That was great to read. Good to see your parents aren't robots or unaware. All of these assholes are convinced it's normal to have their life be 200 or 500 times different (economically speaking) than the cattle they call employees. We've accepted it as part of our capitalistic culture now.
Hostess is a great example. They've had a decade or more of mismanagement, giving insane pay raises to the people at the top, including 35 to 80 plus percent compensation and bonus deals/packages, the Unions conceded to multiple pay reductions over those years and big hits to their benefits...but...it's not the brasses fault...it's the employees.
Some Unions ARE assholes, I know, I use to work for one way back in the day. But many Unions do what they're suppose to do, be fair and equitable with their employers while they look out for the employees.
We've really got to stop this bullshit where the worker is the bad guy all the time, the thief, while the people at the top are the ones actually robbing shit blind...and then we condone it with, "Well...they ARE the CEO/Owner...they should take whatever they want", without ever questioning the consequences that produces in the process.
"So wait, you want me to take a 9 percent pay reduction and a 17 percent hit to my retirement/benefits, that may or may not ever be readjusted back up even if the company does well again...and you're not going to take any reductions at all?" "I'm the owner, fuck off." This is another big component that is destroying the middle class.
That's what needs to change..
no one is saying the owner can't make money hand over fist.. hell, no one is saying the owner can't reduce his employee's pay and benefits so that he can keep his profits up if it's his last resort... but, if you're making 500 times what the employee you just cut wages on is making.. how about asking yourself
"Hey, maybe I can get by on 455 times of what this guy makes, instead of 500.. and also keep his pay rate/hours the same"some think capitalism means 'cutthroat' and 'dirty-play'..or "I get mine by screwing you out of yours".. if they really understood that it's an 'honest','fair' 'integrity-based' utopia where the market *tries to weed out the Koch Bros types*..because they skew the market to their benefit which then makes the market less 'free'.. they'd call it socialism..
*tries to weed them out, but can never actually do it.. which is why it can never work because greed always takes precedent over anything else*
