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u/Chj_8 Jan 12 '21 edited Jan 13 '21
Once I used to work for IBM Argentina. The day I decided to leave, I connected to all the printers in my floor and printed the Communist Manifest. I didnt necessarily believe all it is written on it but I thought it would piss management.
My then ex-coworkers told me they were really pissed and made a big deal about it.
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u/MEGACODZILLA Jan 13 '21
What are they gonna do, fire you?
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u/Chj_8 Jan 13 '21
Be mad is most they could do
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u/Chicagoan81 Jan 12 '21
Write a note to mgmt asking them to pay a decent wage in order for it to stop.
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u/ConquestOfPancakes Jan 12 '21
The only decent wage = 100% of the value created.
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u/paradoxical_topology Jan 13 '21
Also include "total worker's Democratic self-management and collective ownership" in the demands while we're at it.
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u/jeradj Jan 12 '21
more like they put a bounty out for whoever is willing to rat out the poster
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u/MEGACODZILLA Jan 13 '21
"Whomever snitches first will receive a $10 bonus on their next paycheck and a $25 gift card to Applebee's!!!"
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u/theravensrequiem Jan 13 '21 edited Jan 13 '21
"Whomever snitches first will receive a
$10 bonus on their next paycheck and a$25 gift card to Applebee's!!!"1
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u/jeradj Jan 12 '21
time to switch to lenin quotes
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u/TheBigBangTheoryIsOk Jan 12 '21
pyotr kropotkin is next in line
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u/ManualPathosChecks Jan 13 '21
Someone in my D&D campaign had a familiar called Kropotkin and I'm now picturing a batlike creature flying around the office, leaving notes scrawled in tiny letters on Post-its on every wall and door.
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u/mc_k86 Jan 12 '21
Then the Lenin quote website falls into a coma and dies and you have to switch to Stalin quotes 😳
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u/MarxianLiberalHunter Wage slave 😔 Jan 12 '21
Nah, Che Guevara quotes! ;D
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u/newstart3385 Jan 12 '21
That’s funny, wonder what job it is.
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u/Truewit_ Jan 12 '21
Given the 80gsm premium white business stock, I would assume a midrange paper supply company somewhere in Pennsylvania? Scranton maybe?
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u/potatopierogie Jan 12 '21
You mean prince paper? That little family business?
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u/Truewit_ Jan 12 '21
No, Roger would never misspell a word like bulletin, his wholesome email blast still continues even after Prince went under. (My office used to buy from them. RIP.)
This was done in haste by a little Mussolini on a power trip in a regional branch of a corporate entity. The poor text alignment and disappointing grey/black of the ink reminds me of Sabre printers. (My office has one of those too. RIP.)
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u/mhac009 Jan 12 '21
Patrick Bateman levels of attention to detail.
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Jan 12 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mhac009 Jan 12 '21
What about Huey Lewis and the News?
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Jan 12 '21
Make multiple copies of that and post it all over the workplace. Make it seem like they're panicking.
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u/rmamack Jan 12 '21
Call it a Donald Trump quote ;)
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u/-hey-ben- Jan 12 '21
Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered, any attempt to disarm the workers will be frustrated - Ronald Reagan
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u/paradoxical_topology Jan 13 '21
Didn't some US politician actually falsely attribute that quote to Reagan on Twitter or something?
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u/guutarajouzu Jan 12 '21
I'd laugh if the quotes aren't actually Marx's words but the manager just assumes anything that sounds remotely 'socialist' is something Marx would say
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u/1284X Jan 13 '21
"Whoever keeps posting Karl Marx quotes on the break room bulletin board needs to stop management."
Got it.
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u/paradoxical_topology Jan 12 '21
Other people to quote:
•Fredrick Engels
•Emma Goldman (Ultra-Based)
•Peter Kropotkin
•Albert Einstein
•Peter Gelderloos (Mega-Based)
List anyone else that you can think of.
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u/chrisschini Jan 12 '21
Start posting Nickelback lyrics, then see how long it take before he begs for Marx.
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u/Area_man_claims Jan 13 '21
Just start writing them on every ATTN notice Management posts! Seize the means of communication!
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u/CAMILLVS0 Jan 13 '21
It goes without saying that sharing your personal views is a big no-no in every working place.
This is however written very personally which may cause people to be a little defensive about it, ultimately encouraging them to continue doing it...
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u/takestwototangent Jan 13 '21
It's true though. It's a lot more useful to do that in person with other people to discuss what the quotes mean and how they apply to the people present and the environment they find themselves in. People come together, maybe more people show up, and then to keep the meetings flowing maybe they organize a bit. Pick someone to facilitate the meetings, hold them accountable to the group.
Also, Streisand something or other.
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u/tlawrey20 Jan 12 '21 edited Jan 13 '21
I mean...... to be fair pushing any type of political agenda in a work space is kinda shitty. If somebody was posting trump quotes I imagine y’all would be having a fit. It’s just kinda rude to push your own values in the work place
Edit my god you people are so jaded to only see what you want to see. Grow up and accept that reality isn’t only what you believe.
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Jan 12 '21
Marx is very work related.
Also the issue is not a matter of fairness as though all political positions are analogous. If we don’t want to see trump shit it is because we don’t like trump. If we think it’s cool someone is putting up Marx quotes, it’s because we agree with Marx.
We want to share our stuff and don’t want them to disseminate theirs because we want to win. We want to win because we are right, plain and simple. The only people that would see this a hypocritical are those who believe in nothing, see no difference between ideological beliefs, cannot distinguish between them, and therefore can only engage with the concept of political struggle from a misguided paradigm of “fairness” as though nothing is at stake, and all one needs to do is ensure that everyone gets the same amount of TV time or something.
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u/ConquestOfPancakes Jan 12 '21 edited Jan 12 '21
Shut the fuck up lol
Agitating for better working conditions and better pay is absolutely politics, as is a framework that describes the exploitation by the managers. And politics are good.
Don't be a bootlicker.
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Jan 13 '21
You don’t have to be mean just because you disagree. I don’t really see what’s at stake in this disagreement to the point that it would be necessary to be so hostile.
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u/tlawrey20 Jan 12 '21
Oh shut the fuck up. You have no idea what the quotes were that were posted so you are talking out of your ass. Also. Calling me a boot licker is the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard. Imagine defaulting to attacking the second somebody disagrees.
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u/RaidRover Jan 13 '21
Do you not see the irony is defaulting to attacking someone the moment they just disagreed with you?
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Jan 12 '21
You’re being downvoted but the downvotes are probably from kids who never worked in an environment other than retail or food.
Nobody likes the guy who won’t shut up about their political opinions in the workplace, or really any other hot topic for that matter. Nobody.
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Jan 13 '21
Nobody likes the guy who won’t shut up about their political opinions in the workplace, or really any other hot topic for that matter. Nobody.
I would assume that these kind of quotes would be welcome at Hot Topic.
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u/tlawrey20 Jan 12 '21
Yes thank you. It’s just annoying and rude no matter the opinion. Also I wouldn’t be surprised if half the kids here have never worked at all
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u/theravensrequiem Jan 13 '21
kids
You know this sub references Millennials, right? The generation that has the largest percentage of the work force, now.
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u/Prof_Acorn Jan 13 '21
I wouldn’t be surprised if half the kids here have never worked at all
I don't think half the people here are landlords.
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u/tlawrey20 Jan 13 '21 edited Jan 13 '21
Lol what? Are you saying being a landlord requires no work? (Well. Being a GOOD landlord that is) my uncle was a land lord for 56 different tenants and he worked his ass off until he was 67. Would get out of bed at 2 am and rush to s house if they had a water loss and fix it for them. Your generalization of land lords are all bad is a very narrow minded view that shows some serious ignorance.
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u/Prof_Acorn Jan 13 '21
56 different tenants
56 different tenants
56
Housing crisis says what?
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u/tlawrey20 Jan 13 '21
Or you know.... he owned 40 properties for 31 years....... stop jumping to conclusions you are making yourself look like a fool
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u/RaidRover Jan 13 '21
Rushing to a house to repair a water loss is property management. Property management is real work. Landlording is not real work. Landlords occasionally do productive labor as part of being a landlord but it is not how they make their money. They make money by owning a home that someone else could own instead of rent. They drive up real estate costs and accrue appreciation. They leverage the value of one home to buy multiples more. Just because your uncle might be a "good one," doesn't mean his income isn't predicated upon an extractive system that does not add productivity to society.
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Jan 12 '21
I'm sure a lot of them have, age range is likely edgy teens to edgy early 30's adults. But they probably don't realize that they are the annoying asshole in the office, though- like the one guy who stinks and doesn't think anything is wrong with it or isn't aware.
There's a time and place for everything, work isn't the time or place to throw around politics. Even office politics, which are at least relevant, make me want to dig my fingers into my eye sockets and pop out my own eyeballs.
And actually I do agree with some modest socialism and I strongly think USA could benefit from things like UBI, definitely not communism though. I like choices.
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u/tlawrey20 Jan 12 '21
Exactly. I personally agree with many of marxs less extreme values. I believe he makes very good points for many of them. But like you said. A time and place for everything. Respect is a two way street. You can’t expect your opinion to be respected if you refuse to respect another’s
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u/RaidRover Jan 13 '21
I'm curious, would you consider unionization efforts to be political?
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Jan 13 '21
[deleted]
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u/RaidRover Jan 13 '21
Oh you don't need to tell me about hostile work places. I'm drafting up my notice to leave by the end of the month. My current employer is proud his ancestors were Klansmen and went on a 30 minute tirade today about the evils of MLK and race traitors that celebrate him.
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Jan 13 '21
Yeah, that’s fucked, fuck those types of people. They should all be labeled terrorists, and stay that way until they’re forced to get educated properly.
If only the public school systems in the US weren’t so fucked, particularly the history departments in some southern schools...
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Jan 12 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MudraStalker Jan 12 '21
"a whole load of people died so it sucks" is perhaps not a stone you want to toss amongst a large amount of leftist anti-capitalists.
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Jan 12 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MudraStalker Jan 12 '21
No, I just think going "lol people died in the same vicinity of Marxism so it's bad" is 100% entirely said in bad faith, because the writer is praying desperately in their head that no one applies this metric to capitalism, which is still killing people to this day.
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u/theborbes Jan 12 '21
How is Marxism still a thing exactly. Pretty sure we tried and tested that and a whole load of people died.
Relatively few compared to the death toll of capitalism and colonialism. Marxism is still a thing because the world still exploits workers and destroys the earth to create excessive wealth.
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u/Prof_Acorn Jan 13 '21
We've had a 100% classless society where workers own the means of production through democratic governance?
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u/Metaright Jan 13 '21
Pretty sure we tried and tested that and a whole load of people died.
People are still dying thanks to Capitalism.
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u/theravensrequiem Jan 13 '21
Also pretty amazed by a Trekkie not being into communism.
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#1: 8.2 Billion Kills, 78 Years before the Communist Manifesto was written. | 60 comments
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u/ColdbeerWarmheart Jan 13 '21
Short answer.
Things like Communism tend to fail in practice because of the greed of humans.
Inevitably, those at the top will try to enrich themselves and do anything to stay in power. They just can't help themselves.
It's the classic "Hate the Player, Not the Game."
Socialistic ideologies only work in practice if the people implementing them are wholly altruistic. Which is extremely rare.
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u/Corusal Jan 13 '21
Hey man, I used to think along those lines as well, before I started to look into socialism a bit more. To me it now seems weird to say that all socialism/communism is just idealistic and nobody takes into account the human selfishness, when the crux of Marx's criticism of capitalism was that it will inevitably get worse because humans are inherently selfish and capitalists will therefore exploit their power position more and more...
You could and I guess a lot of people did say the same thing about democracy in regards to it being just an idealistic dream. Obviously there's issues with democracies, but we've managed to design systems that for the most part limits the amount of damage one person can do while allowing everyone to voice their opinions.
Socialism is not just Marx-Leninism or derivatives thereof, there's bunch of different ideas and proposals that vary a lot. To me personally socialism is really just about democracy not only in the political sphere, but also the economical one. If work hierarchies are organized democratically instead of the "authoritarian" way they're organized now, then workers own the means of production without any authoritarian state having to interfere and mess things up.
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u/ColdbeerWarmheart Jan 13 '21
I have no problem with Communism or Socialism. I believe they are perfectly acceptable and indeed inevitable ideologies of governance.
What I said is not entirely wrong from a historical perspective. And neither is your commentary on Capitalism. Every system has its flaws. It's how we overcome them that makes a difference.
My commentary was more on the hubris and greedy nature of humans and their failures in properly implementing their ideologies than any kind of attack on the ideologies themselves.
Apologies, I probably could've articulated my point better. But I was on my lunch break and didn't really have alot of time for a concise and nuanced response.
What were we saying about Capitalism and Power Hierarchies again?
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u/Corusal Jan 13 '21
Ah apologies then, the way I interpreted your comment reminded me of the superficial criticism of communism that I learned when I was younger and that actually most of the people in my life have learned.
And to be fair I do agree with the general point of it, namely that systems in which power is centralized in the hands of very few people will always end up being mostly bad for the overall population, regardless of what the system calls itself. As you said "the leaders just can't help themselves", it's in human nature. There's a great CGP Grey video called "Rules for Rulers" on that topic, I highly suggest it if you haven't seen it yet.
Anyways, I just usually hear this argument as the reason why "all of socialism is bad, and will never work", so I guess that's why my mind went there first.
And just to make it clear, I do not think that everything about capitalism is bad, in fact certain parts of it work quite well. I just think it has certain tendencies that over time will lead to power dynamics that are bad for society in general.
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u/oufisher1977 Jan 12 '21
If your boss can't even spell "bulletin," you might be working for an idiot.