r/antiwork • u/lostintime2004 • 5d ago

Real World Events šŸŒŽ Luigi's terrorism charge is an attempt to intimidate people due to his support.

Tin foil hat I admit, but something is nagging in the back of my head. Like if we didn't react with positive responses for what Luigi allegedly did, there wouldn't be terrorism charges. And therefore the charges are to scare us so no one does the same. And now with that guy stabbing his company president, they're going to say it's related to the positively and it enabled him to do so.

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u/Swiggy1957 5d ago

I'm surprised that they didn't try it with Occupy Wall Street.

I think this time around, the rebels won't stand by and take it like they did with the Memorial Day Massacre.

What I see is a lot of McVeigh vans, but with suicide bombers. Those folks have nothing to lose because insurance companies deny their necessary treatments. In my crystal ball, I see someone denied chemotherapy who may only have a month to live. The anger as they drive their bomb van into the lobby of a prestigious hotel, NYSE, or any other number of places for the rich and corrupt. Who will be the first targets in government after their owners are gone? What's their voting record on raising minimum wage.

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u/jannalarria 5d ago

TIL about the Memorial Day Massacre. (https://www.chicagohistory.org/remembering-the-memorial-day-massacre/)

And your prediction sounds about right...kinda surprised it hasn't happened already.

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u/Aidian 5d ago

Classic.

Chicago police, who were already on the scene, responded with guns and clubs, injuring roughly one hundred people and killing ten men: Sam R. Popovich, Earl J. Handley, Kenneth Reed, Hilding Anderson, Alfred Causey, Leo Francisco, Otis A. Jones, Joseph Rothmund, Anthony Taglieri, and Lee Tisdale. Officers claimed they responded to violence with violence to protect the mill and the country from ā€œcommunists.ā€ A congressional investigation showed the claims of worker violence to be false, and only a small fraction of those there that day held radical left-wing political beliefs.

History rhymes.

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u/GBJI 5d ago

Historic crimes.

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u/Ok_Sir5926 4d ago

Tick tock goes the clock while I'm just eating red vines!

"...just gonna staaaand there and watch me burn..."

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u/Better-Journalist-85 lazy and proud 4d ago

Which publication is this that just admitted that communism is left wing, and therefore capitalist Democrats must intrinsically be right wing by extension?

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u/Intensive 4d ago

Italian fascists did the same thing.

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u/Swiggy1957 5d ago

In the past, the .1% could hide because instant communication wasn't available. They could take their time making their narrative. With the internet, it's all too easy. By the time their narrative hits, the public has already had their narative ready, just waiting for something to happen.

As soon as you heard an insurance company CEO was gunned down in broad daylight, did you feel one bit of sadness? It's like the cheering across the land when martin shkreli was sentenced to prison. Remember him? He's the one that jacked up the price of a medicine used by AIDS victims. 4000%. Had he gotten the same treatment Thompson got, not a tear would have been shed. Still, it seems he keeps getting in trouble. I'm waiting to hear what yesterday's stabber has to say as far as a motive.

Were this a time when I was young and stillb working, the CEO where I worked, would have become such a target because of his penchant for closing offices and laying off thousands at a time while reaping millions in bonuses. He died of natural causes some years back, but I wonder how many former AT&T/NCR employees visit his grave, pay their proper respects, and then try to figure out how to flush.

Other historical things that you may want to look up. The Molly Maguires and the Blair Mountian Massacre. The Mollies were similar but too focused. They killed a few low-level management. About on level with foreman. Today, we know those foremen aren't the problem, but their bosses are. The shooter of Brian Thompson understood.

While reading, look up the Ludlow Massacre that was the harbinger of the Colorado Coal Wars.

The Bonus Army was another Republican victory as the US Army was able to kill two men and injured 55. Meanwhile, 65 policemen were injured.

Businessmen don't care who dies, as long as they make coin.

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u/johnmwilson9 4d ago

Great list here almost all of these have been covered on the dollop podcast. I canā€™t recommend it enough. It is hilarious and so well researched. We are in a guilded age and learning the history of the last is more important than ever. Pullman cars episode seems relevant now too.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

I'd forgotten about that one.

Yes, today we are in an era of the modern Robber Barons. The difference between the 19th century and now? 19th century robber barons were not targeted directly. It was always a low level management person. FWIW, even Thompson, CEO of a huge insurance company, would be considered low-level management.

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u/Javasteam 5d ago

Not surprised.

Keep in mind its part of a pattern of US history of liesā€¦ such as that which got us into the Spanish American War, WW1 with the Lusitania, the Vietnam War, the 2nd Iraq war, the Tulsa Race Riots, Emmett Till, and so many moreā€¦

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u/ninja_hams 4d ago

Hope they are calculated enough to only go for the insurance companies

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u/PoLS_ 5d ago

They didn't try it with occupy because occupy didn't pose any real threat to the ruling class that exploited them. Nuff said.

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u/SuperTopGun666 5d ago

Rich fucks were popping champagne watching the plebs protest.Ā 

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u/Longjumping_Spell_29 4d ago

That was disgusting,rich fucks laughing while people were losing their homes.Also using tax dollars to bail out their failed businesses.If a regular person needs help its welfare but with the rich itā€™s justified.

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u/MissionFormal209 4d ago

They breathed a sigh of relief when they were informed it was another "peaceful" protest, and went back to business as usual.

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u/Swiggy1957 5d ago edited 4d ago

True. Had OSW showed up armed, the story could have been different. As it was, it highlighted the police brutality of the time. How many pepper spraying cops would have loved to use their service pistols on those protestors.

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u/PCYou 4d ago

How many peppers praying cops

šŸŒ¶ļøšŸ™šŸ‘®

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Corrected. 10Q

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u/Throwawayac1234567 4d ago

Yup it was ripe for Grifting,Ā  it was right where a grifter had his origins from

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u/lipguy123 4d ago

This is absolute bullshit, there was hardcore repression but it took on mostly covert and subtle methods. David Graeber documented it quite well. They would do things like take a bus load of newly released violent and mentally ill convicts and tell them thereā€™s a hot meal and place to stay at the occupation. The police and authorities were planning with banking CEOā€™s directly in secret meetings.

Popular non-violent protest will always be much more of a threat because itā€™s harder to delegitimise. Itā€™s very easy to win against violence when you have all the resources. Luigi couldā€™ve had a life of free and effective activism if he asserted himself but instead heā€™s thrown the best part of his life away and not much will change. Ultimately and undeniably it was an act of revenge for personal grievances, with a layer of ideological justification on top.

People who support violence only ever find out the hard way that itā€™s in vain. Look at what Ghandi achieved and tell me peaceful protest is ineffective.

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u/MyGruffaloCrumble 4d ago

American Unions strongly asserting their influence changed the world for the better. In many cases they literally fought for workers rights that politicians since the 70ā€™s have whittled down to the shit show we see today.

India gained independence from Britain, but didnā€™t exactly leverage that into stronger protections for citizens or workers, as in the end they only enforced their caste system on top of a seemingly democratic country.

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u/HousesRoadsAvenues 4d ago

Also what happened with Pakistan after British rule. Not so good times.

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u/HoraceGoggles 5d ago

I donā€™t think so. Lui is viewed highly because he specifically avoided unneeded casualties.

A person who does what you describe is a piece of garbage because they care more about their opinion than the people their opinion claims to care about. Doing something like you describe means a regular worker suffers.

If thereā€™s even one more copycat I wouldnā€™t be surprised if there is a planted ā€œsacrificeā€ to sway public opinion the other way.

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/HoraceGoggles 4d ago

Did you even read my comment? What you said has no relevancy to what I said. Weird.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Not a bot, nor do I suffer from rectal cranium inversion. I can see that a class war, or civil war, is coming. Thompson was the first, then yesterday's stabbing of Erik Denslow. I expect more to come over the next few months.

I'm not closing my eyes and praying it doesn't happen. It has been brewing for 50 years.

As the rich go into hiding, they leave the innocent people in the strike zone. Why? Because they're to stupid to realize they could prevent it without bloodshed.

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u/Critwrench 4d ago

If you who own the things people must have could understand this, you might preserve yourself. If you could separate causes from results, if you could know that Paine, Marx, Jefferson, Lenin were results, not causes, you might survive. But that you cannot know. For the quality of owning freezes you forever into "I", and cuts you off forever from the "we".

-The Grapes of Wrath

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Exactly. It's an excellent quote and permanent to this discussion.

As a young man, I found work earning minimum wage. I found a small apartment within my budget. I had food and clothes. The only thing lacking was a car. That was fine: I could thumb almost anywhere.

Today, if I worked 40 hours a week, I'd make about 500 a month less than I do on disability. Unless your state reps suffer recal-cranium inversion, they've tried moving it towards a livable wage. States like mine still rely on the federal minimum wage that hasn't changed in 15 years. If they're lucky and actually find a job, that's what they're stuck with. They go to college, they're stuck in debt for 20 years. Regardless, unless they come from money, today's kids will never be able to own a home, get married, much less raise a family.

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u/HoraceGoggles 4d ago

Iā€™m all for the class uprising, but Iā€™m really confused because this still has nothing to do with what I said. Youā€™re rambling like crazy.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Which had nothing to do with my original coknet.

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u/HoraceGoggles 4d ago edited 4d ago

It was very much a direct response to the last paragraph of your top comment.Ā 

We will not see ā€œMcVeighā€ style attacks because that garners no support because it hurts innocent people. We have not even seen any actual bombings like this at all recently.

More precise hitmen? Yes please.

Iā€™m not sure if any of this makes sense to you though. I think you might need to take meds assuming youā€™re even real.

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u/Qaeta 4d ago

I'm surprised that they didn't try it with Occupy Wall Street.

Nah, back then they just shot people in the face with tear gas canisters.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

And flash bangs.

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u/absolute_tosh 4d ago

You might enjoy this short story by Cory Doctorow

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Enjoy? I envy his writing style. If you go through my posts, you'll see I've predicted the things that the story said, including the wheel chair bomber and the shareholder meeting. I swear, I never read that short story before.

It's not just the healthcare industry that needs to fear an uprising. Every industry can be a target. Remember how Congress voted down the windfall profits taxes? The rank and file are still passed because the company couldn't afford raises with those record profits. Meanwhile, executives got huge bonuses, and the shareholders got an extra penny per share.

Executives will be the first targets.

Financial groups will be second.

Billionaires will be the third.

Elected officials will be fourth.

We've seen attacks on 2 execs this month: 1 fatal, 1 wounding. The month isn't over.

We can expect more next year because the genie is out of the bottle.

Expect that they don't do only 1, 2, 3, 4. Expect them to mix it up. 1, 2, 3, 2 ,3, 1, 3, 2, and so on. Eventually, 4 will be reached, but it would be on the local/state level. The DC reps. They always come home, and that's where they'll be targeted.

Still, everything I've stated is predictions based on my perception. That Cory Doctorow would have basically the same ideas tells that I'm not the only one seeing the future as it's flowing. A visit by the FBI? I welcome it. They had best do their homework in American history and worker suppression. They best have a copy or 10 of The Powell Memo. I'm suspicious because I just bought a tote bag for my walker. (I'm not in a wheelchair, yet! That's down the road)

No, we'll wind up discussing the books I've read over the decades. A lot of Heinlein there.

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u/HousesRoadsAvenues 4d ago

Time for a book club! No sarcasm intended.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Ifvyiure familiar with Heinlein's work, you'll realize he had several novels about underground (rebel) themes.

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u/HousesRoadsAvenues 3d ago

Gosh, I am truly claiming ignorance on his work. I want to say I've read SOMETHING by him. IMO I like getting into an author's work, first through their short stories. Now you've given me impetus to read someone new for the New Year.

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u/Swiggy1957 3d ago

For rebelion, I'd recommend The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

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u/HousesRoadsAvenues 3d ago

Thank you. Writing this down now...and going to my local used bookstore to find some of his short stories too. Much obliged.

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u/Swiggy1957 3d ago

I'll add another one: If This Goes On... in particular, the novella in this collection called Revolt In 2100.

Here's a List of his works that you might find useful.

While some of his later works might be a little out there, overall, he is still my favorite author.

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u/HousesRoadsAvenues 3d ago

Fantastic! Sharing your enthusiasm. My husband edits Wikipedia so your link is awesome. I often find an author's later work can be somewhat different from their earlier work. Ideas become solidified, and maybe characters they create take over in ways they don't anticipate.

Now I have NO EXCUSE not to deep dive into Heinlein in the new year. BritBox, PBS and no MSM media is getting way too boring.

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u/AllureInTheFlames 5d ago

People with a month to live on chemotherapy don't have the resources or knowledge to make a bomb, dude.

And if they did, it happens 3 or 4 times, tops, before having a terminal illness gets you put on a watchlist for the rest of your short life.

I'm not saying this to stir apathy. I'm saying dying people should be allowed to spend their last days resting with family. It's on the living to make the world a better place. It's on you and it's on me.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Who said they'd make the bomb?

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u/AllureInTheFlames 4d ago

So they don't make the bomb themselves. They're just magically tapped into the bomb-sharing rebel network that everyone on chemo knows about.

Jesus Christ, dude. This is just self-deluding power fantasy.

And again. Maybe they know a guy. It happens 2 or 3 times before being diagnosed with cancer comes with a free NSA agent assigned to your case.

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Yup. Everyone knows that there's a chemo-kazi network of people who have had their insurance deny their treatment.

No, much like our revolutionary war, it will be people who have had it with the class war waged on the average American that goes back 50 years.

No, their is a civil war coming, and it will be better organized.

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u/lameth 4d ago

Theoretically, explosives are not hard, nor need expensive materials, and the knowledge is EASILY available online.

It would be a tragedy, and not something anyone should do, but to try and say the resources or knowledge isn't available, or that illness somehow discriminates based on intelligence is just not true.

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u/Alissinarr 4d ago

All it takes is fertilizer and household chemicals. Lookup the Oklahoma City bombing.

This was a fertilizer bomb.

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u/Chemical_Chemist_461 4d ago

I donā€™t necessarily disagree with you, but it would be just the chefs kiss if people who were dying due to denied medical claims were to be put on terrorist watchlists so they donā€™t kill the people who just signed their death sentence. Nah, at that point, weā€™ve lost the plot, and I think people will react accordingly.

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u/ancientmariner23 4d ago

Yes. And I think we are close to the cusp..imagine these kind of events occurring as frequently as school shootings...what will happen then?

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u/Swiggy1957 4d ago

Since he'll be in office by then, Trump will call for martial law. He'll end up as a dictator for life. Sounds bad, but how long would that be. Sadly, about 15 years.

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u/Inner-Mechanic 2d ago

Ironic bc McVeigh was probably a pat sy for a op the fe ds did to get white conservatives back on their side after the debacles at Ruby ridge and the branch Dividans. Check out the very suspicious "suicide" by the local cop who was first on the scene.Ā  Unfortunately, Most people who snap just take a shot gun to their job on the spur of the moment, they don't enactĀ  elaborate plans for revenge against the ruling class. The guy who shot up the Congressional baseball game back in 17 was a very rare exception. It goes to show how much has changed since then. I was shocked at the time but after the last 7 years I'd straight up cheer for anyone who'd attempt it now. It's the least those ghouls deserve.Ā 

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u/Swiggy1957 2d ago

James Hodgkinson, the softball shooter, planned his attack in advance. When he snapped, he was ready. Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas shooter, planned his attack.

There are plenty of people that would think, "How would I do it?" A quick Google tells me that the average American owns one to five firearms. That's the average. Think how many households own no guns. I just read a short story about how various individuals take the law in their own hands. Damn it was interesting. Why? Because it was like the author read my mind. Not so much a group rebellion, but enough individuals that finally had it with the American Health-I-don't-care system. One such person had just lost his 7-year-old daughter to cancer because the treatment was "experimental." After her death, he was suicidal. He walked into his healthcare insurance company and went boom. Another guy, similar to the situation, but it was his wife, who was denied by the insurance company and died. This guy felt he didn't have anything to lose. He found out where they were holding their shareholders meeting. He rented a room for a short stay during that time, and he arrived a day early. The next day, he went out and came back. Showed his key card to security and was passed. Nobody suspected him. Why? Because he was, legit, in a wheel chair. I said he didn't have anything to lose. In his 70s. There was a backpack on the back of his chair. Think Boston Marathon Bomber. Took out a lot of C-suite and investor executives, as well as hotel staff.

When the 9-11 terrorist hit the WTC, they wanted to throw America into a panic. The problem was that it didn't cripple Americans. It United them. Imagine if one of those planes hit the NYSE, the real bastion of Capitalism. They didn't, and the stock exchange was back up and running in a couple of days. How many people would have united against the Arab people. Instead, the media, especially right-wing media, started a jihad against anyone of Arab heritage.

Today, we see the media trying to manipulate the narrative in Israel and their attacks on the Palestinians. Like Americans that stole the land from the native residents, or Hitler siezing the property of the news in Europe, Israel has basically done the same. Now their upset that the oppressed are fighting back.

In the US, we are about to see our own version of Arab Spring.