You're Not Mad at United Airlines; You're Mad at America.

[Cattledog]

There’s a saying that is sometimes attributed to Karl Marx or Slavoj Zizek—apocryphally, in both cases—that tidily sums up the existential angst some Americans feel at the start of a traditional work week:

You don’t hate Mondays. You hate capitalism.

Already, United is being demonized online, which is both satisfying and warranted. But let’s tell the deeper truth here—United made a dumb decision, but essentially they just got unlucky that the problem landed on their laps, and it was their dirty laundry that got aired. They are a cruel agent, without a doubt, but they are not some lone wolf—they are a product of an indifferent system that increasingly devalues individual life, and that system is called America.

more at:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/04/youre-not-mad-at-united-airlines-youre-mad-at-amer.html

[malaise]

1. A system that devalues some lives more than others

Yep

[pangaia]

9. Yup....

[kcr]

2. Yes. This article nails it.

These things happen because of that indifferent system. They aren't isolated incidents.

[Locrian]

3. recommended article

It didn't mention that capitalism has it's blind faith supporters - many of them dems - that are incapable of thinking that there are alternatives to these type of business practices *as long as it's making money*. "Making Money" has become accepted sole justification for any argument that brings up human dignity. A lot of times you only see people coming down on this when: well, it's bad BUSINESS and it'll cost them more in the end. The human component argument is ignored and ridiculed.

So to recap, in a blind pursuit of profit, United overbooked the flight, didn’t offer enough to entice anyone to get off the plane, then in order to get their own employees on the flight, they removed ticketed passengers, and when one wouldn’t comply with their orders, they called the cops to pull a supposed doctor off the plane—bloodying his face in the process.

Weindling also answered the reflexive question: “Well, what were they supposed to do?”

I have an idea: don’t overbook the flight in the first place, and then make other people pay for your incompetence and greed…watching a multi-billion dollar business hire police to forcibly remove a paying customer not doing anything illegal is a jarring reminder of who really controls this country. Corporations clearly aren’t people, because citizens don’t have anywhere near this much power in the United Corporatist States of America.

[ProfessorPlum]

11. I hate that fucking question.

What were the cops supposed to do? Talk

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10028918567

[Tanuki]

4. Can't I be mad at both? Maybe if United hadn't lured Oscar Munoz

away from CSX, where he was accustomed to transporting cargo and not human beings, with a nearly $6 million dollar a year salary, their passengers would be treated with something approximating respect, dignity, and fairness.

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. Meh - it wasn't overbooking, it was United deciding to throw him off so an employee could fly

which was because they'd screwed up where their flight crews were.

No, this is not that "the problem landed on their laps"; it's a series of bad decisions by United, and an appalling idea they could force people off their plane. This isn't about 'America'.

[Turbineguy]

6. The rise of the MBA class.

The reincarnation of the Plantation Overseer.

[Foamfollower]

7. I don't buy these wacky communist opinions about this shit.

[CanSocDem]

8. Everything in the USA is "overbooked".

Over-sold, over-hyped, over-priced.


"Our economy is designed to transfer wealth and income into the pockets of those who need it least, and any opposition to this structural inequality is treated as political radicalism."

Great article. K&R


.

[LakeArenal]

10. I am still "America" and I am not mad at me...

Believe it or not "We" are still the people. Every once in awhile, corporations do find that out the hard way.. I will stick with Marx...

I hate capitalism... that favors the rich and greedy..