Rail Road Workers Call for Nationalization of all Rail Lines! | Thinking Out Loud

In this episode of his "Thinking Out Loud" series, Double D discusses the Rail Workers Union recent call for nationalization of all rail lines in the US, Mexico, and Canada.
Jumping in to the video, Double D reads excerpts from an article published by "People's World" which outlines some of the recent labor struggle between RWU and the big rail bosses, as well as highlighting their recent call for nationalization of all rail lines in the United States.
Double D shows how the Steering Committee of the RWU sees nationalization as a fight not just for economic justice but for democracy. Double D contrasts this perspective with the on going political theater of Democrats claiming that "American democracy is under siege" by right wing political forces. He agreeing with that reality, Double D points out that both the political class and the media class leave any and all notion of economic democracy out of this discussion. He asserts that capitalism and democracy are not only not synonymous, they are in fact contrary to one another, and that so long as social, economic, and political life is dominated by corporations, American democracy will remain on life support.
Double D examines the authoritarian structure of capitalism, outlining the concept of the "dictatorship of capital" and analyzes how the corporation is in its essence an authoritarian structure. Relating this to the rail road, he shows how big rail bosses have ousted 29% of the rail road work force over the last eight years, and have continued to boast record profits straight through the Great Recession and even the pandemic.
Ruminating on this reality, Double D considers the madness of having the profit motive as the driving ideological force within your society. He points out how rail lines have begun looking at profit margin as the primary definition of the success of the rail road. He asks what is the purpose of a railroad? To make money? Or to transport human beings and freight? He goes on to examine how the profit motive has warped every aspect of American society, citing food production, entertainment and the arts, and even national security and foreign policy.
Analyzing some history of the rail lines, Double D explains how nationalization is nothing new in US history. He outlines how the government took several bankrupt or defunct rail lines, and merged them into one federally owned company known as "Conrail" back in 1976. He shows however, that while the government was able to return the rail lines to profitability, the federal assets were sold off to two rail giants, who then split up the network, and discontinued many of the smaller branches. He goes on to examine the 1918 Railroad Control Act, through which the US government seized control of all rail lines to ensure the safe and efficient transportation of military equipment and personnel during the First World War. He then shows how a majority of rail workers voted to maintain nationalization as the rail roads began to move back into private hands. Double D asks how we could possibly living in a democracy, when a majority of workers who do all of the work vote a certain way, yet the ownership class still remains in control of one of the most essential parts of our national infrastructure.

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and comment!
Support the show financially if you can!
patreon.com/entitledmillennials
paypal.me/entitledmillennials