuigiMangione, who is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of New York City. Mangione became a cultural icon who was openly celebrated in many circles, making clear the rage simmering within America’s dispossessed.

"There’s a reason the progressive California Rep. #RoKhanna refers to a tax on wealth as an #AntiRevolution tax, or an attempt to save capitalism from itself. Progressive Democrats like Khanna often mediate between capitalist centers of power and the party’s left-wing base, who largely feel fed up with the party’s incremental approach of making small tweaks here and there. Democratic socialism, as practiced in today’s America, is still essentially incrementalism, but they’re much bigger increments.

"Such a model works well in places like #Finland, #Iceland, and #Denmark. These countries have high taxes, but they get far more out of them than we do. As a result they are consistently ranked as the happiest countries on Earth, with excellent numbers for education, homelessness, poverty, healthcare, life expectancy, and infant mortality—all areas in which the US, with its profit-first approach to every problem, is lagging behind.

"#HighTaxes and a mixed economy also once worked well in the #UnitedStates. We dug ourselves out of the #GreatDepression with the #NewDeal. Government programs brought electricity to rural areas and established safety nets and Social Security. Our middle class boomed after World War II, when taxes were the highest they’ve ever been.

"#Republicans and #BigBusiness called that #socialism, too. They even conspired to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Now, faced with another socialist menace, they’re playing just as dirty."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/democratic-socialism-compromise

#TaxTheRich #WealthTax #DSA #RedScare #USPol #WorldPol #CorporateColonialism #EpsteinClass

There are many reasons why cabin crew/flight attendants do not accept tips.

1. Flight attendants are trained and certified professionals who ensures passenger safety, security, etc. during flights.

2. The airlines would find a way to exploit that, too.

https://mastodon.world/@somecanuckchick/115056787270915711

#cdnpoli #polcan #wagetheft #exploitation #unpaidwork #unpaidlabour #aircanada

Consultations?!?

Shouldn't it be a Crown inquiry into the #wagetheft and #exploitation of Canadians in the industry?

If the government is truly aware of the allegations, then they know the allegations go back AT LEAST as far as the Harper government... that means it spans decades... let's hear from every single one of them.

https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2025/08/government-of-canada-launches-consultations-on-unpaid-work-in-the-airline-sector.html #cdnpoli #polcan #unpaidwork #unpaidlabour #aircanada

INVISIBLE AND UNPAID
May 18, 2025

I didn’t stop creating because I gave up. I stopped because the system made sure my work would never be seen, and never be paid. I covered all the production costs. I worked full-time for over a year. YouTube kept everything — the control, the visibility, the revenue — and gave me silence in return. No warning. No transparency. No income. If this is the creator economy, it runs on unpaid labor and buried voices. I wrote about it. And I wrote it for those who’ve lived it too.
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WHEN PLATFORMS PROFIT FROM YOUR WORK AND WARN NO ONE

I didn’t go bankrupt because of mismanagement. I went bankrupt because my editorial manager repeatedly refused to pay me for my work. I covered all the costs: hosting, tools, software, thumbnails, editing, promotion — everything. I kept producing under pressure, with no contract, no salary, and no support. YouTube does not reward effort. You can invest ten times more time and resources — it won’t change anything. The algorithm doesn’t care. The platform has no conscience. And while empathy is optional in business, fair compensation isn’t. In labor law, an employer cannot both suppress your work and refuse to share the profits it generates (and yet, it needs to be made clear: the profit doesn’t come from your invisible video — it comes from the virality of the system itself, which drives millions of people to join the gold rush in pursuit of “YouTube money.”).

I’m not asking YouTube to give away 100% of its revenue. But paying €0 for 18 months of full-time work, or $0.98 for 215 hours on Twitch, is not a business model. It’s wage theft. This is not a single bad experience. This is the systemic failure of the freelance model. Not a store exploiting ten interns — but millions of creators, educators, and artists being denied recognition and value at scale. And if my work weren’t buried, I could at least try to monetize it elsewhere: through sponsors, clients, partnerships, sales. But being both invisible and unpaid removes every option. No visibility. No leverage. No survival. And worst of all, no one warns you. YouTube Studio never says: “Most of you will never be paid. Proceed without expecting compensation.” There’s no alert: “Your content may be suppressed, ignored, or discarded — regardless of quality.” No disclaimer. No warning. No informed consent. Yet the consequences are real: creators invest months or years before realizing they were never meant to be seen, never meant to earn, never even meant to exist in the system. No recognition. No value. No dignity. Just silence — automated and monetized.
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||#HSLdiary #HSLmichael

#YouTube #Creators #UnpaidWork #Freelance #Algorithm #WageTheft