Work Reform

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

Higher wages for underpaid workers.
Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
Better and fewer working hours.
Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

founded 1 year ago

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How to smash the looms today - I've always loved tech. Now, I'm a Luddite. You should be one, too. (www.stltoday.com)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I test drove the first-generation Tesla Roadster. I once lived on Soylent powder shakes for a month. My Twitter account is almost old enough to drive. I wrote a book about the iPhone.

Also, I'm a Luddite. That's not the contradiction that it might sound like. The original Luddites did not hate technology. Most were skilled machine operators. In the early days of the Industrial Revolution, what they objected to were the specific ways that tech was being used to undermine their status, upend their communities and destroy their livelihoods. So they took sledgehammers to the mechanized looms used to exploit them.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I've been looking at ways to leverage open source technology to enable local economies. I'm starting with working with maker spaces

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

can you elaborate further? you got my curiosity and attention.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

There's no reason we couldn't have an Amazon-like app that buys from the stores around us.

Or services like door dash/Uber/etc that are managed inside the community with tools shared with other communities.

It is an idea that would pair well with locally managed fiber (municipal or local business), and community clouds.

I'm starting with makerspaces, but I could see it operating without them too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've written about it: https://medium.com/tech-stoa/the-smoltech-answer-featuring-worcshop-806d8306eae

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Excellent piece!

I've been thinking about it & you've convinced me (or hammered it harder in place in my brain): We need makerspaces globally.

Âll local, obviously.

To do: search or create makerspaces in the Western US.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Thank you!

I'm currently working on preparing for a talk I'm given on the topic for the Massachusetts Pirate party on Saturday.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

The video for my talk was published recently. The video quality is terrible, and I definitely need more experience with public speaking, but I think it went pretty well.

https://youtu.be/cQBb6vqEW2E?t=1790

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