ADVERTISEMENT

Capitalism has accelerated the economic growth of human civilization. There's no doubt that. However, the unreliability of this growth as well as its quality and the fairness with which the system distributes its expanding wealth have all been criticized for many years now. Most recently, it's been done through memes.

Which is exactly what the Facebook page 'General Strike' is all about. Addressing both capitalism's theoretical structure and the way it affects people's everyday life, this fun and thought-provoking online project has proved to be relevant to over 50,000 folks who follow it. So let's take a closer look at its content.

More info: Facebook

#1

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

joshuapotash Report

Add photo comments
POST
adameve avatar
Adam Eve
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This should be upvoted, hats off, what's the point in protest for change if you don't acknowledge it when it happens

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#2

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
shrimpyninni avatar
AsexualShrimp
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Listen to the Veggietales. They might be the only ones speaking sense recently.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

As Richard V. Reeves, a senior fellow in Economic Studies at The Brookings Institution, pointed out, one of the main reasons why we can say that capitalism is failing is because it can not provide a decent wage to those who want a job.

"Before markets, before even money, there was work," Reeves wrote. "Our remotest ancestors, hunting and gathering, almost certainly did not see work as a separate, compartmentalized part of life in the way we do today. But we have always had to work to live. Even in the 21st century, we strive through work for the means to live, hence the campaign for a 'living wage.'"

The economist highlighted that it took two revolutions (one agricultural, one industrial) to turn 'work' into its own category but even after all of this effort, it still can't satisfy our needs.

#3

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
mish2101 avatar
Michele Wintzloff
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't understand people being fired when they attempt unionisation! Very glad to be here in Australia where union membership is allowed and voluntary for all sectors of employment. We have them to negotiate collective bargaining agreements that determine a minimum pay rate and everyone is on the same hourly rate.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#5

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

anewkindofhuman Report

Add photo comments
POST
mariegraphique avatar
MEB
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have let them have it all! Let's take that power back! Our children are worth that much (and more!), don't they?

View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT

"Industrial capitalism sliced and diced human time into clearly demarcated chunks, of 'work' and 'leisure.' Work was then bundled and packaged into one of the most important inventions of the modern era: a job. From this point on, the workers' fight was for a job that delivered maximum benefits, especially in terms of wages, in return for minimum costs imposed on the worker, especially in terms of time," Reeves continued.

"For Karl Marx, the whole capitalist system was ineluctably rigged against workers. Whatever the short-run victories of the trade unions, the capitalist retained the power; the ultimate control, over workers' time. And the worker would remain forever alienated from their work. The goal was to assert sovereignty over our own time, free of the temporal control of the capitalist, able 'to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner.'"

#6

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
andrewcoe42 avatar
Zol
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

america always has a politically driven fear .... was communism decades ago , then terrorism , now socialism is the bogeyman .... all the enemy of freedom apparently

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#7

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
kellid1202 avatar
Kelli
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My favorite dumb a*s line from a miser of a boss “the more you know, the better off you are” which equated to the more you know, the more I’ll have you do at the same crappy wage.

View more commentsArrow down menu
#8

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
ericgibbs avatar
Eric G
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Exactly. I've always never understood when veterans say, " I didn't put my life on the line so you could be making $15 flipping burgers." Then what did you put your life on the line for? For corporations to make billions while minimum wage workers have to work 2 jobs 60 hours a week and still stay in poverty?

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT

That sense of being powerless is what Slovenian philosopher-scholar Slavoj Žižek also thinks the western society needs to get rid of. To illustrate his point during the Occupy Wall Street protests, Žižek recalled an old joke from Communist times.

ADVERTISEMENT

"A guy was sent from East Germany to work in Siberia," the scholar began the joke. "He knew his mail would be read by censors, so he told his friends: 'Let's establish a code. If a letter you get from me is written in blue ink, it is true what I say. If it is written in red ink, it is false.' After a month, his friends get the first letter. Everything is in blue. It says, this letter: 'Everything is wonderful here. Stores are full of good food. Movie theatres show good films from the west. Apartments are large and luxurious. The only thing you cannot buy is red ink.'"

This, according to Žižek, is how we live today. "We have all the freedoms we want. But what we are missing is red ink: the language to articulate our non-freedom."

#11

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

rhymeswithvery Report

Add photo comments
POST
lisaschmuff avatar
Lisa Schmuff
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That is so smart. Medical records cannot have erasures or any changes that cannot be read.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#12

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
carina_4 avatar
The Queen Of Upper Butt Crack
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure why you are looking down on a "burger flipper" since you seem to be incapable of feeding yourself without them.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT

What makes it hard to have a constructive dialogue about capitalism for its supporters is the fact that it's not entirely broken. "In terms of material conditions of life, across the broad sweep of economic history, capitalism has delivered pretty well for most workers," Reeves said.

"Wages rose, hours fell, life (mostly) got better. Global poverty halved. As an economic system, socialism fell from grace, and, by and large, and in spite of recent rhetoric on the American political left, continues to fall."

#14

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
vlewis avatar
GVL
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Medical worker bosses: Come to work even if you have covid.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

But over the last decade, the logic of markets and the workings of capitalism have been intensely questioned and challenged, both from the populist right and the socialist left. "Young Americans and supporters of the Democratic party are now more enthusiastic about socialism than capitalism (by 6% and 10% margins, respectively)," Reeves highlighted. "Leading candidates now proudly describe themselves as socialists – unthinkable just a few years ago. (Whether they are in fact socialists by any sensible definition of the term is of course another matter.)"

ADVERTISEMENT
#19

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
jiakayoaddlecoat avatar
Random Panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup, doctors have to wear 3 masks and yet people still complain about wearing masks as if we didn't need to and corona would not infect them if they didn't wear masks

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
bopcatbop99 avatar
Steve Riddle
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And no regulations by US Govt. on GASOLINE price. $99 a Gallon is their DREAM!

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

According to Reeves, there are two explanations for what happened to tear the connective tissue between growth and wages: the Productivity Story and the Power Story.

"The productivity story goes as follows: wages reflect the productivity of the worker; the modern economy rewards skills more than in the past; and lots of people have not upskilled quickly enough," he explained. "Under the wonky label 'skills-biased technological change', this view prevailed across most of the political spectrum well into this century. Free markets could deliver fair-enough outcomes, so long as everyone got the education and training they needed. 'Lifelong learning' became the mantra of all, and the cliched answer from politicians and scholars to the deepening problem of inequality."

ADVERTISEMENT
#23

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

#24

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
brianleahy avatar
Brian Leahy
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Brilliant, and no joke. Better pony up fast, because de price she's a going up.

View more commentsArrow down menu

There are two problems with the productivity story. First, the necessary investments in education and training were never actually made—community colleges, the most common post-secondary destination for students from families in the bottom 80% of the income distribution, are underfunded, overstretched, and largely ignored by the policy elite. Lifelong learning never made it from the think tank policy briefs and Davos panels to the real lives of real people.

"The second problem is that productivity turns out to be only part of the story – and perhaps not even the most important part," Reeves said. "It is certainly wrong to claim that there is no relationship at all between productivity growth and wage growth. But the connection has certainly become less clear over time, and harder to square with the trends in wage inequality."

#26

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

DrDooleyMD Report

Add photo comments
POST
hwhatley avatar
FunOldGuy
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Capitalism is not about creating good jobs or improving the lives of ordinary people. Simply put, capitalism is about putting more in the hands of the few at the expense of the many. It is not at all remarkable that some individuals try to take more than they need. What is remarkable is that so many people allow it to happen, and even think that is how it is supposed to be.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
rangerkanootsen avatar
tanyalmacleod avatar
T Lee Mac
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our school board doesn’t do homework anymore for elementary students. The only thing that will ever be sent home is work not finished in class.

Load More Replies...
suehazlewood avatar
Sue Hazlewood
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How about being afraid to go to school because they may get shot.

ashlynnerickson avatar
*insertaestheticusername*
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

exactly. im afraid to go back to my middle school in the fall because i don't want to get caught in a shooting

Load More Replies...
natrich avatar
Nat Rich
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Schools are just brainwashing facilities designed to thrash out individualism and free thought. When my son lost his hair through cancer treatment, my nephew shaved his in solidarity and GOT PUNISHED by the school. I effing hate schools and if I had my time again I'd home school my kids.

jlh1134206 avatar
Wintermute
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except half the country now uses the same argument to enforce their own viewpoint on how Hitler wasn't that bad. The problem goes deeper than poor administration - the problem is how we view education as a society - and it's not good.

Load More Replies...
nikkisevven avatar
Nikki Sevven
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When I was in public school (1970-1982), it was a thing then to target the "smart kids." Insulting someone for wanting to be educated and working for it is surreal.

lynemma avatar
BravePanda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We homeschool because of this. Our child was in kindergarten when the effects of daily school trauma started to break them down. What sort of trauma? Just the daily school day of being constantly corrected, micromanaged, scapegoated by other children, and not allowed to be herself and learn in her own way, naturally. She was a pupil of an award winning teacher.

chuckycheezburger avatar
Chucky Cheezburger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Amen...we home schooled our son because of that. He is on the spectrum and wanted to put him in remedial classes because he wasn't a social butterfly and wanted to read a book. Public schools are one size fits all, and if you don't fit, they put you away so they don't have to deal with you.

Load More Replies...
chrism_3 avatar
Chris M
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean school is designed to teach you to be an office drone. It's not to actually educate.

alixpitcher avatar
chuckycheezburger avatar
Chucky Cheezburger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, screw homework. Sitting in classrooms for 7 hours for 7 classes. Teacher for each class thinks an hour of homework isn't too much, so they have 7 hours of homework on top if anything else they have to do...When the heck do they get to be a kid?

Load More Replies...
emory_ce avatar
Carol Emory
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother made us go to school everyday. We had to pretty much be on deaths door to stay home. No regard to how much we were being bullied. No regard for how stressful it was. When my son started going to public school, they would get on me about how many days he was missing. I asked if he's fallen behind in his work. The answer was "no." I would tell them his days off were for mental health as well as physical health and that, as long as his work was not suffering, I did not see the problem. When it came around to his IEP rewrite..I made them put in there that he got one day off a month to do whatever he needed to decompress. They couldn't argue with me after that.

katekat_1 avatar
katekat_1
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This year, I wanted to take a day off of school, because I was in a bad headspace and didn't sleep at all. But they wouldn't let me go because "you used your mental health day for the year already".

katekat_1 avatar
katekat_1
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The one mental health day I did take, I was doing schoolwork the ENTIRE day

Load More Replies...
staphgirl79 avatar
Mistiekim
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But there are important skills that are gained by going to school. Learning to socialize being one. How will a child make friends otherwise? Bullying is a VERY big problem and needs to be dealt with. I was bullied myself, so I understand this. But I made friends and I still have them to this day, 20 some years later. I also had the classes I needed as a stepping stone for my current career. The whole school system needs an overhaul I agree, but it is still important.

ntrouerntrend avatar
Whodathunkit
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Kids can learn to socialize in much healthier environments. Kids can learn to be creative and curious rather than drone learners. Schools stamp out passion, curiosity and creativity.

Load More Replies...
ba1923a avatar
Bill Allen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We are trained from our earliest years to accept a life of drudgery.

autumnmcconda avatar
Autumn Artemis
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh, I just schedule my crippling anxiety and depression for weekends! Makes going to school so easy when all I have to do is rearrange my mental calendar :)

gabrielealfredopini avatar
Gabriele Alfredo Pini
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

An yet here in Italy the children prayed for the end of the lockdown so that they could go back to school. This year the fifth year cried because they had to leave their teachers. Maybe your schools are doing something wrong.

nbaroatksteelx377 avatar
N’Baro Atksteel X377
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At my school, we're there for over 6 hours. If I'm late to a single class, I automatically have to go to detention, but it's frowned upon to go to the bathroom in class. So I can't go during passing period, and I can't go in class. When the heckity heck should I go? Should I pee in the chairs?? I hate it.

chuckycheezburger avatar
Chucky Cheezburger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You don't have to have a job like that. Its not glamorous, but working in a trade can be lucrative. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC, mechanics...automotive and otherwise, machine repair and maintenance, welding...How many of us have gripes about how much the plumber or handy-person charges? But unless you can or know someone who can fix it, ya gotta pay, and if you need it bad enough, they can darn near name their price.

suzannetilson avatar
Suzanne Tilson
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I only went because it was required of me....not because I deeply wanted to be there. The rules, the social cues, the teachers to appeal to..........messed a lot with me in college since no one was telling me what to do on the hour every hour

crimsonlarkspur avatar
Diana K
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

the reason I faked being sick when I was young was to avoid the bullies, not the schoolwork.

spconlan avatar
Gingergirl
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You are, of course, talking about your country. Many children, in other parts of the world, would give anything to be able to go to school.

tial avatar
Ti Al
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No. Either those replies are written by kids or your school system really sucks. Education is not bad. Good education doesn't have to be super hyper entertaining all the time, but it's not dull or useless, but free, inspiring, encouraging individual thinking and with reasonable breaks. As it is in free countries. If the most usefull part is "Active Shooter Drill", there's something terribly wrong with the system and how education is done. Then the educational system has to change, but homeschooling is not the solution in the long term.

jlh1134206 avatar
Wintermute
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's been a solid rule with TV at our house. I don't even mind swearing as much as I dislike the punchlines about how school sucks. The crappy nature of school aside, why tell kids to hate it before even sending them?

ldmonteith avatar
Key Lime
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then someone comes in the school with ad assault gun.............

ntrouerntrend avatar
Whodathunkit
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My 17 year daughter has missed a lot of school these last two years. The environment is toxic and the amount of homework assigned is ridiculous. She's thinking about dropping out and getting her GED. I would support her 100% if she did.

mtownsendsp2017 avatar
Lioness Nature
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A study showed that kids who received way too much homework go into academic burnout. By the time they reach college, unless they got the money to buy the degree, they are drowning from exhaustion. Funny how this correlates with once college is over then you get the job that does the same exact thing to you. That's all school is doing, preparing you for the rest of your life. They both pay you in paper with the value not really matching or worth the labor.

jho53214 avatar
Suck it Trebek
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not to mention the dry s**t we force feed them is so skewed to exault, wealthy people, wars, and omit anything that might not show merica in the perfect light.

yaegerl007 avatar
Linda Lee
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine if there were generational families that spent daylight hours together working on family goals like education and home chores and family meals. Parents taking an interest in their child's dreams for the future. Family football games, bike rides, caring for pets, learning the cycle of life. Learning through life experiences. But no. Parents and children will bow to the establishment.

violetjensen avatar
Violet Jensen
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yesterday I was procrastinating homework playing papas scooperia and it literally hit me like a truck that this is more useful for me than writing about henry V

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#28

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

perfectsweeties Report

Add photo comments
POST
missidontgetit avatar
Littlemiss
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Welcome to our world. We no longer have cookies due to allergies, covid and the price of basic resources costing more than a bottle of coke and a bag of chips.

View more commentsArrow down menu

The power story, on the other hand, states that wages do not reflect the productivity of the worker, but their power. Lower wages are a reflection of growing powerlessness, the result of four intersecting trends. "First, unions have become almost mythical creatures, unicorns of the labor market," Reeves said. "Just one in 20 workers in the US private sector are members of a trade union, down from more than one in four in the 1950s. Sometime around 1980, US businesses declared war on unions, and won."

Second, the wage gap between similarly qualified workers in different companies has increased. "One widely cited study finds that one-third of the increase in the earnings gap from 1978 to 2013 occurred within firms, while two-thirds of the rise occurred between firms. It is the market power of one firm versus another that determines wages, rather than the power of a particular employer versus its workers. Even if workers can get organized, they cannot force a completely different employer to share more of their surplus with them. (Now that would be socialism.)"

So the question is can we rewrite these stories?

#32

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
alexandralewis avatar
Alex Luiz
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes! I can't remember the study, but it exists-up to a certain point (I think at the time the study was done it was £40 000 a year, but inflation) money DOES actually make you happier. Then AFTER that point it has no significant effect on your happiness.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#34

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Add photo comments
POST
vahardtimes avatar
Will Cross
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How on earth can anyone think that food, water, shelter, healthcare, and education are privileges and not human rights? People really think those things are not human rights. Those in power really have some people so brainwashed that they are against their own human rights and have been convinced that they don't deserve to have those basic things. It's just sad the state of this country and so many peoples mindset on existing in this world. It's like people want us homeless, starving, unhealthy, uneducated, and to live the most uncomfortable existence. And it shouldn't be like that and doesn't have to be like this.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#39

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

existentialcoms Report

Add photo comments
POST
philbishop avatar
phil bishop
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Read Lenin and Trotsky. Just saying. You might learn something unexpected...

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#42

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

fellawhomstdve Report

Add photo comments
POST
vahardtimes avatar
Will Cross
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's heartbreaking how many people are convinced that this way of living is normal and ok. It's like they refuse to believe what's really happening. It's easier to fool a man than to convince a man he has been fooled rings true with to many people.

View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#45

People-Against-Capitalism-General-Strike

General Strike Report

Note: this post originally had 128 images. It’s been shortened to the top 45 images based on user votes.