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We can't just forget the government gives the death penalty to individuals but not to corporations while also saying corporations are people.
Hey, if a company kills 200 people that's a mass murderer, do what you'd do if it was a black man in his own back yard.
>**Corporation, n.**
An ingenious device for securing individual profit without individual responsibility.
Ambrose Bierce, [*The Cynic's Word Book (1906)*](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43951/43951-h/43951-h.htm#link2H_4_0004)
They could still let the owners get away with no real punishment, just sell all of the assets at auction and have the government keep the proceeds, or better yet use it for restitution to the victims.
The fact that even that slap on the wrist is off the table tells you just how bad things are.
I think they would just use a shell business to buy their own assets for pennies of the value then reform under a new name and continue right on and remake any profit lost.
Instead maybe the entire company and assets become government owned with all of their ongoing records being open to the public. If the seized business should fail afterward then all IP becomes public domain and physical assets are to be destroyed, not resold.
What you’re describing is a government nationalizing a corporation, and it’s often happened before in countries that aren’t owned lock stock and barrel by big business like ours is
Theres two sides of limited liability. For contractual agreements the liability shield offered by corporations is pretty universally a good thing. Both parties benefit from it and agree to the terms, and its useful for businesses and individuals. It allows for increased cooperation between entities in a market, promotes economic growth, and allows domestic partnerships to better compete against foreign influence. It also separates personal assets from business assets, so people are encouraged to make deals with each other without the risk that their personal wealth will be surrendered if their business fails to deliver on a contract. Theses are just a few examples.
On the other hand corporate limited liability for tort is almost universally bad. A business and its owners should absolutely be personally liable for damages if they resulted from the negligent operation of the business. The only legitimate reason for corporate shielding from tort damages is for frivolous lawsuits. However the much better solution for dealing with frivolous lawsuits is to reform tort law itself. Since there are very obvious and widespread consequences for corporations having a civil liability shield.
Corporate personhood for the purposes of contractual limited liability in no way necessitates that corporations be given all of the same legal rights as an individual. So their ability to influence elections and lobby the government can be removed entirely while maintaining the positive economic benefits of the contractual liability shield.
>We can't just forget the government gives the death penalty to individuals but not to corporations
This is absolutely the right attitude to take towards corporations.
A corporation is allowed to incorporate and act as a single entity at the behest of the people.
Once a corporation becomes harmful to society judicial dissolution can and should be invoked. The companies assets should be liquidated and any capital should be passed on to the victims of the corporation and former employees, and not the CEOs.
If judicial dissolution were regularly used, corporations would completely change their tactics for fear of being liquidated and would be much less harmful to society.
Amazon has a purposely high turnover rate in their warehouses. They purposely work people to burnout and face no consequences. A black kid got caught with weed 3x and is spending the rest of their life in jail.
Why the fuck are we destroying normal, non-violent people instead of oppressive corporations? People are real fucking people. Corporations are legal fictions.
Because corporations have money and power.
It has NEVER been about what is ethical. Might makes right. So does underhanded tactics, clever deception and solid logistics. Point is, think of how many people will be materially worse off if you were to disappear.
Guess what, those CEOs can do what they want because they feed/house/entertain big, burly, violent and dangerous men who will kill you, r*pe your wife/daughter and go home thinking nothing of it. Sure some might go home and be like "Well, that's just the system. I don't like it but I currently benefit from it so once things get better I'll stop." Crocodile tears at best, straight up sadistic glee at worst.
No one went to prison over the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Personally I think if a company kills even one person, then entire C-suite should be executed immediately.
There actually used to be a corporate death penalty. The American robber barons of the gilded age got rid of it, and a whole bunch of other anti-trust protections along with it.
Remember last year we bailed them out same with airlines with lack of pilots they did nothing with the money but give to the higher ups (could have had pilot schools ,oil companies refuse to hire more workers to slow production. Workers they fired a few months back and have openly said its due to stockholder interest )
"Government" is a low IQ target/concept, like "the economy".
It's not a mystery on how it's so easy to enslave people, when they have such an unfathomably low resolution understanding of reality.
Goddamn people, please be smarter.
Exactly, this is a publicity stunt by Biden so that people can't say hes doing nothing and that he's "trying but he's being held hostage by those big old meanie companies." Just like OP. Biden isn't being held hostage, he is fully complacent with them since they're padding his pockets
Biden is muddying the water too by blaming gas stations instead of Exxon, Chevron, etc. Gas stations don't make money selling gas, they make it by the crap people buy inside the store.
Capitalism doesn’t hold the government hostage. Government being bought out by capitalists is a FEATURE of capitalism. Not a bug. Its working as intended.
This is why you cannot trust any politican. You cannot change the system from within. You cannot vote the oligarchs out. Thats not how this works
What’s going to change America, if anything, is Americans witnessing the rise and success of socialism in other countries…which the US had been able to stifle and suppress in the past.
Even that won't change anything here. Too many tens of millions get their news from a single biased source and will never believe socialism is good even if shown facts about how they live longer, get more vacation, better paternity leave, etc. all of which are already true for a lot of European countries compared to the US. It's genuinely a lost cause and those vying for power or attempting to steal it want to take us backward, not forward.
I hate that sort of thinking. It basically guarantees nothing will ever change.
If the only other option is to destroy everything and start again, no one will ever chose it.
He also just said that the American and European people are willing to pay more for gas until Ukraine is victorious. The capitalists are loving this loyally neoliberal administration and the blank slate president they can shape as they like.
That’s not their job though. Just because it’s the job they do doesn’t mean it’s their job description. We’ve just given up pretending we don’t know they’re pretending they’re doing their job.
Always astonish me that _this_ sub in particular is anti government. WTF are people thinking would be the solution to capitalism? Good faith corporations?
The US government is doing its job very well, just as the governments of every other capitalist country. The purpose of government in capitalist nations is to protect the capitalists.
To fix your wording a bit, it can’t do the job the history books tell us it’s supposed to do. Instead it does the job actual history has shown is in its best interest. They said the government was a democracy for the people, but they lied. The government is a legislative instrument of the bourgeoisie
The history books are pretty clear about its purpose as well.
I specifically went for more commonly understandable wording, I get the feeling that Marxist buzzwords tend to turn people's brains off, even when they agree with the meaning.
Well, I’m probably younger than you, so I’d say they aren’t how they used to be. I’m referring to school curriculum based history books by the way. I remember being told this country is a perfect democracy with checks and balances that cannot be corrupted, and a bunch of other bullshit.
I mean that's what the constitution was founded on. Ever read the federalist papers? The whole purpose was to create lucrative business to strengthen our global standing. It did that, and then we backslid to the same conditions we fought Britain about : worthless local labor and foreign goods dominating the market, and politicians that don't represent the people.
The job of the US government is to provide an environment where capital is given free reign while maintaining an illusion that that is not the case. It is doing its job perfectly.
The US government was designed specifically to be a government that served the interests of the Capitalist class. The “No taxation without representation” argument was about how Colonial American Capital didn’t want to be paying British taxes without their own lobbyists in Parliament. So they said fuck it, we’ll make our own government with our own lobbyists.
He's just trying to deflect and find someone to blame because he knows high gas prices are bad for the midterms. Realistically the high prices are heavily driven by oil prices, which is not directly controlled by any company. OPEC has a desire to see a republican back in office, so they can restrict production to drive up prices.
The price at the pump has very little to do with spot crude prices, and even those are relatively in check considering how much we're being told to panic. The current fuel prices are due to companies choosing to raise prices and increase profits. They can do so because they have market monopolies/cartels, a captive market, and they have convenient excuses (situation in Ukraine, pandemic related supply issues, inflation).
Now I'm no statistician, but this looks like a pretty damn good correlation: https://www.macrotrends.net/2501/crude-oil-vs-gasoline-prices-chart
Oil companies are making a fortune, because not surprisingly they also have a strong investment in oil extraction, which is very profitable when prices are high. It's also important to note that prices are determined by commodities markets, not individual companies. OPEC is driving oil prices by restricting output while benefiting from Russian oil being effectively off the market. Oil companies are the beneficiaries of this, not the driver. Blame OPEC / Russia which is absolutely a cartel.
Correlation doesn't equal causation.
There is very little Russian oil and gas imported to the US, a couple percent at most, so it's not for lack of supply that US gas prices are high.
Again, it's a perfect mix of ostensibly credible reasons, but all it is is corporations increasing prices because nobody can stop them.
Regardless of the percentage imported to the US from Russia, being a commodities market means any restriction of supply affects prices. The oil that Europe was buying from Russia has to come from somewhere, thus prices are driven up. Corporations don't set oil prices, the market does, so light sweet crude sells for the same price in Qutar, the US and Russia.
Commodities markets are about as close as you can get to the econ 101 supply/demand curve. Your anger is misguided and no different than being upset with farmers that wheat prices are high. If you truly want to combat the system (of which I approve) you need to properly understand how it works, not simply display blind hatred which garners little support.
European nations, for all their bluster, are buying Russian energy as before, maybe at ever so slightly reduced volumes. Any sanctions packages reducing imports take weeks or months to come in to effect. There is no alternative, not yet anyway. Even once an alternative is built (LNG shipping terminals, in a few years) it's not a very good one.
Like I said before, correlation doesn't equal causation. Nor is gas or any other energy a wholesale commodity at the point of use, at least not for us working people it isn't. And if input costs are that much higher than six or twelve months ago, then why are oil and gas companies reporting record profits? If the price increases at the pump were indeed to cover higher costs (crude, transport, labour, "inflation"...) then profits wouldn't be as high as they are.
Prices are ostensibly set by the market. Who makes up the market? For the most part corporations do. They set prices.
Your analogy to farmers and wheat prices entirely misses the mark so I'll ignore it.
I like to think I have a decent understanding of the system at this point. It's by the rich for the rich, and if a price is set "naturally" by a market then it won't be very soon, as it's ripe for exploitation. I don't claim to be an expert, but being against companies unilaterally increasing prices just because they can isn't blind hatred.
You're accusing him of blind hatred yet you obviously know nothing about the industry, nor did you even read the graph you sent? Oil is around the same price it was 10~ years ago, though REFINED products like gasoline are nearly double. During COVID, around half of all US Refinery production was shut down due to low demand; this resulted in numerous shutdowns, or decreases in refinery capability due to a decrease in profit. Once demand jumped following the end of the pandemic restrictions, the refinery market never matched its previous production capabilities. This resulted in American refinery throughput decreasing by around 1/3, though the demand was at its highest in the past 10~ years (look at your chart). The US sources virtually all of its oil for gasoline domestically, with an overwhelming majority of imported oil going towards non gas based consumer petroleum products. The US hasn't built a single refinery in 60 years, though they regularly shutdown during the pandemic, never to open again.
Oil companies don't set crude prices, commodities market does (not unlike gold or soybeans). They make record profit because the crude price is absurdly high and they are in the business of extraction. I'm not here to defend oil companies, but rather to point out the realities of the economics, not blindly hate something I don't understand.
I try to remember that the US started as a collection of wealth exporting colonies run by men whose corporations profited from slavery.
We’ve always been a legal entity operated by businessmen from behind a curtain, and most of the world has been trying to get through the propaganda to warn us.
During the Trump admin, I used to play this game- I would try and think of what the stupidest thing Trump could possibly say at the day's press conference, then inevitably Trump would beat me and say something even dumber. (Shoutout to the injecting bleach comment.)
Lately I started a new game, I try to think of the most useless thing Biden could say or do to address problems in the country. Biden has been knocking it out of the park. Biden is as useless as Trump is dumb. And this isn't some both sides are bad enlightened centrism, it is just a fact.
100%. The last election (actually the past several) has been a choice between the lesser of two evils.
There hasn't been one outright, clearly-the-better-choice-for-humanity candidate in decades. You could argue Obama, but he was "ok" at best.
Someone like FDR, who took no shit and threatened to pack the SC in order to pass bills for the good of the people, is someone desperately needed in the Oval Office these days.
The problem is, there is not a single person in politics today that I can think of who has the charisma to get elected, the socialist mindset to work for the People, and the brass balls to channel Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt’s best hardball politics.
Where the fuck is our Aragorn & Eomer? Bc right now all we have is Theoden, Denethor, and Saruman.
So now we are going to get Trump or DeSantis next election thanks to Biden's ineptitude.
Voting for Biden to get rid of Trump is like throwing water on a grease fire. You think it helps, but it makes the problem worse.
I'm not so sure that the Venn diagram on the owners there isn't fairly close to a circle, but you do have a point. Both oil companies and fuel retail companies are making bank profits.
The vast majority of gas stations are owned by independent franchisees or just a retail company like 7-11, which recently bought Speedway from Marathon Petroleum.
The companies who actually drill oil (i.e. Exxon, Chevron, Shell) own relatively few of their own stations and many are franchises.
I have a few uncles who own gas stations in the mid west. The actual retail owner/franchisee only makes a few cents per gallon on the actual fuel. Their real profits come from bringing in customers to their attached stores. Gas is just the hook to come to the store.
WTF is Biden talking about here?? Gas station owners need to lose money selling gas meanwhile the actual oil companies are making record profits??
I love how republicans lack a platform entirely and exist solely to run highly effective interference so that when they successfully block progress they can say "look nothing happened!" and idiot liberals are now eating it up because they can't seem to google what the Biden administration has done and consume all their news through screenshots of tweets on the internet. fuck.
Here's shit from just the first 100 days:
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-executive-orders/.
Meanwhile we're all fuckin crying and carrying on which is just what republicans want
Maybe it's my media spaces, but I barely see Dems taking about what they've accomplished. And if I do, the news is quickly drowned out by Republican's manufactured culture war bullshit because they have no real solutions to our country's problems.
I'd say people here are slightly more informed than the average voter too, so just imagine what the average person thinks. Some liberals here are absolute morons. They're the same ones mad that Biden won't expand the court, acting like a Republican president wouldn't do the same thing right away if elected.
President Jimmy Carter protected the public with price controls, and the Capitalists crushed him. Then the political propagandists attacked him to block a future candidates with progressive policies.
He is the last president to stand up against the big money for the people of the United States.
He'll go down as one of the most underrated presidents in the history of the USA. His actions and track record, before and after taking office, speak for themselves.
The government has lost control. It's been so years of greed and turning a blind eye that they barely seem to function in any real capacity. We've been basically electing people to make money off of lobbyists and insider trading.
Why can't they control this? Because they've made a ton of money allowing laws to pass that make it legal. They knew the average citizens was NOT paying attention. And they did NOT do their actual jobs, to act in We the People's best interests.
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Also what does this say to his citizens. When even the president of your country has to beg corporations that make money off his electorate to please please think of the people people.
Let’s be honest. Doing it publicly is so it looks like he’s actually trying. If they had any intentions of actually trying to help, there would be actual, private talks/ negotiations. It’s all publicity.
Biden and congress can just remove government subsidies from the oil companies. Take away their tax breaks and see if they comply. Shit, even threatening it is probably enough.
Just a quick clarification of facts then my spin on the whole situation
Gas stations only make a few cents profit per gallon of gas. If they lower the price of gas they are losing money as in selling gas for less than they paid for it.
Corporations won when the SC ruled they were "people". They can give more money to politicians than all of the 99% combined. All the politicians care about is getting re-elected so they do what their biggest donors say.
Term limits would solve so many of today's problems. Just think if big oil couldn't influence a Senator with promises of campaign donations because the senator has served his limit of terms.
It's because the Democrats only do things for show, they never actually get anything accomplished, they just show up in front of the camera's or on twitter and pretend.
Governments did this to themselves. If they would actually *enforce* those antitrust laws they made they would still be on top. But no, they didnt, welcome to the United Mouse States of Amazon.
The problem is that this is the game Biden has been playing for most of his career. He helps push policy that boosts industry and in return he gets campaign donations and buddies to call on to make himself look good in the public eye. It's a game every major player on the political landscape has been playing so that they can keep the bar for entry too high for people who don't care about profits.
Only in the last few years those *buddies* he could call stopped giving a fuck about debts paid. Policies are already in effect. Politics have already been bought. The law says they can fuck anyone and everyone they want now. Why would they ever give a fuck about what Biden asks for? His game is over. Theirs has just begun.
Gas stations aren't price gouging though. They don't make much on gas, if anything. Their money comes from $4 Clif bars.
Oil companies are price gouging.
it's not "must publicly beg," it's "chooses to publicly beg" instead of working to enact proper change. It's lip service to US so we're supposed to think he's doing something.
Lmao in my experience it's not the stations setting the price ffs. They either "lease" the fuel from distribution centers for a *very* minor profit margin, or buy it bulk wholesale and set the sale price a few cents above purchase price so as to not go out of business.
Gas is a "loss lead" product to get you to the location, the only money made is off snacks, car washes, etc.
These decisions are always made by the person at the top with a suit and a yacht
Well, Republicans voted against a bill to keep them from price gouging so what else can be done? If only there was some kind of action or order that the Executive branch of government is able to do or sign that wouldn't require congressional approval or something existed. Guess there's nothing to be done at all but let normal people get fucked for the richest people again.
To be fair, environmentalists have been warning about stuff like this for a long time, and we've been consistently shouted down and dogpiled as stupid, far-left morons who just hate progress and want everyone to live in a hut and shit in a hole. I know the gas prices don't hit just the people who joined in this idiocy, but I do have a small bit of schadenfreude at seeing a lot of these people being hurt by an issue that they specifically decided not to address.
The frail emperor, crawling to the feet of the corporate priests, as his advisers snicker and squabble and whisper in the shadows. The words that spew from his mouth have no meaning, and will be unheeded - they are simply there to be painted on the walls of our minds to make us believe.
Tell me you don’t know that oil prices are set on a global market without telling me you don’t know that it’s a global market. RBOB spot price plus government taxes. If your local gas pump is more than that you’re being fucked.
Oh jesus this is sad. The politicians let it get to this point, blinded by greed. And we in part allowed it, muted by consumption.
We all gotta fix this shit.
Do you mean FDR? Teddy was a racist conqueror, to put it bluntly. Even FDR only gave workers ~~what they wanted~~ a little compromise because he was threatened by a communist revolution.
Didn't the government go after crisis profiteers that bought up all the toilet paper and were selling it at exhorbitant prices during the Covid crisis?
Guess it's easier to go after the geek with an apartment full of toilet paper than multinational corporations doing the same thing.
The sad thing is that this is literally true. Both the CRA in Canada and the IRS in America have said they lack the resources to effectively bring major financial criminals to justice. They have no choice but to focus on the little guy because that's the extent of their authority.
And it will have the opposite effect to the desired. Gas companies like Republican presidents, so anything they can do to make Biden look like a failure is a sure thing.
There is an anti war profiteering law still on the books. The way he phrased this makes me suspect they are about to use it. Before you say we aren’t at war, we are and this law can be used against these companies. This message was a warning to the companies not him begging but a do this or you will face punishment.
But don't worry if you vote for the people that will lower their taxes, reduce their regulations, and allow them to further exploit our nations resources, they might lower the price temporarily
Does it freak anyone else out that major politicians are using fucking Twitter to talk to the people rather than a state controlled media source? No? Just me? Okay.
Translation: "Dear independent small business owners who run most gas stations: Please do the right thing for your country and operate at an insurmountable loss while simultaneously driving up demand for biosphere-destroying fossil fuels to further pad the record-high profit margins of oil-producing mega-corporations."
All the Pres would have to do is announce an anti-trust investigation into oil companies with the intent of breaking price-fixing. Easily done in a few words. Prob fit in a Tweet.
Instead of begging them he should just do what the government did to power and water companies, make that shit a utility and crush corporate resistance like Roosevelt did.
By making it nearly impossible for the government to hold power over business interests, the GOP is putting an end to the embarrassment of weak politicians publicly requesting anything from corporations.
Instead of empty threats, Biden should just stop selling oil leases and have the gov't get their own oil. Use the money they make to improve public transit, rail, walkable neighborhoods. That would put the fear of god in them.
The state is a tool used by capitalists to control the populace. Electoral democracy does this by diffusing the resentment and anger capitalism builds and channeling into election drives that do absolutely nothing to change the actual situation, but give people the feeling they have a way, a hope for change.
What Biden does here is a straw man tactic. He's pushing the blame away to the private sector, just so they can push it back. This way it looks like nobody's in charge and you don't have a clear enemy to work against.
In any case, saying the government is held hostage makes as much sense as saying the ventriloquist is held hostage by his dummy.
I'm not down for Marxism, but Marx did make a fair point that capitalism would eventually end in the same way as we are currently being run. The wealthy get ever wealthy while the poor get pissed. Wage accumulation at the top and overall disintegration of the middle class with a ultimate ending of a coup or revolt.... We are not that far off now.
In a the capitalist mode of production the government exist to uphold capitalism. Even when the government “fights” capitalism like in the new deal era it’s still done to uphold capitalism.
If only a person holding the highest government office could just force these companies to lower prices, and then, maybe, prohibit their workers to quit (since it's a time of crisis). Better yet, he should just straight up limit the profits of top companies and perhaps even appoint CEOs to them. I wonder if there is a name for such a wonderful economic system.
lets all make sure we dont vote or better yet vote republican to solve this issue, cant see anything going wrong there like bodily autonomy being infringed
I literally said this was going to happen 3 months ago. I got hate mail and death threats with people thinking I’m some kind of Trumpist prick. Nope, I just knew corporations weren’t going to listen to “a strongly worded letter” from Biden. They don’t give a fuck. And in all reality, I don’t think Biden does either. No politician does. They’re all above little things like reasonable prices for gas and starving to death. Once your name as a politician is nationally known, you’re done giving a fuck. All of them. Republican, Democrat…. Doesn’t matter. Being a known politician is like being part of a new version of Hollywood. Political celebrities. You love ‘em, you hate ‘em, but either way, you know them and they couldn’t give two shits about you.
This shit really pissed me off, either he thought we were stupid enough to believe he’s fighting for us, or he was stupid enough to think it would work.
Like yeah you did it joe, BP is shitting their pants now!
I vote in every election, as should we all, but Biden is really wasting everybody's time with shit like this. I would expect an experienced career politician with as many connections as he has to have something better than this to offer. We know this is true, Joe; we need you to take action, not state the obvious. If he runs again in 2024 and doesn't get primaried, we truly deserve our fate as a nation.
To be clear, POTUS doesn’t *have* to do this, he has plenty of power available to him to curtail prices. But he’s a capitalist, just like every other spineless, worthless Dem
“Beg”
If he really wanted to do something about it he could have already. For the past 50-60 years he’s been active in our government. I don’t feel sorry for our government or the people running it. They get money, the companies get money, the only people who suffer are the working class.
I literally had someone argue to me, "The most profitable thing is ostensibly the best thing for society", like this bullshit isn't the antithesis of that statement.
“This is why we need *you* to donate $35 today to the Democratic Party so we can bring these corporations in line and ensure lower gas prices. Your gift of $75 guarantees further inaction and government double-speak. With a modest contribution of only $335 we will be able continue to appear TRMS to promise we are committed to working on this issue. Thank you and remember: vote harder!”
The government could and should nationalize oil and gas. Biden doesn't need to ask or beg. He can fucking take it over. That he doesn't is what is really sad.
There isn't really a good reason for oil being so expensive. We're still buying from Russia. It's expensive because the public feels like we're at a moment where it *would* be expensive, and therefore the industry can get away with charging that much - i.e. they do have the power to drop the price and continue profiting.
Joe Biden: "Who is the president? I'd like to have a strong word with him."
Not mine, but I think of that joke quote every time he says shit like this.
Biden is grovelling like he has absolutely no control over anything, like a little boy in the hospital. Trump was an asshole but he would have fixed that shit on Twitter. Our highest ranking elected official should not have to grovel and beg and plead to anyone
There was an under- appreciated comic book called "Normal Man". The basic concept was that he was the only person on the planet without super powers. He was surprised to be elected ruler. Turns out he was chosen for that role because it was the lowest rank, with the least power to do anything.
Generally speaking law in this country doesn't allow state actors to interfere in private business decisions unless there's a public health or safety interest.
Gas prices being high are not really either of those. They're inconvenient, not dangerous. Arguably they're good for the environment if people drive less.
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When your government uses lobbying from capitalist corporations… *the calls are coming from inside the house.* The government is *NOT* a victim here.
We can't just forget the government gives the death penalty to individuals but not to corporations while also saying corporations are people. Hey, if a company kills 200 people that's a mass murderer, do what you'd do if it was a black man in his own back yard.
The whole goal of corporations is to allow the owners to be immune to the legal consequences of the company. The idea is rotten at the core.
>**Corporation, n.** An ingenious device for securing individual profit without individual responsibility. Ambrose Bierce, [*The Cynic's Word Book (1906)*](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/43951/43951-h/43951-h.htm#link2H_4_0004)
Biden has levers to put much more pressure on gas companies than a tweet. He won't use them though, cuz that's how you get JFK-ed.
Nooo. You just don't get reelected. JFK-ed is for people who want to get more control over agencies.
Bingo
They could still let the owners get away with no real punishment, just sell all of the assets at auction and have the government keep the proceeds, or better yet use it for restitution to the victims. The fact that even that slap on the wrist is off the table tells you just how bad things are.
I think they would just use a shell business to buy their own assets for pennies of the value then reform under a new name and continue right on and remake any profit lost. Instead maybe the entire company and assets become government owned with all of their ongoing records being open to the public. If the seized business should fail afterward then all IP becomes public domain and physical assets are to be destroyed, not resold.
What you’re describing is a government nationalizing a corporation, and it’s often happened before in countries that aren’t owned lock stock and barrel by big business like ours is
Theres two sides of limited liability. For contractual agreements the liability shield offered by corporations is pretty universally a good thing. Both parties benefit from it and agree to the terms, and its useful for businesses and individuals. It allows for increased cooperation between entities in a market, promotes economic growth, and allows domestic partnerships to better compete against foreign influence. It also separates personal assets from business assets, so people are encouraged to make deals with each other without the risk that their personal wealth will be surrendered if their business fails to deliver on a contract. Theses are just a few examples. On the other hand corporate limited liability for tort is almost universally bad. A business and its owners should absolutely be personally liable for damages if they resulted from the negligent operation of the business. The only legitimate reason for corporate shielding from tort damages is for frivolous lawsuits. However the much better solution for dealing with frivolous lawsuits is to reform tort law itself. Since there are very obvious and widespread consequences for corporations having a civil liability shield. Corporate personhood for the purposes of contractual limited liability in no way necessitates that corporations be given all of the same legal rights as an individual. So their ability to influence elections and lobby the government can be removed entirely while maintaining the positive economic benefits of the contractual liability shield.
>We can't just forget the government gives the death penalty to individuals but not to corporations This is absolutely the right attitude to take towards corporations. A corporation is allowed to incorporate and act as a single entity at the behest of the people. Once a corporation becomes harmful to society judicial dissolution can and should be invoked. The companies assets should be liquidated and any capital should be passed on to the victims of the corporation and former employees, and not the CEOs. If judicial dissolution were regularly used, corporations would completely change their tactics for fear of being liquidated and would be much less harmful to society. Amazon has a purposely high turnover rate in their warehouses. They purposely work people to burnout and face no consequences. A black kid got caught with weed 3x and is spending the rest of their life in jail. Why the fuck are we destroying normal, non-violent people instead of oppressive corporations? People are real fucking people. Corporations are legal fictions.
Because corporations have money and power. It has NEVER been about what is ethical. Might makes right. So does underhanded tactics, clever deception and solid logistics. Point is, think of how many people will be materially worse off if you were to disappear. Guess what, those CEOs can do what they want because they feed/house/entertain big, burly, violent and dangerous men who will kill you, r*pe your wife/daughter and go home thinking nothing of it. Sure some might go home and be like "Well, that's just the system. I don't like it but I currently benefit from it so once things get better I'll stop." Crocodile tears at best, straight up sadistic glee at worst.
No one went to prison over the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Personally I think if a company kills even one person, then entire C-suite should be executed immediately.
> black man in his own back yard or a Black woman asleep in her own bed
Damn I've never thought of this before, disgusting what corporations can get away with.
Yeah, I can't believe people allowed corporations to become more powerful than governments.
It's inevitable when money literally = power
It's almost as though it's the inevitable consequence of capitalism in a society. Do we have a term for that?
There actually used to be a corporate death penalty. The American robber barons of the gilded age got rid of it, and a whole bunch of other anti-trust protections along with it.
Not only that even the decision makers get to go off and resign and work somewhere else with no criminal charges. Its a fucking joke
Remember last year we bailed them out same with airlines with lack of pilots they did nothing with the money but give to the higher ups (could have had pilot schools ,oil companies refuse to hire more workers to slow production. Workers they fired a few months back and have openly said its due to stockholder interest )
"Government" is a low IQ target/concept, like "the economy". It's not a mystery on how it's so easy to enslave people, when they have such an unfathomably low resolution understanding of reality. Goddamn people, please be smarter.
Exactly, this is a publicity stunt by Biden so that people can't say hes doing nothing and that he's "trying but he's being held hostage by those big old meanie companies." Just like OP. Biden isn't being held hostage, he is fully complacent with them since they're padding his pockets
Exactly!
We’ve now reached the “pretty please, Mr. ExxonMobil man” phase of corporate regulation.
Biden is muddying the water too by blaming gas stations instead of Exxon, Chevron, etc. Gas stations don't make money selling gas, they make it by the crap people buy inside the store.
Seriously. They make a few cents per gallon at best. They’re not the real problem here.
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This is the same strategy that worked so well for Herbert Hoover.
But he had all those towns named after him, was that not good?
Bidens tweet has the same energy as your sibling being forced to apologize by your mom "C'mon Joey, say it like you mean it..."
In America, the government exists to benefit the corporations.
Capitalism doesn’t hold the government hostage. Government being bought out by capitalists is a FEATURE of capitalism. Not a bug. Its working as intended. This is why you cannot trust any politican. You cannot change the system from within. You cannot vote the oligarchs out. Thats not how this works
The only thing to do is burn it down and start new.
Everyone is way too comfortable to do anything game changing.
Rapidly getting less comfortable though
Bread and circuses
What’s going to change America, if anything, is Americans witnessing the rise and success of socialism in other countries…which the US had been able to stifle and suppress in the past.
Even that won't change anything here. Too many tens of millions get their news from a single biased source and will never believe socialism is good even if shown facts about how they live longer, get more vacation, better paternity leave, etc. all of which are already true for a lot of European countries compared to the US. It's genuinely a lost cause and those vying for power or attempting to steal it want to take us backward, not forward.
That didn’t work out so well for Gilead
That's exactly where we're headed, with dismaying speed. And 'interstate conflicts' will likely follow, in short order.
I hate that sort of thinking. It basically guarantees nothing will ever change. If the only other option is to destroy everything and start again, no one will ever chose it.
He also just said that the American and European people are willing to pay more for gas until Ukraine is victorious. The capitalists are loving this loyally neoliberal administration and the blank slate president they can shape as they like.
There is a difference between “willing” and “not having a choice”.
For the working masses living under capitalism, you "choose" the one option that you're given.
I punch you in the face but then I give you a loaf of bread, or die in a ditch. *The choice is yours!*
It's an offer i can't refuse! Thank you!
The US government can’t do its job because of capitalists
They *are* doing their jobs. You don't think they work for *us*, do you?
It depends. You got a PAC raising and donating 7 digit funds for their re-election coffers? Yeah, me either.
That’s not their job though. Just because it’s the job they do doesn’t mean it’s their job description. We’ve just given up pretending we don’t know they’re pretending they’re doing their job.
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Always astonish me that _this_ sub in particular is anti government. WTF are people thinking would be the solution to capitalism? Good faith corporations?
The US government is doing its job very well, just as the governments of every other capitalist country. The purpose of government in capitalist nations is to protect the capitalists.
100% true on that one!
To fix your wording a bit, it can’t do the job the history books tell us it’s supposed to do. Instead it does the job actual history has shown is in its best interest. They said the government was a democracy for the people, but they lied. The government is a legislative instrument of the bourgeoisie
The history books are pretty clear about its purpose as well. I specifically went for more commonly understandable wording, I get the feeling that Marxist buzzwords tend to turn people's brains off, even when they agree with the meaning.
Well, I’m probably younger than you, so I’d say they aren’t how they used to be. I’m referring to school curriculum based history books by the way. I remember being told this country is a perfect democracy with checks and balances that cannot be corrupted, and a bunch of other bullshit.
I mean that's what the constitution was founded on. Ever read the federalist papers? The whole purpose was to create lucrative business to strengthen our global standing. It did that, and then we backslid to the same conditions we fought Britain about : worthless local labor and foreign goods dominating the market, and politicians that don't represent the people.
The bourgeoisie abandoned democracy in 1848 when it became apparent they couldn’t continue to exploit with it.
The job of the US government is to provide an environment where capital is given free reign while maintaining an illusion that that is not the case. It is doing its job perfectly.
The US government was designed specifically to be a government that served the interests of the Capitalist class. The “No taxation without representation” argument was about how Colonial American Capital didn’t want to be paying British taxes without their own lobbyists in Parliament. So they said fuck it, we’ll make our own government with our own lobbyists.
The U.S. was founded so capital owning men can hook themselves up at every opportunity and that hasn't changed.
He's just trying to deflect and find someone to blame because he knows high gas prices are bad for the midterms. Realistically the high prices are heavily driven by oil prices, which is not directly controlled by any company. OPEC has a desire to see a republican back in office, so they can restrict production to drive up prices.
The price at the pump has very little to do with spot crude prices, and even those are relatively in check considering how much we're being told to panic. The current fuel prices are due to companies choosing to raise prices and increase profits. They can do so because they have market monopolies/cartels, a captive market, and they have convenient excuses (situation in Ukraine, pandemic related supply issues, inflation).
Now I'm no statistician, but this looks like a pretty damn good correlation: https://www.macrotrends.net/2501/crude-oil-vs-gasoline-prices-chart Oil companies are making a fortune, because not surprisingly they also have a strong investment in oil extraction, which is very profitable when prices are high. It's also important to note that prices are determined by commodities markets, not individual companies. OPEC is driving oil prices by restricting output while benefiting from Russian oil being effectively off the market. Oil companies are the beneficiaries of this, not the driver. Blame OPEC / Russia which is absolutely a cartel.
Correlation doesn't equal causation. There is very little Russian oil and gas imported to the US, a couple percent at most, so it's not for lack of supply that US gas prices are high. Again, it's a perfect mix of ostensibly credible reasons, but all it is is corporations increasing prices because nobody can stop them.
Regardless of the percentage imported to the US from Russia, being a commodities market means any restriction of supply affects prices. The oil that Europe was buying from Russia has to come from somewhere, thus prices are driven up. Corporations don't set oil prices, the market does, so light sweet crude sells for the same price in Qutar, the US and Russia. Commodities markets are about as close as you can get to the econ 101 supply/demand curve. Your anger is misguided and no different than being upset with farmers that wheat prices are high. If you truly want to combat the system (of which I approve) you need to properly understand how it works, not simply display blind hatred which garners little support.
European nations, for all their bluster, are buying Russian energy as before, maybe at ever so slightly reduced volumes. Any sanctions packages reducing imports take weeks or months to come in to effect. There is no alternative, not yet anyway. Even once an alternative is built (LNG shipping terminals, in a few years) it's not a very good one. Like I said before, correlation doesn't equal causation. Nor is gas or any other energy a wholesale commodity at the point of use, at least not for us working people it isn't. And if input costs are that much higher than six or twelve months ago, then why are oil and gas companies reporting record profits? If the price increases at the pump were indeed to cover higher costs (crude, transport, labour, "inflation"...) then profits wouldn't be as high as they are. Prices are ostensibly set by the market. Who makes up the market? For the most part corporations do. They set prices. Your analogy to farmers and wheat prices entirely misses the mark so I'll ignore it. I like to think I have a decent understanding of the system at this point. It's by the rich for the rich, and if a price is set "naturally" by a market then it won't be very soon, as it's ripe for exploitation. I don't claim to be an expert, but being against companies unilaterally increasing prices just because they can isn't blind hatred.
You're accusing him of blind hatred yet you obviously know nothing about the industry, nor did you even read the graph you sent? Oil is around the same price it was 10~ years ago, though REFINED products like gasoline are nearly double. During COVID, around half of all US Refinery production was shut down due to low demand; this resulted in numerous shutdowns, or decreases in refinery capability due to a decrease in profit. Once demand jumped following the end of the pandemic restrictions, the refinery market never matched its previous production capabilities. This resulted in American refinery throughput decreasing by around 1/3, though the demand was at its highest in the past 10~ years (look at your chart). The US sources virtually all of its oil for gasoline domestically, with an overwhelming majority of imported oil going towards non gas based consumer petroleum products. The US hasn't built a single refinery in 60 years, though they regularly shutdown during the pandemic, never to open again.
If price at the pump were driven by price at the barrel, oil companies wouldn’t be setting records for quarterly profits.
Oil companies don't set crude prices, commodities market does (not unlike gold or soybeans). They make record profit because the crude price is absurdly high and they are in the business of extraction. I'm not here to defend oil companies, but rather to point out the realities of the economics, not blindly hate something I don't understand.
Gas stations make like $.02 per gallon.
Yeah I just commented that. Gas is the attraction that brings customers to their stores where they make their actual living.
I try to remember that the US started as a collection of wealth exporting colonies run by men whose corporations profited from slavery. We’ve always been a legal entity operated by businessmen from behind a curtain, and most of the world has been trying to get through the propaganda to warn us.
During the Trump admin, I used to play this game- I would try and think of what the stupidest thing Trump could possibly say at the day's press conference, then inevitably Trump would beat me and say something even dumber. (Shoutout to the injecting bleach comment.) Lately I started a new game, I try to think of the most useless thing Biden could say or do to address problems in the country. Biden has been knocking it out of the park. Biden is as useless as Trump is dumb. And this isn't some both sides are bad enlightened centrism, it is just a fact.
100%. The last election (actually the past several) has been a choice between the lesser of two evils. There hasn't been one outright, clearly-the-better-choice-for-humanity candidate in decades. You could argue Obama, but he was "ok" at best. Someone like FDR, who took no shit and threatened to pack the SC in order to pass bills for the good of the people, is someone desperately needed in the Oval Office these days.
The problem is, there is not a single person in politics today that I can think of who has the charisma to get elected, the socialist mindset to work for the People, and the brass balls to channel Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt’s best hardball politics. Where the fuck is our Aragorn & Eomer? Bc right now all we have is Theoden, Denethor, and Saruman.
Biden is basically why people voted, not to have Trump. He is who we thought he was.
So now we are going to get Trump or DeSantis next election thanks to Biden's ineptitude. Voting for Biden to get rid of Trump is like throwing water on a grease fire. You think it helps, but it makes the problem worse.
Shifting the blame to the gas station too as opposed to the Exon Mobiles setting the price of oil.
I'm not so sure that the Venn diagram on the owners there isn't fairly close to a circle, but you do have a point. Both oil companies and fuel retail companies are making bank profits.
The vast majority of gas stations are owned by independent franchisees or just a retail company like 7-11, which recently bought Speedway from Marathon Petroleum. The companies who actually drill oil (i.e. Exxon, Chevron, Shell) own relatively few of their own stations and many are franchises.
I have a few uncles who own gas stations in the mid west. The actual retail owner/franchisee only makes a few cents per gallon on the actual fuel. Their real profits come from bringing in customers to their attached stores. Gas is just the hook to come to the store. WTF is Biden talking about here?? Gas station owners need to lose money selling gas meanwhile the actual oil companies are making record profits??
There are gas stations that always cost 50 cents more. I don't know who goes there.
That’s him pretending to do something.
on twitter, too. like does anyone really think a shell exec will be like "you know, biden tweeted this, he makes a good point".
Tbf, the most of the previous president's oeuvre was twitter based.
What should he do though?
But let’s not blame the republican representatives for voting no on a bill to cap prices on fuel. That’s too easy.
I love how republicans lack a platform entirely and exist solely to run highly effective interference so that when they successfully block progress they can say "look nothing happened!" and idiot liberals are now eating it up because they can't seem to google what the Biden administration has done and consume all their news through screenshots of tweets on the internet. fuck. Here's shit from just the first 100 days: https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/politics/biden-executive-orders/. Meanwhile we're all fuckin crying and carrying on which is just what republicans want
Maybe it's my media spaces, but I barely see Dems taking about what they've accomplished. And if I do, the news is quickly drowned out by Republican's manufactured culture war bullshit because they have no real solutions to our country's problems. I'd say people here are slightly more informed than the average voter too, so just imagine what the average person thinks. Some liberals here are absolute morons. They're the same ones mad that Biden won't expand the court, acting like a Republican president wouldn't do the same thing right away if elected.
This is embarrassing.
This post just plays into the facade he's creating
President Jimmy Carter protected the public with price controls, and the Capitalists crushed him. Then the political propagandists attacked him to block a future candidates with progressive policies. He is the last president to stand up against the big money for the people of the United States.
He'll go down as one of the most underrated presidents in the history of the USA. His actions and track record, before and after taking office, speak for themselves.
The government has lost control. It's been so years of greed and turning a blind eye that they barely seem to function in any real capacity. We've been basically electing people to make money off of lobbyists and insider trading. Why can't they control this? Because they've made a ton of money allowing laws to pass that make it legal. They knew the average citizens was NOT paying attention. And they did NOT do their actual jobs, to act in We the People's best interests.
They are doing their job. They are controlling this. The wealthy are making bank and the workers are oppressed. Mission accomplished.
^^[beep-boop,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ) ^^I'm ^^a ^^bot ^(**Link to tweets:**) [1) Tweet found (66.40% sure)](https://twitter.com/r/status/1543366399648600064) ____________________________________________ ^(If I was helpful, comment **'Good Bot'** <3! |) ^[source](https://github.com/giulionf/realtweetornotbot) ^(| created by NiroxGG)
Also what does this say to his citizens. When even the president of your country has to beg corporations that make money off his electorate to please please think of the people people.
Let’s be honest. Doing it publicly is so it looks like he’s actually trying. If they had any intentions of actually trying to help, there would be actual, private talks/ negotiations. It’s all publicity.
they know their crowd
Biden and congress can just remove government subsidies from the oil companies. Take away their tax breaks and see if they comply. Shit, even threatening it is probably enough.
You get that is they are taxed more they pass that cost onto the consumer right?
Just a quick clarification of facts then my spin on the whole situation Gas stations only make a few cents profit per gallon of gas. If they lower the price of gas they are losing money as in selling gas for less than they paid for it. Corporations won when the SC ruled they were "people". They can give more money to politicians than all of the 99% combined. All the politicians care about is getting re-elected so they do what their biggest donors say. Term limits would solve so many of today's problems. Just think if big oil couldn't influence a Senator with promises of campaign donations because the senator has served his limit of terms.
That message is to calm liberals down and prevent them from becoming leftists, not to actually ask big oil to lower prices.
It's because the Democrats only do things for show, they never actually get anything accomplished, they just show up in front of the camera's or on twitter and pretend.
Governments did this to themselves. If they would actually *enforce* those antitrust laws they made they would still be on top. But no, they didnt, welcome to the United Mouse States of Amazon.
You're confusing economic systems with political systems. The US President is not a dictator.
The problem is that this is the game Biden has been playing for most of his career. He helps push policy that boosts industry and in return he gets campaign donations and buddies to call on to make himself look good in the public eye. It's a game every major player on the political landscape has been playing so that they can keep the bar for entry too high for people who don't care about profits. Only in the last few years those *buddies* he could call stopped giving a fuck about debts paid. Policies are already in effect. Politics have already been bought. The law says they can fuck anyone and everyone they want now. Why would they ever give a fuck about what Biden asks for? His game is over. Theirs has just begun.
Gas stations aren't price gouging though. They don't make much on gas, if anything. Their money comes from $4 Clif bars. Oil companies are price gouging.
Biden is such a loser
it's not "must publicly beg," it's "chooses to publicly beg" instead of working to enact proper change. It's lip service to US so we're supposed to think he's doing something.
Lmao in my experience it's not the stations setting the price ffs. They either "lease" the fuel from distribution centers for a *very* minor profit margin, or buy it bulk wholesale and set the sale price a few cents above purchase price so as to not go out of business. Gas is a "loss lead" product to get you to the location, the only money made is off snacks, car washes, etc. These decisions are always made by the person at the top with a suit and a yacht
This is political theater. More could be done, but it would piss off his donors, big-time.
Well, Republicans voted against a bill to keep them from price gouging so what else can be done? If only there was some kind of action or order that the Executive branch of government is able to do or sign that wouldn't require congressional approval or something existed. Guess there's nothing to be done at all but let normal people get fucked for the richest people again.
Wow if only there was a way to regulate these companies into compliance… oh wait, the Supreme Court basically just made that unconstitutional..,
To be fair, environmentalists have been warning about stuff like this for a long time, and we've been consistently shouted down and dogpiled as stupid, far-left morons who just hate progress and want everyone to live in a hut and shit in a hole. I know the gas prices don't hit just the people who joined in this idiocy, but I do have a small bit of schadenfreude at seeing a lot of these people being hurt by an issue that they specifically decided not to address.
The frail emperor, crawling to the feet of the corporate priests, as his advisers snicker and squabble and whisper in the shadows. The words that spew from his mouth have no meaning, and will be unheeded - they are simply there to be painted on the walls of our minds to make us believe.
Tell me you don’t know that oil prices are set on a global market without telling me you don’t know that it’s a global market. RBOB spot price plus government taxes. If your local gas pump is more than that you’re being fucked.
If these toothless politicians were such little bitches against corporations this wouldn’t even be a issue. Cap profit. Cap wages.
America is an oligarchy.
Oh jesus this is sad. The politicians let it get to this point, blinded by greed. And we in part allowed it, muted by consumption. We all gotta fix this shit.
We need another Teddy Roosevelt....
Do you mean FDR? Teddy was a racist conqueror, to put it bluntly. Even FDR only gave workers ~~what they wanted~~ a little compromise because he was threatened by a communist revolution.
Did Teddy put asian Americans in concentration camps too?
At least he was a conqueror/Churchill-type instead of our current Neville Chamberlin-wannabe.
Didn't the government go after crisis profiteers that bought up all the toilet paper and were selling it at exhorbitant prices during the Covid crisis? Guess it's easier to go after the geek with an apartment full of toilet paper than multinational corporations doing the same thing.
The sad thing is that this is literally true. Both the CRA in Canada and the IRS in America have said they lack the resources to effectively bring major financial criminals to justice. They have no choice but to focus on the little guy because that's the extent of their authority.
Sadly it's just virtue signaling on his part. If he wanted to do something about it he would.
And it will have the opposite effect to the desired. Gas companies like Republican presidents, so anything they can do to make Biden look like a failure is a sure thing.
There is an anti war profiteering law still on the books. The way he phrased this makes me suspect they are about to use it. Before you say we aren’t at war, we are and this law can be used against these companies. This message was a warning to the companies not him begging but a do this or you will face punishment.
I hope so
But don't worry if you vote for the people that will lower their taxes, reduce their regulations, and allow them to further exploit our nations resources, they might lower the price temporarily
It's almost as if the office is bought and sold by said corporations.
Really living up to the legacy of FDR there
Does it freak anyone else out that major politicians are using fucking Twitter to talk to the people rather than a state controlled media source? No? Just me? Okay.
Translation: "Dear independent small business owners who run most gas stations: Please do the right thing for your country and operate at an insurmountable loss while simultaneously driving up demand for biosphere-destroying fossil fuels to further pad the record-high profit margins of oil-producing mega-corporations."
All the Pres would have to do is announce an anti-trust investigation into oil companies with the intent of breaking price-fixing. Easily done in a few words. Prob fit in a Tweet.
would an executive action mandating price controls not be in his ability as prez?
Instead of begging them he should just do what the government did to power and water companies, make that shit a utility and crush corporate resistance like Roosevelt did.
To be fair Biden and the Democrats did try to pass legislation to help fix gas prices. Predictably it was blocked by Republicans.
By making it nearly impossible for the government to hold power over business interests, the GOP is putting an end to the embarrassment of weak politicians publicly requesting anything from corporations.
When does the government start infringing on corporation's rights instead of ours?
Instead of empty threats, Biden should just stop selling oil leases and have the gov't get their own oil. Use the money they make to improve public transit, rail, walkable neighborhoods. That would put the fear of god in them.
You mean take action and help people? You must have our elected officials confused with those who GAF 😆
What do you want him to do tho? Set the price for gas stations nationwide?
In late capitalism, presidents are jjst glorified beggars, the real power lies in the hands of corporate money
We tried doing something and republicans said "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha no"
The state is a tool used by capitalists to control the populace. Electoral democracy does this by diffusing the resentment and anger capitalism builds and channeling into election drives that do absolutely nothing to change the actual situation, but give people the feeling they have a way, a hope for change. What Biden does here is a straw man tactic. He's pushing the blame away to the private sector, just so they can push it back. This way it looks like nobody's in charge and you don't have a clear enemy to work against. In any case, saying the government is held hostage makes as much sense as saying the ventriloquist is held hostage by his dummy.
imagine posting about "capitalism" without understanding that prices are set by supply and demand, not greedy CEOs.
It's a lot more complicated than that, and isn't really what the OP image is talking about.
It's pronounced ***o-li-gar-chy***.
Old man yells at cloud.
I'm not down for Marxism, but Marx did make a fair point that capitalism would eventually end in the same way as we are currently being run. The wealthy get ever wealthy while the poor get pissed. Wage accumulation at the top and overall disintegration of the middle class with a ultimate ending of a coup or revolt.... We are not that far off now.
Government is the tool of capitalism.
Why not just call a meeting of the owners, ceos and executives and then drone strike the meeting? It's what I would do if I was president.
“My message is pwease…” Bitch you know you’re the boss right? FFS
In a the capitalist mode of production the government exist to uphold capitalism. Even when the government “fights” capitalism like in the new deal era it’s still done to uphold capitalism.
Respectfully stop trying to defend Biden
If only a person holding the highest government office could just force these companies to lower prices, and then, maybe, prohibit their workers to quit (since it's a time of crisis). Better yet, he should just straight up limit the profits of top companies and perhaps even appoint CEOs to them. I wonder if there is a name for such a wonderful economic system.
The United States is a failed state
Perhaps if the government invested in a sustainable public transport infrastructure we wouldn’t be in this mess.
lets all make sure we dont vote or better yet vote republican to solve this issue, cant see anything going wrong there like bodily autonomy being infringed
I literally said this was going to happen 3 months ago. I got hate mail and death threats with people thinking I’m some kind of Trumpist prick. Nope, I just knew corporations weren’t going to listen to “a strongly worded letter” from Biden. They don’t give a fuck. And in all reality, I don’t think Biden does either. No politician does. They’re all above little things like reasonable prices for gas and starving to death. Once your name as a politician is nationally known, you’re done giving a fuck. All of them. Republican, Democrat…. Doesn’t matter. Being a known politician is like being part of a new version of Hollywood. Political celebrities. You love ‘em, you hate ‘em, but either way, you know them and they couldn’t give two shits about you.
This shit really pissed me off, either he thought we were stupid enough to believe he’s fighting for us, or he was stupid enough to think it would work. Like yeah you did it joe, BP is shitting their pants now!
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Stop making the government the victim. They are just as guilty as capitalism
in the 1940s our president would just force corporations to lower prices or send the ceos to jail. in china they would just make the ceos disappear
Biden is just keeping the seat warm and taking the spot of someone who would stop the creep of fascism. Hes on their side.
I vote in every election, as should we all, but Biden is really wasting everybody's time with shit like this. I would expect an experienced career politician with as many connections as he has to have something better than this to offer. We know this is true, Joe; we need you to take action, not state the obvious. If he runs again in 2024 and doesn't get primaried, we truly deserve our fate as a nation.
To be clear, POTUS doesn’t *have* to do this, he has plenty of power available to him to curtail prices. But he’s a capitalist, just like every other spineless, worthless Dem
Nothing to celebrate this 4th of July
It’s a tweet. No one expected it to accomplish anything. Biden just wanted to look like he’s doing something since he’s a fucking joke.
“Beg” If he really wanted to do something about it he could have already. For the past 50-60 years he’s been active in our government. I don’t feel sorry for our government or the people running it. They get money, the companies get money, the only people who suffer are the working class.
I literally had someone argue to me, "The most profitable thing is ostensibly the best thing for society", like this bullshit isn't the antithesis of that statement.
“This is why we need *you* to donate $35 today to the Democratic Party so we can bring these corporations in line and ensure lower gas prices. Your gift of $75 guarantees further inaction and government double-speak. With a modest contribution of only $335 we will be able continue to appear TRMS to promise we are committed to working on this issue. Thank you and remember: vote harder!”
The government could and should nationalize oil and gas. Biden doesn't need to ask or beg. He can fucking take it over. That he doesn't is what is really sad.
When the president doesn’t understand basic economics..
There isn't really a good reason for oil being so expensive. We're still buying from Russia. It's expensive because the public feels like we're at a moment where it *would* be expensive, and therefore the industry can get away with charging that much - i.e. they do have the power to drop the price and continue profiting.
Joe Biden: "Who is the president? I'd like to have a strong word with him." Not mine, but I think of that joke quote every time he says shit like this.
What do you think Biden could do about gas prices?..
https://imgur.com/a/5shna29
Yet you’ll still get downvoted somehow, because reddit
None of those actions contributed to the current gas prices.
Biden is grovelling like he has absolutely no control over anything, like a little boy in the hospital. Trump was an asshole but he would have fixed that shit on Twitter. Our highest ranking elected official should not have to grovel and beg and plead to anyone
There was an under- appreciated comic book called "Normal Man". The basic concept was that he was the only person on the planet without super powers. He was surprised to be elected ruler. Turns out he was chosen for that role because it was the lowest rank, with the least power to do anything.
I think this is actually more so just a case of a wimpy ass useless loser in that office.
No, this is a case of oil companies preying on fear over the war in Ukraine. Are you fucking stupid?
Conservatives blocked every effort. Place accountability where it belongs.
Does this subreddit support the democratic process?
This poor person thinks Biden gives a damn
Generally speaking law in this country doesn't allow state actors to interfere in private business decisions unless there's a public health or safety interest. Gas prices being high are not really either of those. They're inconvenient, not dangerous. Arguably they're good for the environment if people drive less.