As part of his Labor Day message to workers in the United States, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday re-upped his call for the establishment of a 20% cut to the workweek with no loss in pay—an idea he said is “not radical” given the enormous productivity gains over recent decades that have resulted in massive profits for corporations but scraps for employees and the working class.

“It’s time for a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay,” Sanders wrote in a Guardian op-ed as he cited a 480% increase in worker productivity since the 40-hour workweek was first established in 1940.

“It’s time,” he continued, “that working families were able to take advantage of the increased productivity that new technologies provide so that they can enjoy more leisure time, family time, educational and cultural opportunities—and less stress.”

    • deadtom@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Cause he’s one of the few that actually give a shit. Its why the DNC did everything in their power to scuttle his primary run. Can’t have a president that actually wants to help the common American cause then the corporate overlords might lose their stranglehold on them.

    • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      TL;DR: Corruption and capitalism

      Any kind of socialism (even relatively-speaking weak social democrats like Bernie) is severely underrepresented in US politics due to the influence of private money/capital in the government and in elections. The two party system/first past the post voting doesn’t help matters either.

      The people with money actively want to supress socialism by any means necessary. Look at Joe McCarthy and the Red Scare if you want an example in US history that still affects us today.

      Also Reagan with deregulation and Bill Clinton with “triangulation” (effectively becoming more economically right wing by finding the middle ground between right and left, while the right is constantly pushing right. See: the Ratchet Effect)

      Bernie is one of the extremely few principled politicians who doesn’t take corporate money, but he also lacks power as he is one person.

      • SCB@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Any kind of socialism (even relatively-speaking weak social democrats like Bernie)

        This move is not socialism and calling it socialism makes it harder to pass in America.

        If you’re in a gun fight, don’t start tossing your opponent ammunition.

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          1 year ago

          Thank you

          We’ve already proven that idiots don’t understand the words they parrot, so attaching it to one they hate is just stupid.

          Same thing with shit like vaccines and autism. Don’t even put the two in the same sentence. It’s not even worth legitimizing the bullshit the handlers put out there

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            At some point you have to play the game, and everyone to the left of Trump sucks ass at meaningfully doing so with the notable exceptions of Obama almost 20 years ago.

            If Dems don’t fix their messaging we aren’t going to win any of this shit.

            • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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              Seriously. There’s a serious messaging problem when the Nazis/white power groups push for social equity programs (for whites only, of course) and get more traction with poor whites than the Dems who give lip-service to equity for all while doing jack shit to deliver. EDIT: My friend’s job is to monitor white power groups in person and online. They share some crazy ass shit with me. During the Trump election, the white power folks were straight up (extremely racist) socialists – they sounded like Star Trek Mirror Universe Bernie Sanders, and it was wild to hear Trump’s populist talking points sometimes mirror what the white power socialists were saying.

            • Furbag@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              They’ll still vote straight R down the ballot regardless. I’ll take payment up front before I start kissing their asses, thanks.

    • ccunix@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Why does it feel like it’s only ever Bernie Sanders that is pushing to bring the US inline with Europe?

      • GoodEye8@lemm.ee
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        As someone from Europe I would absolutely love a 32 hour work week without any pay cut. In my previous company I bargained myself a 32 hour work week with a pay cut and it was excellent, it felt like I had so much free time to do other things.

    • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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      Because he doesn’t have to accomplish anything. Does he have a plan for this? Has he done any due diligence on transition? Has he studied the impact on small business vs large business? It’s easy to tell people what they want to hear. It’s harder to implement. Studies have shown it working in other countries, but that’s nowhere near enough to just make it happen in the US.

      • Hello Hotel@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Why the downvotes, its FUD but asked with good intent. If hes wrong, explain or link to someone.

        Whatever the “biden cult” is, i dont want to know

        • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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          It’s ok, the more I get downvoted without anyone challenging a point the more it shows I’m not wrong. If Bernie Sanders releases a plan for this today I want to read it. Until then it just feels like a circle jerk of complaining and spreading the same apathy that lead to 2016, which no same person wants.

          • DarthBueller@lemmy.world
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            I seem to recall that he wasn’t just a criticizer but that he actually had plans for change. I didn’t think he’d win, though, so I voted for Warren who seemed less liberal but a clear and demonstrated protector of normie debtors from the abuses of the financial sector.

            • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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              His economic plan required larger domestic growth than had ever happened, even more so than Marco Rubio’s plan that was ridiculed by the Left. His rationale for why we’d have the growth was not backed up by any experts, and read like some fantasy novel where consequences and hardships don’t exist. Many of his plans ignored any strategy of likelihood of getting passed, and several were prerequisites of each other meaning if the first failed the rest would come crumbling down like a house of cards.

              He also had major holes where he took hard line stances without any backup plan. His healthcare ideas boiled down to universal care or bust, where failure would have been catastrophic. To think Republicans give a shit if the system collapses. They’d do it just to win elections.

              I didn’t dislike his ideas, I disliked his lack of strategy and planning. Bernie is a very good person, but not a very good politician. Strategy is super important, and he doesn’t strike me as someone able to make difficult decisions and would stick to his ideals which could very well have catastrophic consequences.

              All that said, If he won the primary I would have voted for him in the general without question.

          • Riyosha_Namae@reddthat.com
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            1 year ago

            People disagreeing with you doesn’t mean you’re right. If anything, it tends to mean the opposite. Also, how are you getting downvoted? This website doesn’t appear to have a downvote button.

            • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz
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              This website doesn’t appear to have a downvote button.

              It depends on how the administrator set up their instance. I have an account on lemmy.one which doesn’t allow downvotes. I also have an account where I’m posting this that does. Both connect to the same content.

            • phillaholic@lemm.ee
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              “Without anyone challenging a point” is the key part. If I’m wrong, no one has out any effort into showing it.

              Your Instance may not support downvoting. Or the client you are using. Beehaw didn’t when I used it.