Profit = revenue - expenses

If you want to maximize profit, you have to increase revenue and decrease expenses; that means raising the price of your product and/or service while also cutting your production costs. Labor is often the single largest production cost, so reducing labor costs is often one of the most effective ways to cut business expenses.

It isn't fair, it's capitalism. This is how capitalism works. The profits of a relative few - specifically the business owners, investors and executives - are the priority. All of us are expected to prioritize THEIR profit above all other considerations, even our own lives and well being.

If they want to dismantle a union, start with police unions. But I'm sure that's the one and only union they would support. Tells you something about these assholes. And police.

It shouldn't be all that surprising that liberals choose to continue to participate in liberal democracy. It's their system. They want to see it maintained, they don't want to see it dismantled or replaced. They like things the way they are, more or less, and they don't want to see things radically change.

I don't want that change either, but I think the right kind of change is not only acceptable, it's absolutely necessary. I don't think liberals should be expected to embrace just any change - like change that would make things worse - but they should be open to positive changes, even if those changes seem relatively "radical."

History ended sometime around 1990. It was determined at that time that civilization could not substantially change any further, for better or worse. No Mad Max or Terminator dystopias, but also no Star Trek type societies in which both social systems and technology become highly advanced. No, just a Sisyphean nightmare in which nothing meaningfully changes and an infinite, perpetual constant is maintained and managed, forever and ever, until the heat death of the universe. Instead of either dystopia or utopia we have an ever present, oppressive malaise that only the sweet release of death can liberate us from.

There already were federal departments for such things.

That's true. Those departments have served a similar purpose to what I described.

There's really no reason, then, not to abolish the Senate, in my opinion.

As it is, the Senate makes representation in Congress less proportional, which I think makes it less democratic.

I have wondered, though, if the Senate could serve a different purpose. I wonder if the Senate could become a body of experts, like medical experts, scientists, and those with extensive knowledge, education and experience in an important field of study. That way, there would be a kind of technocratic body that could push back against or otherwise moderate misinformed policy that might come from voters and their representatives. Just a thought I've had.

We need build a world where everyone is equally responsible for global warming. It's only fair.

I think modular/pre-built/kit homes can be a really great option, for a lot of reasons, but they probably won't do much for home affordability. The restricting factor is land. There are only so many detached, single family homes that can fit on any given area of land, and the land is getting full. At least, it's pretty full in the areas people want to live. You can get a pretty cheap house already if you're willing to live in less desirable areas.

Here's the article, for anyone interested.

It basically boils down to: Brian Thompson grew up in a working class family in Iowa, while Luigi Mangione came from wealth and went to private schools. He compares Mangione to Osama bin Laden, and other "Angry rich kids jacked up on radical, nihilistic philosophies," who "cause a lot of harm, not least to the working-class folks whose interests they pretend to champion."

The author then mentions some polling that says people like their health insurance provider, actually. And then finally he says this:

Thompson’s life may have been cut brutally short, but it will remain a model for how a talented and determined man from humble roots can still rise to the top of corporate life without the benefit of rich parents and an Ivy League degree.

Without a stitch of irony. Thompson may have come from working class roots, but that ain't where he ended up. So if it's ok to become rich, but it's not ok to be born rich, then I guess this author supports a 100% inherence tax? Yeah, somehow I doubt it.

If you live in Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, or Florida (really any of the fifty states, but these are the most critical), AND you don't want to see Donald Trump elected for a second term, you must vote for Joe Biden in November. Yes Biden is a doddering old man who is experiencing rapid cognitive decline, and yes it is totally unacceptable that these are our choices, but disengaging does not solve the problem, it only makes it worse.

Believe me, I completely understand the inclination to just say to hell with it and check out, but we can't do that. I have been as guilty of it as anyone but I now fully recognize it was a mistake. But it's not too late to make it right. Voting is not only a right, it is a responsibility. If we, the people, want to rule, we must be vigilant and responsible.

Right now, our priority is damage control and harm reduction. I know, it has been that way for far too long, and that is extremely frustrating, but it is nonetheless the reality of the situation. We must vote for Biden this year, and then we MUST stay engaged so that we can work toward nominating the best possible candidate in 2028. We must stay informed and vote, diligently, in every state, local, and primary election.

Another moral victory for Democrats. If only such victories mattered.

While law enforcement does not believe Thompson's killing is part of a trend targeting health executives, the attack underscores the vulnerability of these high-profile executives.

Yes, very vulnerable people. I mean, not as vulnerable as an elderly cancer patient who's been denied care, or a working class family driven to bankruptcy by medical debt, but, you know vulnerable to righteous retribution. Except, they're not really even vulnerable to that, since they have the resources to pay for private security.

I'm not a Gen Z voter, so I certainly can't speak for them, but I hate our country. I hate that so many Americans are being left behind. I hate that we are falling so far behind other democracies. I hate that our democracy is so flawed and corrupted, that I'm not sure it's accurate to even call it a democracy anymore. I hate that so many Americans believe that being greedy, selfish, and indifferent to human suffering is not only acceptable, but somehow "rational." I hate the manipulation and the misinformation that is very intentionally disseminated to the American people. I hate the violence, I hate the war mongering and war profiteering. I hate a lot of what IS right now, because I DEMAND better for myself and ALL other Americans.

I don't understand. What's ironic about a socialist opening some city owned grocery stores?

They're a parody of themselves.

Anyone celebrating this, you HAVE to understand that the US and Israel did NOT do this because it was what the Iranian people wanted, they did it because it was what THEY want. Whether this will actually be good or bad for the Iranian people makes absolutely no difference to the US and Israel. They don't care about the Iranian people, they don't respect the Iranian people. This was a selfish act on the part of the US and Israel, not a selfless one.

If the world was warming even faster than scientists thought it would, seemingly jumping years ahead of predictions, would that mean even more crucial decades of action had been lost?

Yes. Yes it would.

Without realizing it, Mike Beasley makes a great argument for why private, for-profit health insurance shouldn't exist.

Macron referred to expected changes in Washington's foreign policy, citing the need to reduce reliance on the United States for security.

As an American, I also urge Europe to reduce its reliance on the US, for security or anything else. You're going to want to insulate yourselves as much as possible from my unbelievably stupid, and potentially very dangerous country.