: I confess, this potshot was aimed at you, and also exxagerated for effect. However, you have thrown around terms like "cancer" to describe the bougies & cappies, and you have engaged in inflammatory rhetoric about the death penalty and "fighting," but...I concede, you're no Pol Pot. :)Ending what appears to be an apology for a potshot with yet another potshot. 'No, you're no Pol Pot, I just like to put his name and yours in the same sentence...' Ask Hank about this technique borrowed from Chomsky. It's sleazy. At least when I accuse somebody of something, I'm direct. And, by the way, I know you're no tax-and spend ecological liberal who wants poor people to have less oil for heating their homes...
Stoller : They only think that voting makes a difference...
: That is true at the highest levels, though the bit of difference it makes is crucial, I believe. However, the lower down the political ladder you go, the more voting matters, so that finally at the state and county, you can vote in real progressives (even commies, depending where you live) who will fight hard for the poor, workers, the environment, etc.
The lower the level, the less impact. Are you suggesting that a city councilman (and, yes, socialists can---and have---won these seats) has an impact on the social relations of capitalism? Most quit because they discover that they must compromise much more than their principles in order to achieve even the smallest gains. To decide whether old coke or new coke gets 99% of a tex rebate for polluting in the town's water or 98% is no accomplishment.
: I know Big Biz controls a lot, and I know that the televised campaigns, for instance, are controlled by a committee comprised of the two parties (hence, third party candidates can be shut out), but there is still room to fight them, and casting a vote for Nader is at least more effective, if not moreso, as a showing of public dismay with the system, than not voting.
Remember 1996? Nader did not ONCE get his photo on the cover of the New York Times. He got a cover story in the Sunday magazine, a story about what a loser he was... His tally was 3%. Meanwhile, 51% of the country said to hell with ALL these choices.
: Yes. The 40 hour workweek and overtime is definitely better than what came before...
You make it sound like the 40-hour workweek and overtime was accomplished by legislation. It was codified by legislation AFTER labor struggled in the streets.
