On Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 10:50 PM, joseph berg <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 2:50 PM, William Conger > <[email protected]>wrote: > >> I'm not opposing the concept Marx had but I am claiming that 'mere >> existence' is >> not a demonstable condition for a large number of people. >> >> Raw capitalism -- capitalism in its pure amoral state -- will drive a huge >> segment of the population into abject poverty and degradation. >> >> We stopped to eat on the interstate last week The only place was a >> Denny's (I'd >> never been to one). It was very crowded. We chose to sit at the counter >> directly in front of the kitchen serving area. It was mayhem. The >> waitresses, >> all plenty tough looking country girls (who I imagined had three kids at >> mom's >> trailer and an absent husband, either run-off or in jail), were running >> and >> bumping into each other, slopping the food, dropping utensils, and rinsing >> containers for quick reuse. The cooks, all scraggy looking, skinny boys, >> literally threw the food onto the frying surfaces, scooped the butter or >> lard, >> and slammed it all onto big plates. The floors were littered, the counter >> stools were wobbly. When we had finished our leathery lukewarm grilled >> cheese >> sandwiches and received the check (rather steep I thought). I cautiously >> asked >> our waitress how she was paid. She said $4.90 an hour plus tips. I >> guessed >> that she probably averaged $400 a week take home, if that. Her face was >> covered >> with sweat. Now that, to me, is exploitation. The girl is working like a >> beast, the restaurant is like a farm where animals are fed by the scoop, >> and the >> prices are actually high for that type of place. Something is very >> wrong.The >> dignity of hard working underclass people is being abused. They will not >> easily >> escape their hard-times poverty. And this waitress is probably among the >> lucky >> few in her societal group. She's likely in deep debt as well. I gave >> her five >> bucks on a twelve dollar bill. I should've given every girl there $100 >> and put >> it on my credit card just because I don't like what chain restaurants and >> stores >> do to (mostly small town) workers. They need unions. >> wc >> > > - The mind resorts to reason for want of training. (Henry Adams) > > More and more places of employment are run like Denny's where the people > at the top are not about to spend even half-a-penny to properly train their > employees. > > So they leave the employees to "figure things out" (reason?) for > themselves. > > And that precipitates a slow downward spiral. > > And then as the business goes into steeper decline, the people at the top > just can't understand why (it's only the mystery of mysteries to them) and > sometimes even blame their employees for the decline. > > And then the people at the top begin laying off employees to make their > business "more competitive." > > And that increases the workload for the remaining employees. > > Which is why I say that in these times, you don't have to die...................to go to Hell. Uh-uh.
