# Why has so much power/influence left labor and gone to capital, at least in the US

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-so-much-power-influence-left-labor-and-gone-to-capital-at-least-in-the-us/575656>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 22, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-so-much-power-influence-left-labor-and-gone-to-capital-at-least-in-the-us/575656 "2011-03-22T22:25:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 165

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**Author:** ![Le\_Jacquelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Le\_Jacquelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Jacquelope)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-has-so-much-power-influence-left-labor-and-gone-to-capital-at-least-in-the-us/575656/165 "2011-04-09T12:35:23Z")

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> [@Mosier](#):
>
> Record low inflation since 2008 says you’re wrong.

Rising oil prices, skyrocketing food prices, and the dollar’s chronic loss of value all say [I’m right](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/08/us-inflation-federal-reserve-food-oil_n_846774.html).

But that’s the problem here - your arguments are totally out of touch. You don’t even know what’s happening out there in working class America, or why they’re starting to [reject capitalism](http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/radar10w2_free_market/).

Your answer is always “the polls are wrong”. That’s called living in denial. Americans are tired of workers losing influence in favor of the owners of capital. You’ve seen the rebellions in the Middle East and the riots in Europe. What in the _world_ keeps you thinking that this is impossible here?

I’d like to repost something that you guys seem not to have read when it was posted… but you’ll look back on this some time soon - 10 years at the most - and understand what went wrong with the US and even global economy:

> [@Social Darwinism - the only logical explanation?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/social-darwinism-the-only-logical-explanation/569468/52):
>
> Income inequality is becoming a severe global problem. Not only in the US (whose inequality is worse than many latin american nations) but China and India have problems too. Now that austerity is pushed in Europe it is becoming a global problem of nearly all developed and rapidly developing problems. If you ridicule people who care about that issue all you do is make their demands more radical. Right now leftists will likely settle for higher progressive taxes and more regulation. In the future they may demand revolution and mass confiscation. Communism was born out of anger over inequality. People who will accept center left policies today will demand socialism tomorrow and communism the day after tomorrow. You can’t allay the anger and frustration others feel by ridiculing people.
> 
> Start working on mandatory international basement standards for environmental and labor standards for one.

We have 200 million people around the world who are _unemployed_ because power has been stolen from labor by the captains of industry. This situation will end in reform or it will end in fire.

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