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Noah Smith @Noahpinion
, 4 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Was declining union membership in America a choice that we made? Did we go in a neoliberal, anti-union direction while European countries made the opposite choice?

If so, why did unionization decline everywhere?
bloomberg.com/view/articles/…
That said, France and the Nordic countries do have a lot of workers who aren't union members but who are covered by collective bargaining. Everywhere else, collective bargaining has declined.
The "Ghent System" looks like an interesting way to make unions more attractive.
But watch out...that system just might be...neoliberal!

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One thing I think would help reduce elite Millennial burnout/disappointment/rage is for people to stop thinking that their job should save the world.

"Save the world" and "make the world a better place" are probably just things employers tell you to get you to work for cheap.
Maybe your job will give you meaning and purpose and a sense of doing good for the world.

Or maybe it'll just make you some money so you can raise some kids, have some pet rabbits, and be active in your local community.

There's more than one way to get meaning in life.
Also, people glorify saving the world when it probably just gives you PTSD.

We like watching Star Wars and Lord of the Rings and whatever, but we wouldn't want to actually fight Darth Vader or slog through Mordor. That would cause major burnout!
Read 3 tweets
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1/Since Trump's demand for his Wall is in the headlines, I thought it would be a good time for a thread about a history book I just read:

"Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America", by Daniel Tichenor (2002)

amazon.com/Dividing-Lines…
2/The book starts out with a chapter or two of dense, unnecessary political science jargon, saying that - essentially - U.S. immigration policy tends to move very slowly, because powerful politicians and officials resist the tide of public opinion.
3/But most of the book is an extremely readable, eye-opening history of U.S. immigration policy, from the founding through the 1990s.

It shows how the immigration debates we're now having have been with us, in some form or another, for a very long time.
Read 27 tweets
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Thread about why very high tax rates on very rich people don't raise much revenue (or reduce inequality much, even within the top tier).

Our system has a million loopholes. Closing them is more important than raising top rates.
That's not to say there's a trade-off between raising the top rate and closing loopholes! They are complements, not substitutes.

But if you just raise the top rate without closing loopholes, you'll likely be disappointed.
The fact is, raising effective taxes on the very rich will require a comprehensive sustained push on a large number of policy fronts. There is not going to be one silver bullet.
Read 6 tweets

Related threads

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Frank Hammer: There was nothing ever "given" to us--our #union fought for everything we got on the job. #1u
@UAW @Detroitunionist @freespeechtv #RickShow
Frank Hammer: When GM went global, it was time for the union movement to become international and grow. #1u
@UAW @Detroitunionist @freespeechtv #RickShow
Frank Hammer: We now have a multiple tier wage and benefit structure--four echelons of workers but they're all getting different things for doing the same job. The workers are fractured, divided from each other.
@UAW @Detroitunionist #1u @freespeechtv #RickShow
Read 15 tweets
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Trump and Mussolini: 11 Key Lessons from Historical Fascism

Italian fascism provides a better model for our moment than Nazi Germany—and the comparison is not encouraging.

By: @Anis_Shivani for @AlterNet
Thread ✔
1/
Fascism is a religion. The 20th century will be known in history as the century of fascism.
〰️ Benito Mussolini

2/
I’d like to draw some comparisons and contrasts between our present situation and that of #fascist Italy between 1922 and 1945. I choose fascist #Italy rather than #Nazi #Germany because it has always seemed to me a better comparison.
3/
Read 169 tweets
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001/ [article content in this tweet series 001-180 reproduced with permission from Martin Howe QC of Lawyers for Britain @lawyers4britain]
#quote "Leaving the EU on WTO terms: pulling down the barriers to world trade
Introduction: why prices will FALL after Brexit, not rise" /002
002/ #quote "Over the past couple of weeks, the media have been full of lurid scare stories about what will happen if the UK leaves the EU on WTO terms, because negotiations with the EU do not result in a withdrawal agreement." /003
#tariffs #NoDeal #Brexit #WTO #ProjectFear #shortages #food #medicines
003/ #quote "One of the most ridiculous and UNJUSTIFIED of these absurd scare stories is that it will lead to higher prices, and even shortages, of foods and medicines." /004
Read 180 tweets
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I saw George Takei speak last night about his life and career.
A life that has seen Japanese internment camps, the violence that accompanied the civil rights era, the struggle for LGBT recognition and basic dignities.
And a career that saw him offered roles as humiliating stereotypes and having to keep his most important relationships a secret to protect it.
Read 17 tweets
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America is the only industrialized country without universal healthcare. It's also the only one without a VAT. That's not a coincidence.
The first of these statements is repeated all the time. The second you hardly hear at all.
People can bleat all they want about raising taxes on the rich and cutting spending or whatever. You want single-payer? VAT, baby, VAT!
Read 21 tweets

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