why are there protesters in front of the synagogue on central?

[leko.livejournal.com]

I went to investigate the noise coming from the street and there are a bunch of protesters with noise makers and drums massing in front of the synagogue on Central right off Broadway. They have signs that read "Stop greed" and something about not shopping at Shaws.

What is this about, and why are they in front of a synagogue?

Comments

[turil.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see these folks using their energy and passion to do something positive instead, such as starting their own non-profit grocery stores, that hire and buy local products whenever possible. Because one of the reasons that Shaws can do what they do is because there isn't much competition.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

You talk big with other people's time and energy! Maybe these workers just want to pay their own rent and feed their own families.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I hate to see people waste their time and energy. Because taking care of themselves and their families is a lot easier if they don't have to rely on some big corporation to hire them.

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

There you go again.

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

And they want to doing it by extorting wages that are higher than market rate through from the company that is kind enough to pay them in exchange for work. If they want higher wages, it would be more productive for society for them to get more of an education or go into a different field. Of course the coercion method is easier.

I know its easy to think of the corporation as faceless and say "they just want to feed their families" but corporations are owned by humans and humans shop at corporations too. Unions have an adverse affect on society, though of course they have a great benefit for their members at the expense of everyone else. You don't need to agree with me, but you should try to understand the other side.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

kind enough to pay them in exchange for work

Um...blink? Huh?

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

= to provide a job to them, to hire them

[blackdove24.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what the confusion is. Shaw's is a revolutionary company, in that they came up with this idea that when people work for them, they give them money. Because before Shaw's everyone was working for free, which of course wasn't working very well, since people had very limited means of generating money. So bless Shaw's for being so generous and so kind as to not only hire people and give them the honor of working for them, but to also give them money. And it's not like Shaw's is even getting anything out of it, since really they could be using their awesome space robots to do all that work instead if the humans ever decided they wanted to go back to school or work somewhere else!!!1!

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

though of course they have a great benefit for their members at the expense of everyone else.

You are full of crap:
http://www.sundaypaper.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid=98&tabmoduleid=940&articleId=4171&moduleId=922&PortalID=0

A number of the disabled cops who were helped by IBPO were not members of IBPO.

Why did they need union help? Because their employer was reneging on promised care.

Without a good research group and well written PR, the city of Atlanta would never have upheld their obligations.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

One could also argue that they should be working on getting single-payer healthcare in the US so arguments between labor and employers over who pays for healthcare stop happening. That would be equally as likely to be effective in a useful timeframe as your suggestion. By which I mean they'd be better off playing the lottery to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads than following either sets of advice; thankfully they've taken a much more positive approach than that.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Any time you are relying on someone else to do something for you, you are giving away your power to them. Be the change you want to see in the world is a more positive way to go. But I realize that most people don't feel confident enough to be creative, and tend to rely on big business and government to take care of them instead.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

It's true, telling people on the internet what those other folks over there really ought to be doing because the clear actions they are taking just aren't enough/correct for your tastes is definitely the way to be the change you want to see in the world.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Which is why I rarely tell anyone what to do. I merely suggest what's possible...

[miss-lisa-ma.livejournal.com]

It's not terribly possible in a country where real wages have been stagnant for most working folks for 40 years, the industrial base that used to support blue collars workers in a reasonably safe, secure fashion has vanished and even the most educated white-collar workers wind up serving fries at Chez Ronald.

Nice try, but your suggestions aren't really possible for many people. Just what have you done in that regard? (Before you answer, remember that we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and those who uphold the infrastructure around us that we too often take for granted. Unless you built your own home by hand, grow your own food and medicines, and use no public roads/water/utilities, you're hardly going it alone. Those things, and many more, make it possible for people like you to think they're mavericks who accomplished everything on their own merits.)

[turil.livejournal.com]

I never said anything about going it alone.

I said that it's easier to take care of yourself and your family if you aren't relying on big business to take care of it all. It's not easy for many people to choose to start their own businesses/organizations, but with all this support that these folks are getting, they could do amazing things, I bet...

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

You sound like a cross between a marxist and John Galt.

This is what Turil has in mind...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/27/christians.unplugged/index.html?hpt=C1

[anyee.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, it's that...guy again. Why are we doing anything but heckling him?

[ron_newman]

I don't know who you are referring to.

Turil is not a guy...

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

FYI