OTB Poll Question: Do you support Unions?

Unions cause more problems. Less money in your pocket.

I support the idea of unions, just not modern day unions in practice.

Yes to true unions that were needed between the Civil War and World War II to combat the robber barons. Between the 50's and 70's They had become as bloated as the folks they were intended to fight against. In the post Reagan era where consolidation has created a new era of robber barons in the past decade they probably need to reappear again, but controlled by the workers and not the other way around.

Perhaps the ownership of Houchens Industries may be the better model. The founders heirs own a small share of the company and the employees own the rest. No Wall Street folks to manipulate the stock price or drain current revenue at the expense of long term financial planning. Since the workers own part of the company, it eliminates the need for unions. Basically it eliminates unneeded middlemen on both sides and passes the savings on to the company and workers at the same time.

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Greed is evil

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Greed is the reason you're typing on a computer.

Genius means nothing without the incentive to profit from one's work. Other than a few genuine crypto-types who make open source (who are well off anyway), there is no reason to put effort into something without getting a return.

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Companies aren't evil, companies aren't looking to squeeze out the American worker.

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We can agree to disagree on this

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Greed is evil, shareholders are evil.

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These statements are not the same, you realize this?

Greed is evil in the sense it places the power to the "I" instead of the "we". In the past we took photos of our friends and family to remember them after they had passed. We now take pictures of ourselves. This is a simple shift of "we" thinking to "I" thinking.

As for shareholders you need to better define this concept. In the past the shareholders were owner / creators of a business and the workers who bought shares to grow the company (and their retirement at a later date). Now those same corporations are held by managers of mutual funds and tip top executives getting their shares for free via options where they never take possession and must have their own skin in the game for several decades. Revenue going to a few at the top as excessive bonuses if not the same as small sums entering hundreds of thousands of current and former employees is a much more efficient way to spread the wealth back into the system.

In addition you create an empire through savings instead of a declining country swallowed in growing debt.

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"I" instead of the "we"

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When does 'we' end? Your friends and family? Your neighborhood? Your city? Your county? Your state? Your nation?

Yeah, I'm not buying that. I associate with people I like. No more, no less. Do I have sympathy for those outside the in-group? Yes. I have no moral obligation to them, however, except to not harm them.

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Yeah, I'm not buying that.

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Which is probably why you are 30 or younger

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I associate with people I like. No more, no less.

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Which means you are an "I" not a "we"and you are more of the problem than the solution.

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I have no moral obligation to them, however, except to not harm them.

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Depends on how you define harm. Sometimes those doing the most harm are the ones who drop out and do nothing.

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I'm sure you hang out with people you dislike and disdain on a daily basis.

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I don't really dislike anybody. Sure not every interaction in the day is sunshine and unicorns but having seen the best and worst in many people over a span of time that well exceeds yours I have learned to accept and get along than to segregate and eliminate that is which makes up the whole sphere of living.

Oddly, when I was closer to the age you are now I was much the opposite of what I have become. My bank account may be smaller but my life experiences have been magnified far in excess to compensate for it. In short, I have become my grandfather, or at least the man he was when I was closer to your age. life is funny that way.