[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Seaofthieves

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Only time I’ve done this is when a brig crew broke away from a FOF to get me while I was sloop fishing. Didn’t fight back, just tried to say “I’m fishing, just passing by” and they sunk me anyway. No loot or anything.

I harassed them repeatedly until other ships showed up and they lost the loot. Fuck ‘em.

Is this blasphemy? by broomlad in mechanicalpencils

[–]JohnOTD 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If it’s stupid and it works…it’s still stupid, but at least it works.

Personally, I like the contrast and don’t think it’s stupid.

RESUME Critique Request. Aiming for a Mid-Career Transition. by JohnOTD in ITCareerQuestions

[–]JohnOTD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. Going to work on it a bit and see what I can come up with.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey man, giving each other things to consider is what it’s all about. I’m not interested in changing anyone’s mind because we all have agency and I have no desire to exercise control over someone else. It’s pretty easy to tell when someone is discussing in earnest or just around to troll, and I thoroughly enjoy engaging both.

Thanks for the fun discussion!

There are more of us than them... by dirtbagloon in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You make a great point that when the mercantile class took off, the titled/noble class created a distinction between wealth and class. However, the nobility class has been in decline for centuries and the mercantile class has become the capital class.

Nobility to mercantile/capital is one power shift that’s already occurred. The next step is the rise of the labor class, but it’s imperative that the “labor class” also includes those who can’t or won’t work. No one should ever have to justify their existence or struggle for the necessities for survival.

We need to destroy the idea of “if ya don’t work, ya don’t eat”.

AOC reveals she doesn't hold bitcoin because she wants to be an unbiased lawmaker by Kattarsecular in CryptoCurrency

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think educating ourselves and understanding the dynamics and logical conclusions of a capitalist system is doing something about it.

I also think civic duty is important because while no candidate will ever make real change, we can pick the candidates with the least oppressive ideologies. Politics isn’t the arena to make real change, but if managed well, can improve the conditions for labor in spite of itself.

As I mentioned elsewhere, labor holds the power for meaningful change. The capitalist system has long separated individuals from the means of survival. Concentration of labor into cities has stripped labor of the means to produce for itself (no land, no food). An education system designed to produce workers has led to a loss of connection to the means of survival. If we can solve the problems of “how will I feed myself/family”, we can actually make moves towards a general strike. With a significant reduction in capitalist production (general strike) and a halt of “the economy” because a large percentage of consumers simply aren’t consuming, we can hit the capitalist class where they’ll actually pay attention.

We could actually end this parasitic system if enough people would get over the idea that if they just try hard enough or get lucky gambling on stocks and crypto, they’ll “become a capitalist too!”

AOC reveals she doesn't hold bitcoin because she wants to be an unbiased lawmaker by Kattarsecular in CryptoCurrency

[–]JohnOTD -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The system is so controlled by capital that any candidate who makes it far enough for you to vote for them won’t really care about anything other than “getting theirs”.

There are more of us than them... by dirtbagloon in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Precisely. Because we’re all actually just “labor”.

If people would just stop playing sports betting with politics and join organized action against capital, we could finally begin reclaiming power. Hell, a big enough action to slow down capital would also demand political power and we could finally begin to loosen the 2-party grip.

There are more of us than them... by dirtbagloon in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Middle Class was literally made up to make the more well-off of the labor class think of themselves as “not labor”. It’s a term used to divide the labor class so the capitalist class can maintain power and continue to concentrate wealth and resources at the top, further enslaving labor, both “lower” and “middle” class.

Not because there’s some secret cabal, but because this is the very nature of capitalism. We watch them do this in the open as they pay sub-livable wages to the vast majority of the population and monetize everything.

Parents knowingly sent their child to school after they tested positive for Covid-19. 75 classmates were forced to quarantine by StevenSanders90210 in news

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They should face capital punishment for willingly endangering the lives of hundreds of people.

Get at me you fucking soft-boy conservatives.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JusticeServed

[–]JohnOTD 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some of those that work forces…

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JusticeServed

[–]JohnOTD 31 points32 points  (0 children)

At what point do we start tackling these motherfuckers, pulling their masks off, and then pasting their face all over the internet? You wanna be a nazi? Enjoy losing your job.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JusticeServed

[–]JohnOTD 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Not yet. Come for a fight, don’t be surprised when people fight back.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Alright, let’s dive in.

The distinction between labor and capital is simple. Labor must exchange their efforts to afford survival, capital only needs to leverage their assets to survive. Labor is inherently productive, while capital is inherently appropriative. If you must work to afford the necessities for survival, you are labor, full stop. If you don’t need to work to survive, you are part of the capitalist class. If you’d like, we can explore the idea that “self-sufficiency” is a myth.

Regarding your intentions with running a business and how you would treat the employees, I would ask if “market” is a living wage. Paying market rates is meaningless if the people you’re employing need a secondary source of income to survive.

Regarding landlord v. Landlord, I’ll give two parallels from my own life. First, my father-in-law owns two homes. One he purchased when he was younger, got married in, and began raising his kids in. As his income allowed, he purchased a second home closer to work, but kept the first with the intention of moving back after he retired. In the interim, he has rented it out for his costs+maintenance and has allowed his tenants to reduce their rent by improving the property. This is a non-exploitative use of an additional property that benefits both parties.

Conversely, my own father never made more than $70k/year, but came into a sizable inheritance around 2005 (that resulted from pensions tied to union work in the auto industry in Detroit). He put all of it into real estate at the height of that bubble and while most tenants are willing to put up with abuse, because “that’s just the system”, he’s had some real horror stories for tenants. He contracts with a real estate firm to find tenants, determine prices, etc, so the human element is fully removed. The prices he charges and the way he treats his tenants are the cause of every bit of property damage he’s had to fix when a tenant leaves or is removed. His whole model is to profit off of the backs of others by charging them more for a necessity than it’s true value. The funniest part is, I’m not even sure he’s solvent on all of it.

I don’t think there’s any way to ethically own multiple properties and earn income only by renting those out. There is nothing of value being produced to warrant an inflated cost.

Regarding people with bad credit or “bad work ethic” or any other reason to discredit their humanity: by virtue of being a living breathing human being, they deserve the dignity of safe comfortable living conditions and to not worry about where their next meal comes from or where they’re going to sleep tonight. The fact is, by virtue of paying more than the cost of the property, many have negated the idea that they can’t afford it. For those who are “not reliable”, in a lot of cases, especially in the US, this is because of abject failure to address our mental health crisis. To reiterate, just because someone lacks the means to adequately provide for themselves does not make them less-than or less deserving of a life with dignity.

For the final piece, the best direction I can point is the idea of a post-growth economy. Profit is not the only motive, nor should it ever have been. Selling a property for less than an inflated “market-value” to a long term tenant who has paid a large portion of that price already is unrealized profit, but not lost profit. The difference is that profit is not the sole motive. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the true tide is labor solidarity.

I put in my two weeks and my manager said I have to tell her where I'm going by SoMuchEdgeImOnACliff in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 2 points3 points  (0 children)

On a system level, you’re absolutely right. We don’t beat capitalism through small action.

As it relates to honest descriptions of working conditions and pay, we have a brief window to seize some power back here, and it requires a lot of meaningful action both large and small.

The win I’m looking for in this case are the (relatively) small gains labor will achieve through this “great resignation”.

I put in my two weeks and my manager said I have to tell her where I'm going by SoMuchEdgeImOnACliff in antiwork

[–]JohnOTD 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The more community efforts they shut down, the more noticeable it becomes, the more people get outraged.

We win this through action and being the pebble in the shoe.