We’re at the peak of a season of hyper-consumerism, where the main struggles covered in mainstream media are not low wages and long hours for retail workers but supply chain issues delivering late holiday gifts. Against this backdrop, Max joins us for a necessary conversation on the mainstream narratives putting customers’ convenience over workers’ needs, the ongoing legacy of Reagan-era fetishization of wealth, and the problems and potential we see in current bipartisan support of strikes.
Right-wing talk radio and local news are breeding grounds for the idea that strikes, during which workers withhold their labor to strengthen workplace protections and benefits, come at a significant cost to the customer, who is deprived of those goods or services until the strike concludes. While our markets and consumer culture support the customer, workers can’t count on meaningful support from any major political parties. What if this were different, and both Democrats and Republicans were willing to make this a central issue? Right now, displays solidarity are as low-stakes as they come, tweeted words of support when it’s the policy that matters. But we see potential to bring over others on this essential issue, at a time when neither major party is making a serious bid to provide substantial support to the labor movement.
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