@dump_stack of course used as slaves by the capitalists whom they have to work for. Under capitalism you have a choice of working or starving on the street. It's wage slavery.
And you're very obviously against democracy. You think that instead of democratically deciding what jobs are needed, we should let the rich oligarchy decide.
I have experience of living in Russia after USSR collapsed, and I can tell you it was much fucking worse. And most people mow realize it:
@yogthos @dump_stack There's an old Russian meme, very much to the point: people in Russia always complain about free speech, democracy and rule of law - things they never really had in Russia...
@kravietz @dump_stack haha to be fair it's as free as the "leader of the free world" now :P
"American democracy is a sham, no matter how much it's pumped by the oligarchs who run the country (and who control the nation's "news" media)," he writes. "The US, in other words, is basically similar to Russia or most other dubious 'electoral' 'democratic' countries. We weren't formerly, but we clearly are now."
I definitely agree that USA is failing on basic welfare indicators (life expectancy, infant mortality, gun crime) but objectively, there is significantly more freedom of speech in USA than in Russia.
This is at very basic level every citizen should enjoy. Someone who says "USA is just like Russia" is delusional and has never been to the latter.
@kravietz @dump_stack the freedom of speech you have in USA is incredibly superficial. Yes, you can say whatever you like, but it's no better than screaming into the void in practice.
When the oligarchy owns all the media and the politicians the citizens do not have any actual voice.
What the study shows is that laws being passed in both US and Russia are driven by the needs of the rich, and the public has exact same amount of input on these decisions in both countries.
@yogthos @dump_stack As explained in the previous comment, I agree on the state level. But in Russia people are persecuted even for screaming into the void, using your wording.
@yogthos @dump_stack I wouldn't use the adjective "honest" anywhere close to Kremlin mode of operation ;)
@kravietz @dump_stack the mistake is to think that Kremlin is somehow an outlier as opposed to the norm :)
@kravietz @dump_stack and that's the genius of US style "democracy", people feel like they have agency when in practice they do not.
From that perspective the only practical difference is that the Russian approach is just more honest.