I like how it’s described as a union could “cripple American Capitalism” when more precisely it’s just that a union would be so powerful as to force WalMart (or any other company) to pay their workers like human beings. That’s not going to break Walmart. They’ll barely notice.
They’ve successfully convinced us that the unions are the greedy monsters. For so many years, the companies have painted unions as “we want you to pay janitors three million dollars a year and if you don’t we’ll set your stores on fire”.
But it’s more like “We want you to take an almost imperceptible fraction of your bountiful profits and use it to make your employees’ live marginally better, and maybe give them medical benefits, y’know, so they don’t die”.
Big companies did not stop hiring ten year olds to work in coal mines because they just woke up one day and said “my god, we’re monsters”. They did it because their workers stood together and said “really, enough of this crap”.
Companies are not going to give people raises unless it’s economically necessary that they do so. Anything they can do to lower their expenses, and raise their profits, they are going to do. And no one person can stop them.
But thousands of people, millions of people? Better chances.
I am dead serious: If you are a Walmart employee, at any level and in any store — like if you are a high school kid with a part time job stocking shelves — message me any question you have about unions. Like ask me “What’s a union” if you want. I will explain it to you.
I am a grievance chair for a white collar union whose workplace only unionized within the last five years and whose management fought as every step of the way, but in the end we fucking won. It can be done, and I can tell you how.
Just another reminder that Walmart Germany was a spectacular fail because of ver.di (which is a national service trade union that has it’s control over almost all trade and service companies in Germany) among other things.
Like, ver.di essentially came up to the CEO of Walmart Germany and was like “Hi, welcome, we wish you the best and that we can work together well :)” and the dude was like “hahaha no” and tried to pull the american concept here so ver.di pulled out a list of all the breaches of german law that Walmart was doing (underpaying workers, trying to avoid paying health care by using part-timers, trying to be open for more than 80 hours per week, firing people on short notice without warning or exit payments, etc) and long story short, they got some massive hefty fines for it. They also set up a list of demands for the workers and organized national strikes to push them through, making the employees of 85 hypermarkets neatly stand in front of the store doors with signs, whistles and chants (and certainly not the “Wallmart! Wallmart!” chant). In the end, that plus other things caused them to bail after 9 years with a gigantic loss (almost a billion just from sales) from one of the best retail markets in the world.
So all those issues like “no healthcare” or “work full-time and need food stamps” or “work on sundays and holidays” and shit? Unions are there to set their foot down against that for you. They are there to keep you safe from the corps wrath while fighting for your rights.
Cause if you, an individual, complain, they just fire you and laugh about it. A union is a collection of hundreds up to MILLIONS of people, supported by lawyers, going against employers for you.
Concept: a Medieval court drama in the style of The Office, except instead of interview segments, it has confessional segments with the audience in the priest’s PoV.
I officially have a head-cannon that Sokka was meant to the next Avatar. Why? Because I really the like the idea!!!
You don’t have to like it but i think its cool
A bit more explanation…
We all know that after Air, Water comes next. Hence Korra.
But we also know Aang disappeared for a 100 years. So technically if he had lived his natural lifespan, never went into the ice, and lived anywhere to be like 80 something years old. A good long lifetime, (Avatar Roku lived to be 70 but Kyoshi lived to be 230 years old. In the show Aang lived close to age 70 but a different life means a different ending)
There’s a good chance someone else would’ve been the next Avatar, not Korra.
But because Aang didn’t die when he should’ve the person that was REALLY meant to be the next Avatar didn’t get to fulfill their destiny.
What if this person was Sokka.
Why not Sokka?
Sokka who is still the same Sokka. Except for this one, he always thought he was normal. Until… he didn’t. And argument with Katara causes both of their powers to unleash a giant explosion.
Not long after Sokka is told he’s the next Avatar
This image is pretty much Sokka all through Headcannon Book 1.
Everyone keeps their storylines.
Katara is super powerful Waterbender sister. They would’ve learned together.
Zuko would’ve still hunted him down
He still would’ve met Toph.
Aang, before he died, would’ve put as many Airbenders underground as possible where the Fire Nation couldn’t find them. Maybe had kids of his own. Grandchildren. One of which would’ve help Sokka learn his abilities.
Zuko would’ve had the same story arc/
So again, why not Sokka.
Sokka who had the ability to master all four non-bending fighting styles from each nation. Sokka who had the ability to adapt no matter where he was and learn from everyone around him and grow.
Sokka who can honestly say he once dated the MOON!
Sokka was legitimately was of the most badass character of the show.
Even Azula instinctively knew Sokka was a threat.
Honestly, I understand that Sokka went through a shit ton of character development and became great over time. But…
For my headcannon, I think that Sokka always had this power inside of him waiting to be tapped into and unleashed… His Avatar state
But because Aang never kicked the bucket, Sokka could never reach it so instead it manifested in other ways.
Also…
sokka may not have been a bender but he was what it meant to be water. Adaptable to new situations. regularly using the enemies own weapons against them (the first hot air balloon, the cold rooms of the prison, the airship they commandeered.) These were all what it meant to be the ever flowing, ever changing element of water
